Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast (RHLSTP)

#355 Mind Your Language - Richard is excited by the upcoming film Wonka and has some other ideas for origin story films. His guest is the Sidesplitting Phil Wang. They discuss how straddling two cultures can give you a humorous perspective on both, but leave you feeling rejected by both, 1970s television and how harshly we should judge it, racist nursery rhymes, Richard’s Asian hair, John Lew...

#29 Mango Mist - This week's guest has had a drink with Morrissey, seen a member of Madness drying his bum hair and has failed to discuss time travel with Gary Sparrow's best mate. It's Sean Hughes. Was Never Mind The Buzzcocks the most badly named panel show ever? Is it ever the wrong thing to do to refuse to take down an old man's swimming trunks? Will the cast of Robbie the Reindeer: Close Enco...

#354 Rufus Arenque - Richard can’t stop thinking about a man he walked past 30 years ago but is somehow walking taller. His guest can answer the question “Are you Dave Gorman?” in the affirmative, as he is Dave Gorman. They talk about moving to Bournemouth being newsworthy, how to become a crossword millionaire, how Ted Rogered the cryptic crossword, whether logs are sentient, why Covid...

#28 Death is Nice - Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. With the world in shock about the accusations about an ex-BBC employee with long hair and an odd home life who raised money for charity, Richard is keeping his head down, but he is joined by the slightly odd men behind such hits as The League of Gentlemen and Psychoville, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. They chat about the unlikely ch...

#353 It Was The 90s! - Richard has been tossing logs and that’s literally it for this week, so he talks to his audience for the first time in ages. His guest is author and comedian Shaparak “Shappi” Khorsandi. They discuss why she has chosen to use her birth name, the responsibilities of being a dog owner, the life of Emma Hamilton, I’m a Celebrity, performing at the Edinburgh Fringe of...

#27 T R Assmagik - Richard is still reeling from the lurgy he had in last week's show and his guest is also not very well, it's Mark Gatiss from off of  The League of Gentlemen  and  Fear of Fanny . Inevitably there is a lot of discussion about obscure 1970s TV and Tim from  The Office  being in  Sherlock  and you'll find out which  Doctor Who...

#352 For Sport - Richard has been teaching his kid wrong information, for a payoff that will take years to come and he finally has his hands on a copy of Would You Rather? His guest is inspirational comedian/podcaster/actor/author/role model Katherine Ryan. They discuss why audacity is a good thing, why we should all find our childhood sweetheart and marry them, trying to recapture the f...

#26 Waiting For Crawford - It’s back for an eleventh series - who keeps commissioning this - and Richard’s new emergency questions are coming true as he’s fresh from irking a postman. His guest is someone who used to only be able to speak to in drunken awe at early 1990s BBC Radio Light Entertainment parties, Paul Merton. They discuss their similarly comedy-nerdy teenage years, the early days of t...

#351 T n T - Richard’s daughter has written a story to rival the Men of Phise and Rich has come up with a new sitcom idea. His guests are his 1990s comedy rivals Adam and Joe. Find out how Song Wars nearly caused awkwardness for Joe, whether the documentary voice over man will be in Attack the Block 2, whether a 1990s parody of how rubbish the internet is stands up today, boarding school bullying...

#25 Routines About Buttons - Richard is still hungover from his birthday - what a day that was! He is joined by Brett Goldstein, a man who once ran a strip club with his dad. They talk about looking dead eyed into a camera on  Weekend Kitchen  at Waitrose, working with the Hoff, what it's like on Halloween when you're the only single man on your street, whether sex with a facel...

#350 Docking   - Richard had written an actual joke and been dreaming of tiny animal attacks, plus performing music in quite an unusual way. His guest it arguably a more accomplished musician - it’s the impossibly cool and talented Louise Wener.  They discuss the similarities of their experiences of school and the 90s, what it’s like to appear on Top of the Pops (and the impossibility of...

#24 Sean Bean's Pound Shop Subterfuge - Richard proves he is down with the cool kids by chatting to his teenage fans about skateboards and exams before introducing a man who is at home driving a Bronto-crane as he is befriending a talking snowman as he is having a friend who travels through time and gets off with Samantha Mumba whilst he waits around in Victorian London twiddling his thumbs, it's...

#349 timkey   - Richard’s son is a chip off the old block, though Richard is upset that Lego has introduced things that are chips instead of blocks. His guest is University fraud Tim Key. The pair compare garments before Richard suggests a radical rebrand for the actor/comedian, teases out the story of how Tim got into the Cambridge Footlights, and how Tim’s poet character developed. Plus a f...

