The Louis Theroux Podcast - S8 EP9: Mo Gilligan on being quoted by Drake, his surprising shopping addiction, and eating fried chicken for 28 days straight

Episode Date: August 4, 2026

In the final episode of the season, Louis speaks to comedian, presenter and documentarian Mo Gilligan. Mo tells Louis about how Drake became a fan of his comedy, his surprising shopping addiction, and his experience eating fried chicken for 28 days for his new documentary, Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy, available to watch on Netflix from 5th August.     Warnings: Strong language and adult themes.     Links/Attachments:    Documentary: Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy – Netflix (2026)  https://www.netflix.com/title/81920949     Documentary: Mo Gilligan: Black, British and Funny – Channel 4 (2020)  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21042684/     Video: Different Types of Grime MCs | Mo Gilligan (2016)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZzVlXCgCCA     TV Show: The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan – Channel 4 (2019 - 2023)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPj_cyCGQqc     TV Show: Drunk History – Comedy Central (2015 - 2017)  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLHHcQWkLnprc91qHlm6zef9qJu1f-aPf     TV Show: The Big Narstie Show – Channel 4 (2018 - 2022)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlHfycloeQg     Podcast: The Harry Hill Show (2026 - present)  https://open.spotify.com/episode/74xrDtkcXeOfVUFMcly9kE?si=1e1d4d0b663945e0    Credits:  Producer: Millie Chu   Assistant Producer: Beth Johnstone  Audio Mixer: Tom Guest  Video Mixer: Scott Edwards  Production Manager: Francesca Bassett   Music: Miguel D’Oliveira   Executive Producer: Arron Fellows       A Mindhouse Studios Production for Spotify   www.mindhouse.co.uk   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello there, welcome back to the Louis Theroux podcast. Today my guest is acclaimed British comedian and internet sensation, Mo Gilligan. You may know Mo from his BAFTA-winning chat show, lateish with Mo Gilligan, or his turner's co-host on the BAFTA-winning Big Nasty Show, which I was once on. That may have helped with the BAFTA. He's got three BAFTAs. You know who else has three BAFTAs?

No, I'm not going to say that. He came to fame on the internet with viral sketches on social media, Kapala Kans, which Drake quoted in 2017 and catapulted him to fame. Couple of cans, Julie. The guys in the club was another one, different types of MC was another one. They're all up and available to watch on your nearest social media device. But stand-up has always been the central part of Mo's career. There are three Netflix specials to check out.

Momentum, there's Mo to Life, And in the moment, the Times has dubbed him the funniest man in Britain. Mo is one of the biggest stars on the comedy circuit today. We always love having comedians on. I was also impressed with how well he hosted or co-hosted the big nasty episode I was on. You could see that, and we talk about this in the chat, how much the format relied on most professionalism and his easy way with people and his focus. and that's something that he brings to everything he does.

And candidly, in an era where, you know, racial themes are part of how we look at culture, well, how we try to create a more mature, more sensitive, more equitable media culture, I was looking forward to having a chat about comedy and black comedy specifically, which historically in the UK, I think it's been felt has maybe been either underrepresented

or in some sense not quite part of the mainstream to the extent it deserved to be. So that's part of what we talk about. We recorded this conversation in July this year, while Mo was promoting his new Netflix documentary, Big Chicken, a fast food conspiracy. In a bold 28-day experiment, Mo tours the UK and US on a fried chicken diet to uncover the industry behind it.

