The Comedian's Comedian Podcast - Were Comedians Happy In 2025: Vol 2

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

Welcome back to the second part of this end of the year special as we find out whether comedians were actually happy in 2025 with Max Fosh, Lucy Pearman, Pete Lee, Marjolein Robertson, Damien Power, Huge Davies & Josie Long!Join the Insiders Club at patreon.com/comcompod where you can get access to exclusive extras including Max Fosh's secret to build retention in online content, Josie Long on the emotional architecture of an Edinburgh Hour and how a mysterious mind-reader jolted Marjolein Robertson's career in comedy.Support our independently produced Podcast from only £3/month at Patreon.com/ComComPod✅ Instant access to ad-free full video and audio episodes✅ The full catalogue of exclusive extras you can't find anywhere else✅ Early access to new episodes✅ Exclusive membership offerings including a monthly “Stu&A”Everything I'm up to:Come and see me LIVE! Find out all the info and more at stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy.Discover my comedy about the climate crisis, for everyone from activists to CEOs, at stuartgoldsmith.com/climate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, Stu here. Welcome back to this second little foray into the concept of an end of the year special, as we find out which comedians were happy in 2025. I stress this isn't us pitting themselves against, pitting them against each other and making a mockery of what I consider to be one of the kindest and most sensitive and interesting elements of the show, asking ostensibly happy people, extensively happy people, whether they are actually happy. So first up, we're going to hear from Max Foch. Do you remember lovely Max? He carved out an extraordinarily unique path in the world of comedy, propelled by over 4 million YouTube subscribers. probably five million YouTube subscribers. Let's find out whether he's happy, though, eh? What do you not have that you currently want? What's the next thing, like what's the next thing, either in YouTube or in your comedian?

The respective comedians. Well, do you? I did wonder, I thought, you know, like this show by your stuff, you could cough and it would get more listeners than this show. It is very niche, right? But what's special about this show is that comedians listen to it. So I was like, he has agreed to spend some time. I did wonder if that was... To respect to comedians.

It's the trying to like slowly be like, hey, I know I'm not... I know I haven't done the exact same hard yards. But I promised that I have spent time and I've worked really hard to give the art form the proper respect that it deserves. James Redmond. Do you know James Redmond?

Very funny comic. He used to be Finn on Holyoaks and then he put the fucking hard yards in and he's never been on the show and he should he uh he went through I imagine years of comics being like oh nice one fin off holly eggs and he stuck to it and now he's a very very good comedian

if he has the respect so it is hard to imagine a way that you could do it without some time and some horrible experiences yeah I think that's part of it or certainly without writing some stand up yeah do you mean absolutely because I think I want you know I like you

you seem like a nice guy I've really enjoyed this conversation I would like to help you get to that goal but I don't think there's a way to do it without doing the actual thing yeah and as I think as most exhilaratingly it's like if you have decided

I'm not going to then I think you'd probably win the respect of comedians more by looking us all in the eye as you have done and saying I don't give a shit about this so you're Yeah, that's probably, that's the one thing that I probably, I don't, I don't have.

And I would, I would love the opportunity to be, kind of slightly be seen. I would love to do a game show. I really want to be on just as, I want to have the experience of being on the telly, but just as like, as part of a participant of something larger. Because I think that would be, that, and for that, that's for mum and dad to be like, oh, well done. you did it. So as a, you'd like to participate

in a game show? You're in a game show or like a, you know, like, it isn't predicated on you doing a video about it. Exactly.

You'd like to legit be on a game show. Yes, I would like to be, you know, as, oh, here is the person who is, you know,

he does YouTube, he's a comedian. Yeah, yeah, please welcome, Max. So. As you versus a plumber from, you know,

Stanston or somewhere. Yeah. So, no, and, and find, I'd love to, I'd love to do bigger, bigger concepts of like,

you know, slightly long videos that are split into three different videos but they are one concept as a journey or as a guy who I follow who's fantastic called Geo Wizard who did a video series where he went straight line missioning where he will go across

a country or a set distance in a straight line, perfectly straight line. I think he's allowed 20 metres either side. And he crossed the UK, cross England, sorry, from Carlisle to Newcast in a perfectly straight line. And like I was enthralled for four episodes

and all this is a guy with the GoPro clambering over bushes and like running away from farmers That's really funny But it's just It was just great Because it's one Because I feel like I have to

