THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST - EP.254 - JESSICA KNAPPETT WITH MUSIC FROM DAUDI MATSIKO LIVE @ YORK THEATRE ROYAL, 2024

Episode Date: July 25, 2025

Adam talks with British writer, actor and comedian Jessica Knappett live on stage in York and in the second half, describes his perfect day for Jessica's podcast. There's also music from British Ugandan musician Daudi MatsikoConversation recorded in front of an audience at the Theatre Royal, York on 28th May, 2024LATITUDE CORRECTION: My stage time at The Listening Post on Sunday is actually 15.40, not 14.00 as I said in the intro!DONATE TO MSFThanks to Séamus Murphy-Mitchell and Becca Bryers for additional editingThanks to our podcast tour crew, especially Ben Saunders, Richard Walsh, Analisa Lembo and Phil Turner Podcast illustration by Helen GreenPre-order Adam's album 'Buckle Up' with limited signed artworkOrder Adam's book 'I Love You Byeee' DAUDI MATSIKO LIVE @ DALSTON CURVE 12th August 2024ROB AUTON @ EDINBURGH FRINGE, 2025PICS AND MORE LINKS (ON ADAM'S WEBSITE) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, Adam Buxton here. Just before you hear some very entertaining adverts that I've made for you, I hope you won't mind if I encourage you to make a donation to what I consider to be a great organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders, a global team of medical volunteers providing help in conflict and disaster zones and that includes Gaza where the scenes of suffering just seem to intensify as time passes. One thing that makes me feel slightly less powerless when confronted with those scenes is donating to MSF who rely completely on private donations to fund their work. If you're interested in hearing a personal perspective on the work done by Médecins

sur Frontieres, listen to episode 210 of this podcast which I did with one of their amazing doctors, Javid Abdelmoneim. And if you're able to, it would be great if you made a donation to MSF via the special Podcat link that they have set up. It's in the description of the most recent episode of this podcast. So while we wait and hope for a ceasefire in Gaza, MSF can at least continue to help provide some practical help there and in so many other places around the world where people are suffering badly. Thank you. Alright, now it's advert time. Hey, how are you doing, podcats? It's Adam Buxton here. Sorry for the cold open. There's no regular

opening theme this week because it's a live podcast episode. This is another one from last year's tour, recorded in May 2024 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Theatre Royal in York, and featuring Friends of the Podcast, British actor, comedian writer Jessica Nappet, and British Ugandan musician Daudi Matsiko, with whom I performed a live, folky version of the intro theme. So let's travel back in time and hear that beginning section before I rejoin you from this quite wet and windy Norfolk farm track in late July 2025 when I'll tell you a bit more about the podcast and say more of a proper hello but first back to York 2024 and my tediously inevitable Jools Holland impression. When will I stop doing it?

To help me sing the Adam Buxton podcast intro jingle, please welcome to the stage. Welcome to the stage a marvelous musical talent All the way from the beautiful city of Nottingham, please welcome dowdy matseco Ladies and gentlemen dowdy Dowdy is not only going to be my house band tonight, he's going to help me sing a couple of jingles, but he's also going to sing one of his own numbers a little later on in this first half. Are you still Nottingham based, Dowdy?

Sort of. Sounds like a no. Whereabouts are you? Little town of Newark on Trent. Oh. Yeah. Direct train. Perfect.

Pretty good. Good journey today. Smooth. I sat next to a very twitchy guy. He was a young guy. He looked a bit like an ex-army guy or something. And he was quite young guy. He looked a bit like an ex-army guy or something and he was quite hench. He was looking at other henchmen on his phone.

His henchmen. I can relate to all of them. And he kept on sort of doing twitchy exercises. Then he put on some surgical gloves. This was a packed train from Norwich. And then he raised his arm like this to do some exercises and I got a waft of some very powerful body odor right next to me, but he was twitching away the whole time,

God bless him, and just sort of looking around and just not being relaxed and acting so much like someone who was gonna kill everyone. It was very un-relaxing. And then I thought, Buckles, stop judging this smelly, dangerous guy. He's probably a sweet person. Why not just chat to him?

But then luckily we got to Doncaster and I didn't have to and then I changed. So how are you feeling about singing a classic intro jingle, Doughty? Pretty good. Now, Podcats, I hope you're gonna join me and Doughty, especially in the section that goes, I'm a man.

And just try and think of it as a non-gender specific bit of musical chanting and then we'll get going in good vocal style. Alright. Here we go. One, two, three. I added one more podcast to the giant podcast bin. Now you have plucked that podcast out and started listening I took my microphone and found some human folk And I recorded all the noises while we spoke

My name is Adam Buxton, I'm a man. I want you to enjoy this, that's the plan. Oh, sweet! Pretty tender. Doudy Matsiko! Hey, welcome back to late July 2025, out here on my regular Norfolk farm track, and I'm here with Rosie today, even though she is not absolutely thrilled to be out on quite a dreary evening.

It's a bit better than it was earlier today. It was really chucking it down, I would say. I hope things improve over in Southwold, not far from here, for this weekend's Latitude Festival. I'll be there at various points doing a bit of DJing at the Disco Shed on Friday night at 9.30. I think probably clashing with Sting. Maybe I'll get to see the last half an hour. Anyway I'm looking forward to DJing and then I'm appearing at the Listening Post tent on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. I'll be talking to Guy Garvey

of Elbow which is gonna have an informal chat, kind of him interviewing me a little bit, as well as me asking him some questions, but I'll be talking about my album and music in general, and I'll be performing a couple of tracks from the record, Buckle Up that is, along with my producer, who also happens to be the mastermind of metronomy, Joe Mount. It'll be pretty much the first time I have ever performed a song that I've written in public. And there's no telling which way it's going to go. If you're not at Latitude, you can still hear the results, because the show will be recorded and released as a podcast for Virgin Radio.

