Comedy of the Week - Your Mum

Episode Date: June 30, 2025

Janine tells us what happened when she was swapped at birth, why her brother has a bunker in Arizona and how her mum rules the roost with her ‘feminine guile’. Russell gives his hot take on childbirth, makes a case against toddler food and thanks his mum for putting up with his extraordinary amount of energy.In this series, Laura Smyth sits down with some incredible guests to find out about their mums and explore the many faces of ‘motherhood’. Join her for a nostalgic, shameless, cathartic ride that asks what (if anything) our folks have taught us. To hear more episodes search "Your Mum" on BBC Sounds.Producer: Sasha Bobak Production Coordinator: Katie Baum Executive Producer: Pete StraussA BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.

BBC Sounds music radio podcasts. Hello, hello, I'm Laura Smith and welcome to Your Mum, a series where we do a deep dive into mums. Each episode I will be interviewing two celebrity guests to find out about the indelible mark their mothers left on them. Were their mums overprotective, underprotective, hypercritical, hypocritical, a shoulder to cry on, domineering, unpredictable, totally absent or actually their grandma? We find out in Your Mum!

Being born in the early 80s, I'm securely in the generation of kids whose mum did the lion's share of the child rearing. And by that, I mean, I don't think my dad even noticed he had kids. I spent my whole childhood thinking I was going to get a puppy because he was always going to see a man about a dog. It was just him and his mates. You know the type, old school geezers. You usually see them outside betting shops, give you mad unsolicited advice like, I'll

tell you what, don't you worry about who you're worried about. Worry about who you ain't worried about. That's who you've got to worry about." They were like, "'Cheers, Tommy, I'm eight. I don't know what to do with that.'" Basically, what I'm saying is, in the 80s and before, especially in East London, all mums were single mums, really. My mum was busy with keeping the whole house functioning.

She never stopped. But just know, when she did sit down, she always made a point of telling you she's just sat down. Nowadays, dads are on the school run and things like that, carrying book bags over their shoulders and micro scooters like little cartoon couriers. But you'd think now, being a mum with all this support from the dads would be easier, but not so. Nowadays, we're doing it alongside a career and the pressures of gender reveal parties,

making balloon arches for their first day of nursery, pick your own pumpkin patches at Halloween. Pumpkins are £2 in Asda's, why am I halfway up the A12? Ankle deep in mud, spending £40 just so I can get a photo of my rightfully miserable kids and put it on my Instagram with the caption, hashtag blessed. And matching Christmas pajamas. You have to do that now. You have to do that now.

For something, you do it. You do it. You see, why are you doing it? Because Stacey Solomon told you to do it. That's why. And the matching Christmas pajamas, I won't lie to you, it's affecting my marriage. Because even though my husband has no choice in the matter,

because I run the show, I bought them for me, him, the kids and the dog, I did look over at him when he had them on and think, Av, let me talk you into this, you div. You're a builder, you're matching with a Pomeranian, what are you doing? We live in this mad child-centric culture now. You know what my only activity was growing up?

Playing out. That was it. We ran those streets. My summer holidays were feral. I only went into my house to eat or get told off. And I loved it. I don't remember my mum planning things. We planned things.

Illegal things. There was a massive building site at the end of my street one year, and we basically lived on it. As soon as the builders downed tools for the day, we were there. It's like we did the night shift. We did so much damage, it was like the opposite of the elves and the shoemaker. Proper little scrotes.

Since becoming a mum, two things have astounded me about my own mother. One, the 180-degree shift in personality of my mum as mother to my mum as grandmother. I've basically given birth to my mum's fan club, and they're in this mutual appreciation society that I cannot gain access to. They don't want me. The second thing to astound me is how little she remembers about us growing up.

I have bombarded her with questions over the years, like, when did I get my first tooth? How old was I when I started walking? What was my first word? Whatever happened to our pet terrapin hamster dog? All these questions have been met with the same answer. Oh, I don't know. LAUGHTER

Not a clue. She's not got one clue. Were you even there, Mum? Now, it's time to welcome our guests and find out what their mums remember and what they remember about their mums. Not a clue, she's not got one clue. Were you even there, mum? Now, it's time to welcome my guests and find out what their mums remember and what they remember about their mums. So, my first guest is a Staten Island-born, UK-based comedian whose parents are called Mary and Joseph.

