Richard Herring’s podcast has got a cult following with hundreds of thousands of people tuning in to listen to his freewheeling and uncensored conversations with all sorts of people from the world of comedy and beyond. This particular conversation was with the fiery comedian Esther Manito, who was promoting the tour of her new stand up show Slagbomb.
The promotion and plug definitely took a backseat as, armed with only a notebook page of doodled ideas of what might be nice to chat about, Herring took the reins on a chortlesome hour of comic conversation. The art of good conversation is not easily learned. Knowing when to probe and when to pause, when to listen and when to fill is a skill that requires patience and practice. Herring conducted the hour so masterfully that the time flew by leaving you with the feeling of having had a lovely afternoon catch up with two effervescent friends.
The topics were often innocuous on the surface, but opened up to reveal elements of controversy. A chat about 70s kids TV lead to jokes about Rolf Harris and Jimmy Saville, a memory about playing the glockenspiel on Record Breakers prompted another about racist TV presenters, and an anecdote about Danny Dyer recalled the horror and toxic masculinity of his agony uncle page in the 90s. Even Basil Brush got called a c*nt!
This was a funny, engaging and spontaneous hour of chat that was never afraid to shock or offend. The final topic was about the expensive and inaccessible nature of the Edinburgh fringe festival, which of course led to a huge cheer for the local alternative. The Chesham Fringe is clearly on the map and here to stay!
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