Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast (RHLSTP)

RETRO RHLSTP #75 - Spaced By The Bell - At last it's the podcast that addresses the burning issue of modern Britain - which is the best Somerset based show cave complex? Cheddar Gorge (obviously) or rubbishy old Wookey Hole. It'd be a shame to have Britain's most exciting film director on the show without wasting most of the time talking about this and the obscure and sexist Roald Dahl short story...

Book Club #87 - 101 Things That Never Happened - Richard chats with Dutch historian Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse aka The Fake History Hunter about her internet quest to spot historical rubbish online and correct it and how that has led to a fabulously entertaining and pedantic book. They discuss the non-existence of the chastity belt, how Vikings didn’t have horns on their helmet, how Beetho...

#493 Weed Charades - Richard’s kids are unimpressed by his appearance on Top of the Pops 95 and provide a scathing critique of his work. His guest is a man with 8 mind-blowing facts about himself, Ross Noble (though an audience member called Kirsty also stars). They talk mainly about frozen things, Ben or Jerry’s funeral, Rod Hull in a freezer and being buried in an ice rink, but al...

RETRO RHLSTP #74 - The Football Eagle Has Landed - Richard believes he will soon be a multi-millionaire but agrees to give 1/365th of this profits to charity. His guest is comedy legend Matt Lucas. They talk about the power of honesty in comedy, even if the comedian comes out of it badly, how Matt became possibly the only person who's rung up to complain about a TV show to end up working with the...

Book Club #86 - The Bone Chests - Rich talks to bio-archaeologist and broadcaster Cat Jarman about her terrific book, The Bone Chests about the remains of a surprisingly number of medieval kings (and a queen) whose remains are in Winchester Cathedral. Why aren’t the people of Winchester making more of this, like the king-stealing thieves of Leicester? What happened to King Alfred an...

#492 Davinadroid - Richard has been frightened by a weeing Samurai and an apparently dead audience member, but he’s back for more RHLSTP, back a the LST and with a guest who is too good for this rubbish, the glorious Davina McCall. They discuss how she (eventually) beat a comedian to host God’s Gift, Street Mate on skis, how Davina is ultimately to blame for the destruction of...

RETRO RHLSTP #73 - The Marx Brothers - Rich is back at Hull City Hall for his last RHLSTP recording of 2019 and he has had an accidental slip off the wagon. But does it count? His guest is Hull’s finest comedian and wonderful oddball, Lucy Beaumont.  They discuss appearing on Crimewatch, being used as a crow stepping-stone, waking you to find biscuits on your head, becoming a cleaner at the p...

Book Club #85 - Emperor of Rome - Richard has been a dad for nine years and is trying to work out if he will have any life after the kids have left home (no he won’t). His guest is comedian, actor and children’s author Rosie Jones who talks about why she wanted to write a book with a disabled person at its centre, why she wishes Tiny Tim had died, the beautiful story line where Edie finds her...

#491 Detached Semi - RHLSTP comes to Aldershot, the scene of one of Richard’s most dangerous ever gigs. But we’re all safely off the mean streets to welcome the incredible Lee Mack to Aldershot! They talk about keeping the Inside Number 9 secret, why the woodworking answer to the Bake Off was axed, the manufactured controversy at the NTAs, 100 episodes of Not Going Out and whether&n...

RETRO RHLSTP #72 - Fish Pie Mix - Rich has exciting news that will make other puppet-sex enthusiasts very jealous, but there’s no time for even a brief wank using the hand of a 100 year old ventriloquist dummy as it’s the second coming of, if not the new Jesus, certainly the new Judas, Tim Minchin. The pair bring out the best worst in each other again, alternating between inappropriate chat about...

Book Club #84 - Emperor of Rome - Another live RHLSTP Book Club coming fittingly from the oldest recorded Roman City in England, Colchester. Rich and Mary discuss whether they might be on the site of Camelot, Boudicca’s decision to level the place to the ground and what year it might have happened, plus the controversy over which month Pompeii met its fate. But mainly they talk about her fab...

#490 Do Horses Remember? - Richard is excited about recent developments in robotics, but he doesn’t have time for stand up (or any stand up). His guest is the remarkable comedian, singer and YouTube sensation Sooz Kempner (plus some interjections from her mum). They talk about personifying a times table, being snubbed by opera singers, how to satirise the almost unsatirisable Tory M...

