Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe's Parenting Hell - S10 EP28: George Egg

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

Joining us this episode to discuss the highs and lows of parenting (and life) is the brilliant comedian - George Egg. You can order George's brilliant new book 'Snack Hacker' HERE And you can find all the info and tickets for any live stand-up tour dates, as well as his podcast 'Stuffed!' HERE Parenting Hell is a Spotify Podcast, available everywhere every Tuesday and Friday. Please subscribe and leave a rating and review you filthy street dogs... xx If you want to get in touch with the show with any correspondence, kids intro audio clips, small business shout outs, and more.... here's how: EMAIL: [e-mail] Follow us on instagram: ⁠@parentinghell⁠  Join the mailing list to be first to hear about live show dates and tickets, Parenting Hell merch and any other exciting news... MAILING LIST: ⁠⁠⁠⁠parentinghellpodcast.mailchimpsites.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ A 'Keep It Light Media' Production  Sales, advertising, and general enquiries: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, I'm Rob Beckett. And I'm Josh Willicombe. Welcome to Parenting Hell, the show in which Josh and I discuss what it's really like to be a parent, which I would say can be a little tricky. So to make ourselves and hopefully you feel better about the trials and tribulations of modern day parenting, each week we'll be chatting to a famous parent about how they're coping. Or hopefully how they're not coping. And we'll also be hearing from you, the listener,

with your tips, advice, and of course, tales of parenting woe. Because let's be honest, there are plenty of times when none of us know what we're doing. ["The Royal March of the Bumblebee"] Hello, you're listening to Parenting Hell with... Can you say Josh Widicombe? That's me.

Can you say Rob Beckett? Very good Yuki. Good job. Yuki love her. I love the name Yuki. Good girl. Here's my two year old attempting to introduce you guys. She's half Japanese and half English English her name is Yuki Georgina she also tries to say Otosuka Rassama Dishita which means thank you for working hard they're all there about Yuki likes eating natto google it disgusting N-A-T-T-O thanks for the great podcast Joe in Kanazawa Ishikawa in Japan. Geez, you've done well there, mate. Thanks, mate. Natto. Natto. Natto, what is natto?

It's fermented soybeans. Oh, dear. Characterized by a slimy, sticky, and stringy texture. Oh, they look fucking awful. And it's stinging, it looks like porridge, Josh. Oh, come on. Come on, it doesn't look that good. So he lives in Japan. He lives in Japan.

We have Jack, Jack, Jack? Josh? Yeah. We've gone so Japanese in our house. The girls are eating with chopsticks and listening to the My Neighbor Totoro soundtrack. Really? It's instrumental Japanese music, mate. I've got some little fucking Radio 6 music bastards in my house. I'm gonna have to shut these windows because it's freezing cold and the doves have gone. Okay, okay, fine. Okay, time for our guest now, George Egg. George Egg, hello.

Hello, gentlemen. How nice to see you. I was gonna say comedian and food chef, food writer. I don't know. You don't know, you don't care. I care, but I've spent my life spanning genres and being difficult to categorize. Right, suit cut, I remember you, when I first started doing stand up,

the suit, you had a massive, you used to do loads of massive suitcase prop stuff. Yeah. Do you still do that alongside the cooking stuff or is what's taken over? Very infrequently. I mean, I, so I'm doing Glastonbury this year and I'll do a standup set there. Yeah. But yeah, the food thing totally took over, I guess, 10 years ago, when I started when I did my first Edinburgh show, the poster of which just happens to be behind me covering up an unmade spare bed.

So George, tell us about your life set up kids wise. Well, my life set up kids wise is that I've got three of them, but they're all adults. They're all adults. But what have I now got at the tender age of 52? And that's a grandson. Oh, my goodness. Can we have the age of kids and the age of the grandson, please, George. Let me let me give me my mind. My my eldest who is the father of my grandson is 2829 in a couple of weeks time. And yeah, and so I

had him when I was 23. And then my grandson is one. Blimey. So you had a kid at 23, George? Yeah. Only just 23 as well. My birthday is March and he was born in June. I wonder you had a big suitcase on the stand-up set. All the kids, muslins, spare dummies as well as all your jokes. So when you had a kid at 23, what was that like? Because these days, when you said your

son had had a kid at 28, you go these days, like even when we were kids, I'd say, if you'd said, what's the average age of our parents when we were born, it would have been about 28, but it feels like it's moved on maybe to like 35. Well, he feels young to be a dad. And he said, so he lives in Southwest London in Barnes and it's all quite posh around there. And he said- Oh, bloody hell, George. He's done well for himself.

He lives in a rental property on the sort of outskirts. It's not, and he feels really, he feels very out of place there, you know, and he feels like everyone else. It's all posh people. So yeah. When I mean posh grandson. No, he's not tall. He said they'll sound like me, you know,

it's all South London kind of thing. Where are you from in South London, George? Forest Hill. Oh, well, you really near me. I grew up in Mottenham. Right. Oh, right. Well, yeah. No, so I brought up there and then moved out when, well, moved to Brighton when I was 19 to go to university and then just stayed down here. At 23. So what was you doing at 23 when you had him?

