Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast (RHLSTP)

#240 Forgetting About Caterpillars - Richard is back at Sheffield City Hall and has some hard-hitting topical questions to ask before introducing his guest dancing comedian Seann Walsh.  They talk about how Rich undermined Seann during a recording of Argumental, the downside of a comedian being discovered too quickly, the extraordinary tour documentary One For The Road (link below) and Rich’s...

#239 Car Porn - Richard has returned to the Brighton Theatre Royal for the second consecutive week and is worried that he has let down a squirrel, but he has no time to ponder as his guest is juggler and writer of erotic fiction, Simon Evans. They chat about finding magazines in the woods, how to make a living making juggling balls, whether future technology will allow us to travel into a virtual...

#238 Degree! Degree! - Richard is at the City Hall in steel obsessed Sheffield and his guest is proudly professional Yorkshireman and poet, Ian McMillan. The conversation dances through Tupperware drum sets, performing with Luke Goss, Ian’s parents’ love story, being crushed to death by a grave stone, the best chemist in Darfield, being a poet in resident for a football club, cartoon dogging, wher...

#237 Christmas Presents for Ethiopia - Richard is at the Brighton Theatre Royal and in danger of having a deadly secret revealed unless he stumps up the cash, but is it worth the price he has to pay? Never mind, he can forget all about it for now, as he chats with model turned presenter turned actor turned author turned therapist, Annabel Giles.  They discuss teenage rebellion, accidentally b...

#236 Don’t Look Down - Richard has yet another stomach upset, adding some much needed jeopardy to the podcast. And it’s a meeting of Turner Prize winners past and future as his guest is a name that will echo through the ages (hello future humans) Grayson Perry. They discuss God-like soft toys, the similarities between comedy and art, motorcycle clothing, women’s clothing, masculinity, gender rigid...

#235 Tiny Teeth - Rich is at the Cambridge Corn Exchange and has had a dream about eating lettuce with Blur and that’s pretty much the most exciting thing that’s happened to him this week. His guests are the most bizarre of things, a double act that like each other, Max and Ivan.  They chat about falling asleep whilst acting, organising stag dos, watching yourself toilet, the Spanish equivale...

#234 Little Tich's Shoes - RHLSTP returns to the Marlowe Theatre I’m Canterbury for the second week running and Rich is doing some of his topical material about St Augustine. His guest is the artist and musician Jim Moir aka Vic Reeves.  They talk about the unique delights of being managed by Malcolm Hardee, how to improve the number 2 Ultravox hit, Vienna, how Morrissey turned nasty, how Vic...

#233 Joke Thief - RHLSTP comes to the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, a town divided by what should happen to the local takeaway shop, but with an audience smart enough to get a Thomas a Beckett joke. The guest this week is sometimes known as dopey Barry from Eastenders, but is actually the quiz champion smartypants Shaun Williamson.  They discuss how Shaun went from boozy postman via inc...

#231 Bohemian Rhapsody Karaoke - RHLSTP is back at the Warwick (Coventry) Arts Centre and Richard is discussing his daughter’s reaction to the Teletubbies and his son following in his footsteps. His guest is actor and temporary expert on ugly pets, Caroline Quentin.  They discuss the most terrifying children’s TV characters, being sacked for failing to dress priests, the wonder of Bernie...

#231 The World’s Most Successful Homeless Man - RHLSTP rolls into Warwick Arts Centre, but is it really in lovely Warwick or horrible Coventry? And should a city that keeps breaking Cathedrals be allowed another one? Richard’s guest this week has got to the venue despite being man-handled at Coventry railway station, it’s the charming and handsome Herring lookalike, Bobby Mair.  They discuss...

#230 Back, Sack and Crack Salon - Rich has a terrible confession to make about this podcast, which somehow shocks and appals his audience, but there will be plenty more appalling stuff to come as he introduces the diabetic comedian, Ed Gamble.  Giddy from hunger, tiredness and having to behave properly for last week’s podcast, Rich is the drunkest he’s been in 2019 (even though he still hasn’...

#229 Herring:Sheen - Rich has come back from his holiday for this and why wouldn’t he? But will his guest turn up this time? The bad news, if he doesn’t, is that Nish Kumar is ill... there’s no jeopardy here, obviously he turns up or there’d be no podcast. The guest is the fantastic UFOologist Michael Sheen.  The pair discuss why the best bit has been missed out of the new War of the Worlds,...