Every single two week Every two week Come up with a new Do you go on idea Yes Oh now is the new format A new big idea

You like that idea You like that guy It's his original idea As far as we know Yeah Would you have any qualms About going I'm gonna do a video

Where I go in a straight line Yes Because I know the audience wouldn't. They're like, no, that's, we don't know you for that. We know you as the guy, the loophole, the silly, the fun guy. Okay, but you wouldn't have qualms about just literally doing that guy's idea? No, I would.

I would have qualms about doing it. Because you'd get caught by your audience? Because, and also, I don't think I'd be able to do it very well. Okay. I don't think my skill set would be suited to it. I loved watching it, and I'd love to do something. But if you saw someone else who was good at doing it, do that. You wouldn't think, hey, that's that guy.

There's someone, some of that aren't mind-blowing to me. Some people are doing it now and they're trying to beat his record. And it's couched. Yeah, then it becomes a format and he's known as the person who originated. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's interesting. And, you know, and I don't want this to, I don't want that to come across as me being too provocative because I did appreciate that on the Cleveland, you know, on that video, you kind of credited the guy. Last question, we must wrap up.

Are you happy? Yes, but that's not because of whatever's happened on YouTube or, on stage. I think that I'm happy because of the relationships that I have in my life that are not work-related at all. My personal relationships, I've got very few, like, proper friends who work in the YouTube world. They're all from university. I've got a fantastic family network. And I think that's the thing that I have found most important rather than any number on a screen or anyone, any number of people are asking for a picture down Soho. So I think yes, but not for the reasons why people might externally think of it to be the case.

Thanks, man. Thank you very much. Thank you. That was a joy. That was Max Foch. And now for one of my favourites from this year's Edinburgh Festival, Lucy Pairman. Pierman, I think she says Pierman, and I think I've pronounced that wrong twice. Apologies, Lucy, Perman.

I would say Pairman because I sort of think that fruit is good. And also, Lucy, because I associate you with lovely clowny silliness. Although it was cabbages, wasn't it? Cabbages, not pears. But nonetheless, Lucy Pierman is now exploring with us the vulnerability beneath the absurd. Here she is. If you were to review yourself honestly, what would you say? Lock her up.

I think I'd say they would have burnt women like me. Do you feel that? Do you feel that? Is that a funny answer? Is that a glib answer? or do you feel like a sort of a kinship with daft women of yesteryear who didn't have the option to dress up as the moon? Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely. I think that's probably what drives me a little bit to think, look at the freedom there is to do this stuff. And I feel liberated by that. Are you happy? I am now. No, I've finally done this podcast Come on

Yeah, I think I am I think it comes and goes, doesn't it? I'm doing that annoying podcast I think of leaving a gap for you to expound No, just not for you to expand But just in case you expound Can you tell I haven't done many podcasts? Not at all, you've been the consummate professional

Oh, good. You've got one of the best backgrounds I've ever seen. What, the wall? Yeah, well, it's sort of a joke because it's the same as my background. But also it does look good. And it did make me think, I was getting bored of mine. I'm like, no, no, no, that does look good. It's all about how you liked it.

Yeah. So you're going to be at Soho. I'm going to be at Soho. It starts next Monday and you're doing the whole week. Yeah, please. Please come. Thank you for sending people, by the way. You know, I had some people say, oh, I would never have come to this.

but Stuart Goldspice. Well, I will... Go on, sorry. I just said that I'm so pleased. I think I've reached a new audience because of you. Oh, mate. Oh, well, I'm thrilled. It's just being on the street and loudly talking about it whenever I can.

No, I really appreciate it. Thank you. Oh, good. Well, next time I will recommend people come to your shows and not say things like, I'd never have come to this. That's not what I'm making for. I didn't take it. I think she was just sort of alluding to, you know,

maybe the marketing wasn't reaching out to her demographic. I don't know. Oh, very well put. Yes. That could, that could well be it. Well, that's what my brain did. I was like, yeah, fair enough. But no, she, luckily, she was glad she came.