And no, we haven't booked Jesus Christ, his agent was a nightmare to get hold of. It's Janine Harouni, everyone! Our second guest is a multi award-winning stand-up and host of hip podcast Evil Genius, Russell Kane everyone. Religious leader James E Faust once said there is no greater good in all the world than motherhood. Amen to that. Ain't no hood like motherhood. Guys, do you think motherhood makes someone a better person? I became a mother this year,

and I can say emphatically, thank you. No, it does not make you a better person. It is the toughest thing I've ever done, and I feel like it's made me hard as nails. And it starts, like, day one. I had a C-section, and I told my husband's friend and he just went, took the easy route, popped that baby out the sunroof. I was like, yeah, I popped that baby out the sunroof of a car that doesn't have a sunroof.

Yeah. We had a c-section as well. No, no, no, no. We did not have a c-section. Fix those pronouns. That was not an inclusion C-section as well. No, no, no, no. We did not have a C-section. Fix those pronouns. That was not an inclusion. My pronouns are we. No, but Lindsay had, our baby wouldn't turn round, or awkward and dramatic before she was even born, cawed around the neck, can I have some attention? And then, I've just got to speak up for the guys here, because every man in the room is

like, don't say the wrong thing. No one is playing down the miracle and trauma of what you get. I'm just describing my experience that can sit alongside yours. It's valid. We will hold space for it. Thank you very much. But you go home as a man that night, and it is the most useless and incompetent and pointless seed bank you've ever felt.

Not only that, but your whole dimension of what you should value and worship and praise and protect has changed. And I don't know about any of the other lads in the room, it's the weirdest night at home of my life. Like trying to think of things to do to be useful. I had this, I got up in the next day with the few dates, you know, with the baby seat thing,

a couple of days later when you're going to... That's your main role, bro. And I got to the car park and I was shaking, I'm like, why am I shaking? And I was shaking with like a sort of existential crisis. And the worst thing is as a man, you daren't describe one syllable of what you are going through to your wife.

Or she'll be like, oh I had an existential crisis in the car park. I've just been sewn up from the bumhole to the wife. You'll be like, oh, I had an existential crisis in the car park. I've just been sewn up from the bumhole to the kidneys. Do you want me to shut you now before I knock you out? But the quote is nonsense, of course. It depends on the person. Yeah, I know.

This whole day, like motherhood makes you better. I'm just disagreeing. I mean, have you met women without children? They smell good. They look good. They drink hot coffee. I don't know what we were thinking, Janine. Right. look good, they drink hot coffee. I don't know what we were thinking, Janine. Right. Janine, I am going to start with you.

I hear your mum has something that your dad describes as the feminine guile. Can you explain what your dad means by that? So my family, my parents have like a very traditional relationship where my mom, my dad definitely wears the pants in the family, but they're the ones that my mom's laid out for him. Like, I don't know if you've ever heard the expression, like, the man is the head of the household, but the mom is the neck. She can turn the head any way she wants.

I've never heard that. Yeah, yeah. That fully describes their relationship. Like, when I was growing up, my dad, he only wanted white walls in the house. He wanted everything light and open and airy. And my mom, after like 25 years, was sick of white walls. So one night, when my dad was asleep,

she just painted one wall yellow. And when my dad woke up, he was so mad at her. And she was just like, don't worry about it, Joe, it's just an accent wall. It's a pop of color. Let's just leave it for a little while and we'll see if we like it. But what she'd actually done was invited the neighborhood

to come over every single night that week. So every time the doorbell would ring, she'd like answer the door and be like, compliment the wall. And then people would come in and they'd be like, wow, the wall looks amazing. The wall looks gorgeous. And after a while, my dad just started going,

yeah, you know, it's actually called an accent wall. And it's just a pop of color. We're thinking about leaving it. That's like less feminine girl more like I'm bringing in reinforcements. I've got a team around me. I do stuff like I like it. I get really frustrated and my husband's got a phrase because he is a builder and good at stuff. I just start painting stuff he's like go on in. Quicker you can do it quicker I can redo it. That's basically it. Now you have two brothers comm, now, you have two brothers, commiserations.

Does your mum have a favorite child, do you think? Yeah, my oldest brother. She don't even hide that? Yeah, my oldest brother, I have another brother, my middle brother, he's a doomsday prepper. He has about 16 handguns and an underground bunker in- God bless America. Yeah, he lives in an under, he's got an underground bunker with a community of people he met on the internet.