They're doing various bits and pieces at Latitude this year and my slot is one of them. And speaking of great great music, I've got a new single out this week, I think. I'm really very vague on all this but I'm pretty sure that a new track from my album Buckle Up is going to be available to listen to from Friday. It's called Doing It Wrong, available from, I don't know, wherever you get singles these days. It's a song that started life as the theme tune for a Radio 4 show I did a while back. That show was called You're Doing It Wrong. It was about alternative lifestyles. And anyway I always liked the way that the theme tune

I made turned out, so me and Joe Mount have turned it into something very special. Think LCD sound system and talking heads meets a toddler with a toy keyboard. See what you think. Doing It Wrong. I made it for you. It's sort of about trying to be a good person but going on the internet and finding that you're doing it wrong. But now it's back to last year, 2024, and my live podcast chat with the brilliant Jessica Knappett. Quick reminder of a few Knappett facts. She was born in Bingley, West Yorkshire in 1984. She's an actor, comedian, writer, singer, as you will hear, a brilliant singer, mother and wife of American filmmaker Dan Crane. She's the creator and star of the sitcom Drifters, one of the stars of Ramesh Ranganathan's TV comedy drama, Avoidance. She's the survivor of a dramatic

stage fall on Taskmaster, and most importantly she is a friend of the podcast, having appeared in episode 223 early last year, a great episode, and just a couple of months later she joined me on stage in York to talk arguments and couples therapy, a subject that we'd started to waffle about backstage that day I think. There was also more music from Doudy Matsiko who helped me perform another podcast jingle halfway through the podcast and he also played the title track from his critically acclaimed album The King of Misery, released in early 2024. Incidentally, Doudy is playing a show at London's Dalston Curve Garden on August 12th.

You'll find a link in the description, so if you enjoy his music here, do go along and support him. Now for the second half of the live show in York last year, Jessica asked if she could turn the tables and make me the guest on what was then her new podcast, Perfect Day. She'd only recorded a few episodes at that point. She continues to make it as I speak. She's just uploaded episode number 54 with comedian Rhys James and the conversation in the second half of this podcast about my perfect day is an edited version of what appeared in episode 13 of Jessica's podcast perfect day which I think also featured

some extra waffle from that night which we recorded in kind of a tiny cupboard backstage after the live show as the audience were filing out but I thought I would include some of that stuff in this episode and Jessica was fine with me doubling up a little bit especially as hers went out last year I thought you know if you hadn't heard Jessica's podcast you might enjoy it and it might serve as an introduction to the rest of the Perfect Day Archive. Link in the description. It was the first time, I think, on stage that night that I'd spoken about a few family moments that actually ended up in one of the

chapters of my book, I Love You Bye. and in case you're wondering I do check with my family and ask if they mind me writing about them and talking about them in public although even if they object I go ahead and do it anyway that's a joke as I hope my family would tell you. Back at the end to say goodbye and give you a Edinburgh Fringe recommendation and indeed a recommendation for a talented pet portrait artist who recently gave me a beautiful painting of Rosie but right now after the regular ramble chat jingle let's head back to the Theatre Royal in York in May 2024 where Jessica Knappett is about to arrive on stage towering above me

in a beautiful blue dress with white polka dots and high heel white boots. Here we go. Let's have a ramble chat We'll focus first on this Then concentrate on that Come on, let's chew the vat And have a ramble chat Put on your conversation coat And find your talking hat Yes, yes, yes La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la Hello. Best guest. Hello. Hello, you're... How's your mic position there, Jess? I think it's okay. Yeah, it looks pretty good to me.

If you're happy, I'm happy. Oh, I'm so happy. I couldn't be happier to see you. It's very exciting to be with a tall, glamorous woman on a stage. And for me too. I had to really get on tiptoes to give you a hug there. I know. This is an encapsulation of my relationship with my wife. I do have a special microphone that

enables me to say my wife. My wife. That's the my wife mic. But, you know, this is my whole life is that I'm tinkering on silly things on my computer things that don't really matter in the in the bigger picture so is this sort of like your kitchen table then at home not dissimilar and then my wife comes in yeah little bit my wife comes in she's taller than

me as well in fact she's kind of the same height that you are. And so I have to stretch right up. She very seldom bends down for me. It's just occurred to me. I don't think I bent down for you either. No, you didn't. No, quite right. Do you want people to bend for you?

You want people to bend the knee? Yes. I do want a bit more knee bending. Do you? A little bit. Hey look how you doing? How's life since we spoke? Really good actually. Do you know it really good because I had a really nice response to being on your podcast and genuinely it did change my life a little bit. I'm not joking. Oh, mate. It was such a lovely experience.

How come? How come it was good? Because I talked about things that I had never talked about. I got a bit vulnerable. I talked about my feelings. And talking about your feelings is good, even if everybody hears them. and people got in touch with me and said hey Jess it's all right you don't need to worry about feeling like your sitcom that you made was shit. It wasn't shit and we didn't say that. No no I

didn't say that but it was it was all those sorts of things yes anxieties and it felt and it felt good yeah and, and also then I came away from it thinking that I need to sort of do some more things out there in the world. Yes. Well, I want you to do those things. That's why I'm doing a podcast myself. Yes, you're gonna do a podcast.

Now hang on one second, Jess. It's just been pointed out to me by my producer, Seamus, who is here.. Hi Seamus. In the wings That I've got live at the Bristol Beacon written on We feel special don't we York? Just cut and paste the next location. We don't care We're just a cut and paste job to you, aren't we? I mean a little bit, yeah, but you know what? It's so nice to be here. The Bristol Beacon.

What a very unpleasant and aggressive audience. Anyway, it's nice to be here. But I'm so glad that it was overall a pleasurable experience. Any negative pushback from appearing on the podcast? No, no negative pushback. Okay good. No. Nothing from the production company who did Drifters? No, no. No, good. And I'm working with them on something new anyway. Oh, are you able to say anything about that or is it too early? It's just early days but it's about me and my American husband moving back to Yorkshire. Oh good one. A fictitious thing like a narrative thing or a... Yeah it's not a documentary. It's not a docco. No it's not a reality tv series although that no.

Would you ever do something like that? Like... If I had to yeah. Yes. Would you ever do something like that? If I had to, yeah. Yes. If they wouldn't make it as a scripted thing and that was the last thing left to do. What about, you know, I always used to watch the Richardsons and think, Yeah, that, yeah.

