Comedy of the Week - Stand-Up SpecialsAurie Styla: Tech Talk

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Comedian Aurie Styla returns to rampage through the history of technology, through his own experience as a self-confessed tech nerd growing up in the 90s, and various things you thought you’d forgotten.With his interactive, wildly funny style, tonight the focus is on the role tech has played in our fitness lives: for better or worse.An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4.

I'm trying to get that summer 2026 IB for body ready. I want to walk around in the vest top with my arms unswole in shorts with legs looking like Conan the barbarian. How? Well, well, first things first. I need a smart water bottle, a Fitbit watch, aura ring, a food log app, smart trainers, a digital scale, the latest hot monitor earbuds. And sign me up to the gym plan at Peloton Plus, couch to 5K, zombie runner, simple fasting and chat GPT premium for AI Fitness. plan specifically for me and I'm broke. So you know what?

Summer 2027, let's run it then, yeah? Hello, I'm Auri Styler and this is Tech Talk, the show where I explore the timeline of technology we use for our everyday lives. Today's one is a personal one for me because no matter how much I do it, there's always a mirror somewhere that lets me know you need to do it more.

Not all of us do it, some do it a bit too much. Trying to see who the muscle man in here is. Nobody, okay. But if truth be told, we all should do it, and that is keeping fit. Whether it's trying to get into those wedding clothes, building to look like a wrestler in case you confront your high school bully, or building up your stamina for those extracurricular activities.

Fitness has been around since the beginning of time. But how has technology become so involved? Well, firstly, let's take a look back as far as we have actively documented fitness. In the Old Testament, of the Bible. There are examples of physical fitness for the good guys and the bad. Samson was extremely strong until he met a shady hairdresser.

Goliath was six cubits. That's roughly nine feet tall and built like Zangir from Street Fighter. However, sources say he might have been juicing so that's cheating. You not know how them Philistines were all. David killed Goliath as he was excellent at miniature shot put.

And Jesus was a well-toned carpenter and builder. who most definitely got his steps in. So only he knows why construction workers of the 21st century looked like PDC world darts champions. But it's in ancient Greece where we start to see the dedication to fitness and athleticism with the popularity of the original Olympic Games. Athletes became celebrated for their capabilities

and feats of sports such as track, field, gymnastics, swimming, rowing, pancreation, chess kicking of Persian emissaries into holes in the ground while screaming, this is Sparta. Pliometrics, calisthenics, ballistics. Like you, I have no idea what they mean. I thought they were characters from the asterix comics. We still have statues of these early beloved Olympians.

Theogenes of Thasos, Leonidas of Rhodes, Coriabus of Ellis. And by studying these monuments and statues, we can see that these men were in great condition and competed with no arms and their pee-pies out for some reason. Back then there were no ways to measure results apart from testing your feats of strength

in real-time activities. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, losing back then meant you didn't have a chance to try again, if you know what I mean. Back then, you couldn't count calories. In fact, calories weren't invented until the early 1800s. That doesn't mean food didn't have calories

in ancient times. It means that the unit of measurement to see how greedy the big backtivities I partaking when I eat a whole apple crumble that's meant to serve for were not measuring. I'm not the only one, don't do that. But for all the time fitness has been pivotal in society,

it's not until the 1960s that we start to see the first steps into the world of fitness technology. Literally, the pedometer step counting device created in Japan is noted to be the first ever portable piece of technology for fitness. And I can't be alone in thinking this, which brings me to what I call the nexus point. An intersection or technological advance advance that cannot be limited to one theme.