Nobody really says anything against him because he would... I'm not ever saying anything against him. Are you joking? He really has a bunker? Where? In Arizona. In Arizona? That is the worst case of middle child syndrome I've ever, ever heard. I worry about my middle child because when her little brother was born, something broke in her that never quite got healed.

Do you know what I mean by that? Yeah, we've connected recently on aliens, though, so that's been good. There's not... Do other people don't have this in their family? I feel like, right, I really try and not have any prejudices, and I'm like, look, Americans can't all be that crazy, can they? And we're like, but there's aliens in there.

OK. So there's me. I'm a clown for a living. Then they've got the doomsday prepper. And then the favorite. We're going back to the favorite. So why is he so clearly the favorite? Everything he does, my mom is like, oh, my God,

you know what your brother did? It was amazing. Like, he booked this trip for my mom for her to come over and visit, and he booked the flight, and she was like, the seat that your brother booked me, he knows everything about flying. It was like I was in first class. There was nobody in front of me.

I've never seen that in an airport. And he knows I go to the bathroom a lot, you know, my bladder. And he booked me a seat right next to the bathroom, so I never had to wait in line. It was unbelievable. And I'm straight off the plane. So then this year, when I booked my mom to come over, so I booked the exact same seat.

And when my mom got off the plane, she was like, the armrests don't lift up. I'm sitting right in front of a wall. And I'm by the bathroom. I'm hearing people fart and piss the entire flight. Just can't do anything right. Can't do anything right, no. We have heard, though, we've heard from your mom, okay?

Because we asked your mom if she treated you differently and she said this. She got away with much more than it was there because I was tired by the time I had her. Two things there, one we know you do a great impression of your mum, that is all we know. But I just love the realness of that. It's like, oh, by the third, who cares? And there is some truth in that, isn't there? I think that before I had a kid myself, I was in therapy

and I'd be like, God, all these things that happened in my childhood with my parents and now that I have a kid, I'm like, oh, I ruined my parents' life. It's so hard. It's so hard having kids. And my parents had three It's so hard, it's so hard having kids and my parents had three and they were broke and yeah, yeah I don't blame her anymore. Yeah. She was tired, I'm tired. Yeah, you're tired with one. Was she strict with you growing up though? Yeah, my parents they're, they're very religious, they're very Catholic and

genuinely when I was in my 30s and I moved in with my then boyfriend now husband my parents found out about it my mom called me up and was like I don't like the idea of you and Andrew having sex outside of marriage and I had to just be like mom we've been dating for six and a half years we're not having sex anymore I'm sure having a child's taken care of any residual sex that might have still been going on. Well, now I know what happens when you have sex.

She was right. Your mum told us how delighted she was to have a daughter after having two sons, though thank God she was paying attention in the hospital. And the nurse comes in and she hands me Janine. And so now I open up the blanket, and, you know, you want to count the toes, you want to count the fingers. And I said to the nurse, excuse me, this isn't my baby. She goes, Miss Saroni, babies change from minute to minute after they're born.

So I said, okay, but this one grew a PC, which is a penis. And then there was a roommate who had a blue bass in it, but my daughter in it. So to this age, you name goes, are you sure you're my mother? There was a issue. Yeah, I was swapped. I was swapped at birth, yeah. They said, you've given birth, it's a girl.

And then when they brought me back in the room, they gave her a boy. And they did no testing. It was just another woman in the hospital had been given a girl when she had a boy. So they just were like, and swapped us. Now, so it was the 80s. No one was even in therapy.

No, as much as you joke all the time, are you sure I'm your daughter? Is there anything that tells you, yeah, I am my mother's daughter? I do look exactly like my mother. But personality-wise, are we any chip off the old block there? My husband says I'm like her in that I look nice on the outside, but I'm like a mob boss on the inside. He says I have the soul of Joe Pesci, and that's, I think, what my mom is like.

But I don't know what... My mom came and lived with me for the last three months because my husband got a job abroad, so she was helping with the baby, which was unbelievable and after she had I love the neutrality of unbelievable Believably kind or unbelievable. I mean it was also that because I don't know about you But something happens when I'm in the same house as my mom where it's like somebody hits the factory reset button And I'm just like instantly my 16 year old self. I'm just like, you don't even believe that I can do it mom.