I admire the strength of that relationship that they can have, that they can have all that banter on screen. Because I do think so much about my relationship with my wife and how it permeates the podcast in a far more low-key way obviously she doesn't appear on the podcast but she's referenced quite a lot she's got her own catchphrase she's got her own mic yeah yeah but I also worry that it's a bit offensive in some way to her that she's maybe not telling me about. And it'll all just bubble out one day you'll just get served the court papers.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I feel this, because I love my husband so much, but I do slag him off for a laugh. Right. A lot. But he says he doesn't mind. But then, yeah, I do sometimes I think, he's sure you don't mind.

Do you slag him off in public? Mmm, yeah, on television, yeah. Right. Yes, because, I mean, he's sort of perfect to be slagged really, because he's American. Yes, exactly. He, also, he's a robust character. He's very good looking. He's a fine man. He's a good singer. I was at your birthday party. You karaoke and you absolutely smashed it you were like a sort of super couple of karaoke it was mad and but he was you but you kicked

off Adam kicked off the karaoke very bravely well it was actually rocky okay we had a whole band right and then they said, someone's got to start. And they looked out in the audience and they immediately recognized. They went, Adam Buxton, you'll do it. And then you sang... I sang Daydream Believer by the Monkees. What a great start to a party. Adam Buxton singing Daydream Believer.

I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I just didn't want to make a big deal out of it. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't want to do it. Didn't you? No. Oh. Can I name drop some of the people that were in the crowd? If you want.

There was Phoebe Waller-Bridge was there with her husband, the man. What's he called again? Martin McDonough, the director. Martin McDonough, the director who did Banshees of Inner Sherin and in Bruges and all these kind of things. I'm a big fan of both of those people so it was really quite intimidating to look out there and sing Cheer up sleepy Jean! Martin McDonagh is taking notes for his next casting session. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is giving me the Breaking the Fourth Wall stare. Yeah.

I didn't realise you were quite such a good singer. Maybe later on, towards the end of the show perhaps, I might convince you to sing a thing. Okay. Okay. Well maybe. Well we'll see how... All right, we'll see how it goes. Well, should we feel the vibe?

Should we read the room? Oh. Because they might hate that. Read the room. They might hate that. That's a new concept to Should we read the room? Because they might hate that. Read the room? They might hate that. That's a new concept to me, reading the room. Okay, we don't have to. Normally, I don't have to read the room because I'm just sat in a house.

Because you're a man. LAUGHTER APPLAUSE You don't have to. It's true though, men don't read rooms as well as women. I really think that's true, right? Well, I guess we were talking earlier actually about arguments. Oh yeah, let's go back. Let's row back to the arguments.

Yeah, row back to the arguments. Now, row back to, now for your birthday, I gave you a gift. Oh, you did? So nice. By the way, Adam and I had never met until I went on his podcast, is that right? No, we had met, we'd met once. Oh yeah, on Richard Herring's podcast.

No, I auditioned for your sitcom. Oh my God. And I didn't get it. Dodged a bullet, mate. Dodged a bullet. Yeah, so Adam and I became sort of like really good friends just from me going on his podcast. Is that fair to say? Yeah, I just, I knew it was gonna work.

And then as soon as we started chatting, I enjoyed it. You didn't know it was gonna work. I did. I've been doing this for years and you've never invited me on. And I don't know why you decided to invite me on, but you know, 2024 was the year. I think you decided to invite me on, but you know, 2024 was the year. I think I decided to invite you on during the lockdown when I saw you on Travelman.

Oh really? And I just thought, she's great and I think this will be really fun to talk to her. Okay, well that's nice. But we had met very briefly. And then, anyway, I invited Adam to my birthday party a few weeks after we Had hit it off because Adam then had asked me to do this gig and he got me a very nice birthday present Very very nice. Do you want to know what it was? It was a beautiful leather bound book beautifully wrapped into tissue paper

and on the front of the leather-bound book, in gold-embossed writing, arguments with husband log. It is full already. Do you think you might ever use it? Oh yeah, yeah, I actually have got one brewing. The argument with wife log is something that I started a while back. And it started out as a joke, and then it sort of

became real, because it was something I would do occasionally. And now genuine arguments do go into the log. But then you were surprised by a technique that I deployed in quite a heated argument. This was a while ago. But a few years ago, I remember we had an argument that went to DEF CON 1 quite quickly.

And it was one of those ones that was just getting way out of control, and people were saying things that it's like, wow, you're saying that. But what do you, so what's DEF CON for you, though? Like, how bad does it get? Because I think some people think they're having a really bad argument. Like, I'll sometimes say something to my husband and he'll go, stop yelling at me!

And I'll think, I haven't even raised my voice, mate. You'll know when I'm shouting at you. You'll know when I'm fucking angry. Right, now I'm calm. You know, that's my kind of vibe. Yes. Well, do things ever get to, what's the worst it ever gets round at your gaff?

I've thrown a pan. Oh, yeah. Throwing a pan at him. But the problem with being married to an American is, you throw one pan, you find yourself in couples therapy. And then you really have to talk about your feelings. That's the problem. Did you throw it at the wall?

No, I threw it at the ground. I didn't genuinely didn't mean to hurt him. I threw it at the ground, but it bounced and it hit his leg. Oh, OK. I was just in a rage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then did he make a big deal out of it? Ha, ha, my leg, you got my leg. Yeah, I mean, he did then did he make a big deal out of it? Oh, my leg, you cut my leg.

Yeah, we needed like, he had to get a plaster. Oh, you broke the skin. Like, I genuinely didn't mean to hurt him, I wasn't trying to hurt him. But then we had to go to couple's therapy and then he was like, tell her what you did. Oh, man. And then, so I said it and then she kind of thought it was funny. And I was like, I'm to a winner here with this one But the problem with the I don't have you ever bit have you ever done that couples therapy?

No, I've suggested it a few times. Yep. Not recently I would hasten to add but I also heard a lot of stories from friends saying don't go to couples therapy unless you want to get divorced Yeah, so what would your well I know I'm not divorced yet I've heard a lot of stories from friends saying, don't go to couples therapy unless you want to get divorced. Yeah. So what would your... Well, no, I'm not divorced yet. No, I think it's good, but basically two things happened because we've done it twice. The first time we did it, she said that we had to start every sentence

if we felt that we had something to complain about. We had to say, we had to make it about our own feelings. We had to say, I feel that you wanting me to stack the dishwasher in that certain way is an overreaction. And so you had to say, I feel, but then what happened was basically anytime he went, hey, hey babe, so I feel, and I just go, what?