It's available from the 5th of August on Netflix. A quick warning, this conversation contains strong language and adult themes, all that as well as much else besides coming up. This episode is brought to you by Hulu on Disney Plus. Fans of the podcast will know I'm a big fan of television, especially TV that resonates with me emotionally, that brings out those feelings that are so essential to us as humans. This is especially true when it comes to a show like The Bear,

with its rather lovely, Jeremy Allen White, oh, with those blue eyes. Damn him. And the, well, kitchen's a great location anyway, isn't it? Everything's happening in a crucible of activity. But there's also themes of family, perfectionism, the toll that it takes on relationships, the sense of common enterprise that's at any moment at risk of being derailed by the jealousies and the feelings that we go through. And the satisfaction of people doing great work against the odds. And even transcending the expectations that people put on them, you know, I don't want to do any spoilers, but in the bear you see characters working class guys disproving the low expectation or disproving the negativity that's put on them to do amazing things. It's a very relatable and primal storyline. It makes you think of Rocky, right? That feeling of someone actually out delivering, doing something amazing and disproving all the doubters. which I've kind of done with my podcast. So those were the moments that got me. How about you?

Make sure you check out a lifetime of great stories with Hulu on Disney Plus. Copyright 2026, Disney and its related entities, 18 plus subscription required. Did you stay up and watch the football? I watched the first half and then after that I was like, I can't. Like, it's weird because I love football. That's my little escapism. Yeah. So that shout for 90 minutes and be angry or...

And that was a big game. This is going to be completely irrelevant when this goes out. But as we speak, England's just beat Mexico three, two. Well, it was in the 90 minutes, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And people stayed, got up at 3 in the morning to watch it. I know. It's two.

It started at 2 a.m. It's weird watching football at the time. Normally I watch boxing at that time. How could you stop half time because it was all hanging on a thread? I know, but I was so tired, Louie. it just was like, I love football, but also I'm more of a passionate Arsenal fan. I'm an England fan. Oh, no.

So I'm more club over country. Not Arsenal. Yes. When Arsenal won the prem, you went Bazonkers. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I think that's different because I go week in, week out. And when I'm away, I watch the games, and it can change my mood. If we've won, I'm like, wow, great.

And if we've lost, I'm like, oh. came back to the Zeroyn board. You grew up in Peckham, so what are you doing supporting a North London club? Well, Ian Wright was like the reason why I started sporting Arsenal.

So I watched Match of Today once. And it's weird, I lived in an area where like everybody supported a different clubs. You had some people support in Man United, a few people support in Liverpool. A lot of people supporting Millwall as well. And this was like a stage where I was like,

what team do I kind of support? And then I watched Match of the Day and I seen Ian Wright score a goal. And I remember this watching him. He looked so happy, but I remember he had a gold tooth. And I had an uncle who had a gold tooth as well. And I was like, bro, I feel like I know this guy.

And he scored, he looked so happy. And I was like, I'm supporting him and wherever the team he plays for. And that's it, it started from there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, started from there. Who's your team? Do you support football? Oh, QPR, yeah.

Oh, really? Yeah. Why, QPR? Is that where you live or based, Or what? I live in West London. I basically, I've got three boys. And when they were at a certain age,

I thought, you know what, I better start taking them to games and be interested in football so that when they start to hate me when they're teenagers, we'll still have something to talk about. Yeah, yeah, of course. And actually, from one documentary maker to another,

if you're in a tight spot abroad, football's also useful. If you were, say, in Croatia and you were taken hostage, I'm not sure why you would be, but you'd say, oh, Luca Madrich, number one, right? And then you'd get a conversation going and talking about, or indeed,

like if you were in Norway, you'd say, Harland, Erling Harlan, I love him so much, and so on and so forth. It's a fast track bonding moment, but you need, you have to have one in your pocket for every country that you might be. That and the weather. And the weather. That, the weather, and I think sometimes traveling, but I think traveling is more for, I don't know, whenever I meet people that are like really like maybe they're uber famous or they are you know super wealthy i feel like traveling it's like oh when did you touch down they're like yeah you know the jet lag and stuff and i'm like oh seven-hour flight right he's like yeah man yeah yeah it's such a long flight but i've always find it's it's either that the weather or sometimes sport they're like the three things you can just

have a conversation about if you're taking hostage in croatia though yeah you saying i had a tough flight and i'm a bit jet lagged isn't going to help Yeah. Well, you can talk about the weather. Even that might be a struggle. You know, a bit chilly for this time of year, isn't it? Shut up. So you've got a documentary coming out, which I very much enjoyed. You've got various things on Netflix, which we can talk about, your three specials.