This is why I spend so much time at Andrews. And she's like, he's your husband, you're married. I can't be at my mom. I mean, I love my mom, but being at her house, I'm just like, oh mom, can I have another biscuit? I just lose the, I just lose it. So now you are a mom. I love the insight that you're like, actually I get it. Are there lose it. Yeah, yeah. So now you are a mom.

I love the insight that you're like, actually, I get it. Are there any sort of parenting approaches that you're like, no, I'm doing this differently? Really, it's giving me so much perspective because I thought that parenting was a two-person job, but we looked after my niece when she was little before I had kids,

and it was me and my dad. And I'd never changed a diaper before. And my dad was like, I raised three kids, I know what I'm doing. And I turned around and he brought out some scissors. And I'm like, I've never changed a diaper, but I'm sure cutlery is not involved. So I really appreciate that my mom had to do so, so much,

because I feel like I'm doing that now. And my husband is great. He's a real, millennial daddy is involved, but it's still, there's no parody. Oh no, you're just in the business then. Yeah, I was listening to, you know this, the wheels on the bus? Before my son was born, just cause it's a banger.

It's a song called Banger Thumb. Yeah, no, the lyrics in that song, they're so telling. So it goes, it goes through all the people on the bus. So it says the mommies on the bus go, shh, shh, shh. Which is like so telling. So it goes through all the people on the bus. So it says, the mommies on the bus go, shh, shh, shh, which is like so aggressive. Do you know what it says the daddies on the bus say? It says the daddies on the bus say, I love you. That is not what the daddies on the bus say.

The daddies on the bus are like, do you know where the baby is? Did you bring the diaper bag? Do we have formula? I said that at a gig the other night. I said, do you know what the daddies on the bus say? And a woman from the back of the room just shouted, they're not there. I love it.

Janine, finally, is there anything you'd like to thank your mom for? I know I joke, but, and she does drive me crazy and I drive her crazy, but she truly, like she gave up her crazy, and I drive her crazy, but she truly, she gave up her life, her lovely life of retirement and leisure and left my dad and came and lived with me for three months to help me with the baby.

And the minute she arrived, she got norovirus, she was puking everywhere, the baby had it, I had it. Welcome to England. Yeah, and she was a real trooper and she was an unbelievable help. Oh, I love that. She's the best. Lovely. Well, Janine Harouni, I would like to thank her

for correctly identifying a penis as she got her baby back. A brilliant daughter who she was too tired to discipline for being so scary that you emigrated to England so we get to enjoy your hilarious anecdotes and impressions of your mum. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Russell! Look, you famously described your dad

as a big, scary silverback gorilla. Which animal would your mum be and why? Like a squirrel or a starling, just, like, full of energy and neurotic, buzzing about. The pair of us are like... Do you remember that pepper army advert? LAUGHTER We're like that, just constantly restless the whole time, like doing things, can't sit still.

So we're very alike. I see that. I see it. So you felt like your mum was different. Did you ever feel that difference? There's always that feeling when you go to a friend's house and you're like, well, that don't happen at our house. There were other houses like mine, a very working class childhood, council flat,

and then we finally got a council house, and I just thought we were millionaires. Because we'd lived in this flat, well, before that, it was just me and my mum in a mother and baby shelter, because we were literally homeless, get the violins out. No, me and my daughter, no, we got our permanent, that's what you got, you got me permanent,

and we got stairs, we were like, oh my god. But there were other working class households like mine, aspirational, hardworking, and very tidy, organised, regimented, and that's what stood out. And also, the way we ate as well, that was unique, because even back then, the start of helicoptering, my daughter's school, they have no winners or losers on sports day because it's too traumatic for the children.

So everyone gets a medal, right? So we're teaching children now, oh, everyone wins and everyone's valued and that's great. Okay, great. Then we've got to hire these people at 18. They get into the office and go, oh, I win every day, have I been promoted? No, anxiety.

The start of that was the food when I was little in the 80s and so I'd go to someone's house and mum and dad would have the beautiful dinner that I was used to, shepherd's pie, chilli con carne spaghetti, whatever, and we'd have like the idiot potato smiley facey process rubbish on a small table at 4pm. Whereas in my house, what we ate, what mum and dad ate, you ate, or there was nothing. I don't like broccoli. Don't eat it then, boy. Not an issue. And then my mum would go, you can go and play. Go play. And I'd be like, oh, I've got away with that.

