Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast (RHLSTP)

RETRO RHLSTP #48 Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan - Richard has broken his mirror, but wondering if that gives him 7 years bad luck or frees him from the ghosts of the past. His guests are the non British writers and stars of Britain's most exciting sitcom this decade, Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan. Does their onscreen sexual chemistry spill over into real life, even when Rob's genitals are in a bag?...

RHLSTP Book Club 18 - The Man Who Tasted Words - Richard Herring, the man who can’t pronounce Leschziner, chats to Guy Leschziner about his fascinating it unsettling book about our senses, The Man Who Tasted Words.  They discuss why there are more than 5 senses, which sense is the best one to lose, why a superpower like feeling no pain is actually a terrible curse, whether aphantasia is curab...

#388 Just Dust - Richard’s 7 year old has been ripping him a new one, but at least he’s back in the big time…. His guest is Twitch sensation and brilliant stand up Bilal Zafar. They chat about creating content online and how improv is not the preserve of the posh, what happened when Bilal pretended to be a cake shop that only served Muslims, the balance between ambition an...

RETRO RHLSTP #47 Johnny Vegas - Maniac in a Suitcase. Giving away a prize to a lucky audience member, Rich reminisces about schoolday bags and realises how much work he has got to do to re-learn his 11 old stand-up shows for his insane attempt to do them all at the Leicester Square Theatre in August and September. His guest is a man who has done Chekov, Dickens and Celebrity Juice, Johnny Vegas. I...

RHLSTP Book Club 17 - Pivot - Richard talks to brilliant stand up Laura Lexx about her assured and joyous first novel, Pivot, which is partly about netball, but mainly about friendship and changing direction in life. They chat about where the idea came from, why writing doesn’t have to be planned out, why Laura doesn’t describe her character’s appearance and why most men don’t read books...

#387 Treading in Bovine After Birth - We’re back at the Phoenix in front of an audience who are also about to witness the first ever live Twitch of Fun (and are thus just as strange as you’d expect). Rich has played an amazing prank on his wife and tells you all about it. His guests are Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood aka Dick and Dom.  They discuss how the pair met and the genesis of their...

BONUS #1 - Okapi Tongue - It’s number one of the monthly bonus pod, hosted by Ally Sloper. Find out whether Rich ever considered being a dentist, his favourite member of Blazin’ Squad and his real feelings about Keith Allen. Ally is a great interviewer and really opens up his guest and also weirdly seems to know things that Richard doesn’t! Thanks for your support! Hosted on Acast. See a...

RETRO RHLSTP #46 Romesh Ranganathan - Richard has a controversial theory about the recent FIFA controversy and gets paid by a man to call him a fucking idiot to his face before introducing former maths teacher and toilet crier Romesh Ranganathan to the stage of Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre. In possibly the longest RHLSTP they discuss the problems of trying to procure adequate vegan c...

RHLSTP Book Club 16 - Storm - Richard chats with journalist and author Stephanie Merritt about her brilliant, dark thriller Storm, where the inspiration came from, how she managed to do field research during Covid, whether men buy books written by women, how men and women react to a beautiful stranger in their midst and whether privilege means you can get away with anything. Buy the book here...

#386 Thirty-Eighth Choice - As the latest run at the Leicester Square Theatre comes to an end Richard is impressed with Adrian Chiles’ bathroom choices. His guest is comedian and actor Alan Davies.  They chat about avocado bidets, being called a S****bubble by Liam Gallagher, setting off Neil Kinnock’s burglar alarm, spending a huge amount of money on a chair you might see in an estate agents...

RETRO RHLSTP #45 Kay Mellor - RHLSTP comes to the Long Division Festival at the beautiful Wakefield Theatre Royal and Richard is impressed with the commitment the area has made to unpopular fruit and the world's most famous mulberry bush. His guest is the writer, actor, director, song-writer and possible badminton champion, Kay Mellor.  It's a writer's masterclass, showing the determination a...

RHLSTP Book Club 15 - Buried - A return to RHLSTP for the brilliant broadcaster, archaeologist and anatomist Professor Alice Roberts. We chat about her new book Buried and the previous book in the series Ancestors and the amazing science that allows us to piece together forgotten lives from bones, grave goods, language and DNA. Also why Trigger warnings aren’t a big deal and TRIGGER WARNING some c...