Lucy Pierman, Soho Theatre from next Monday. Luckily, you will be glad that you went. Thank you so much. It's a joy. It's just so joyful. I mean, it's just a huge support of your work. and you're one of those people who've got it in my head now. I'm just going to watch everything you do from now on.

That was Lucy Pierman. And now, back to South by Southwest, where I interviewed Pete Lee, one of the nicest men. Are you one of the nicest men ever, Pete Lee? Nor. He's so lovely. And we discussed him performing at Fallon, on Fallon, which, for those of you don't know, is a person and a TVJ, performing on Fallon, while his house was sort of still smouldering, having burned down in the LA fires. It was an extraordinary moment, and also we talked about why Netflix specials may not be all that.

Here's Pete Lee. Ladies and gentlefolk, we are pretty much out of time. There's one question that I always finish on. Are you happy? Yeah, I think I'm pretty happy. I was talking to a few comedians at the cellad the other night, and they're like, dude, we're so depressed. And they were, like, trauma bonding over their depression. And then they're like, how are you doing, Pete?

And I was like, I'm doing pretty good. And they're like, oh, no, we're sadder than the divorced house burned down guy. But no, I think, you know, happiness is, happiness isn't something that just happens. You know, I wake up unhappy quite often. And I'm, but just remember, just because your day starts that way, it doesn't mean that that's how your day is going to go. Some of the best days of my life have been days where I wake up going, oh, how am I going to do this? Or like, how am I going to get through this day? And then it winds up, if something can happen in a day that can make you in a bad mood,

then why can't something happen in a day that could put you in a good mood for the rest of the day? And I say that as somebody that lives in New York where negativity is the truth and positivity is a lie there. And so if, you know, we have a lot of people in here that understand, you know, digital stuff and code and math. And so if positive, if negative one can be the truth, then positive one can also be the truth. So work on your happiness and do things that make you happy. And everyone in this room is a creator of some sort and just keep making stuff. And that's going to make you happy. That was Pete Lee.

Next up, we've got a little clip here from Mary Elaine Robertson, who I briefly described to not just to herself several times on the show, but also recently to Uruj Ashfak at an appropriate moment. of that interview as witchy. And I stand by that. I think that Mary Lane Robertson has powers. And I don't suggest there's anything negative to that, but she's definitely got powers. She shares how her work has been influenced by Shetland folklore, and she also shared with us some incredible drawings which have visualised the structure of her three shows. So I believe we're going to see those drawings now. So apologies if you're listening to this. You'll just need to imagine something brilliant and rich and textured and witchy.

This is vague enough that if people want to have spoilers, they can. But I draw the show out like a big picture with different points in it. And then I can bulletpoint what each point actually means. Oh, that's amazing. Oh, I love it. So it's a very visual way. And then do you do the spider. I do lots of spider diagrams.

I put all the themes in colour-coded what each theme was and then went through all my jokes and bits of material and did the coloured dots beside each bit of material and when I found material that didn't cross-referencing of themes those bits got taken out the show Ah, okay, this has only got three colours on it, not five colours, so it isn't suffused with all of the stuff. God, I love it!

And whilst I was doing that, I was thinking about what's going to happen in O and what was going to happen in Lane. so actually what will then carry through into all three shows like the sea what carries through all three shows and this idea of a journey carries through all three shows so there's some things that have been happening in March

that's gone through O and then come to Lane as well I don't know if that's a really all-o but I think that's the thing I write it because to keep myself interested in focused I write it in three like different methods all at the same time yes so it excites me that's really interesting

that the genesis of doing it like that is to keep yourself focused on it. So you've created, it's like, I mean, this is some classic ADHD stuff as well. It's like, I remember before I got my diagnosis, I was like, I think I've just skipped straight to all the coping strategies. Like a lot of them I've invented for myself, you know, having this stuff, I'm in my cellar now and I can see all my stuff in Tupperware boxes that you can see through, not Tupperware, like, you know, plastic see through transparent boxes. So you don't lose your things because, well, there is like, there I can see it. So like, inventing that for myself before someone going, oh, that's textbook.