What was you doing? Stand up? Yeah. So I started doing street entertaining first of all when I was 16. Oh my gosh. And I used to I used to go and busk. What was your shtick? It was magic. I mean it was kind of what sort of veered into when I started doing stand-up as well you know kind of doing the same thing basically so I had a lot of props I used to do like I used to bang a nail in my nose and magic you know I kind of gruesome magic. And razor blades and stuff. Can I be, I don't want to get you thrown out there. Are you in the magic circle? No, I'm not. I'm, do you know what, as well, I'm just appalling at keeping secrets. So people go, how'd you do that? I'm like, oh, yeah, all right. So do you want to know how

I do the nail in the... Yeah, of course I do. Yeah, yeah. It just goes in. That's it. There's no trick to it at all. Literally your nasal passage. I mean, obviously, you know, this is, this is a podcast that might be listened to. Yeah, don't do this at home. Don't do this at home. Don't do this at home. Their parents are listening to it. But so where you, where you breathe, you know, your nasal passage goes back parallel with the roof of your mouth to the back of your throat. If it went wrong, would you have hammered a nail into your brain? I don't think so because it goes, it kind of goes under your, unless my brain is a weird one that kind of comes under my chin.

It's just like, you know, when you sit them for comic relief, they get children to ask questions on podcasts. you know, for comic relief, they get children to ask questions on podcasts. But yes, anyway, so you literally I mean, it just what about the razor blades? What would you do the razor blades? So I used to do a trick. I'd eat a load of it's a classic old trick, a load of razor blades, then eat some cotton and then get the end of the cotton, give it to someone in the audience, then they pull it out and they're all tied on. So how do you do that? That's just, that's just the tra, I mean, it's like swapping

kind of thing. It's all swapping thing. Swapping, a lot of swapping. Yeah, they are. And then you cut paper with them and then I haven't done this for like 30 odd years. It's sneaky, aren't they magicians? I think it's inherent. It's sneaky. It's really sneaky. Little sneaky like, you know what they are? Little sneaky. You know what they are? They're liars. Yes.

They're bloody liars. Bloody hell. So anyway, so I did that when I was 16. So I used to do that at Greenwich by the Cutty Sark. And then I went over and did Covent Garden. And then started doing, well, there were other performers at Greenwich by the Cutty Sark and then I went over and did Covent Garden. And then started doing, well there were other performers at Greenwich doing street entertaining who did Up the Creek. So I started, so I went and did open spots at Up the Creek when I

was 19. And that's the first place that gave me paid twenties when I was 19 was Up the Creek. And so you had a kid while all this is going on. Yeah. So, well, I went to, so I moved to Brighton when I was 19, started doing standup, then went to university there and then, yeah, got together with Nikki, my now wife, and she's about older than me. So she's four and a half years older than me. So she was, I mean, we're still young as well. She was like, you know, 27. What was that like combining like, because we've both had kids at points when our careers are quite established and settled and stuff. Did it feel like you suddenly had taken on

a like, oh, I've got to take this a bit more seriously now. I'm not just some bloke putting a nail up my nose. This is the point where a lot of people go, right, I've got a kid now. I can't, because it's almost seen as a luxury being in the arts or performing. And it's like, right, a lot of people I imagine would have been on you to go, right, okay, you've done your bit of scene performing, you've done a bit of stand up now, now you need a proper job because you've got kids. Was there pressure like that on you? Exactly that. So I mean, literally what happened is, is Nikki got pregnant and I was, yeah, as I said, I was doing a bit of street entertaining, doing a few gigs, but not many because I was still quite sort of a special act, you know.

So a lot of places were like, it's a bit, it's not kind of what we want, you know, everyone wanted much more kind of conventional stand up. And yeah, and so then when she got pregnant, so I just kind of thought, okay, either I turn this into a career or I go and and do something else. So it was it was when she was pregnant, I kind of did the blitzing the open spots and just called everyone up and said, can I come and do five minutes? And then? And then it? Yeah. And then it sort of it worked and I was earning enough. I mean, you know, horrible, horrible to say to anyone listening who's like want to buy a house or anything

like that. Now, it was a time when property was cheaper and what did you pay for your house George? Well, I went, you really want to know so we had a flat with a two bedroom maisonette in Brighton. Yeah, above a shop. So I had private front door and stairs, so loads of hall space, two bedrooms. And it was 29 and a half grand. bedrooms. And it was 29 and a half grand. Did you get a mortgage? Yeah, but it's £100 a month. I got a mortgage from because so I was still an art student when I got a mortgage. And the way I got the mortgages, so I went to the bank and I said, you know, I've looked at how much properties I've worked out.

If I'm, I'll be paying less in, you know, in repayments than I'm currently paying in rent. And they said, well, you need to show that you're earning. So I had to get letters from people who booked me. And so there was like this street entertaining agent who, who, uh, you know, wrote a letter saying, oh, I'm paying him a couple of grounds worth of work a year and whatever. And then one of the people was Malcolm Hardy.

And he wrote a letter on Up The Creek headed paper, just complete lies, just saying, I'm employing George for 10 grounds worth of work a year when I do Up The Creek like two or three weekends a year. And that was it. Anyway, and that among, there was like six or seven letters and that was enough to get a mortgage from the there was like, you know, six or seven letters, and that was enough to get a mortgage from the bank. Yeah, I know nuts in it.

When we were trying to get a mortgage, I was like, open mic circuit doing like probably Tim's position to you of doing like a couple of paid weekends. And I remember Lou, we used Lou's teacher's salary was the main way we could get a mortgage. And then there was, what about you? What are you doing? I was like, I'm a comedian. I was like, okay. And then there was, can you show us some, like, you know, your salary? I was like, oh, not really. But I'll be like, I don't remember one point. But the guy that books the week's coming to see me next week, and if that goes well, then that could be really good. And she looked at me like I was metalu, which was like, shut up. That's all I had. Well, what I thought when I, so as you were saying in the beginning, Josh, I've got the

giant briefcase. I did think I could go to the meeting at the bank with the giant briefcase, but just not mention it, just use it as a normal one to get my papers in. Oh, I know that's not what you do as much now, but it's such a funny act. If anyone is going Glastonbury, your suitcase, or special, it's just stand-up set, but it's just as funny as anything without a big suitcase, but it's so good and it's so unique.