#385 Do Not Listen On 2x Speed - Richard is disappointed about his daughter’s Easter egg, because it’s still Easter where we are, in the past and has an ultimatum for Ian Cadbury. His guest returns after just 9 years away. It’s the extremely fast-talking whirlwind of a man, Dara Ó Briain.  Chat includes the Irish James Bond, how Stephen Hawking ruined Terminator, the likelihood of Richard spe...

Special - My Time Capsule 200! - Richard was very honoured to be asked to interview Michael Fenton-Stevens for his 200th episode of the excellent Time Capsule Podcast - a neat idea where guests are asked what four items they’d like to keep in a time capsule and which one they’d like to throw away.  A great chat incorporating harbouring grudges against games teachers, touring with the HeeBeeGe...

RHLSTP Book Club 14 - The Sanctuary - Richard’s guest this week is one quarter of the No Such Thing as a Fish podcast, Andrew Hunter Murray. They are talking about his gripping novel, The Sanctuary, which imagines a near future in a world not dissimilar to our own, where wildlife is threatened by extinction and old people have most of the resources and young people have little to no chance of adva...

#384 Rolf Harris Tattoo - Alleluia Alleluia, He is Risen! It’s Easter Monday and Rich has been schooled in Christian traditions by his kids. His guest is the best Edinburgh Comedy Prize by at least one metric, Amy Gledhill. It’s an old-school, crazy fun loose chat with a comedian and it’s giddy fun all the way, encompassing what is the best crisp to send you into a coma, podcast listening speeds,...

RHLSTP #80 Limmy - Richard is a bit worried about the psychological similarities he shares with murder spree killers, but maybe that's just all comedians. If you read his book you might worry the same thing about this week's guest, cult comedy genius and normal-faced man Limmy. The pair try and fail to remember an ancient Twitter spat, and Richard threatens to reignite it by trying to welcome his...

RHLSTP Book Club 13 - The Premonitions Bureau - Another cracking Book Club (though one beset by tech difficulties, making conversation a little tricky) about this fascinating true story about 1960s Britain and the attempt to set up a central hub where premonitions can be logged in the hope of preventing tragedies.  Is seeing the future possible? Are predictions self-defeating? And did Richard...

#383 Lebensmüde   - Richard has been freaked out about eating fish whilst being watched by fish. His guests are Freya Parker and Celeste Dring aka Lazy Susan.  They chat about the torpor of playing a 12 year old, the difficulty of coming up with a name for a sketch group, why sketch comedy is so poorly served on TV, confronting your male critics head on, appearing in Jurassic World, unse...

RHLSTP Book Club 12 - Letters From Brenda - At last an author that Richard doesn’t have to treat with respect and a book that actually features him. Sadly for him Emma’s new book is a mature, hilarious and moving book about her eccentric and luminous mother and the mental issues that may have driven her and provided so many funny stories, but also much pain to those close to her. It’s also an auto...

#382 Aer Lingus Babies - Richard has a bee in his bonnet about crescent toilet seats, but at least his photo has been in the Daily Express. His guest is actor, comedian and author Ardal O'Hanlon.  They talk about how Father Dougal got free shoes, how much research Ardal did into the priesthood, annoying Morgan Freeman, why Ardal left the dream job of Death in Paradise, playing a cat trapped o...

RHLSTP Book Club 11 - My Mess Is a Bit of a Life - More book club fun, with this hilarious, sad and sometimes tragic fractured autobiography, by comedy writer and one of brains behind Succession and Veep, Georgia Pritchett.  We talk about the nature of childhood memories, Georgia’s dad forgetting her name, the hilarity that comes from anxiety, why this is a great representation of the life of...

#381 Ayahuasca - Richard has a momentous father/son experience and has been made to think about the brevity of life thanks to a charity shop window. His guest is the extraordinary Deborah Frances-White. They talk about whether Dracula was ever young, but the podcast is mainly about the major decisions Deborah had made in her personal life and the way she has chosen to deal with the traumas of...

RHLSTP Book Club 10 - Sunny - The book club continues with a chat about this fabulous debut novel from comedian and actor Sukh Ojla. We talk about the nightmare of dating, the importance of friendship, kneading breasts, the punishment of having to read your own book aloud and much more. Buy here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunny/dp/B08Y97CL3K At time of writing just 99p on Kindle.  SUPPORT...

#380 Hinge Cringe - Richard has visited Paddington’s house and avoided using the toothbrushes, but is more excited about one of Paddington’s neighbours. His guest is online sensation Rosie Holt. They discuss why Rosie moved from acting to comedy, how her videos went viral, whether it’s good or bad that people (both stupid and clever) fail to spot that they are a joke, why subtl...