You feel what? So it just, it made me like, every time I heard him say those words, I was like, here it comes. So it didn't really work, because it just triggered me. So we stopped seeing her. And then we went to see another lady when we moved to England, both moved back to York. Yeah, and she and basically what happened was sorry if she's in the audience

I hope she isn't she was a really nice person But it basically she basically just became a person that we slagged off behind her back together So she brought you together. In that way it was good. Yes But she taught us this special way of doing things where we had to like face each other Mm-hmm, and you had to say a thing and then the other person had to repeat it back so that you've been heard Oh, and you had to be really clear about what was bugging you so you had to like be concise So I'd say like when you drive it makes me feel unsafe when I drive it makes you feel unsafe Yeah, but I would probably say when I drive it makes you feel unsafe

But then so she I think I can't really she was South African or Australian But she then prompt you and she'd go you'd she'd go did I get you? And then you'd have to go did I get you? And then you'd have to go, did I get you? And then she'd go, is there more? And then you'd have to go, is there more? And then so basically like now, whenever somebody says something annoying to the other person

in our relationship, we always go, did I get you is there more and it's just become like a running joke and now we can't go back because it's just ridiculous and you're closer than ever job it was good in a way I suppose well the thing that you balked at when I mentioned it earlier on today was that when we went to Def Con 1 and to answer your question it's I suppose there is shouting sometimes there's loud shouting like top volume shouting. Really? For both of you? Yeah. And I can't imagine you shouting. But only like just the one shout not sustained you know what I mean? It's like the one shout and then it's like, whoa, I use my outside voice.

And that usually spells the end. One or other does the walk out in high dutching. Oh, right. So you shout and then you walk away. Walk away, slam, and then sometimes she calls after, that's right, walk away. LAUGHTER That's right walk away And then the challenge is to resist the temptation to go in for a

another helping Yeah, do you sometimes follow each other around that because I've got into that thing where where they the other person walks when then I'll follow I'll follow him. Yeah, go back into the room Yeah, and by the way, yes, can I just say, I feel when we got to that point this one time I thought okay this is a good bit of psychology and I got my phone out and I said okay look I think this is getting out of hand I'm gonna record this conversation. Insane. You cannot get a micro, you can't start recording to settle an argument. What good do you think is going to come of that?

Because then you become more aware of how you sound. It's like those posters that want to stop abuse of staff on the railways. Do you remember when there was a campaign that said, if only you could see how you look when you get so angry? You know what I mean? If you could step outside yourself and have a sense of how you sound, how you're coming across, then it might chase you somewhat. Right, but in the moment that's not happening, is it? Because in the moment it's just going

boop-da-boop. And it's just recording. It's not playing back until after the event. No, I know, but I thought it might give her a sense of what she would sound like when she was played back. When I played it back on the podcast. You didn't. No, I never did, but it was partly in my head. I was like, yes. Hopefully this will calm down the argument.

Also, might be good for a podcast. We should take a break. But before we do that, I would like everyone to welcome back to the stage, Daudi Matsiko. Here's Daudi, and Daudi is going to play us a song to conclude the first half. What's this one called? It's called King of Misery. There you go! Yeah, so I made this record called The King of Misery. I just cut to the chase.

This song, I tell myself to fuck off. In a really kind way. I think the record's about depression and bipolar and just some stuff. And I was wondering, would you guys be up for singing Fuck Off with me? I feel like we can put some of our own experiences into that moment. How shall we fuck off, Dowdy? Gently and up the major scale. Yeah. So it just sounds like that. So like, should we try it together? Sure. Alright, so... Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Nice. Bit more energy. Fuck off Alright Give back it against myself It all ends in embarrassment All ends in embarrassment I haven't got the strength to end The conversations ill intent

I've come to watch the house burn down home again. You called me the king of misery But I, I'm say you're oppressed If I have to wear you on my sleeve again, I will get undressed If I have to drag you through another day I'll have no strength left Telling me lies, the guilt that eats me, that leaves me tired The words that beat me, did voice unkind, did me sometimes. Fuck off. Fuck off Fuck off Far off. Thank you. Hey! Gaudi Matsiko.

Thank you very much, Daudi. Well done, everyone. Daudi, would you like to come and join me once again and help me sing a jingle? Thank you so much for being here, Daudi. It's lovely to have you. Oh, it's a pleasure. Now, we're going to sing Halfway Through the Podcast, do the beautiful mellow guitar version. All right, let's do it.

One, two, three, four. We're halfway through the podcast. I think it's going really great. The conversation's flowing like it would between the geezer and his mate Alright mate! Say hello mate! There's so much chemistry, it's like a science lab of talking There's fun chat and there's deep chat, it's like Chris Evans is meeting Stephen Hawking

Jam! Evans is meeting Stephen Hawking Jam! We'll help you through the podcast, I think it's going really great The conversation's flowing like it would between a geezer and his mate Alright mate, I didn't hear that There's so much chemistry, it's like a science lab talking There's fun chat and there's deep chat, it's like Chris Evans is meeting Stephen Hawking. Oh yeah!

Doughty Matsiko! Thank you so much. Thank you Doughty. Right now I think it's time that we got my guest back on stage. Please welcome Jessica Knappert. Hi, Buckle. Hello. Now, Jessica, you told me that you have your own podcast and what sort of thing is that?

Yes, it's called Perfect Day. Ramesh kicked us off. Yes. Dolly Olderton. That's nice. It's good that he's getting a bit of work. Yeah, I know. But you know, it's good because I think people listen to it because it's quite famous, isn't it? Jamali Maddux, he's doing it. And my pal Emerald Fennell. I did a Drifters special. And coming...

Reunited your cast members. I reunited the cast, yeah. For a little special. And coming soon, if you don't mind, guys. Adam Buxton. Here. Funny, funny and not a dick. And not dick.

Bit argumentative but. So we thought if you guys don't mind, well Adam has allowed me to commandeer his podcast tonight, so I get to interview him about his perfect day. So we're going to do a perfect day episode. Now, what are the rules? Does this have to be an imagined perfect day, or is this best bits of days I have really had? So it's whatever you want it to be.