And also, a documentary which I found interesting, I don't know where it would have originally gone out, maybe Channel 4 about Black British comedy. Yes. When did you make that? That was Black British and funny. I think that might have had maybe 20, 20, 2021, I think. On Channel 4. Yeah, Channel 4 about 10 o'clock.

It's felt the subtext to the documentary seemed to be that, maybe it's actually not the subtext, it was explicitly stated that the comedy establishment in the UK sort of has a one-in-one-out policy with Black British comedians. And it's felt, for a while, like you were kind of owning the airwaves, weren't you? You had like multiple things on TV. But it's almost as though like, oh, well, we've got a black British comedian.

We don't really need another one. That seemed to be what you were suggesting might be the kind of the unstated rule of British comedy. Can I tell you what I was struck by watching it? Well, many things. But one of them was, as a fellow of older generation growing up in the 70s and 80s, I'm thinking like Lenny Henry's going to get a shout out any minute. And it's 25 minutes before Lenny gets a mention. Richard Blackwood pays tribute to him.

Yeah. Although, in fact, it's actually Lenny's briefly in frame because what kicks off the whole documentary is Ricky Jervais saying, you know, why don't we have more like British comedians? In America, they've got so many, David Chappelle, Chris Rock, and so on and so on.

And then in the background is a picture of Lenny Henry. So it's a scene from extras and then they kind of all look and there's a picture of Lenny. And that's, was like our, I don't know if you want to call it, like a cold open almost to the dock. I always had the vision of making this almost as like a passion project as well.

I was quite fortunate to have my own show and that was great and doing stuff on social media. And you know, you kind of get these nice articles and maybe in a newspaper. And, you know, one of them was from the Times that was like, funniest guy in Britain. And there was this little, in quotation marks who still lives with his mum. But everyone kept saying every time I was on an interview, this is the, The times of calling him the funniest guy in Britain. So I think with this piece, it was definitely, I was like, I really want to showcase what Black British comedy is

because I know what it is, it's all I've ever done. But I don't know if everyone outside of the realm of, I guess, British comedy knows that there's this huge scene that has shows at Hackney Empire, you know, the O2. And I'm quite fortunate enough that there's a whole generation before me that are huge and massive, within our scene and they need to get the light shone on them a little bit as well. It was great.

It was definitely one of the things I got to do that it wasn't really about it going, I guess, viral because my success was always based on a viral success of the videos done well. And then someone might say, oh, you know, Drake followed you and this happened where this really felt like a piece that fingers crossed that that might be something that they get to show in schools one day, university. So you see yourself as a product of a scene. Yeah, most definitely. Someone who benefited from a black comedy circuit in the UK and who paved the way somewhat for what you were doing.

Yeah. And is it that what Lenny wasn't really on that circuit? Like, he was on a different circuit. I wouldn't say it wasn't on that circuit. I just think it was really to shine the light on these amazing comics that I had got to share the stage with that everybody got to know about people like Slim, who was the first comic that I went to see out of real comedy show at Albany Fair in Deptford. and, you know, then sharing the stage with him, but knowing that he'd been in the game as such

for like 30 years and, you know, Rudy Liquid, there were so many comics. And people that I was just like, you know, I remember Slim saying, is that funny is funny, you know, it doesn't matter, like, what you say, when funny is just funny. And he talks about he's done Edinburgh, he's done Glastonbury, he's done Redding,

he's sold out various big venues, but feels maybe, he hasn't been given the shot he deserved. Yeah, you know, whenever I hear the previous generation, and you see a lot of shows that would come and then they would quickly go. And there is this, even when I got my own show on Channel 4 and this show at 10 o'clock, it was like, oh, this might just be a one-time thing. Same with doing the big nasty show.