When I was a teenager, I ripped my wardrobe door off so I could see my clothes. Yeah, correct. And it just said my mom through the roof, but I was like, if I don't see them, I've lost them. Yeah. And finally, are you happy? Oh, that was the question. Yes. I think the most important thing is to be content because happy like all emotions is like the symptoms of an illness.

All emotions are a symptom of what's happening inside you mentally, the same way. a fever or a sore throat are symptoms of an illness I'm not meant to mean emotions sound bad but emotions are symptoms of how you are inside and the most important thing you can be is content and I felt content for the first time properly in September last year after I finished O

because I find this kind of peaceful resolution because after doing March I moved in with my best friend And I talked about this in Lane, and we had a year where we're like, we are going to work on ourselves. We're going to talk through our feelings. We're going to work on ourselves in a relationship world as well. We're not going to fly from one relationship to an ex. We're going to sit in this period alone, but together as friends, and work on things.

And learn to properly love yourself. And you can say I love myself, but it takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of acceptance, a lot of forgiveness. and I found something when I first started going to therapy for March, which was back in 2022, 23, the winter 23, I wrote down all the things about me I didn't like and wanted to work on and things that I thought were negative about myself, like as a person and in my actions and my thoughts and my feelings and my past behaviours. And why was I like that?

And then I had that sitting and ruminating. Well, I went through therapy. Well, I did marge. Well, I moved to my best friend. We tried to work on ourselves. We tried to love ourselves. And then it's September after doing O, I was sitting on my own. And I found that piece of paper.

I found that book where I'd written all these negative things about myself and how I wanted to try and be better than that negative person or those past mistakes and everything. And I read that. And I felt like I was on the road, like much further down the road in trying to achieve those things. The most interesting thing to me was when I read that back, rather than being disgusted about myself like I used to be,

I felt sorry that I felt that way about myself. So I was like, oh, back then I wrote this like, oh, Mary Lane, you're an idiot. You've made terrible mistakes. Why do you make these choices? Why do you these things? And then I was like, oh, I'm sorry I'm so harsh for myself then. Yeah.

Yeah. So I feel like I'm kind of. content and it's not something you could just be like I'm content from now on it still you work at it and you work at life but that journey of going through these trials and successes are just part of the journey and that's a nice thing not only looking back at it and going oh I have fixed that but also and now I can extend empathy to the person who I was at the time you know and kind of understand and go oh yes I was driving myself really hard back then and that negative voice was trying to solve a problem but doing so badly?

Well, that must have been a very... Or causing problems. Of course, of course. But you know, empathetically, you could go, this is causing problems, but for, you know, because that negative voice is trying to help, but just doing so in a terrible, clumsy way. I think that negative voice sometimes is sort of trying to, I'm not qualified enough to talk about this, but this is what I understand, you know, that like, there are parts of myself which kind of drive me or scold me or are disappointed with me or what have you

and actually a lot of those things were were kind of patterns of emotional behaviour or self-talk that I learned a long time ago because I was in a bad place and some part of me thought that that would help to treat myself like that and it's like oh that negative voice is trying to help badly and actually be able to be empathetic about it that's beautiful yeah that's a really that's such a good way of describing it. It's like just learning how to parent almost. Yourself, yeah. Yeah, so I am happy,

but I think the thing I'm always striving to be is content and then happiness can come in. That was Mary Lane. Back in March, we heard from Damien Power, fantastic, very, very funny voice in Australian comedy. He joined me, and we discussed believing in the bit and the pressure to achieve. not felt by him in some small measure,

given that his brother is a phenomenal NASCAR. No, it's not NASCAR, what's it called Clipsal? The Australian version of NASCAR. His brother is like... And is his name... What's his name? It's something like Ian Power or something. Anyway, let's get back to this.

We discussed the pressure to achieve. Last question. Are you happy? Yeah, I think I am these days more so. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I feel less panicked and less fucking pressure to do anything, really, to sort of, you know, achieve whatever it is. We're all trying to achieve, I suppose. Yeah. Do you find, have you found that as you've gotten on? Less pressure to achieve. Um, I feel more. Is it more pressure?