So impactful that it changes the world around us. Our first nexus point, the invention of the VHS in 1976 by JVC and the Walkman by Sony in 1979. There's got some old people in here, yes. It is an understatement to say that the video home system revolutionised home entertainment and cinema. You can watch movies, record what was on TV, and rent, all for home.

viewing. Some of you even hid VHS tapes under your bed or above your wardrobe for reasons I shall not see. And if you think VHS changed the world, it pales to when the Sony Walkman hit the streets. A staple in the 80s, alongside bright-colored headbands, workout wear, big hair and great synth-based music. We can now listen on the go. Now, how does this influence the world of fitness you say? Well, the Sony Walkman had a huge increase on public physical activity. People would go for runs, roller skate, ride bicycles, whilst having headphones in their ears, which help outdoor fitness be less boring. And for when you saw someone you didn't want to speak to, you didn't have to pretend you was hard of hearing. You could actually not hear them. And as for the

VHS, imagine you're next door and your mum is doing her morning workout before the school run and all you hear coming from her insanely huge for the era of 32-inch CRT TV. Okay, let's get it together. Who is ready to get that groovy funky body? Give me a yeah! Yeah! If you want to be as stylish as Schwarzenegger, as beautiful as Brooke Shields and as rocking as George Michael,

give me a oh yeah. Oh yeah! You are all amazing, but guess what? That was just a warm-up. And for 59.95 plus a two-week wait for poster to have you to do. You can get part two, and we can really start to get a good workout going. Hit that rewind button and I'll see you again tomorrow. Oh, gosh.

Yeah, it got a little expensive. back then to keep fit at home, so forget the rewind, but let's fast forward to today, the 21st century. The most technically fit we have ever been. It's also the most obese we have ever been too, something that technology loves to suddenly remind us. Take the smart watch. Remember when the watch used to just tell the time?

Remember that? Not now. This device to my wrist loves to remind me of everything I don't want to focus on. Oy, jelly belly, get up and stand for two minutes. Go burn some calories and hit you, your target, you rotund stack of cheese. All right, the watches don't say those exact words, maybe, but that's just how I feel when I read it.

The point is they can detect your movement, track your heart rate, count the calories you have burnt specific to the types of workouts you do, and even notify friends and families if you take a fall. After the watch is your phone, which we know is basically your everything, communication, device, banking system, dating tool. In the fitness world, match your watch to your phone, and now you have all your fitness data logged and accessible for review. You can see the effort you made in the weeks leading up to your friends holiday.

You can even see how much work you've put in on your honeymoon night. If you know what I mean. In fact, let me, hold on, let me check mine. One sec. Boom. Yep. See? Yeah, man. According to my watch, I am single and lonely. All right. Have you ever needed guidance on how to exercise

or maybe use inspiration for your next workout? No need to go back to VHS because you can watch countless clips and read up on plans through fitness apps. the motivator in the morning's warped so that countless PTs around the world giving their best advice on fitness plans can run all from the palm of your hand. We are spoiled for choice.

Lord knows why we aren't all built like four and Wonder Woman by now. Is there anyone that has a friend with them on some mad fitness stuff? Oh, I can see from here you look like one of them slimy personal trainers, yes. Brother, what's your name?

Jordan. Roy, don't force the voice. Don't force it, that is not. Uh, Jordan. I said, what's the name? Optimus Prime started to speak. All right, Jordan. What's your regime like?

I run down at this local park. Mm-hmm. So I do two laps and then 20 plots per lap, 15 dips per lap. And then after that, I run along a river. Up another hill. Where do you live? That sounds nice, bro.

Okay. Anyone else with friends with Mad Fitness stories here? Oh, wait. We've got one. There. A friend keeps pointing right to the side of her head. Because she goes every evening after work. You go every day normally? I don't go every day.

How often a week? Just four times. That's not, that's cool. That's not crazy. That's like recommended. You're one of them friends that are madgino. Oh, you eat your five a day. This girl's magical.

Four times a week is all right. Don't let your friend forth. How often do you go, Jim? I don't. You don't. You got to go with her, man. Not saying you need to, like, I'm not saying, What we do on the weekend, she goes to gym four nights a week.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We go out and do Zumba. Is that what we call it? You call nightclub raving Zumba? Is that what you're saying? All right. All right. Now, I don't know about you.

There is one device needed for me when I train. My headphones. Listen, if I do not have music in my ears, you can throw away the whole training session in the bin. I might as well drink butter and just call it a day. There is nothing worse than trying to go to do a gym session and the clanging of weights and now that's what I call music 145 playing in the background. And if you remember, now that's what I call music, then you're old.