Because you're so used to just seeing a show come and that's it. It just, you don't ever see it again. And also, we're also a generation of Black British comics that grew up with watching the real, McCoy, that helped a whole generation in terms of seeing ourselves on screen. I would wait, like, I'm talking like, I don't know, sometimes, like 10, 11 to watch it as like an 8-year-old because my mum would say, hey, like, you should kind of watch this. It was a sketch show on BBC, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What would have been like 91, maybe, 92, something like that?

Yeah, I'm not sure the time. It definitely in the 90s, though. Yeah. So, yeah, it was really important to have a piece that shines a light on. a whole generation that came before me, but also this new generation that are kind of benefiting off like those Real McCoy's sketches and the comics we got to watch. Some of the comics we got to perform

alongside on stage. You know, I remember doing only probably like, at this time, my 10th show. And I'm sharing the stage with Richard Blackwood. And that for me was almost like a full circle moment because I would watch him on TV on his show and now I'm 10 shows in and I'm on stage with him. That doesn't really happen.

if you're on the mainstream circuit. You don't do 10 gigs, and before you know it, you're sharing the stage with, you know, Ricky Jervais, that's not heard of. But in the black circuit,

that's very common. So it was really to give people an understanding of what this scene is and how vibrant it is and how big these shows are. And it isn't this underground circuit almost like, oh, it's a secret. I've heard about this black seat, this black.

I'm like, no, that people are doing shows at the O2. People doing shows at the Indigo. Hammersmith Apollo was selling out shows on, you know, on a Saturday. Sunday night, you know. And I think the position I was in of doing mainstream TV was like, oh, I get a nice

opportunity to bring this to light so everyone gets to understand it and see it. And also, no, I'm not, I'm not the only one, do you know what I mean? It's not just like, oh, well, I've got black guys, it's Mo. And I'm like, no, no, no, guys, it's not that, you know. Reading through your story, it was striking that, and this is a theme of that documentary as well that you kind of got your breakthrough social media, right? And maybe it wouldn't have happened the way it did

if you'd just been doing the circuit or doing stand-up, but the key point was you went viral at a critical moment. Is that fair? Yeah, I think that's fair. Yeah, I'd never disagree with that. I was definitely on the circuit for quite a long time. You know, doing stand-up, hosting shows

at a show that used to happen in Central called The Sunday Show. So that was almost like a variety show. I'd host it, do stand-up, but you'd have comics, you'd have performers, you'd have like, I remember Ed Schering coming down. This is when he first started and he used to just have his loop pedal and his guitar. He performed, captivated

the crowd. It's one of the coolest moments I can remember hosting that show. But you get people who just singers, poets, musicians. Were you keeping down a straight job at the same time? Yeah, so I was working in retail at the same time. You were working at Joe Malone in Westfield? I worked everywhere. Oh man, Louis. I was in. I worked at Joe Malone. Thomas Pink, the shirt shop.

And so then according to legend, you'd be going off on your break and recording a video. Yeah. This was my last retail job. So that was in Levi's. And then one in particular goes viral. Yeah.

So I'd done this thing. I used to do this thing on Snapchat where I'd imitate DJs or MCs and put them up. Didn't have many followers at the time. And then I had this kind of compilation of different types of MCs, like Grime MCs, garage emcees,

the person that misses the drop, the you know the emcee from up north Manchester you know is like yo blood don't try and get cheek yeah you don't know me like so then I put this compilation of probably like five of these different emcees probably 10 second clips and that video is about a minute long I went to the cinema and I put my phone on airplane mode posted a video I put on airplane mode and then I've got gone out to cinema I've checked it and the videos being shared everywhere like my comments I'd never seen it before you had this cool thing where when you go in it, it just says 100, 100 likes, 100 followers,

and 100 something that mentions maybe. So every time I kept clicking on it, it just says 100. And I was like, oh, wow, this is. And then the next day, it got shared by GRM Daily, LinkUp TV. They had shared it. On their platforms, it hit like a million. And then I've done like a part two, got more followers. Then I've done a part three, part four.