Well, I feel more pressure to make money. I feel more pressure. I've got two kids. So that's changed things. And that, I suppose, that's a different kind of pressure. And also, I suppose, the big change for me is that spending really good time with my kids is I didn't realize how much more I would value that than crushing a gig. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I didn't realize how much better that was.

Like, if one of your kids does something and you're proud of it, for me, proud of the thing, proud of the child. For me, the pride I feel in one of my kids doing something amazing is sort of a more lasting and tangible feeling than the pride I feel in doing something really well. Do you know what I mean? Like if I've got a thing I'm really proud of it. I'm really proud of stuff in the past. I know what that is.

It's coming back to novelty for me. I've experienced pride. I know what that is. This is new. Pride in you. That's really amazing. Wow, this is filling me up, you know. So I suppose that.

that yeah i wonder i wonder i feel like i've always had such a kind of fixation with creativity and art and being an artist of one sort or another like you know like a comedian or making people laugh or connecting with people or what have you whatever those things are i've been really obsessed with them and i think i feel less obsessed with them now i feel like i feel less pressure like i think 10 years ago you'd have told me you'd have told me you you were making a film and I'd have thought, I've got to make a film. Do you know what I mean? Like I don't know why.

Like I'd enjoy films. But then I also, I feel like I now I, I also, I've learned enough about comedy. Not that I've spoiled it for myself, but I'm aware of, like, every time I see any joke or any piece of comedy, I zoom out, see the exploded diagram, analyze and question, not analyze, I don't mean I'm necessarily right. but I question or understand all of the decisions. And I'm like, every time I think maybe I should learn to play guitar, I'm like, don't do to listening to music what you've done to watching comedy.

Do you know what I mean? Just enjoy not knowing how something works and it having a profound effect. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I totally get that. I'm like, oh, that gets me. I don't want to know why. I don't want someone to tell me that's a diminished seventh and actually it's really hack. I don't want to know.

Do you mean? I'm like, so. Yeah, I do know. Yeah. I totally get that. I totally get it. Yeah. I think actually I take real pride in the work that I do in comedy, especially now. Like I've done a big kind of sort of 90 degree turn in the last couple of years. And I write pretty much exclusively about the climate crisis now. Like I've got this mission that I'm on. I'm really interested in doing stand-up about the climate. And that's completely revitalized my feelings about stand-up. That's great. Yeah, well, it, you know, it's, you know, it is what it is. You just mean the feeling, the feeling, you know, like that you have something that striving you to do and you're following that. You know, that's great. I was starting to run out. And obviously, yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't know if it's going to do any good for the climate crisis. But I do, yeah, maybe, I think the biggest effect is on my creativity and making me feel like your own mission. And that's the important thing. That's the most tangible thing. Carbon be damned. Yeah. So, but in terms of achieve, in terms of the pressure to achieve, I'm pleased to hear that for you, I think, that you, I feel good about there. Ultimately, you asked me the same question. My answer is yes, I feel less pressure to achieve, but I still really enjoy achieving. I just think that I can also have a happy life, having decoupled my self-worth from how much I've achieved.

Well, you just said it perfectly. Yeah. That's exactly it. Yeah. It's a continuing. that decoupling process, I think. Yeah. You know what I mean? If that's where you're at at the moment as well? Yeah, yeah, I think so. Yeah, I mean, it's like decoupled a bit, you know what I mean? And I think there's more to go because, yeah, ultimately all that kind of stuff doesn't really matter.

It matters, you know, how much you're enjoying it and making a living and your friends and family and all that cliched stuff. But it's true. It's definitely true. so that was Damien Power then we heard in March also in March we heard from huge Davies who I worked with recently and it was it's so brilliant to see it was one of those gigs he might have talked about this on his social media so you should follow him and everyone else as well everyone else that we've spoken to it you can't follow everyone else on social media that's you're making a rock for your back and he had one of those nightmare gigs where like

technology failed a thing like a strap broke and it all fell apart and throw his whole set he just stood there very very really he was really funny as i was trying to say funnily then it's not a word very funnily narrating how badly it was going wrong and i love his set it was certainly as good as his set just watching him deal in his very dower way with um with all of the things crashing and burning around him he's huge uh obviously stamped question at the end Are you happy? I normally am. I'm not feeling happy.