Three days later, when your ribs are starting to show, how delicious is broccoli, guys? starting to show. How delicious is broccoli guys? Gabor Mate said, it's not about feeling good, it's about getting good at feeling. That's what my mum got exactly right. The balance between me feeling loved and protected. It's the difference between protecting your kids from the world and preparing your kids for the world. I mean, your mum went too far. She swapped you out when you were born. LAUGHTER I want a yellow wall and I want a baby girl.

I want a pop of daughter. LAUGHTER Right, so we've heard about your birth story. We also asked your mum, Russell, about giving birth to you. Do you want to hear what she said? I don't know anything about my birth. Go on. Oh it was all quite horrible really because he obviously was never gonna come into the world in a normal way. He was never gonna come into the world in a normal way. What do you mean by that? Well had my mum given birth now it would have been an

elective C-section because exactly like daughter, I just wouldn't turn. So my daughter just stayed feet down, so, you know, caught around the neck, feet down. The show was beginning, even in utero. Russell, I reckon you were just in there. You didn't put your head down because you didn't want to miss anything. That's it. Yeah, but so it was very dangerous back then.

So, yeah, and of course, my mum, my mum's mum, was a complicated character, right? But she was not a proper alcoholic. We're talking 7 a.m. double vodka in bed in your dressing gown by 4 p.m. So she was a useless mum to my mum. But what saved my mum from some of the damage that maybe some of her siblings had was my nan went,

nah, don't fancy it, and handed it to her mum, my great nan, and she sodded off early doors. So my mum was raised by who I called my grandma, but was actually my great-grandma. But she was more like, you know, like the curly-permed, read you a story, like what you would call a nana, rather than a vodka bottle swinging. By that point, my nan was on her fourth husband,

who she met while she was visiting her third husband in prison, right? I'm not gonna tell you. Is everyone keeping up with this? Because I'll be honest with you, go on. My nan was visiting her third husband in prison, right? I'm not joking. Right, is everyone keeping up with this? Because I'll be honest with you, go on. My nan was visiting her third husband in prison, he'd gone down for fraud, right? And she looked across and she started flirting

with someone else who was visiting his mate in prison, then she got it all with him. I'm not even joking. Ba-ba-da-ba-da, ba-ba-da-ba. Three. Right, off. It makes Shameless look like Downton Abbey, I tell you. I'll tell you what.

LAUGHTER I wish I was making it up, guys. I'll tell you what. After all of that, we asked your mum what she thought of raising you. Here we go. It's exhausting, isn't it? LAUGHTER Wait, there's more. There's more. There's more.

She said... I think when he started nursery school, we were both relieved. LAUGHTER I love it. I mean, would it have been a lot handing in yet? I mean, it's just, some kids, you have to grow into your mind. And I saw it a bang on about class. I know you probably think I've got a chip on my shoulder,

but the way my daughter's grown up, it's like she's a Yo Sushi with different... Do you want to try a violin? Yeah, I'll try some of that. How about a karate? Yeah, I'll give that a go. What about French? That's what it's like for a a Yo Sushi with different... Do you want to try a violin? Yeah, I'll try some of that. How about a karate? Yeah, I'll give that a go. What about French? That's what it's like for a middle-class kid. Whereas my mum and dad were just knackered. We were just working. And there was a takeaway on Saturday and that was the glamour of the week.

And the bookshelf was the microwave cookbook and the scuba diving handbook. And that was it. So it wasn't their fault. They didn't know how to direct. I wasn't intelligent. I just had lots of energy that needed directing. As soon as I discovered books, late, like 18, 19, bang, I was away. Talking about microwaves and tech, what does your mum do that really winds you up? I hear she's not the best with technology. Is that true? My mother is incredibly bright. She never had a chance to express it growing up where we did and all that.

But what pees me off is when she doesn't apply it to something, like learning how to use the iPhone or the iPad, because if it's something that she could be asked to learn, she would do it. So I spend my whole life, now if I press this key, what does that do? And I'm behind her, you know with the hovering fist going, I could go through your skull and into the screen, and out again with one punch. I could be in a suicide pod in Switzerland. I've had to press the button because I've got a terminal disease

and she would go, before you go... ..the iPhone update. That would be the last thing I heard. Well, Russell, I will... Love a confession, we did ask your mum about this. He does pull my leg about loads of stuff, technology mostly. I hardly ever ask him, but he exaggerates it

and makes it so I ask all the time. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Your mum's a legend. Right, I'll wake my phone.