Oh, thank you. So it's a real, like, it's a shame, actually, that you've become so successful with the cooking stuff, because we don't get to see that now at the clubs. Yeah, well, like I say, I mean, every now and then, then I'll do it and I'll, I mean at Glastonbury this year I'll do my old, because I used to end the set by, I don't know if you ever saw me do this, where I'd take my clothes off, I'd stick a coat hanger through my earring hole and then to a bit of music take take everything, take my clothes off and hang them

on the coat hanger. So I was naked. Completely naked. Yeah, but modestly preserved because the clothes would hang down. Oh, so that would be halfway down my thighs. So then when I walk off, you'd see my bum, but that's it. Oh, that's as much as it got. That's no good. Yeah, cheeks, cheeks. I always feel like that's funny, that sort of nudity in a performance, but then when people completely get their dick out and they go, actually it's clowning, I'm like, no, you just got your dick out, mate. Like, is there any difference between this

and a stag do is people are sat down. Yeah, no, totally. And so what's it like now going into being a granddad? I mean, so all the cliches are true, that it's great because you can hand them back, you know? I mean, it's tiring too. I mean, we see him a lot. So he, so although they're in Barnes and Weir and Brighton,

we'll go up there a lot. My wife goes up once a week, stays overnight, looks after him for the day. Because my son's at the moment, he's in this situation with the whole mortgage thing of trying to just working flat out and claiming it. It's impossible. I know we're laughing about that 29 grand, but it's just so different. It's mental. And it was so hard when me and Lou did it years and years, like 10 years ago. But now

it almost feels like a lot of young people just sort of tapping out and going, I'll just rent then and almost just writing it off. Yeah. Yeah. And he's your eldest. He's 28. He's 28 and I've got a daughter who's 27 and another daughter who's 23. No, 24. Yeah. 24. Right. And do you like hear from them? How much do you hear from them? Do you know what I mean? I know that sounds like a weird question. No, it's not a weird question at all because I've got friends whose kids have grown up

and they just hear from them every month or whatever. We're really close. It's nice. We have a WhatsApp group that everyone contributes to pretty much every day. What are the topics covered? At the moment, things that they can remember happening from their childhood for the parenting health podcast. Oh, please read some out.

Yeah, just read out a few then, George. Do they paint you in a good or bad light, George? Slightly pedantic light. I mean, slightly lucky dip at the party. Should I tell you that? Yeah. So when they were small, I mean, slightly lucky dip at the party. Should I tell you that? Yeah. So when they were small, I so we had we had a birthday party for one of them. And I found, okay, do you find other I mean, it's a cliche again, but other people's kids

have like, you know, really irritating. And really, you know, and fussy and like, so my kids weren't very fussy eaters at all. And then other kids come around and go, you know, it's like, you know, but so we were having a birthday party and I thought, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to do a lucky dip of, we'll have various games and we'll have a lucky dip of wrapped up prizes. But what I'll do is I'll put in there some like sort of booby prizes. That's, that's, you want to do do that George, you want to do that.

Oh I did. And so I put it so there were nice things and then I put in amongst the all the wrapped up nice little things. A nappy, not a used one, I stress. And you know, a clean nappy wrapped up and a tin of cat food. Yeah. And they were, everything was wrapped up. And so they went in with all these presents. I don't know. Five. So, so, so they came around and I said, okay, we're going to do all these games. And then if you win a game, you get to choose a prize. I said, here's the thing. Not all the prizes are good. And the larger the prize doesn't necessarily mean it's a good life lesson. It's a good life lesson, George. That's what I thought. So I said, you know, some of them,

I said, you won't even want them. I said, what were the good ones? What are you looking out for? Good prize here? Is it dog food and you know, yeah, yeah, like the better quality cat food. But whatever we've advertised on here, insert now insert now. So anyway, so the nice prizes, I don't know, like little magic tricks and little coloring books and you know, things that kids would want. Anyway, so we did the games. Nail and a hammer for the nose, stuff like that, little tricks. Exactly, a hammer. Some razor blades. Anyway, so yes, so we played the games and the first two kids who won went for the two big things and I was really stressed too. They might not be good. And I said you're not

allowed to open them until you get home. Anyway, they, they went home. Parents never mentioned it at all. So they never mentioned it. No, it's weird, isn't it? Yeah, but I mean, your kids are the kids at school like old at their house. I got sent home with a tin of cat food. Well, I know, but then it was never, I mean, they never heard it at school or anything, you know.

There's no one ever mentioned it ever again. No. So they just took it and left. Good life lesson. Yeah. Were you quite a life lessoner kind of guy? Were you a kind of guy that, because I imagine you was free and easy,

but were you trying to teach things? you was free and easy, but were you trying to teach things? I was free and easy with my kids. I think I was just irritated by other kids being brought up differently and being fussy and being... Were there children that you wanted to pick, when they were picking out you were like, I hope this little brat gets the Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm not saying any names. But God, I was one boy. He was just, he was so he was just so cocky. And I remember like school sports day. Like, if he didn't win, he'd go, Oh, the sun was in my eyes. Oh, the wind blew the wrong way. And do you know what's happened to him? I don't actually. Did you

like his parents? Yeah, I did. Yeah, his mom was nice. His dad was a bit... His dad looked like a kind of very... A very sort of haggard... Who's the guy who was Bond until just... Daniel Craig. Like a really sort of weird, kind of like, slightly zombified Daniel Craig.