I'm happy you're here. I'm not happy. I'm not happy. I'm not happy in the last few months for like personal reasons. I probably won't go into. But like I'm generally, I'm normally like on a better month. I'd say yes. But also a good thing about it is I know that I will be happy.

Because maybe in the past, when I'm down, I'm like this is the end. But I always know that. I feel like I spoke to you during the pandemic. I feel like we did some sort of Zoom. I did you. You were in my show? You're on the sofa show. I remember having a chat with you at some point and feeling like, oh, you're not in a great place at the minute.

Obviously, the pandemic was happening. Yeah. I was living alone for a long time. Yeah. Yeah. I don't do well on my own. I don't. And isn't that information you could have done with being told when you were 17?

Just so you know, you won't do well on your own. So always live with people and be around people. Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, I mean. I'm not, yeah, honestly, I'm not feeling great, but I know that it's going to be okay, whereas I probably didn't know that before. I just thought it's just... That's a good, that's a comforting mark of maturity, probably, to be able to go,

yep, not great at the minute, but... Yeah, it's going to be... Yeah, it's fine. I think, yeah. So the answer is like, no, but generally, yeah, I'm very grateful. And, like, when I'm performing, I'm, like, I'm really happy. Really, like, really happy. And is that, just to come back to what you said before about, like,

not interested in making social content or making content that you that you would perform for the internet as opposed to performing for some people because that what makes you happy is actually people being in the room yeah yeah even when I like there was a point where I wanted to quit

because I was not like I think I was just like really happy with like I admit written material that was really good and I was just doing it all the time and then like it became like almost robotic the performance of like I knew where the bits what to do, what to say, what to hold, you know, and it became

really boring, and I was like, this is this is nothing. I'm not getting paid, like, a lot for it and it's like, it's not fun anymore, so what's the point? Like, the only reason, I'm doing this because it's fun, and then I'd like, re-evaluate what I should do to make it fun again.

And it was like, oh, you just do new or be more in the room and stuff. Yeah, there is that, there's that moment, I suppose, in the life of, let's be honest, the majority of comedians where you think to yourself is to be a famous and rich comedian and if that doesn't happen, how true to that, like, you know, because

in the beginning, I imagine a lot of us would go, well, I don't need to be much, I'm going to be famous, I just want to do the gigs. What do you like agents say to a comic five years in? What do you want? Just want a gig. I just want a gig. And that's absolutely fine and respectable. And then you sort of think, but there must be more to it than this. And sometimes, I don't want to say sometimes there isn't.

But most of it, Even if you are rich and famous, most of it is just the gigs for the sake of the gigs, and eventually you die. Yeah, you've got to really love stand-up man. Like, the early days of gig, it's fucking crazy. Like, he would do this. I remember, I remember, like, almost like, crying in my car after a gig after, like, someone had canceled a gig on a Saturday, and I got into Brighton, driven to Brighton, and it was cancelled because no one had turned up. And you have to go, like, hey, you're like, this is, great.

I'm in my mid-20s, and this is my Saturday. this is crazy to do this and I was like I just really like it and like doing it and it's it's yeah it's maybe I think maybe some people some people don't carry on because I like I actually like I don't like this enough

like I don't care but yeah it makes me when I'm performing and I'm doing really well and sometimes I'm really happy when I'm not doing it like when I've if a crowd is it like I sometimes rate in Edinburgh I like rate gigs like

I'm at a if the crowd today was a I do it with Alice Sneddon and Rose Matt Feo because we were in the same green room Edinburgh and we'd be like the crowd was

I come and go with the numbers and stand would come as you go like or like I was I was an eight crowd or a six or whatever combination of that was but I think it's we were interesting to like rate both how the audience were

and how I was like if the audience was came in a four I got into a seven that was a great achievement sure yeah that's good where it's like sometimes they start I was like this crowd are a nine

and then I'd be like actually finished on a six I kind of fuck that but I think yeah like even if a crowd is bad a room is bad I sometimes get excited

because I'm like I can do it like for explosive potential yeah like I can I often now often I see like a gig that's unplayable

and I'm like I'm gonna do this I'm gonna make a good like that is excited to me I did a beer festival that was like impossible Like it was, you know The gear was just, it was in a tent People were just drinking so drunk

