Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast (RHLSTP)

RHLSTP Book Club #187 - Neurodivergent Moments - Richard chats to Joe and Abigoliah about their book of humorous essays, Neurodivergent Moments. They discuss whether neurodivergence is an advantage as a comedian, why you can hate being in crowds, but love performing in front of crowds, how comedy remains the best way to educate people without them noticing, why this book is nonetheless primar...

RHLSTP #617 - Wild-Eyed Loner at the Gates of Oblivion -  Rich is in salt-obsessed Droitwich at the second Rik Mayall festival and reads a bit of the never produced script of Man Down that he wrote for Rik (who would have done it better). His guest is Rik-fan, musician and comedian (usually at the same time) Mitch Benn. They chat about the remarkable cast of the Edinburgh show “The Bootl...

#441 Back of the Head With a Plastic Cup - Richard has been having weird dreams, but don’t try and interpret anything from them. His guest is singer, actor, presenter and legend Graham “Suggs” McPherson. They chat about how Madness might just be the defining band of the 80s, how their songs can make you travel in time, the brilliant social document of their book/documentary “Before We Was We”, the...

Monday 29th June 2026 - Farage’s Treasure - Rich and Ally are here for maybe the only time this week to discuss Farage’s 5 million and the question that no one seems to ask him. The reporting remains unbiased and factual as always. Please buy a T shirt at http://gofasterstripe.com/ally Friday July 3rd 2026 - Haggy Girthday Gargara - Rich has risen like a Lazarus from his sick bed to bring you the...

RHLSTP Book Club #186 - Namaste Motherf*ckers - Richard is back at the Podcast Room talking to stand up, motivational speaker and former TV executive about her first book, Namaste Motherf*ckers. They talk about whether this is a book for everyone, young and old, whether the young will ever learn from the old and wise, whether this is a self help book and whether you would take a self help pill to...

RHLSTP #616 - J Edgar Hoover in a Ballgown - Richard has a remote chat with two powerhouses of American comedy Harry Shearer and Tom Leopold. They talk about Tom writing on some of the biggest sitcoms of the last few decades, how the pair met, their failed TV pilot that saw the birth of Spinal Tap, Tom’s conversion from Judaism to Catholicism, their brand new 32 year old project Here Comes J. Edga...

#440 Embracing Your Delicious Fate - Richard comes bearing great news for those who seek seduction via pizza. His guest is the hottest new act in comedy right now, the incredible Jordan Gray. They talk about the smell of elephant dung, why she wasn’t allowed to set herself on fire on TV, a visit from Magneto, a double-teaming Bros, the erudition of Paloma Faith, Twitter storms, political...

Monday 22nd June 2026 - Incurable - Rich is back after a brief hiatus to have some aborted chemo and maybe he’s returned to work too soon. Or maybe it’s the perfect time. The Prime Minister’s resignation is high on the agenda and there are two guest politicians to talk about it. Plus an amazing wartime song to cheer your heart and help you keep up the fight. Get a tshirt here (if you are quick) -...

RHLSTP Book Club #185 - Death by Noir - Rich meets Britain’s favourite wine expert (possibly) Olly Smith to talk about his Wine Crime Book, Death by Noir. They talk about how he isn’t just another celebrity cashing in with murder mystery books, as he was already an award winning writer, how he became a wine expert, whether there are any good non-alcoholic or English wines, why he wanted to write a...

RHLSTP #615 - A 94 Year-Old-Woman Crawling Out of a Pile of Clothes -  Richard is at the Podcast Room again and this time joined by multi-award winning character comedian and writer, Lorna Rose Treen. They chat about subverting expectations on SNL UK, how the exquisite Time of the Week came out of Lorna working on Women’s Hour, winning the Edinburgh’s Joke of the Fringe with a joke that...

#439 Cucumber Coward - Richard is hoping to replace himself with an AI host and has left the emergency questions and some of the stand up to the robots. His guest, returning after a hiatus of just 400 episodes is the wonderful Mark Gatiss. They discuss the unfair tale of Jacob Marley, the influence of Robin Askwith, playing to camera 3 as Larry Grayson, Mark’s many theatre projects,...

Monday 15th June 2026 - V-Maxxing - Rich and Ally are back, though for Rich, maybe not for long, as Ally blurts out what he’s going through this week. Ever the pro, Rich pushes onwards despite attempts to make the whole show nothing but same phrases to discuss the controversial topic of Vagina-maxing. Is this the right medium to discuss this? Yes it is. Remember, Rich thinks whatever you think abo...