It can be fantasy, it can be memory, it can be whatever you want. It's just your perfect day, whatever that would be. And you've got jingles. Yeah. Are you ready to be interviewed? Sure, let's do it. Okay. Do we need to say anything else?

Adam Buxton, welcome on to the Perfect Day podcast. Cue jingle. P-E-R-F-E-C-T Day, day, day, day Alright then. P-E-R-F-E-C-T Day Alright then. R-F-E-C-T Day I mean it's... Alright then

It's no I added one more podc... No It's not No it's not Because you know I'm only saying that because I feel threat... I don't like it when my friends do podcasts

Okay Especially if they're gonna be better than mine or do better than mine. I doubt that. I think yours is going to be an absolute smash. Well, it might be. It might not be. It's okay. It's okay if it's either, isn't it? You're going to be okay with it.

I'd be more okay if it wasn't. And then I'd feel a bit less insecure. But no, listen, I think it's going to be really good. And I'm very honoured to be a guest. But I only recently realized that I was going to do this. So I already feel anxious that I'm not going to be as funny as some of your other guests. Everyone has approached it similarly. Okay. In that, you know, they've just answered truthfully. Yes. And it's just a wonderful insight. And it also is just nice to hear what people enjoy about their lives. That's all I'm interested in really. Let's do it. So let's have your perfect

morning please Adam. Cue jingle. That's me doing that. Is that you being a cockerel? That's me being a cockerel. Very good. Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah I think it might be a tit. Okay. And it taps at our window. Really? A tappy tit? Tappy tit. What, does it actually tap on the glass? Yep. Adam. Adam.

It doesn't say that. I think they might be a bit thick, some of the birds. No disrespect to the bird community. They are mega and I love them. But they're operating with very small brains, some of them. Even though they're doing better with their lives than I am in some ways. So is that how you wake up on a normal day? No. This is on a perfect day.

Okay, so your perfect morning is you're woken up by a tapping tit. Yeah, which does happen. So my approach to this podcast is I'm kind of aggregating perfect moments, moments that make me happy that have happened in my life. Very few of these are imagined. They are memories that I particularly love. But yeah, I like to be woken on a nice morning. The window is open

anyway, we like it cold in the room in Castle Buckles and I love the little bird tapping at the window, the sun is streaming through and I'm not feeling stressed. I don't look at BBC News once the therapist said to me, she'd cut that out, don't look at the news first thing. Yes, so true. Don't look at your phone at all, really, ideally. So I try not to do that on my perfect day. I have slept well.

Yes. I have not spent an hour writhing in agony in the early hours because of the buildup of wind in my gut. Oh, mate. That has become a thing in the last five years. Really? Yes. What do you think is the cause of your... Let's get into it.

Well, it's going to be diet, isn't it? It's going to be a combination of age, bad dietary habits that have accumulated over the years. I have started to address some of these and eat in a different way. I don't know how much difference it's making, it's a journey that is stretching ahead of me, but at the moment it's no good. So you just get really bad trapped wind then what do you do to alleviate your trapped wind? Do you have to go for like a little walk? Yeah I would go for a walk to the toilet. I'm sorry to say that part of the perfect morning for me would be my wife getting out of bed before I do and so you can let one off

bed and just luxuriate in there just let them all out in that carnival that that ensues. That's why the window... All coming from downstairs until the pain in my lower abdomen subsides. Thank God the windows open, that's all I can say. So that doesn't happen on my perfect morning. No that doesn't happen, so just to be clear, not that. Yeah. I've slept well. I've only got up once probably in the night. Only once. I had flying dreams. Flying dreams, yes. Oh man. You love flying dreams. I love them.

And you have them, do you have them often? I've been having them recently. Cool. I don't know if it's good or bad. I googled it and it's some people, there was a suggestion that you feel trapped in your life And you're going nowhere and you dream of escaping or some shit other people were saying it's more about feeling empowered And yeah, I'd go with that one. Yeah superpower being a bird Where are you flying to someone's window to tap tap tap? Yeah, just sort of roof height

Yeah, not much higher than that and I do it by I do it by paddling as if I'm swimming through the air. Oh wow yeah. And I'm really paddling hard. Peter Pan style. Yeah. Yeah. It's as if the air has become more dense in my immediate vicinity. Well it has hasn't it? What you're dreaming about is wafting your own farce away. I think you're right. That hadn't occurred to me. What does it mean? I dream of escaping the immediate foul stench that's hanging around me like a cloud. Imagine rising above it to clean air. Yeah, that's exactly it. So you've had a lovely dream. Lovely dream.

Then it's cold shower time, Jess. Cold? Yeah. Are you a cold shower guy? You're a Wim Hoffa. Recently, it's one of the things I've been doing to try and reset the old general health. Really? Yeah.

Ah, okay. I heard so many people wanging on about it. I thought it's got to be worth a go. And so you do this normally, but you're also doing this on your perfect day, crucially. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because I feel like, I feel as if there has to be some work, it can't all be like total

sensual, abandon and pleasure and luxury, right? Profound existential pleasure comes from mixing work and play. Yes. Whoa. Cold and hot. Yin and yang. Yes. Plus and minus. Yes.

Otherwise, if you overdose on the bad, that's bad, obviously. But if you overdose on the good, that's better. But still. That's fine. Can be bad. Great, actually. Yeah. That's fascinating. So be bad. Yeah. Yeah. That's fascinating. So you are, you've had a cold shower, you're out, you're away.

Do you have a normal morning routine? Like when you get down to business post cold shower, the process of say, preparing for a podcast. What does that look like for Dr. A. Buckles? Well, go to my nutty room, which is in the barn, which is across the way, and generally I do my journal a lot of days. We talked about this when you were on the podcast.

So you do journal first were on the podcast. Yeah, we did. Yeah. So you journal first thing in the morning. Yeah. But recently I've been thinking, I'm supposed to deliver a book. I'm way behind another volume of kind of memoirish stuff. And recently I've been thinking, oh, buckles, you are doing this all wrong, you jerk. Don't journal in the morning.