I mean, that's not fair. I'm just having a go at what he looked like. It's not as funny as that. I don't like's not fair. I'm just having a go at what he looked like. It's not as funny. I don't like your kid because you look weathered. Like a handsome man who's lost his way. So you say your kids weren't fussy. Were they good? Because you're obviously obsessed with food and cooking. And presumably you always were, that's not a thing that's come to you. So what was feeding your kids like? Because my kids are incredibly fussy, but no, my son isn't, my daughter is. But I wonder if that is because I didn't show her things

or whether I was just, you know, how much is the classic nature of a nurture situation? What were you cooking your kids? So we were really mindful of giving the kids whatever we were having within reason. So we had this little kind of grind, it looked like something that I don't know, I've never I've never been a guy who's taken any drugs or anything like that. But I think that the kind of thing that they use for grinding up weed, maybe. Oh, here we go. Come on. No, no, no. He's a

resident drug expert. He's a bit of a cane. It was from mother care. I don't know. But it was like it was like a pot with a kind of it was plastic and it had and you put the food in one end. And then as you ground it just sort of roughly mushed it up. Like a hand blender. Yeah, yeah, basically like a little analog blender.

So whatever we were having, we would just put, you know, spaghetti, bolognese, curry, anything, we'd put it in, mush it up, and then give it to the kids. And they'd de-less it. Yeah, so. Especially when they're weaning, it's just like mash then, isn't it? Just kids when they're small. Yeah, so. Especially when they're weaning, it's just like mash then, isn't it? Just shoving them out.

Exactly. It's all mashed up. I tell you what I remember just being fascinated by is how kids police themselves as far as food goes. And I was always very kind of of the opinion that they would eat what they need. They'd know what they need. So like you give them sausages and broccoli one day. And one day they just eat the sausages

and be like, no, not interested in the broccoli. And then the next day they'd eat the broccoli and be not interested in the sausages. It's true. I see that in my kids sometimes like we made them that and they literally just done a massive bowl of broccoli and I didn't at once go, I've made sure they just smashed it. I've said anything and then left like a load of bread where normally it'd be the complete opposite. Yeah. So so similarly with my grandson when I was up there a few days ago, and we were giving him food and he and yeah, and he was just he was spitting out the green stuff. And he's not an age where he's going I don't like it. And Jim and

Lucy, my son is his girlfriend. They you know, they're not fussy eaters at all. And they give him loads of different stuff to eat. But he's just at that moment was like, I don't want this now. And it's like, And so you were just like, I'm not going to force anything on them. It's just what happens, happens. Yeah. Because I remember being small and being kind of told, you know, you're not getting up from the table till you eat that mashed potato and it going cold and just being like, this is horrible. And that really affected concrete. Yeah. And it affected my, like, this is horrible. That really affected- Concrete. Yeah. And it affected my, like, you know, my feelings towards mashed potato for many years.

How did you rehabilitate your feelings towards mashed potato? Bodger and Badger gets you back in. Hey, he is, he's dead now, but he was a Brighton character. And when my kids- Was he? Yeah, when my kids- Bodger or Badger? And both really they're interconnected.

I was gonna say which one's the badger. That's badger. Bodger. Yeah. Always badger the badger. No bodgers the bloke. Yeah, badger must be the badger. What was he like? I actually I've met him as well.

Have you what's going on? He came to my uni to do Bodger and Badger. Genuinely mad, wasn't it? I mean, absolutely. It felt like if we'd all left the room, he would have carried on with it. So towards not long before he died, some friends of mine, a guy called Tony Haase, who lives about eight doors down. And he is, are you Partridge fans? Of course you must be. He is the producer of Knowing Me, Knowing You, who when Partridge shoots the guest, the producer comes on and he goes, you know, you shoot someone and I'm sacked, you wanker. Yeah, that's Tony. He lives a few

doors down. So anyway, so he still does performing occasionally. And he was doing this show with another guy called Roy Hutchins, a pub in Brighton in the fringe. It was this like really sort of silly artsy little kind of comedy play thing. And anyway, Andy Cunningham, the guy who is was Bodger was in the audience and was just completely pissed and heckling and yeah, just and and it was like, but it was that kind of thing where it's a friend who's you know, a fellow

performer who's like, you should know this isn't this isn't what you do. But no, I was gonna say about Bodger is he so the various mutual friends and he a friend of ours or when we knew called Josie who had a daughter who was the same age as my kids had a birthday party and they got Bodger there. Wow. To do the birthday party. And literally he made loads of smashed mashed potato and was just chucking it around the house. And he's literally on the walls and everything. And they came back going, it was just, it was like, it was too much. It was overwhelming and they were a bit disturbed. I love a video of the parents from their glee of going, I cannot believe we've got Bodger

and Badger. That is huge in that era. And then the slow realisation that realization is going on the curtains. And this loose cannon mad man. He was a lovely bloke, if I remember, but he just loved being Bodger and Badger. Yeah. Well, great creation. So George, your kids were teenagers then or late teenagers when you sort of re shifted towards the cooking stuff.

