I’ve nearly always got a podcast playing in the background, and a subscription list huge enough to be able pick different podcasts for different moods. Most people do not listen to podcasts that excessively, though, and sometimes run out of things to listen to.
So if you’re needing a giggle, and have a thing for British comedy, I have a list of seven podcasts that range from obscure to overwhelmingly successful for you to tune into when you feel a bit glum.
Off Menu
The Off Menu podcast with Ed Gamble and James Acaster has been a rip-roaring success, and it’s easy to see why.
The format is simple: get celebrity guests to come and talk about the meal they’d choose in a dream restaurant. But the reality, helped ably by James Acaster’s voyages into absurdity and Ed Gamble trying to hold his shit together when he does, is pretty much guaranteed hilarity.
The episodes with Elis James, Mel Giedroyc (she of Great British Bake Off fame) and Claudia Winkleman are particular favourites of mine, but honestly, I’ve rarely heard a bad episode from this pair.
Northern News
A relative newbie on the podcast scene, Northern News quickly became one of my faves. Amy Gledhill and Ian Smith are from the north of England but have moved to London, so they get together once a week to find hilarious and bizarre stories from the north.
Amy and Ian bounce off each other’s humour. They seem to genuinely make each other laugh, which quickly becomes contagious.
How was it for you? with Rachel Parris & Marcus Brigstocke
Comedians Rachel Parris and Marcus Brigstocke, who are married to each other, get together to talk about anything and everything, rating it all as they go, in How was it for you?
The blurb says “It’s the show where everything (yes everything) gets a star rating out of 5 – from the bizarre to the inane to the heartfelt (think: ‘different sock lengths’, ‘seeing plays surrounded by hundreds of children’ or ‘Marcus’ budget haircuts’)”, and what really comes across when you listen is how well they know each other and understand each other’s quirks and foibles.
Warning: you won’t be able to stop yourself calculating your own ratings for the randomness in your own head as you listen.
Memory Lane with Kerry Godliman and Jen Brister
Comedians Kerry Godliman and Jen Brister invite other comedians round to talk about their lives, focused around old photos of them, in Memory Lane.
The comedy talent – both the hosts and the guests – makes this very funny, but it’s often nicely nostalgic as well. And don’t worry about such a visual concept for a podcast, because their Instagram account shares all the photos the guests discuss.
Like Minded Friends with Tom Allen and Suzi Ruffell
Like Minded Friends with Tom Allen and Suzi Ruffell is “a podcast where two homo comedians talk about life, love and culture… sometimes”, and what makes this a lovely listen is that Tom and Suzi are genuinely good friends.
They have a shared life experience of being gay in a society where that can be really tough, but their instinct for comedy makes it a funny, rather than a tragic, conversation.
You really feel like you’re listening in to close friends at the next table in a cafe. But as it’s a podcast, you don’t have to stifle your laughter when one of them makes you giggle.
Mark Steel’s in Town
Mark Steel’s in Town features seasoned comedian Mark Steel, who tours the UK (and occasionally beyond) visiting towns that don’t get enough attention (or get overwhelmingly negative attention!). He learns all he can about the town, then does a show for people who live there, making fun of everything about it.
This is a lot less edgy than it sounds, though. Steel’s episodes are informative and genuinely funny, but they don’t really punch down. They just tease, and it’s thoroughly compelling listening.
My Dad Wrote a Porno
When Jamie Morton’s dad retired, he took up some new hobbies. Unfortunately for Jamie, one of them was self-publishing several erotic books. Well, I say “erotic”…
An absolute blockbuster of a podcast, My Dad Wrote a Porno has been downloaded over 240 million times. And Jamie’s misfortune is our fortune, because in the podcast, he and friends Alice Levine and James Cooper get together to read this terrible, terrible erotica and laugh at it.