Do that at night. But in the morning, do that at night, but in the morning when your brain is a little fresher, hopefully, that's when you should be doing book stuff. Right. And so I've tried to shift. So you get the book down. And then what about music? Like, when you're writing music, does that just come to you as and when,

or do you deliberately sit down and like, I'm going to write a song now? No, that's nice therapy. I got a guitar when I got married in order to learn how to play Cooke's by David Bowie on our wedding day as a surprise because as far as my wife knew I didn't play the guitar. So I bought kind of a fancy guitar, a Godin A6, beautiful kind of semi-acoustic, and it's got a forgiving fretboard. So I could make that sound okay with the chords for Cooke's, but then afterwards I never really improved. And after a couple of years of subjecting my friends to horrible David Bowie renditions, I remember one evening I looked across and someone was just pleadingly looking at me like, oh please stop. And I thought maybe I will.

I put it away and I became more of a logic user using loops and keyboards and things like that. But recently I got the guitar back out and found it was quite therapeutic to just hold it, you know, to cradle a guitar. Not play it, just hold it and get it. Well, no, to strum it and things like that. Right. But I got beyond not being good at it or I made peace with not being very good.

And then I carried on strumming and got a tiny bit better. And then I found myself writing a song. Yeah. And it was the first song I'd written on a guitar. And I thought it was so good that I sent it to a musician friend of mine, and they didn't reply. And I really thought that it was going to be like, oh shit, this is amazing. This is it?

Yeah. Oh man. And have you still not heard back? No, I did hear back after about a month. And they gave me some good feedback actually. Oh, you got feedback, so they did listen to it. Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, they definitely listened to it. They just said, the main note was,

lyrically you're kind of in the uncanny valley between sincere and funny. And I'm not sure anyone's ever made that work. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know either. I quite like that. I went to see on Friday night in Amsterdam, Pulp. Oh wow. I love the I love the tone of Pulp. Jarvis Cocker's lyrics are so funny and sincere. That's true. I think he's really, like it never gets sentimental, it's romantic but then it'll be hilarious. You know, this is hardcore that song. Oh amazing, what an amazing song.

It's so sexy but so funny. Anyway, I was thinking, I think that actually does walk the line. So maybe you're the next Jarvis, you just don't know it. Yeah, I don't think I am. But I'm curious about this. I think there's something in when you go manual mode, you get away from the computers and you hold a thing like a pen or a guitar. I think it improves the process man. It's very therapeutic and that's the other thing that I heard recently which is sort of obvious really but the value, the

practical, physical benefits that you get from music. You know not only is it fun and nice to hear and well known to be good for the old mental health but physically apparently there are benefits. And I really do believe it. And a few months ago, when I was feeling a bit bleak, I think I listened to this thing and I was like, yeah, okay, I'm gonna give that a go. Listen to less podcasts about how fucked we are

and listen to more, make a point of listening to music every day. Because there were lots of days when I just wouldn't listen to any music because I'd be prepping for the podcast, listening to other podcasts, reading books, whatever it was, listening to audiobooks about psychology or trying to stuff some facts into my stupid mind. And actually not listen to any music for ages and ages.

But now I've got back into the habit and it's good. Whole albums from start to finish. Yeah, sometimes if I'm doing other stuff, like that's part of my perfect day, is be doing manual labor. Either clearing up or constructing a shelf or something like that, or just organizing things. But things that I don't need to be mentally engaged for necessarily

and have music on in the background. Lovely. I know exactly what you mean. Something that's sort of like menial. Yeah. Organising things. But you're going to see a result from it when you've finished it. Exactly. One of my favourite days in the lockdown was when everyone was out of a house, can't remember what they were doing, defying the lockdown I guess.

I finally got round to doing something which I'd meant to do for so long, which was get a load of little drawers and spray them different colours and then label them and put all the shit that was in, like the bowl in the hall. Oh God. Sort all that stuff into the drawers, at least the stuff that didn't get thrown away. And so now I've got these little drawers, organized, different colours, organisational drawers with things like string, highlighters,

sharpies, phone chargers, cables, lighters, Post-it notes, clothes pegs, all this stuff man. There's a label for every single thing. Have you got an old-school like embossing label? Yeah, I do but that takes too long. Generally, I'll put a strip of clear gorilla tape on the front and then write with a Sharpie on top of it. And then you can peel it off if you want to change. This is, yeah, I'm really enjoying this.

And I was listening to Spotify while I was doing that, and it got to the end of my playlist, and it started suggesting stuff. And it was one of those times when you do think, fair enough good work AI. Oh really what did it suggest? Can you remember? Fela Kuti, who I'd heard before but it was a song I can't remember something water something no water by Fela Kuti but it was very good like 10 minutes worth and before I'd always thought, yeah, okay, good work, fella cootie, on you go, but never for me.

But this one, suddenly it was like, I get it. And it was such an amazing moment. I love musical moments like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, cue jingle. Oh yeah. ["Jingle Bells"] Okay, cue jingle. Oh yeah. ["Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and Dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs and dogs Everyone has a dog. Everyone has a dog. OK, well, we'll put for this, for yours, we'll put you barking like a dog at the end.

Arr, arr, arr, arr, arr. Yeah. What's your perfect afternoon, Adam Buxton? Perfect afternoon. Well, I don't mind a train journey. Oh, nice. It's moving very fast, and's not delayed and... Are you in first class? Yep. In first class. Without hesitation. No I tell you what, perfect morning, I wouldn't

be in first class. I would be with all the other people. And we'd be having a wonderful chat about ordinary life, what their ordinary lives are like. And I'd be very, very interested to know. With your public. Yes. But my wife is also with me and we've just had sex in the toilets. On a train? Yep.

No. Maybe not a British train. Those trains are the most... Are you absolutely sure? This is a perfect one, a nice clean one. Okay, it's a perfectly clean train toilet. So you're all full of post-coital excitement. Yeah, it's great. Have you ever doneital excitement. Not on a train no. No. Well no because they're disgusting. No but a nice one. LNER or the TransPenine Express

you kidding me. Right so where are we going next on your perfect afternoon? Oh yes I just got an email and it says I've been offered a part in a TV show being written by a brilliant young writer who has identified my potential to be a brilliant actor if I'm given the right part and I'm working with a director who can eliminate some of my worst face pulling tendencies. And they are able to do this without crushing my spirit. In other words, it's just like the perfect acting job. And in my life, I've had that only a few times.