RHLSTP Book Club #184 - Get Ahead of Being Dead - Rich catches up with Evie King (if that is her real name) to talk about her unique job and the books she has written about it and why we need to get prepped for our own deaths. They chat about organising funerals for people who die with no one to do it for them (and how that could be you), whether it’s necessary for her to work as hard as she does...

RHLSTP #614 - You’re Already Grown Up - Rich talks to musical genius, actor and comedian Tim Minchin. They discuss the possibility of a reboot of another kids’ classic and Tim’s possible involvement in it, how Ernie Herring responded to Matilda, the technical changes made to the film version of the musical, the gentle pivot into more serious songs, what the devil is up to and the incredible s...

#437 Adelaide Clowns - Richard has had a wonderful Saturday night without his wife doing what most men can only dream of. His guest is ubiquitous comedy actor and extremely good guy, Kiell Smith-Bynoe. They talk about the best acting job in the world, appearing on Death in Paradise, with some insights into what goes on off camera, getting intimate with an ex-Doctor Who assistant on the a...

Tuesday 9th June 2026 - Milked in a Basement - Rich has been too busy or tired to do Newsround for a few days and to be honest probably should have given it a miss today. But news doesn’t wait for someone to be in the mood to tell you what the news is and luckily one person on this show can enunciate. The boys are talking about creating sperm in a lab and what that might mean for humanity. It’s an...

RHLSTP Book Club #183 - Bad Deeds - Richard talks to novelist and former QI Elf Andrew Hunter Murray about his funny page-turner Bad Deeds. They chat about him no longer being like John Wyndham, how to break into BAFTA, how Richard broke into Buckingham Palace and the much repeated truth about what Michael Fagan got up to in the Queen’s bedroom, giving up on a novel after 30,000 words, planning pl...

RHLSTP #613 - Predicting the Future with Urine - Richard is at the Podcast Room with the one-of-a-kind diamond that is Ronni Ancona. They chat about the disappointments of the Blue Peter studio, performing together at the Edinburgh Fringe 1992, how Ronni`s unlikely professional partnership with Alistair McGowan bore fruit, even after their romantic relationship had ended, having a part especially...

#436 Too Much Farage Piss - Rich is mourning the Veneziana pizzas that he bought and the terrible effects they have wrought and the loss of a man whose friend assumed he was joking. His guest is historian, comedian and puppeteer, Al Murray. They talk about the evolution of the new Spitting Image live show and, hosting a chat show with proper famous guests, the toll of touring in your 50s and...

Monday 1st June 2026 - Cloaca Room - Rich and Ally are back for another month and today they are reporting on a story that you won’t find in the lame stream media (unless you read the Guardian), the onanistic habits of birds. There is a lot of prejudice against wanking birds and we hope to do our bit to stop that. So do spread the important message of today’s report. It’s OK for birds to get off o...

RHLSTP Book Club #182 - The Last Pebble - Richard is in the Podcast Room with Taskmaster genius Alex Horne to talk about his kids’ book The Last Pebble. How did he find time to write a book? Was he worried about looking like another celebrity cashing in? Is it OK to take pebbles from the beach. Plus how the book changed with the help of an editor and could have been about a talking stone, the incr...

RHLSTP #612 - A Special Place in Hell - Rich has an apology to make regarding bird genitals. His guest is RHLSTP favourite David Mitchell. There’s lots of rarely if ever asked emergency questions and chat about John Kearns’ eight stone rabbit, a joke about Ludwig that one listener will enjoy, returning to sketch shows and whether this might see the return of another nineties double act, what it’s...

#432 Womblin’ Free - Richard has had a crisp and a field disappointment, but it won’t stop him interviewing the heck out of director, writer and omelette chef, Joe Cornish. They talk about offending Claudia Winkleman’s listeners, how Channel 4 messed up a sketch show with an incredible cast, (briefly) having the number one Netflix show (check out Lockwood and Co), whether being a director is...

Monday 25th May 2026 - No News Tuesday 26th May 2026 - No News Wednesday 27th May 2026 - No news Thursday 28th May 2026 - Badly Burnt Penis - Rich and Ally are back from their holidays with all the news that the mainstream media won’t touch. Because they won’t touch penises. Is that all we do on this? Finally the truth about the people of Harpenden, plus touching up the Cerne Abbas Giant’s private...

RHLSTP Book Club #181 - Reading The Room - Rich talks to comedy historian and former stand up and agent, Jonathan Grant about his much needed work about the state of stand up comedy in the 21st Century. They chat about Jonathan’s reasons for writing the book, who he talked to, the difficulty of summing up two decades worth of stand up, how we’re at a place of opportunity and variety in stand-up bu...