RETRO RHLSTP #71 - Monopoly Penguin - Rich is on the cusp of a couple of massive life changes, but he won’t let ageing and moving get in the way of asking comedians strange questions in an attempt to make them reveal intimate truths. Today he talks to a man with inventive ideas for revenge and murder, Limmy. They discuss being concreted into the pavement, manspreading, swearing xylophones, fake wh...

Book Club #83 - Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love With You - Richard talks to internet sensation Becky Holmes about her fantastic book about internet scammers and the people they scam. They chat about how this idea came about, the hilarious Twitter chats Becky has had with scammers, how the book delves into the world of fraud in much greater and more serious detail than you might have expected, why...

#489 Dream On - Richard has had a very difficult journey to the Leeds City Varieties and wouldn’t have made it without the genius of tour manager Bec, but thank God he did because this is a terrific podcast with broadcaster and former accountant Amar Latif. He talks about how he coped with losing 95% of his sight at 18, why he was still determined to become an accountant and why he refused to...

RETRO RHLSTP #70 - Esme - Rich has found the mother of all stones and is banging on about that as usual (don’t worry he will syphon this off into a podcast you don’t have to listen to soon). His guest is RHLSTP super fan and fly in the ointment Joe Lycett. They discuss the beauty of being allowed to be silly in a serious world, whether Tom Daley should be sponsored to go to Pride, the Daily Expres...

Book Club #82 - Same Time Tomorrow? - Richard chats with actor Bob Cryer about the charming and beautifully balanced book he’s written about his much missed dad, Barry Cryer. They talk about the difficulties and emotions of writing about someone you were so close to, the importance of it not being a hagiography, the shocking revelations that only came out after death (luckily not the kind of...

#488 Fifty Shades of Rae - Richard is in the City Varieties Leeds, the scene of a traumatic RHLSTP that he and the audience are still processing. And he’s booked another rock star, will they be as much trouble? It’s the sublime Corinne Bailey Rae. They talk about the whirlwind of her early success, why on earth she’s choose to still live in Leeds, how a teacher crushed her dreams of play...

RETRO RHLSTP #69 - Old Man’s Pants Under The Bed - Rich has just had to stand impassive in a stranger’s guff for fear of looking like the one who smelt it and thus dealt it and it’s been a bad day all round, but everything should be OK as it’s round 5 of the verbal boxing match (that threatens to become a naked wrestling match) with Sarah Millican. They chat about Daniel Craig’s bum, who invented...

Book Club #81 - A Heart Full of Headstones - Richard is in Edinburgh and talks to Edinburgh’s second favourite knight (after a penguin) Ian Rankin. They discuss the latest of his many books about Rebus and Edinburgh (is it a character in itself?), how well Ian knows the character after all this time, why he chose to have him age in real time, how his books embrace topicality, whethe...

#487 Beige Towel - Richard finally has a chance to prove whether his or a rival’s podcast is the most popular, but will he like the answers? His guest returns after 11 short years, it’s BAFTA award winning Steve Pemberton. They talk about that bus episode of Inside Number 9, the official ranking of all of the episodes, Mel Smith punks and non-existent dog poo chocolates, the other Steve ...

EQ What Would You Take From A Museum Another EQ compilation, but what will the question be this month? There is literally no way to find out without listening to this. Find out what celebs as diverse as David Cross, Anneka Rice, Limmy and Sophie Ellis-Bextor would take home with them from museums or art galleries if they were allowed. Damn gave it away. SUPPORT THE SHOW! Come and see us live &nbsp...

Book Club #80 - The Secret Diary of a British Muslim Aged 13 3/4 - Richard is in Chorley for another live book club with stand up and actor Tez Ilyas. They talk about why Tez wanted to write about his childhood, why he selected the diary format even though he needed to recreate the entries retrospectively, being chased by a farmer with a shot gun, pretending his friend had...

#486 Punchable Face - Rich is in Tunbridge Wells and amazed at the 20th Century news coming from a seemingly 19th Century newspaper. His guest is the superb and charming actor Robert Bathurst. They chat about whether Robert can claim to have had a number one record, the enduring appeal of Joking Apart and how Robert might have screwed u the chance of a third series, the art school appeal of Toast...

#485 Chinggis Khan - Richard is in Norwich at Halloween and there’s been some terrible pumpkin news. His guest is veteran stand-up and surprise social media smash, Jeff Innocent. They chat about how audience preconceptions are subverted by his brilliant act, his shady family history and why his mum won’t let him talk about it, his choice to go in a different direction with some surprising job...