Now was it sort of because you did an Edinburgh show. So can you tell us how that sort of started because it's sort of grown into this big thing online now as well. But it started off with an Edinburgh show, didn't it, about food in your hotel room? Is that right? Exactly that, yes. So I, what was really interesting is I realized, well I realized a while ago, but that, so when the kids were born, for, I would say, yeah, for the first sort of 15, 17 years of their lives, I was totally uncreative as a performer. I just, I had my big suitcase show and I didn't write anything new because it worked and

it was earning money. And I think I assume that I was putting my creative energy into, you know, being a dad doing up a house, all that kind of thing. Yeah, also, there's risks to creativity, isn't there? Because if you've been booked to do that set, and you smash it, one is you can relate to that. And also the bookers want that. Yeah, so you know, risk being not booked again. Yeah, exactly that. And so so yeah, it wasn't I didn't really

work. So 2015 is when I did the first the first show in Edinburgh. So yeah, my son would have been 19. My youngest would have been here about 1314. Something like that. Yeah. So so basically, what I did for a number of years while I was doing the circuit, I had in a tongue in cheek, mischievous way done a bit of cooking in my hotel room for real, like, you know, for a number of years while I was doing the circuit, I had in a tongue in cheek, mischievous way done a bit of cooking in my hotel room for real, like, you know, doing a weekend of gigs. So what kind of things would you have been doing? So in real life, I mean, nothing too destructive, like, you know, boiling eggs in a kettle, cooking something on an iron, not out of

necessity, but more out of fun, you know, putting like some foil on the iron, you know, cooking something on an iron, not out of necessity, but more out of fun, you know, putting like some foil on the iron, you know, saving it as hygienic and so on. And then, and then I did some little videos and put them on YouTube and one of them got, one of them went a bit nuts. I mean, for the time, so this is, this is quite a while before I even did the first show, so maybe this was, I don't know, about 2012, something like that. Wow, you're like the Sidemen, like KSI. That was early in the day. You're going to end up having one of those, one of those influencer boxing matches, aren't you, George?

I don't know what that is, what's that? So all the YouTubers- I don't know the idea of it, what happened? So basically a lot of YouTubers and people that are successful on TikTok and stuff like that, that earn money through brand deals, but they can't, they've got a massive following, but they haven't really got a show to tour around theaters,

but they can sell a ticket because people want to see them. What they all ended up doing was fighting each other in boxing events. So now there's a big company called Misfits Boxing, where it's basically all these kinds of people that fight in random people. So there'll be like a YouTube versus someone off Love Island, and they all fight,

and they, because they've got like a pool to get people in the people. So there'll be like a YouTube versus someone off Love Island and they all fire and they because they've got like a poll to get people in the venue. Why? I don't want to do that. I'm 52. Jeff Innocent's blown up online. Maybe you could take on Jeff Innocent. Oh, come on. He battered me. Which is a food thing. You can't batter an egg, though, can you? You can't batter an egg. You can't. So my daughter, my youngest one, who's in the food world, she went to a thing the other day and they did deep fried eggs, which I think it's on Ramesh Ranganathan's off menu. And is it deep fried egg? But he's a vegan.

I think I don't know if he if this was pre vegan or if he was talking about something it might be something that his dad did or something like that. But what it is, is you you soft boil an egg. And then you you pan a you know, so you like flour, egg, bread crumb it. And then you deep it. It's mental, don't it? You're putting egg, you're putting egg on egg. That's like having a bit like when you have chicken with egg. That always seems a bit

weird. Egg on eggs, mental, it's like putting breadcrumbs on a sandwich. Or potato salad on a baked potato. What are you having in your jackpotato mash? Don't bring that up with George. Well, I've got a recipe in my book for mash and crisps in a sandwich, but anyway, tell you about that in a bit. So you deep fried the egg and then it's like a crispy coating.

It's like a scotch egg, but without the meat almost. So in this first Edinburgh show, what were you cooking? Tell me like one of the for people that didn't see it. I didn't see it. I remember people talking about it. It was like you were using the equipment in a hotel room to do kind of mad cooking on stage. So yeah, give me an example of something that you did. So I did three courses. All my shows have been basically a three course meal cooked over an hour with with unconventional stuff. So the first one was hotel. So I did I did a brush setter with so

brush setter which was done with an iron. And then I made ricotta using the little the little pots of UHT milk. Oh my god, I hate those little pots. Well, they're good for you can make ricotta with them. Yeah. I didn't know that. I'll give you that. Well, you've got a chance now that you could. And what I did so I used to make it. Josh, you're in a hotel room. Is there anything you could do now? You got anything?

I have got ingredients that George asked me to get. So I made ricotta using a pillowcase to drain it. Then I poached a sea bass. So I did live fish filleting on stage in the show. So I filleted a sea bass, then poached that in the travel kettle. God, imagine having your room after you. Imagine having that room after you, George. Well, interestingly, that was one of the jokes I made in the show. Every eight minutes if I was doing that show I'd be making a bloody wouhan in it. And then the pudding was pancakes done. So again, I got the irons, I got two irons and I had them inverted between a kind

of sort of zigzag of Gideon Bibles so that they went upside down. And then and then tasted hazelnuts on the steam hulls. Oh my word. And it's blown up from there. You've done shows, you've done books. So your cookbook is out now? It is out on the 5th of June. It's so beautiful and it's such a great book and it's so unlike other cooking books and the way you come at it is the design is glorious because it doesn't look like you know Jamie's dinners or whatever and it it feels anarchic and it feels fun and it feels like the the recipes are mad. Now you've told me to get... Also you're an artist essentially aren't you? Whereas most you know cookbooks come from chefs that are quite methodical, almost scientists,

but you're coming at this from art, you know, in your background. I'm coming at it from, well, I would say maybe even coming at it from a kind of anarchy. Because, I mean, like all the shows, all the live shows have been about cooking with things that you wouldn't normally cook with. Then obviously, you know, lockdown happened, I went online and started doing these videos called Snack Hacker, which is the same kind of that's not cooking. They're brilliantly edited. They look great. Thank you. You are the, I mean, for a man who doesn't know who KSI is, you're absolutely fucking nailing social media. So I've got wheat crunchies and Premier League. You've given me wheat crunchies.