Wedding Anniversary Gift - Richard Herring forms an uneasy truce with his greatest enemy, the feminists, to create a podcast mash-up of RHLSTP and the Guilty Feminist. Who will take charge in this clash of the cults? Deborah or Richard and how will their guest Siobhan McSweeney (aka Sister Michael on Derry Girls) relax and how far dare he go in front of the GF audience? There’s mansplaining, falli...

#228 Jackhammer - Another week has gone by and we’re at King’s Place again and Rich congratulates Kings Cross on another record breaking success and meets his new upmarket audience. His guest is actor turned waiter turned writer turned stand-up Sara Barron. They chat about life in New York and what you do when your toilet isn’t working, waiting on the famous, they weirdness of ex-partners still be...

#227 One Day This Could All Be Yours - We’re at the swanky King’s Place in King’s Cross (with a few teething troubles with the radio mics- sorry audiophiles) for the next few weeks and Rich is amazed at people reviewing the queue to Platform 9 and 3/4 at the nearby station, but his guest is the bachelor comedian (for the next 3 days) Russell Howard. They discuss footballing comedians, how Rich mig...

#226 Clown Pyjamas - After last week’s respectful chat with the great Jimmy Cricket, the gloves are off and it’s time to spew up a gut load of filth with third time RHLSTP (plus guest for three Edinburgh podcasts) Sarah Millican. But who will win the battle this time? Rich goes into a bit too much detail about a bout of food poisoning that, to be fair, he isn’t entirely finished with. But if fire...

RHLSTP supports #PODSTRIKE on Friday September 20th 2019. This week will be historic. In over 150 countries, people are stepping up to support young climate strikers and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. The climate crisis won’t wait, so neither will we. Young people have woken up much of the world with their powerful Fridays For Future school strikes for the climate. Now, millions of adul...

#225 Come Closer To The Screen - We’re on the road still and at the Lowry in Salford where the lightest local headline is not really ripe for frivolity, but at least they are paying fitting tribute to their greatest painter. And it’s possible that the theatre is literally on fire, but Richard is not letting that stop him. The guest tonight is showbiz legend and punster extraordinaire, Jimmy Cricke...

#224 Emmerdale Farm There’s a weird giddy atmosphere in the room at the Leeds City Varieties, but you’ll have to try and use the clues in this podcast to piece together what you think might have happened, because this week the guests are the supremely polite and sensible Mark and Dominic (aka Marlon and Paddy from Emmerdale Farm). They chat about how to not let fame go to your head, the snobbishne...

#223 Second Back at the Old Market in Hove for a second (separate) week and Richard has more disappointing reviews of local tourist attractions, plus news of a life-changing bin-based compensation. His guest is a man who is more Brighton than a stick of rock, it’s Stephen Grant. Stephen tells us how he came within a heartbeat of being in Top Gear and might also have been in The Office were it not...

#222 The Voice of Burnt Tits Richard is wearing his wedding suit, but has forgotten about the secret curse that it possesses that might destroy his esteemed standing in society, but the added jeopardy might help those with erotic expectations from their entertainment. We’re at the Old Market in Hove and the guest is nuclear-bunker obsessed Angela Barnes. They discuss whether we are all just charac...

Flo and Joan and John Kearns Ed Fringe #21 Nine Minutes- Rich has just hit the 200 average crowd he coveted and worked out just how much his landlord has made from each ticket sold and there’s an end of term atmosphere as he meets Flo and Joan and John Kearns. With Flo and Joan the talk revolves around time travelling gang bangs, Bros’ Cheddar antics, double act rivalry and memories of Tring....

Thom Tuck and Tom Rosenthal #20 - A Noble Failure - Rich has a visual surprise for his audience (and for you if you haven’t looked at the picture yet, that will infuriate his wife. His guests are stereo philosophy graduate T(h)oms, Tuck and Rosenthal. With TT the discussion turns to International schools, the meaning of life, straight to DVD Disney films and putting Macbeth on in an hour with two...

George Egg and Cally Beaton - RHLSTP Edfringe 2019 #19 - The Big Hub Is Open - Rich is meeting all the best celebrities backstage at the venue. You won’t believe who it was yesterday. Anyway no spoilers, my guests today are anarchist cook George Egg and gamekeeper turned poacher Cally Beaton. With George the discussion turns to old school variety, the perils of prop building, how to cook...

RHLSTP Ed Fringe 2019 #18 Susan Murray and Alice Fraser - Robot Sex Again - Rich has found out why he’s not on TV and whose fault it is and he is NOT happy. Never mind his guests Susan Murray and Alice Fraser should cheer him up. Except that Susan is talking about plane crashes (and how to survive them), as well as the plight of middle aged comedians, being bitten in a mosh pit and when comedians...