And I would say that one of them was hot fuzz. It was a small part, but working with Edgar, he was a good enough director to get what he wanted from me without having to endure some of my more terrible Jim Carrey tendencies. And it was fun and I loved it and the film was great and it was like, wow, perfect. So is it the excitement of knowing that you're going to... What is it? Is it a movie? Is it a TV?

Yeah, working with a load of people, being together for a few weeks or months, you know, because usually I love my job, I love my life, but it is quite solitary. And so I'm doing all, I've kind of carved out this DIY existence, which has so many advantages and I'm very grateful for it. But my few experiences doing TV and movies have on the whole been very positive. Even when the TV show has maybe not turned out the best, it was still wonderful doing it. Also, you know, getting a nice no strings attached offer of work on an email, that's a good thing. Oh yeah, the offer is all yours

and it's there for the taking. And you're not, but you're not, on your perfect day crucially, you're not actually doing the work. You've just been offered the work. But you don't have to actually do the work. That's the best bit. Yeah, that's the best bit.

This is gonna be a great job. It's gonna work out fantastic. It's gonna run and run this show that I'm in. And I'm gonna be the best guy in it. If you were offered something tomorrow, like is that genuinely your dream right now? Like if you were offered something tomorrow, is that genuinely your dream right now? If you were offered a lovely TV show, would you rather be doing that? I'd like to do both.

Yeah, it would be fun. The dream is you do a show that you have a part that you only have to film for a month, every year, and that's it. I was pitching a TV show the other day, and I mentioned you, genuinely. And the producer said, can you get Adam Buxton to be in it? Oh. Honestly, that happened to me. Well, yes.

The answer is yes. I think you can get Adam Buxton to be... So I think people are excited to put you in TV shows maybe more than you realise. Well, I might be. My hope is that I might be entering a new phase of usefulness because I'm old. Do you know what I mean? You're getting into swearing grandpa territory. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Play some dads and some grandpas. That'll be fine.

Part of the afternoon, it's sunny, by the way. I like it sunny. And it's sunny and fresh. Every now and again, while I'm working, I'm doing a bit of work. But every now and again, I'll go outside and I'll pee outside. Oh. What's it, how does it feel when you pee outside?

Why do you love it so much? Feel free. Is it sort of like a marking territory thing or? Maybe on some level. Do you ever pee outdoors? Yeah, I've been known to have a wild wee from time to time. Yeah, it's pretty good. But I don't deliberately go for a wild wee.

Oh, right. I'd rather have the comfort of a nice toilet. Yeah. And I'd rather have a proper sit down. Thank you. But anyway. No, fair enough. Perfect night. Hoo hoo hoo. It's the owl. It's the owl. What's your perfect night, Adam Buxton? Well, it's going to be family supper, first of all. And I will have cooked family supper and I will be listening to more music. My children are there. They are teenagers at the moment. And they will have been DJing while I'm...

It's kind of like a scene from a Richard Curtis film. And they're DJing. They're introducing me to all this mad stuff that I've never heard before. Or my eldest son, he listens to a lot of the same music that I do, so he's playing me stuff that I already like, but introducing me to deep cuts that I haven't heard, my daughter's putting me in touch with hip-hop that I've never experienced before, my horizons are being expanded. In the next room, my son is playing the piano. My wife has a piano in her office and he's pretty good at the piano. Every night again, we open the door and we can hear him. Like

at the moment he's playing, he's learned Surf's Up by the Beach Boys, this real epic. It's pretty good. Do you feel proud of your kids when they're being, do you think I did that? Oh no, I never think I did that. I always think I didn't totally fuck them up. That's genuinely what I think. I just think, oh thank God there's one thing that's good about them.

They like music. They're good at music. They have an appreciation for it. There's loads of things that are good about them. But those moments, yeah, I particularly enjoy. It's the supper though. Supper was like family supper. We got into fairly late as a family. In fact, it was the beginning of 2020 that I finally made the edict. We have got to eat as a family. Oh.

And for some reason, we never got it together to do that before then. And it was, it always really bugged me because it seemed so obvious that you need that to have a bit of family cohesion. And so we started doing it, thank goodness, and it really served us well in the lockdown. And it was good fun and it's still like a happy family supper, because they're not all happy, of course, but a good one is you can't beat it. And my son is on very amusing form at the moment because he's a teenager, he's 19, and he's kind of come out of his shell a little bit. He used to be fairly doer and he would be like at the table.

He would either sit with his head in his hands. Oh, God. Or with his head far back like, uh. And he would be totally monosyllabic and he was just grumpy as fuck. He was just like classic Kevin the teenager. Oh no. But now he's through that. One of the greatest days of his life. How long did it take to get out of that?

Well, a couple of years, but it started to, things started to go better on the best day of his life, which was when his GCSEs got cancelled in the lockdown. Oh yeah. He couldn't believe it. He just came downstairs. He was like, whoa, this is the best day of my life. And I really, I was pleased for him in a way. I mean there have been negative consequences. He hasn't got any juices. That's a whole other story. Also his grasp on certain academic things is fairly shaky still.

He's beginning to get into reading and things like that but it's been a long road and the other day I used the word undulating and he said like that's a word. But his DJ skills are sensational. His piano skills, brilliant. He is at one with the universe. And then he said later in the same conversation, he said, yeah, so tomorrow I think, yeah, I think we should go to the pub as the crow flies. Oh. And we were like, oh, hang on, what? What was the phrase you used there? He was like, how'd you mean at

the end of there we should go to the pub. Oh yeah I just said like you know as the crow flies. He's just thought it was a thing you can tag on to any of. Tag it on there as the crow flies. And then later he said, we're talking about my wife's dad who's no longer with us, but he was, my wife's a lawyer, her dad was also a high-powered lawyer. And he was a judge in fact, and there's even a big photo of him in his judge robes hanging in the very room where our son plays the piano so he is perfectly familiar with what his grandpa did, you would think. But he was like, oh yeah, I just found out grandpa was a lawyer as well, wasn't he? And my wife was like, yes. And you know, after he died we had this obituary, there was an obituary written in the local paper for my grandpa and it's hanging in our bathroom. And she said, you've seen grandpa's obituary hanging in there in the bathroom? He's like, obituary?

