Spieling The Beans

My guest this week is Dr Joanna Nadin. Starting out as a journalist, she soon entered the world of politics, working in Downing Street helping craft Blair’s speeches. She then turned to novel writing and has since become a hugely prolific, multi-award-winning author. Predominantly writing books for children and young adults, she's been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Prize, the Carnegie Medal, and...

My guest this week is Devin Delliquanti. After getting his start at The Onion, Devin’s written for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah ever since Trevor took over the show from Jon Stewart. He’s also written for Kenan Thompson when he hosted the NHL awards and has himself hosted the New York Video Game Awards three times. Recorded the day after Boris Johnson prorogued parliament, our transatlantic con...

My guest this week is Maggie Lalley, comedian and creator of Cold Blooded Witch: The Sex Musical. Maggie’s one woman show about her stint as a teen witch, which after a hugely successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe has since sold out all over NYC, is testament to the power of storytelling and Maggie’s ability to turn even the darkest material into incredible comedy. (Fair warning, this probably is...

My guest this week is Byron Lane, an actor, writer, Emmy-award-winning journalist and creator of Tilda Swinton Answers An Ad On Craigslist - one of the funniest plays I’ve ever seen. In the play, Tilda Swinton, played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Tom Lenk, is a modern-day Mary Poppins who finds a depressed gay man, Walt, played by Byron, on Craigslist and dissects his life for a character study f...

My guest this week is Gabe Mollica, whose Edinburgh Fringe debut hour - entitled The Whole Thing: A True Story of Love, Comedy and Rice Cakes - has seen him be compared to a young Mike Birbiglia. He has also been featured on the NPR / BBC Radio 4 storytelling show The Moth, has written jokes for the New York Video Game Awards and is the host of the ever-popular Funniest People I Met This Month com...

My guest this week is Catherine Bohart, star of BBC Two’s The Mash Report, Comedy Central’s Roast Battle, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier and The Guilty Feminist Podcast. We spoke about how to write a weekly satirical show, how school debate clubs create comedians of the future, and why stories within stand-up can create empathy.

My guest this week is Anna Drezen. As a writer for Saturday Night Live, Anna created the legendary Debette Goldry sketches (played by Kate McKinnon), along with many others including the brilliant Romano Tours and Nephew Pageant. She's also been the editor of Reductress and even a student of Shakespeare at RADA. In a busy Pleasance Courtyard bar, minutes after she stepped off stage from her Edinbu...

My first guest is AJ Holmes - star of The Book of Mormon (playing the iconic role of Elder Cunningham in the West End, Broadway and Australian productions), a writer for South Park, co-creator of Starkid musicals such as A Very Potter Musical, and currently appearing in his Edinburgh Fringe debut 'Yeah, But Not Right Now'. We talk in his kitchen over a cup of Guayusa tea about how he went from pre...

Welcome to a brand new podcast series called Spieling The Beans in which storytellers tell their stories about telling stories.