Worst Foot Forward

Buy tickets to see Barry's new short play at Miniaturists at the Arcola Theatre, June 12th 2022. Here come the grooms! We are getting ourselves to the podcast on time this week with comedian Tadiwa Mahlunge to help plan the World's Worst Wedding Ceremony. We discover the truth behind Game of Thrones's most famous scene, how to ward of a plague with a mere bit of matrimony and how many weddings are...

It's been Ben and Barry's birthday this month and to celebrate they're digging out all the best facts about the month of May. Find out why maypole are a revolutionaries best friend and which day of the month you should celebreate Pinch Bum Day. Follow us on Twitter:  @worstfoot   @bazmcstay   @benvandervelde   Join us on our Discord server!  https://discord.gg/9buWKthgfx Visit  www.worstfootforwar...

This week we take to the skies alongside aeronautical history expert and commodore of the hugely esteemed Hush Kit blog Joe Coles. Together we uncover a history of marvellous men in their incredibly stupid flying machines that have too many or too few wings, propellers in places they really shouldn't be and the sort of safety record you'd expect at a nitroglycerin factory staffed by fire jugglers....

Someone told us it's all happening at the zoo. That someone is illustrator and science communicator Hana Ayoob, that zoo is the World's Worst Zoo, and what's happening there? Well, there's taxidermy from Barry, renegade honey badgers from Hana and escaped animal drills gone VERY wrong from Ben! Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde   @Hana_SciArt Join us on our Discord server...

To celebrate us reaching an arbitrary, but also pretty impressive milestone, Ben and Barry find out absolutely everything about the number 250.  The trivia tunnels take them to Chinese slang, numerology, Fermat's last theorem and a cracking rabbinical anecdote. Keep listening for another 250 episodes if you're a big fan of cobbled together facts about the number 500. Follow us on Twitter:  @worstf...

* We're now on Instagram! @worstfoot  * It's the big birthday, the day of days, let the jubilation commence! Worst Foot Forward's 250th Episode arrives in all its rag-glads, dressed down to the ones and ready to party like it's 1499. Ben and Barry share all sorts of facts and stories about birthdays, celebrations, presents, ageing and cake with a little help from a whole host of past guests. Joini...

* We're now on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/worstfoot/  * It's the week of our 250th show and we've planned a bumper celebration period for you! Coming up on Wednesday you'll get the 250th episode itself with lots of special appearances by past guests, facts sent in by you lot and some party trivia from Barry and Ben. On Friday there will be a 3rd Foot all about the number 250. But to star...

Roll up your sleeves, wiggle your fingers thaumaturgically and make sure your magical staff is fully charged as we uncover the worst wizards in history and fiction.  Joined by children's author and Norse god wrangler Louie Stowell we rate a parade of the usual suspects from Gandalf to Potter, discover wizarding celebrities from South London and New Zealand, 1500 year old men who claimed to know Ch...

CONTAAAAAAAAACT! *sound of spinning propellers followed by the clanging of a disintegrating engine* We're joined this week by star of West End musical hit Operation Mincemeat David Cumming to talk about the world's worst marvelous men in the their flying machines. We discover why animals make terrible pilots (other than their lack of opposable thumbs), the inspiring story of the man who never was...

It's getting a bit sunnier here in the UK so we're adopting a sunny outlook this week. It's one of our intermittent epiosdes where we go back to former shows, revisit the topics and look for the BEST in that category rather than worst. We explore episodes 81, 82, 84 and 85 and talk about the World's Best Prank, Resignation, Emperor and Detective. Expect appearances by clean lions, formally-written...

We're feeling erotic, acrobatic and adventurous this week as we're joined by comedian, actor, writer and bedroom athlete Sam Pamphilon to decide upon the very worst that the karma sutra can throw at us. As well as the most infamous sex guide in history we discuss the practicalities, benefits and costs of certain well-known numbers to gay and straight couples, why you shouldn't mix extreme sports a...

We are lifting our eyes to the heavens this week and not just because we are rolling them in disgust but because we are trying to espy the world's worst astronomer. We have QI Elf and lapsed physicist Lauren Gilbert joining us to check out Tycho Brahe's nose collection, while Ben attends the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony and Barry wipes pigeon poop off his telescope. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @ba...