It was like free booze It was like in the middle of nowhere It's just like raining outside It was so loud on the tent You couldn't hear me People were just The tables weren't facing the stage That a PA system was bad

It was like I was like I'm gonna smash this And then I worked really hard And I was like The crowd worked like a six And I got them to like a nine And I was like

That was like that has made me proud prouder than some of the things that you think you'd be proud for like actually like going yeah I can like do the work and actually do my job as opposed to just like

a showcase of my materials like you know be less than an artist and more of an entertainer like not having the I used to think I was an artist and it's like no we're entertainers and that's okay that's fine

that was huge Davies and finally to wrap us up let's hear something sparkling and wonderful from someone who I think is a font or what's the difference in a font in a fountain, a font you put babies in, but fonts sort of suggests, the use of it in language suggests stuff comes up and bubbles up out of it. Maybe that's where babies are from.

Nonetheless, let's hear from the font of joy and magical wonder that is Josie Lott. I remember about 10 years ago I was getting asked all the time to do things like question time, blah, blah, blah. And I think I'd had like a backdrop of science. much like abuse online, I was just like, I can't do this, I don't want to do this. I don't want to be like, I spoke something for this. I don't know what it is. I want to be like I'm, I want to just protect myself a bit. So I don't as much. I used to get treated like the moral police, which is very funny. Like people would just be like, oh God, I'm sorry, I have to tell you I've done this.

And I'd be like, who do I am? I'm not, you feel bad. I'm not a judge. I'm busy, you know. And my friend gets that a lot. She'll get people coming up to me and I thought this is this bad. Yeah. I've known this. Someone described me as working in climate And I was like, oh no, no, I don't work in climate I don't work in climate But I know I kind of do Because people have started apologising to me

When they recycle things back Yeah, yeah And people do do that They like, do you think I'm the moral police And I want to be like, babe, I can't be the moral police But I say it's quite good Yeah, I mean, I don't mind It's very flattering people thinking stuff

And asking me to talk about stuff But I also think it's embarrassing You should get X-1-Z person to do it in Are you happy? Yeah, yeah I think it's like I'm living life so it's everything in it it's like yeah I think I'm

somebody who has I do have a capacity for joy and I think I on the whole very happy but I also think I feel emotions very very deeply all the time and so like I quite often have really really deep sadnesses and melancholy and shit like that and like I sometimes get depressed I've been like this year there's been times I've been absolutely exhausting and I felt quite low and like sometimes I do feel quite depressed about things

but on the whole like Yeah, I forget Enjoy Life. And that was Josie. That's the end of part two. So don't forget you can come backstage in the Comedians, Comedian podcast by joining the Insiders Club. That's patreon.com.com. It's a minimum three pound a month. You can pay more if you like, and you would get instant access to the full ad-free, video-free versions, plus exclusive extras. And from people we've heard just on this little rundown, Max Fosh's secret to building retention in online content.

Now, if those words make you excited, then I don't judge you, because an element of them do for me as well. We're going to hear from Josie Long on the emotional architecture of an Edinburgh hour. That's more comfortable territory, isn't it? Not retention optimization, so much as emotional architecture. But there's room for both. It's a broad church. And we will also find out how a mysterious mind reader jolted Mary Elaine Robertson's career in comedy. And I do still intend to get to the bottom of the mystery contained within that story. And so all of that is within the exclusive extras. So if you want to get hold of that, then jump on the Insiders Club,

perhaps gift it to someone or gift it to yourself if someone sent you some birthday money and remembered to put it in before they sealed the envelope. Always crucial. That's it for now. That's it for now. I have nothing else to say that. The script was just blank text for that bit.

So that is literally it for now. When does this go out, Callum? Is this going to go out before? I should know this. It's going to go out after Christmas. After Christmas. The first time before Christmas, so fine. So, I mean, you can leave that in and just have me saying,

I hope you had a nice Christmas. Is that acceptable?