And all these followers and people just started really liking content. Then I wanted to play around with ideas. So because I would start at four, because I was working part-time, I would quickly do a video before I started work. And then I'd have a break. I'd finish off editing the video. And then I would go into the changing rooms because there would be a camera, so I couldn't be on my phone, post it, go back on my shift.

This is at Levi's. It's at Levi. And then we'd have to clean the store. Then by 9 o'clock, once I put the bins out, I'd catch the 172 bus. and then that's when I would check the comments and stuff and watch the video back and that was like an ongoing cycle until probably I left of just posting videos while I was working.

Were you interacting with the comments or just looking at them? I was in definitely, yeah, I'd always interact with them. I'd see how the video was doing because people would then repost it on different pages. So some different pages, it would get more views so I'd kind of comment on that page. But then I'd get like, you know, the DMs as such and people would say,

oh man I'm from Australia and we love your stuff out here and that was my first taste of people who weren't from the UK that really started liking my stuff and gravitating to my stuff people from like Mexico oh man love this video me and my friends watch it all the time and this was social media then I started to like enjoy it play around with different ideas you know I had this police officer who was I bought this vest which is like a the kind of vest that police officers have put the camera and all that stuff and again I do these videos all in my room

do sound effects on the laptop I'd go on like YouTube and get like police sirens or a car playing and I'd do a classic police officer excuse me lies you know you understand why you're being stopped right and yeah so I do that character I do like the geyser character

I feel like that voice turns up quite a lot excuse to me lads all right is that anyone specific or that's like a generic person I just all my characters are nine nine times out of ten they're all generic so a lot of people All right, so this is not quite friendly, middle class. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, all right.

I'm sorry, sorry, lads, listen, you know what I've stopped you, right? Listen, I understand. You turn the music off, turn the music off for me. You understand why I stopped you? You took the left turn, and he took a right turn. Now, I'm not stopping you today because you've done anything wrong. If you've got a license, and it's just the same thing you'd hear. But then what I started to realise, Louie, is that when I was doing these videos,

people were connecting, like, especially with that police officer, they'd be like, yeah, that's what the feds always say. So me having this generic idea of a character and then people being like, oh my God, that's the... Then I would do the different types of police officers. So that became a trend of the police officer that tries to be your friend, the police officer that stops you for no reason.

And then the trend of different types was another thing that I then ran with, different types of parents at a school run, different types of guys in the club, different types of girls in the club. I won't call myself an actor, but just play around with range of like, especially the guys in the club stuff

that was always one of my funniest ones I enjoyed doing because I'd go out and then you'd get people that will comment be like oh my God that's you that's definitely you or you get girls being like oh my God I've met that guy before you know the guy who buys you a drink but doesn't leave you alone

the guys who's just very tense in the club and just questioning like hey who's that you know them not yeah I don't even know that guy still yeah I don't like them lot so everybody would know these characters and then yeah the characters then just started becoming their own thing and then just ran with that really on the police thing had you had interactions with the police yeah I remember getting stopped once in the middle of peckham

train station what were they stopping you for so I I didn't have a train ticket right so they came and then it was like okay you don't have a ticket and I was like no but I was like I can just buy one now or just give me the fine and they were like okay that's fine but we have to search you So they searched me in the middle of, if you know, like Peckham train station, this is this massive concourse in the middle. And yeah, just search me in front of everyone going through my bag. What do? Where you're from?