Let's go. Right, we're gonna hear from your mum again because you've already touched on it because you've got a daughter now and your mum again because you've already touched on it because you've got a daughter now and your mum was talking about you and your daughter and this is what she said as well. I've got a saying, I always say Russell was born bored. Minna's been identical.

Yeah, just up for it. My mum says it's like justice because Minna's just bored, bored, bored. My poor wife and my daughter looks like me, acts like me. It's like she was just an egg chamber. Or something, for me to grow a clone. And, but the difference is, I know what to do. I've got strategies in place. And I know, right, after school clubs, more hobbies,

just to get her on that hamster wheel. And I know to, I understand the frustrations. That's a lovely thing, innit? So I know- I know what I needed. Yes, because I know, once I got past 11 and 12 and I went through those dodgy teenagers, there were a few years where it could have gone either way with me where I was growing up, and it was only because of my mum

and my dad that I was able just about to keep on that track. Lovely. Just. Well, that leads on to my... Yeah, exactly. APPLAUSE What you've just said leads on to my last question. What would you like to thank your mum for? The sacrifice. I never really heard them moan, particularly if you come from my sort of working class background. You're working class? I haven't mentioned it. Sing it, sing it.

It's weird when we're talking about identity. you always have to be slightly embarrassed if you want to talk about class, but it is actually important because it decides so much of what happens to you. Whether your health outcomes and your life outcomes and all that. And when I was the first, I've got 17 cousins, right? I was the first cousin to get an A level, let alone go to university. I came out and got a job in an ad agency. So I'm the first person sat on a colorful couch, earning big money, being paid to think.

And I had to think, how am I gonna tell them that I'm gonna do stand-up, where I might be earning 300 quid a week, it's an ego trip, it could fail, it might lead nowhere. And my mum was the first one that went, go for it. Oh, love it. I love it. That's incredibly rare.

Woo! Incredibly rare. Well, Russell it. I love it. Now she's incredibly rare. Incredibly rare. Well, Russell, I would like to thank her for her Prometheus-like feet of taking the pure fire from the gods that is you and donning parental oven gloves. Am I taking this metaphor too far? To gift you to the world, we needed you and your bare jokes, wit, intellect and energy. Russell! Bear Jokes, Wit, Insulets and Energy. Right there. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE As well as learning about your lovely mums,

I'm also on the hunt for mums in the audience who've excelled themselves in unusual ways. It's time for Mother of the Year award! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE This week, I asked my audience, does your mum have any nicknames or has she given you any nicknames? So when she's angry with me, my mum calls me adopted.

My mum calls me whoops because she says I was an accident. My mum calls me pussy because I once ate cat food. Yeah, of course that's why. Yeah, right. Thank you. The Mother of the Year award goes to the woman who calls her child Cornetto because I was delivered by forceps and had a cone head as a baby.

So there you go. The Mother of the Year award, everyone! Super. It's been so nice to hear from our guest mums in this episode. I'm mostly impressed that they remember so much, even if all they've remembered is that newborn baby girls shouldn't have penises, or the sheer relief of dropping their son off to nursery. All that is left for me to do is thank my guests Janine Harouni and Russell Kane

and their mums and our studio audience. And lastly, lastly, if you have been affected by any of the issues raised in today's show, just remember your mum. Your mum was hosted by me, Laura Smith, and featured Russell Kane and Janine Harunin. It was written by me with additional material from Zoe Tomalin, Christina Riggs and Pete Talish. Zoe Tomalin, Christine Lerigs and Pete Soulej. It was produced by Sasha Bobak and was a BBC Studios audio production for Radio 4. Hello, Russell Kane here. I used to love British history, be proud of it.

Henry VIII, Queen Victoria, massive fan of stand-up comedians, obviously, Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor. That has become much more challenging for I am the host of BBC Radio 4's Evil Genius. The show where we take heroes and villains from history and try to work out were they evil or genius. Do not catch up on BBC Sounds by searching Evil Genius if you don't want to see your heroes destroyed. But if like me, you quite enjoy it, have a little search.

Listen to Evil Genius with me, Russell Kane, go to BBC Sounds and have your world destroyed.