#23 Suck Each Other Off A Bit - Richard reveals the hypocrisy of his parenting techniques and reminisces about the death of Lady Di. His first guest is Edinburgh Comedy Prize nominee Ahir Shah - they chat about Brexit, how looking into the sun proves your strength and wisdom and the older generations disregard for metaphorical ladders. His second guest is Edinburgh Comedy Prize nominee,...

#348 Vice Versa - Richard has seen a middle aged man score a major triumph over two trainee baristas over the absence of a plate. His guest this week also expects crockery in coffee shops, it’s David Mitchell.  They discuss the cruel and ever speeding passage of time, how to revolutionise body swap comedies, obituary photos, how David turned out to be right about Upstart Crow and how Covid di...

#22 The Main Thing Is Ricky Gervais Didn't Win - Rich is mortified about having accidentally crashed someone else's show and is thinking of becoming someone who pays to sit in a hairdressers. But the good news is that Colin is back to remind his guests of times that things have gone wrong for them. Rich's first guest personally knows many of the people that Rich not-so-secretly lusts ove...

#347 A Bag of Sausage Rolls - Richard is concerned about a doppelgänger who is out there somewhere claiming to be him (and whether it might be him) and why the fraud has such a paucity of ambition and his son has some unexpected good news. His guests are Ian and Barry from the Parapod podcast and MOVIE!  They chat about how to turn a podcast into a feature film, the alternate universe where t...

#21 Three Nights in Peterborough - Richard is so close to becoming the Radio Times Comedy Champion that he can almost taste it, which will just make his ultimate failure all the more painful and thus amusing, but luckily he almost shat his pants on a children's roundabout. HIs guest went one step further than that, it's the wonderful comedy genius James Acaster. They discuss how hot chocolate is n...

#346 RETRACTO! - After four years Richard has noticed a hubristic plaque at his local cricket pitch and is gunning for North Herts District Council - they will regret crossing him. His guest is a return of the number 1 RHLSTP guest and number 2 human being (after Michael Palin) Bob Mortimer.  There’s so much fun including the benefits of coiling like a snake, the mystery of the tiny sink, ret...

#20 The Boy Who Cried Batman - The King has returned and he's at the spooky New Theatre Grand Hall where the Masons get up to all sorts of mysterious time-travelling. And Richard is very excited to be welcoming comedy legends The Doug Anthony All Stars, Paul, Tim and Paul. There's lots of chat about the Edinburgh Fringe of the eighties, the point where comedy and tragedy meet, what happens when yo...

#345 Bruce Forsyth’s Tobacconist - Richard is shedding body parts in his dreams, but making the most of the first class medical treatment that comes from having the Big C in your Big T. His guest is comedy legend and parrot joke expert Barry Cryer. Barry reminisces about the many stars he’s worked with over the 60+years of his incredible career including Bob Hope, Graham Chapman, Kenny Everett and...

#19 What's It Like Being the Unattractive One from Lee and Herring? - Richard is gifted a front row audience member who is not only wearing red glasses but is also called Aanth (that is not a typo) and vents as much as he can whilst in a position of strength, knowing his guest should be able to wipe the floor with him, it's record-breaking poker player and the stern host of Only Connect, Victoria...

#344 Send in the Clones - It’s season 22 melon-farmers and we’re back at the Leicester Square Theatre where we belong and Rich has had no sleep and may not be his son’s real (or at least only) father. His guests are the hosts of the fabulous Nobody Panic podcast (and soon to be a book) Tessa Coates and Stevie Martin. They talk about meeting someone in the flesh for the first time after a year of w...

#18 Two Men in a Field with Walkie Talkies and it's All Clear - Psychic Richard manages to divine the life of someone in his front row merely by looking at him, though what he finds out about this person's nipples will change your life forever. His guest this week is the Rod Hull faced comedian James Acaster. You will find out what it's like to survive three car crashes and two train derailments,...

#343 Sit Down Wees  - Richard is back in Norwich and has an idea for a new Olympic discipline and gets paid big bucks to finally slag off someone’s uncle.. His guest is comedian and horror film maker, Matthew Holness.  They discuss whether he is the lost boy of comedy, if growing up in the same town as a horror legend led to his obsession with darkness, the hidden dangers of public infor...