And I think they said something like, oh, if you can come back today and pay the fine, I think it must be like at that time, maybe 10 or 15 pounds, then it should be fine. But if not, within 30 days, the charge will go up. So I had to then go home. And I didn't forget, I went home, got like the 15 pounds, came back. And I was like, oh, I'm here to pay the fine, basically. and they searched me again and I was like, no, I'm here to pay back the fine

and it was like, oh we, so it was a different officer and bearing in mind that's me walking into the train station I got searched again that was I think that was the first time I properly got stopped and searched yeah as a teenager, yeah yeah one time I got pulled over by the police

and there were six cars and this was when I was doing TV and stuff never forget that one at that point you have to kind of make a joke out of it me and a mate of mine, who's my stylist, they followed us for ages. And then they was in an unmarked car, pulled me over. And there was, there probably was about, yeah, six cars in a helicopter.

Stop it. I swear. A helicopter. I got the video as well. You were being tailed by a helicopter. Yeah, when the helicopter came, it was weird because, obviously, I didn't do anything, but I was like, oh, wow, this is a little bit excited. But also knowing, I'm like, you're really wasting your time.

And then there was like, you know, some of the officers were, I could tell there was a bit like, oh, I think I recognised that. But what was the cause? They said that the car that I had had previously been stolen, and I was like, is it the same car, colour, or is it the same number plate? Because I said they're two different things. But they never really gave me like an answer. In the end, it was like, oh, it's just not the same car.

And once they knew everyone just scattered, every car was just like, oh, well, it's not him then. Helicopter gone. Did they recognise you? Yeah, I think the officers then started recognizing me. Like, oh, I think that's... And then does it all change? Yeah, massively started changing. But I think there's also, like, once they realized that it wasn't me,

then it was like, okay, cool, yeah, it's fine. But then the part of me was like, this is a lot. Like, I don't need six cars in a helicopter. But at the same time, it was a little bit like, oh, right, feels like GTA when you get fives or six stars. That's like OJ level, isn't it? That's like, I mean, that's kind of a compliment. You have to bring in a chopper on this one.

It might be that you're most famous for couple of canskieser Even though it's a long time ago Tell us about couple of canskies and then how that got picked up by Drake So how that happened is it was just 16 degrees And it was that weird time in April It gets sunny but it's not hot And I had this funny idea where I was just like How funny of a video would it be

If there's his character on the balcony And he's making out it's really hot But it's not, it's just 16 degrees But the sun's out I was used to find that funny where people were like, oh, it's really hot. And I'm like, it's just a sun. It's not actually really hot. But I always notice like geys and lads would have their t-shirts on.

And where are you growing up? You're talking about people in Peckham where you grew up? Yeah, like I'd just say probably like South London, really. Like, it would always be a thing. So that was the idea for the video of, oh, it's lovely. Oh, it's like, it's like, Babilis. Hey, Julie, Julie. And I do Julie's boys.

Yeah, love, what do you want? It's like, yeah, Caprician's love. It's lovely. It's like, Babidas. And that was it. And I put the video up, and it just went absolutely insane. And then after that, again, I've done another, I had another idea of, you know, the wife gets him. He's like, hey, got your present, love.

And this time it's not a t-shirt, it's a string vest. And he goes, lovely, string. Yeah, string vest, made a string. And then, yeah, it just kind of started gathering momentum. People just, people would say it to me in the street as well. Oh, you're the babidas guy. A couple of cans. To this day, people still say it to me.

Is this a few months after you've done the different kinds of MC bit? Yeah, this is around the same. I was still in retail at this point. Yeah, I was still at retail, but yeah, the videos, especially the Giza one, was like, that's the one. Even synonymous to this, like, to this day, that's the one that people are like, oh, a couple of cans, Babadus. You know, it's a great icebreaker. And I think when people see, like, what's happening? Where's the cans?