Ben is away on vacation this week so we're releasing our usual monthly bonus episode on a Monday as it's all about holidays! Featuring the world's shortest runways, audacious attempts to smuggle fish through airports, the king who tried to bugger a seaside town and the man who has invented more holidays than Hallmark. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde   Join us on our Dis...

Open wide and get ready to swallow the most eccentric concoctions as we explore the pipettes and poisons of the world's worst medicine. Joined by author, journalist and world heavyweight fact-checking champion Tom Phillips we discover how many rattlesnakes you have to behead to make genuine snake oil, which is the very worst bit of a corpse to be treated with and welcome back an old friend to the...

It's the disco from Hell this week as we are spinning the records that comprise the World's Worst Novelty Songs. We have the excellent performer Guy Kelly alongside us to take us back to childhood drives listening to children's songs. Meanwhile Barry uncovers exactly how much is the doggie in the window and Ben reveals the tragedy that befell one Dutch rabbit at Christmas. With guest appearances f...

For this month's bonus episode we have a guest! Having recently covered the World's Worst Historical Movie, one listener got in touch to bring a major omission to our attention: The Conqueror, starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan. That was enough of an elevator pitch to catch our attention. Even better, Ryan Uytdewilligen has also written a book about that ill-fated project. We have brought him ont...

Saddle up on your finest seven-legged steed and join us for some dragon-slaying. Joined by top Twitch streamer PapaGlitch aka Chris Purchase we head into the thickets of Russian cinema, the crumbling coda of Marlon Brando's career and a lot of stuff that looks like softcore pornography but isn't softcore pornography to find the absolute pits of the fantast genre. Read about the background to myste...

This week you find us moaning and groaning in agony as we lie broken and scarred after our search for the World's Worst Pain. We are joined by the fantastic comedian Andrea Hubert to investigate emotional and physical hurt with cameos by insects which hunt tarantulas, the worst case of tonsilitis one doctor has ever seen and the pastry wars of Gascony. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @...

Half of us are still recovering from Omicron here at WFF Towers, so rather than make ourselves feel even worse,we've opened up the vaults and picked five of the best examples of topics from previous episodes.  Ben and Barry give their suggestions for the best therapist, housemate, hangover, band name and dance. There's some classic choices, some dubious arguments and about as much Beatles, Muppets...

Seconds out, round 241 in our ongoing battle with trivia itself. This week we're on the ropes with former MMA fighter and current excellent comedian John Meagher as we take on all-comers for the title of World's Worst Boxer. There's an arrogant YouTuber - not that one - a journeyman who wins at losing, and the marquess whose reputation for fair play is very much misplaced. Follow us on Twitter: @w...

It's our party and we'll share trivia if we want to! In light of recent political parties to hit the headlines in the UK, Ben takes Barry on a wild ride through some of history's most orgiastic celebrations. We cavort with the Emperor Nero, watch too much ballet with Louis XIV and dress up as cars with the hoi polloi of 1920s Paris. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde   Joi...

5, 6, 7, 8! We are scribbling on staves and causing chaos with crotchets this week as we are joined by music historian Dr Leah Broad to discuss the World's Worst Composer. We wade through the lovelife and dressing-up habits of Hector Berlioz, the pigeon-painting of a barmy English aristocrat and the one-hit wonder who died in wild and historic circumstances.  Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazm...

It's great to be here with this week's episode of *check A4 sheet on the back of guitar* Worst Foot Forward to talk about the worst festivals in history. Joined by the host of the Castival podcast, Matt Hoss, we talk about the disastrous iterations of Woodstock, the plague-ridden Chicago World's Fair and why you should be very careful promoting a Charles Dickens Festival. Follow us on Twitter:  @w...

We're gazing into our crystal balls this week in search of answers to the question "what is the World's Worst Prediction?" We see a handsome stranger entering our lives in the form of comedian Peter Brush who will lead us on a journey of self-discovery alongside Brazilian football legend Pele. Along the way, Ben flings some fish at a Belfast wall in search of love and Barry grinds his axe against...

*BOOK TICKETS TO OUR NEXT LIVE SHOW* - Sunday 20th February 2022, 2.30pm at VAULT Festival, London with special guests Johnny Chiodini and Ellie Gibson:  https://vaultfestival.com/events/worst-foot-forward-live-recording/   Join us down at the WFF allotment along with our guest Robyn Perkins as we uncover the dangerous history of Mr Potatohead, battle turnips, deadly carrots and a mystery hairy ve...