Well, that was one of the things. Yeah. Well, we were trying to, we were having a little, you know, back and forth over the internet discussing what you could do because we were trying to work out, well, you know, so many of the things need like a microwave or something hot. But one of the videos I did, which isn't, isn't a recipe that's in the book, but it's, it was good fun. And it went down very well. It was basically piping primula into the into the void into the middle of a wheat crunchy. So you need to kind of go from one end and then turn it around and do the other end a bit like filling up a brandy. You've done that in a hotel room before, you just fill it up from one end and go around the other. Too much? I don't hate it, Rob, I don't hate it. I like it.

Paint you in a bit of a stud. Look at that. Look at that. So it's a bit like making a... Josh looks like he's having a breakdown. Do you remember cheese? Do you remember cheese moments? Yeah, I did like a cheese moment.

Yeah, well it's basically you're making like a cheese moment. Yeah, it's basically you're making your own cheese moment. Okay, here we go. So this is I'm going to say to people that piping shoving Premier in a wee crunchie doesn't sum up the book in the best way. But I was actually worried that people might think that's all it is. They're a bit more advanced. What's fun? So nice. But also, it's an activity. Yeah, to kill time between gigs. It's not just... Yeah, but if you were to do this in public, if you were to sit on a bench in public and

be pushing Primula into a weak crunchies... George has been hammering nails in his nose in public since 16. I don't think your mind's piping up when you're crunchy. Actually, that said about doing things in public, Me and Jem, my son, who... Oh my god, that is so good. Don't have to worry about it. You're enjoying it, it's making me feel sick. And I'm joking.

So when I started doing the videos, I got in touch. It was during lockdown, obviously. And so you can see it done properly. If you type in snack hacker and primula, wheat crunchies, we'll find that one. And then also with the apple pie one. Apple pie one. All these videos. Yeah, they're all on my Instagram at George egg and, and, and YouTube as well. If you want to see them widescreen, which looks better always, but they just haven't got the same crunch.

Stop eating wheat crunchies. You're supposed to be on dessert. Can't resist. So the apple pie one, I say, what I did is when I started doing the videos, I've reached out to like, you know, friends from the circuit and saying, like, you know, have you got any ideas of the things that you used to do? One of the people was Matt Lucas. And he said, oh, you know, I used to put cream on a McDonald's apple pie. And so what I'd do is I'd take their idea and go, all right, let's try and kind of,

you know, build it further. So the idea with this one was to get kind of that sort of Miso caramel flavor going on, which is why you got the dry roasted peanuts, because you want a bit of salt, like salted caramel that so basically, just spread a load of clotted cream on top of the pie. Yeah. How much is allowed? Well, I mean, I mean, don't go crazy. But yeah, you got like, like, like it manager. Yeah, you use

you Josh, by the way, what hotel you in? I mean, I'm in Lincoln. Yeah, in a hotel that is called the Lincoln Hotel. It looks it's interesting because it looks like a hotel, but then out of the window, you've got a bit of like garden fence that looks... I've got a little garden thing that I'm, but I don't want to go in it because it's shared with like three other rooms so I'm like... It looks a bit like rehab. It does look, it doesn't, so there we go.

There's a lot of cream on there. Oh, there's a lot of cream. That's alright, I mean I wouldn't... We're judging you slightly but yeah, if you want that much cream go for it. No, I'm taking it off, I'm taking it off. Okay. Right. Okay. So then a trickle of date syrup. So that's really this lovely, it's kind of sort of fruity. It goes with the apple. What's good about this is you don't need cutlery either. So if you are out and about, you can just get the apple pie and put it all on. You know, you don't have to have a plate. You can

eat it like a hot dog. You don't even have to use your hands. You can just trickle a date syrup. Okay. And then okay and then and then sprinkle it with with dry roasted peanuts and then you get the salt and you get that kind of like my mighty savouriness with the sugar good luck trying to log that on my my fitness power later there we go let's have a look do you want to see it just please yeah oh let me take a photo that looks he looks great Josh really great I'm gonna get a photo of that as well. Hold on a minute. Wow.

Okay, Josh. Right. Okay. Taste test. Yeah, big mouthful. Do you know, can I just say I'm sure you've been on Sunday brunch. Haven't you George? When they brief you they say look, it's a bit of fun to say that you don't like it, but please don't.

Please say they like the food. I know. I know you're a comedian, but before can I just say a joke's a joke. Okay, so do say you like the food. I know I know you're a comedian. But before can I just say a joke's a joke. Okay, so do say you like the food. Right. Well, when I go on Sunday, I'll be the other side of it. I'll be doing I know. I know. And you'll be thinking I hope they've had the briefing. I know. Oh, goodbye there, Josh. Oh, my fucking God. Is it good? Is it too hot? Yeah. Yeah. Lose your sport pass. Josh is eating an apple pie with George egg. Yeah. Oh, that sounds like a recipe in itself. If all that is, I didn't know that George egg is another bite. George egg. George egg. Where can I get it? George egg is a specific chicken. That looked

great. I'm jealous. It's tasty, isn't it? So good. And so that's I mean, that's kind of what's in the book is, I mean, there's a lot there's all sorts of recipes, but some headline recipes, just the description of them like like so they'll sound mad. All right. Let's just go random. I've got the book here. We've got naan pizza. Naan pizza. That sounds great. Big circular naan, put your ingredients on chuck it in the oven wallet. That's your pizza. Microwave cup shakshuka. You make a little one portion version of shakshuka in a cup in the microwave instant little meal for one

Right, can you just quickly run me through that quickly? What's what are we doing egg in the bomb salt pepper? Cut the pepper. There's probably one more bite. It's a monster bit tomorrow. So massive vibe Tomato cumin paprika a little bit of sugar chili flakes Then you crack you heat that up in the microwave a little bit like tomorrow, chili flakes. Then you heat that up in the microwave, little bit of like tin tomato. Then you crack an egg in, put something on top, put it back in the microwave just for about 30 seconds. It cooks the egg just enough.