He hadn't heard the word before. He's like, what? And I said, obituary. He's like, grandpa had obituary. Oh, I'd love to know what he thought. Did he elaborate? What did he think a bitchery was? I guess just a place with bitches. But like a really big one. And grandpa had one. He just never seemed like the type of person who would have a bitchery. But he had a bitchery as the crow flies. Can we conclude this podcast by getting Dowdy back, playing a little bit of a song that you and I bonded over, can we say, in our podcast?

That is a photograph of Ilkley Moor. And that is your neck of the woods. That's my neck of the woods. Is there anyone else from Ilkley? Yes, you're gonna like this one. Where has there been since I saw thee? On Il Clim Obartat Where has there been since I saw thee? Where has there been since I saw thee? On Il Clim Obartat On il clem oba tat, on il clem oba tat, on il clem oba tat. Thou's been a court in Mary Jane, on il clem oba tat,

Thou's been a court in Mary Jane, Thou's been a court in Mary Jane There's been a court in Mary Jane On Ilklim or Bartat On Ilklim or Bartat On Ilklim or Bartat One time for your motherfucking mind There's gonna catch the death of Cole On Ilklim or Batat. On il creme au batat Then we shall have to bury thee On il creme au batat

Then we shall have to bury thee Then we shall have to bury thee On il creimobatat, on Il Climobatat, on Il Climobatat Il Climobatat, Il Climobatat, Il Climobatat One more time, everyone. That's not everyone. I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him! Thank you so much! Wait! Continue!

Hey! Welcome back, Podcats! That was Jessica Knappett and Doudy Matsiko joining me there on stage in York in May of last year, 2024, at the Theatre Royal, and I'm so grateful to both of them for coming along that night. It was really fun. Don't forget, if you enjoyed Doudy's music, he's playing that show in London on the 12th of August, there's a link in the description. And there you will also find a few other links, including one to that track by Fela Kuti that I mentioned, which is called Water No Get No Enemy. Now if you happen to be going to the Edinburgh Fringe this year, I just want to give a shout out for one of the performers there and also I believe he is a native of York as well so we'll keep it on theme. It's Rob

Orton, A-U-T-O-N, who, if you're not familiar, I would describe as a stand-up who either sprinkles his jokes with poetry, art and oddness, or sprinkles his poetry, art and oddness with jokes, depending on your perspective. Having written 11 critically acclaimed shows on specific themes, and I'm quoting now from the blurb, Rob Orton is now keen on telling you a story he has written about a man he made up called Can. At one point in his life, Can was the world's number one motivational speaker, and then something happened. A genuine original, says the Guardian.

You will walk out feeling transformed and fully alive, says the Scotsman. That's good, it's nice to feel fully alive. Brilliant, says comedian Stuart Lee. The mother-freaking-greatest, says James A. Castor. it's nice to feel fully alive. Brilliant says comedian Stuart Lee, the mother freaking greatest says James A. Castor, a genius says Bridget Christie. That's Rob Orton and you'll find a link for tickets via Ed Fringe in the description of today's podcast. Earlier this week I was in London at the beautiful Union Chapel as part of a bill for a charity show in aid of the PDA Society.

That night I was reading out a chapter from my book from I Love You By and it was the chapter that had some of that stuff from the York show. It's one of my favourite chapters about going to the movies to see Free Guy just after the lockdowns and feeling a bit out of sorts and grumpy with the world and then being reminded of the happier aspects of family life. Anyway I read out that chapter that evening and I had created a kind of visual presentation to go along with it which I spent a long time doing but it was the first time that I had done it in

front of an audience so it might not have been the absolute best call especially last thing on the bill in a hot room when the audience was a little bit tired. There's a couple of moments I thought hmm was this a really brilliant idea to do this for the first time? Anyway I hope the audience enjoyed at least some of it and I was very happy to be part of the effort to raise funds for the PDA Society and afterwards I met a woman, a woman, who had painted a beautiful portrait of Rosie, and it was so good. And I wanted to give her a shout out because she does pet portraits and commissions, and I will put her details alongside the other links in the description of today's podcast.

Okay, a little bit of brightness over there on the horizon, Rosie, with some of the clouds moving on. Might even get a nice sunset tonight, what do you think about that? I'd very much like to go home and back to the sofa. Yeah, okay, we're going. Thank you very much once again to Jessica and Doudie, thanks to the live podcast tour crew, Ben Saunders, Richard Walsh, Annalisa Lembeau, Phil Turner, Et Al. Thanks to the Theatre Royal crew and staff. Thanks to Jessica's podcast producer Lucy Topping. Thanks very much indeed to my producer Seamus Murphy-Mitchell for all his support and conversation editing.

And thank you also to Becca Bryars for additional editing. Thanks to Helen Green, she does the artwork for this podcast, for my books, she helped with the album artwork, she's the best. Don't forget incidentally that you can pre-order the album and get a signed high quality album artwork print with your vinyl copy if you pre-order. There's a link in the description. I'm going to take a few weeks off now to do a few music bits and pieces and get my ducks in a row for the end of the road festival at the end of August but around then I hope to start releasing new episodes of the podcast. I think by the end

of this year I will have released more episodes than I ever have done in a year. It's a fun fact. And I can tell you that my first guest for the autumn run will be one of my all-time musical heroes, David Byrne of Talking Heads. I got to meet him a few weeks back. I was quite starstruck. Pretty much didn't ask him anything that I had planned to ask him. Instead we just had a good old rambly convo, which I hope you will enjoy. Until then I hope things are okay with you, wherever you are, whatever you're doing. If you don't want a creepy hug then now's the time to switch off otherwise

come here hey good to see you thanks for coming back and until next time please go carefully it's not getting any less ridiculous out there and for what it's worth I love you. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Give me like a smile and a thumbs up Nice take a pat when me bum's up Give me like a smile and a thumbs up Nice take a pat when me bum's up Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Please like and subscribe

Give me like a smile and a thumbs up Nice take a pat when me bum's up Give me like a smile and a thumbs up Nice take a pat when me bum's up Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Nice like a fan, where me thumbs up Give me like a smile, where my thumbs up Nice like a fan, where me thumbs up Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Like and subscribe

Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Like and subscribe Like and subscribe I'm going to be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a

little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a

little bit of a little bit of a Thanks for watching!