Like, now I can't digest gluten any more old, you know what I mean? A good set of sweat-proof, well-fit earbuds made for active lifestyles are now the norm for all who keep fit. Even with me, I go swimming twice a week. And before anyone says anything smart, yes, I said swimming. And yes, I can. And thanks to active wear, I have bone conducting waterproof headphones

that make it a lot less boring to do lengths in the pool. Yeah, no. But what about made purely for workout pieces of personal fitness technology? Have these advanced? Absolutely. Take the treadmill, for example, created in the 19th century

as a prison torture device. I'm not joking. Prisoners would run on this machine for extended periods of time to be punished for their crime, while simultaneously breaking up grain, put into a grinding mill connected to the tread belt, hence the name treadmill.

Yeah, ma'am. So they put convicted felons on a heavy cardio plan whilst moving bags of grain, weight, and a strict diet of the necessities whilst having a free PT session by the prison guard shouting at them to get that extra burn. And the law wondered why so many prison breaks happened during that era.

You had prisoners doing high rocks whilst the lazy guards couldn't catch them. A similar journey occurred with other exercise machines such as a stationary bike, a medical machine in the 18th century to a fitness machine in the modern day, and a step machine, a variation of the punishment and torture devices used in prisons in the 19th century that stayed being a punishment and torture device

that I pay a gyps inscription to use in the 21st century. Now, I hate that machine. I hate that machine, man. I don't need fies or quads that badly. I don't. So what's better than having to do that? go to the gym to use this equipment, is to bring the gym to you, meaning that treadmills and stationary bikes are common in many homes, used for the quick workout before heading to the office or an extra rail to hang clothing on. Now, let's be honest, buying a treadmill bike doesn't mean instant discipline. So that's the convenient part, but what about the less boring? Like the

Peloton spin bike, a one-stop shop machine that's more than just a commodity to increase the price of your Airbnb booking. Whilst you ride your bike, you can watch the screen and follow the instructor, live, compete against others in your session, have your progress and stats biometrically monitored in real time and be a part of a fitness community all without leaving your home. The culmination of all ingredients we've discussed, pieced together to bake the perfect personal fit tech cake that you can't eat because calories still exist in this timeline. So what's next in the world of personal fitness technology? In my eyes, I don't know if things are reaching too convenient and making us lazy.

Like, check this. What happens when the technology doesn't even require our body to be involved? Like, we've already seen people live their leisurely life through avatars, not the movie, but digital representations of themselves, usually programmed as what we would like to look like. Am I being too paranoid?

I don't know. How many of your kids today want Robux? Digital money for their Roblox account so their goofy-looking avatar can have a T-shirt that says 6-7 on it. even though they have holes in their real socks and barely brush their teeth. What happens if the movie surrogate becomes parallel

with our real life? Where we don't leave our homes, we just lay in a pod that controls a cybernetic dummy of our idealistic self and spend money in time shaping our surrogates to look better, but no need to keep fit ourselves. Time will tell. Until then, the only piece of technology

I want to see invented is a calorie transfer machine. Nah, because I'm tired of having a juicier booty and thicker legs and whoever I've dated. You take them. Thank you and good night. Ori Stylis' tech talk was written and performed by me, the man himself, and it was an impatient production for BBC Radio 4. Hey, what's going on? This is Ori Stiler. Hey, if you liked that episode of Tech Talk, great.

Guess what? There's more available right now on BBC Sounds. All you've got to do is search Ori Stiler, Tech Talk. and they'll be right there for you. Go and enjoy, and I'll catch you soon. Hey, I'm Slim. When I was at school, my report card said, He's clever but not applying himself.

Little did my teachers know. This kid from South London would go from driving a bus in Brixton to becoming the first black British comedian to sell out the London Palladium. So when my daughter asked me about my life, you know, what was it like? I realised I've had a hell of a ride.

So I'm going to tell my story through every decade from where I feel at home. On the comedy stage. Yeah, man. Slim's Guide to Life. Listen to the whole series now on BBC Sounds.