Bit of feta, bit of mint at the end, heaven. So good. So how were your kids, right, as teenagers, you started off as being the crazy dad putting cat food in the lucky dip. Then you're going around the country and you're big massive. You're going around the country with this massive suitcase, doing all your jokes creatively, you're a little bit held back.

Then you're all of a sudden cooking pancakes on an iron. Yeah. When your kids are at school and they go, what does your dad do? What did they say? Do you know, I think that they, I think when I was, they said, Rob, we live in Brighton, it's totally normal. Yeah, at least he's not a bodger, they said. As all kids are, they were embarrassed.

But then, I mean, I was embarrassed by my dad and he was an accountant and my mum was a maths teacher and I was embarrassed about that. It's like, oh, your mum's a teacher, you must be posh and all that kind of thing. How did they feel about you doing this thing? Because if they're a accountant and a maths teacher, their son's got a kid at 23 and is doing comedy, was there pressure from them? Or were they just trust you and let you get on with it? They were totally into it. They were great. Really? Yeah, yeah. They were fab. Were they partly going, oh, he's done what I wanted to do? I think with my dad, yeah.

My dad, when he was younger, I think he really wanted to be an actor and a writer and all that sort of thing. And then he ended up, I mean, guys, the book is, sorry to keep coming back to it, but the book is basically about fathers and sons because it's, it's all about my dad's related my relationship with my dad, and he did all the cooking and how I realized when writing the book that so much of so basically what happened is he died, okay, just when I started doing the videos,, in lockdown, my dad died,

and I started clearing out the house. And I was making the videos and clearing out the house at the same time with my son. And we were filming the videos. And then it all took off and I got the book deal. And then when I started writing the book, I realized how much of what I was finding in the house from memories of growing up had

triggered all these ideas and so the book is basically it's it's these bits of memoir about my dad cooking and about growing up and so it's yes it's about it's about fathers and sons. Oh that's beautiful. That is, do you know what, it's better than a normal cookery book this George. There's a depth to it, there's an excitement to it. I hope so. Well you you know, I don't know if you've spotted, but the book is laid out like a show. So I wanted it to be. I literally wanted it to be. So it starts with Act, you've got Act 1. You've even got an interval. No, it's brilliant. Because you can tell it's a real passion project. Sometimes, you know,

a lot of cooks and chefs get a book deal and it's like, bang out a few recipes, crack on with what you're doing. But this, it really feels like your heart and soul. And you know, a lot of cooks and chefs get a book deal, it's like bang out a few recipes, crack on with what you're doing. But this, it really feels like your heart and soul. And, you know, it's amazing that you, because I find that's the thing with when you become a parent, you reflect on your own childhood massively, like you wouldn't. Oh, so much. my dad dealing with this situation with me now that my son's going through it. And you know, as it, you know, it sounds like your granddad now, you've got very close relationship with your adult kids. Is there anything for people listening and you go, the thing that you think you've done really well, or maybe the thing that you think you could have done better, but how have you managed to keep this unit together and everyone still be close

and enjoy each other's company when sometimes that's not always the case with a family? I don't know, I've always just been really mindful of treating them like adults, talking to them no differently to how I talk to adult friends. So I don't know if that has a bearing. I mean, we've been through tough things as well. I feel like I sort of painting a picture of like, oh, is this idyllicic kind of, you know, upbringing, perfect parenting and everything like that, which not at all, you know, has been massive tantrums and huge kind of, you know, all sorts of anxious times and everything else. But I think yeah, I mean, I don't know, just all I've done is just yeah, treated them treated them like I treat anyone else, really. them treated them like a treat anyone else really. We were talking about the work life balance that recently on the podcast about how sometimes like, if you really want to push on with your career, you will have to sacrifice that sort of time at home. Do you feel like you sort of put

the career in neutral and, and focused on the kids when you were sort of just going out and doing good shows, but creatively not really expressing yourself? Do you feel like that was a conscious decision to stick it in neutral, get the money in, and then as they got older and it was easier at home, you could push forward again? That's exactly, that's completely true. The only thing I would say is that it was subconscious.

So I was never, I never sort of thought, I'm not gonna get on, I'm not gonna do anything. I just didn't have an urge to be creative with my performing. Yeah. Exactly for what you were saying earlier, you know, the reason being that it was earning money and I didn't want to rock the boat and suddenly do something where, you know, somewhere we go, oh, we're not booking you because you're not doing the jokes that we're familiar with or whatever. And it wasn't, I mean, it was after it was probably five, six years after I'd done the first show. And I was like,

you know, you know, coming up with the third one, that I then looked back and went, Oh, that's when I started getting creative again was when the the necessity to be creative as a parent or you know, that they didn't need me in the same way that they needed me up to they were kind of, you know, to their sort of mid teens. Yeah, so it was so it was totally subconscious. Did you feel frustrated at any point? Because you're always super talented. And obviously, it's so clear. But there was definitely a point where like, you would

your peers would have been going on to live at the Apollo doing national tours and stuff like that, where your your sort of notoriety wasn't as big as it could have been, because you were sort of in that thing. Was there any frustration that always you quite sort of like children? Well, no now I'm happy that I've got this circuit that I do. Yeah, I can see the family or was it? Yeah, I think I just I didn't have I just didn't have a hunger for it. So I didn't. Yeah, so there was no there was no sort

of like, I should be doing that. I think if I were I being creative and going on coming up with all these new ideas, and then nothing was happening, then I'd be that would drive me nuts. Yeah, of course. I mean, even even now, you know, that I've actually, you know, that I'm doing stuff and like, like doing the book, you know, obviously, I'm looking at social media going, well, how come they've got that? How come I'm on there on there, you know? Yeah. And it's nuts. And then I stand back and go, you're on parenting hell. Now with other chefs, if you do you think about other chefs now how comedians would think about comedians? Yeah.

Yeah, immediately. Oh no, I so do. Who's the guy and he's really good and I follow him on Instagram and he's got the sandwich shop in Finsbury Park. Oh, luncheon or something isn't it? He does sandwiches. He maxes someone someone isn't it? Yeah, Max. And that feels like he's in a similar kind of area to you.

So when we were pitching the idea for the book, every meeting that we had, they would get out the fucking Max sandwich book and go, can you do it like this? And it's like, you know what I mean? But it's just like, I mean, it's exactly the same as, you know, with, with socials or whatever. It's just like, can we, can we get the same thing, but just slightly different rather than what have you got that's new? You know, we, we've got the same publisher, you know, and, and they've been, they've been fantastic. So when we, when we first pitched the book and we pitched it to, you know, lots of other publishers and lots of more food centric publishers, more cookery book centric publishers, and they weren't

into it because I think it was maybe too left field or whatever and unconventional. And then Blink said, yeah, we'll give you a book deal. But the initial idea was much more simple and it was just going to be literally the videos that I've done online translating into a book. And then as I started writing it, like I say, when I started writing about being brought up by dad who did all the cooking and all that kind of sort of more emotive stuff. And then I said to the editor, I want to write about this now. And they were just great were just great and they just said yep fine and they gave me such free reign and there's no way I think had I had I got to deal with a a bigger cookbook publisher yeah that I would have got the book that that I've made and and are there any

points said this is better than Max's book is it better than is my business that they have that publisher said we think this is better than the sandwich bloke. Yeah. You know, the publishers, they think it's absolutely brilliant. I think it's, it's, it's, you know, it's a beautiful. I mean, I just think it yeah, I mean, yeah, obviously, I'm trying to sell it. But I do think it's, you know, it is a cookbook for people who are into cooking, because I get followed by on social media, loads of the people who follow me have got chef in their titles. So although it's slightly frivolous, silly, kind of, you know, just add this to this and see what it tastes like. I am thinking about what flavors work, you know, and like with the thing that you just tried there, Josh, you know, the salt and the kind of savory flavor with the sweet and the different textures. And it does work. And actually you stand back and

look at it from a kind of culinary chefy perspective and you go, I can see why that works. And that's what I've thought about with lots of them. And so, yeah, I'm followed by a lot ofy people. But then equally, I'm followed by loads of people who aren't chefs at all, which is why I've put on the book, you know, it's a cookbook for cooks and non cooks. Because it really is about just going, you know, cooking can be as simple as adding one thing to another, or it can be a more complicated recipe. And yeah, and so I think, yeah, I think it's something that will appeal to everyone. Well, good luck with it, George. It's available now or nearly now. But yeah, it's on follow you on Instagram as well, because it's amazing. Your videos are incredible.

Now, the question we always finish on George and now, you know, obviously, your kids are very important to you and the cooking and stunts are important to you. But the most important person to you, your partner of how many years? Any 30 years? Yeah, she was the one at home with three kids while you're traveling around the country with a massive suitcase fucking about a pancake in a hotel room. Yeah. So what is it about her that you absolutely love and you think, Oh my god, what an amazing parent she is

and what is the thing that she does? We think actually, not sure that's a great, great idea, but you haven't really got the balls to say to her face. This is your opportunity now, George. God, what I absolutely love about her is she is so tolerant and she is so accepting of my harebrained ideas and my, you know, she's never, she's never once said, Hey, do you think you should get a real job at all? Right. And she's just always been, yeah, completely, do you think you should get a real job at all? Right. And she's just always been completely, completely

supportive of everything. And, yeah, and just just a great mother, incredibly patient. Well, that's so important, because the amount of self doubt you have when you do anything, especially if it is something a bit more left field, like what you're doing, to have someone that's totally got your back and for so long, yes, is invaluable. So that's lovely. Okay, so now the problems. She buys too many things from

charity shops. And we've not had it before. We've not had it before. What a bitch. Give him money to charity. Here's the here's the thing. That top looks nicer. So she will, this one, this is second hand, everything's second hand. But no, so what she will do is she will go, Oh, I want, I want a, you know, a jumper like whatever. And then she'll end up buying. So I would say, look, you know, find the one you want and get it. It doesn't matter if it's expensive, you know, within reason,

but it's better you find the one you want. Whereas what she will do is she'll buy sort of, you know, six that are all okay-ish, and then none of them are really good enough. And then you've got like stuff falling off the shelves and, you know. So the charity shop purchases, that's not a bad one for 30 years together.

As soon as I get off, I'm going to be texting you both going, oh and this, oh and this. George, absolute pleasure. Good luck with the book. It's so great to see someone who's so talented doing so well and really enjoying themselves. And especially I think, you know, taking a chance in your 40s with a totally new direction of a show that has turned into an amazing social media sensation and now books. So well done, mate, it's brilliant.

Thank you.