And I'm like, oh, yeah, it's like, Babedas. Yeah, it's the one thing I think, I went to the Grand Prix yesterday. And one guy said to me, he goes, he's Australian. And he takes pictures, I think, for the Grand Prix. and he goes, oh, I might have seen you a skit with you and Anne Robinson. Oh,

we love that in our house. Yeah, Shirley and Lisa, got to get a pizza. Yeah, so yeah, that's the character. The Anne Robertson skit

kind of had me fooled. Really? Yeah. You know, we filmed that in one take, you know? That's wild. Yeah.

Explain to the people what it is. So if anyone's saying, so basically it's countdown with me as basically someone on countdown. And the word that comes up is blood club. And West Indian slang

It's quite rude, isn't it? Yeah, it's very rude, very insulting We probably shouldn't even say it It's all right Some of you as well know But then Anne goes It's a sanitary product It is, yes

I only learned that Later on when I was a teenager Yeah, yeah, yeah So Bumcloth is Bumcloth toilet paper Yeah, yeah

Right? Yeah, yeah yeah Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah, yeah, I do you do this Come on, bro

So, um, goes, she goes, that's not a word. I'm not his word. She goes, it's not. And the whole premise is that she loses it. That's it. She's like, it's not a word and she storms off. And then the whole joke is, you're the weakest link. Goodbye. Now, what's really funny about that sketch is one, we filmed it in one take. That was their lunch break. And was great actually. She was like, fully involved. She's like, all right, cool, cool. And it was part of my show, the latest show. A lot of people think it was like for comic relief or eight out of ten cats. but I was doing sketches on my own show basically

and I put up the sketch on my socials and didn't really get much traction and I was like oh okay I thought it would get a bit more than this and then someone probably put it up about three weeks later and they put it on Twitter and it exploded it went viral and yeah like I've reposted it literally I don't know probably said about a month ago and I think it hit something like six million views but a lot of people are like

oh why why she being so rude to this guy so a lot of people think is real yeah you could believe that she might be like that I was on the weakest link once and really yeah about 25 years ago yeah yeah yeah um I thought oh it's all on act she's really cuddly she's actually not that cuddly

yeah she was alright when I'm there you know she was all right but I kind of like that you know when you meet the person like she's weakest link and you meet in Ann Robinson yeah right she's like in character like yeah yeah big time yeah Strange. So Drake saw your content.

So what Drake... Wasn't that like the tipping point really, like when Drake shared it? What did Drake do? So he was here for Reading and Leeds Festival. And he's a famous fan of... They always say this about Drake. Yeah, he's a UK culture vulture. Not vulture sounds negative, but he likes UK music.

He's been a big... But you know what it is? What I've realised, going to Toronto, they're very tapped in of what's going on here. So I do... My biggest show out of the UK is in Toronto. Is it? And that's because they know what's going on here. here, like, I do like about 1,500 venues in Toronto.

So with Drake being so in tune here, it kind of makes sense, because when I've gone there, you know, I'd go to Toronto and people are like, oh, like, we're doing here. I'll be in the mall or whatever. And they're like, what are you doing? And I'm like, I've got a show. Oh, wicked, man. Yeah, we watch your stuff. Oh, cool.

We're going to try and up to the show. No, I don't want to butcher it. Do you know what I mean? My Canadian audience, I don't want to lose any tickets. That was disappointing. Yeah. What's that all about? But, no, because their one is that, you're wagw, boy, my bro.

I'm here are my gay Louis Louis Tauru Yeah so it's like a West Indian It is but saying that there's probably Some Canadians that are like Don't really talk like that Do you know what I mean But no what Drake done is when I was at Reading and Leeds Festival

I was at this party And he put on his caption He was like oh I'm here at Redden and Leeds Or something like that Ready to enjoy this Julie get me a couple of cans weather Which was why it's a say for my character

And he was with the rapper gigs. And that was huge because everyone was like, oh my God, Drake is quoting your thing on his Instagram. And he'd already followed me and liked some of the stuff at the time. And he's probably got like 30 or 40 million on his Instagram. Tons of followers. So people was like, oh, who's this guy and stuff? I think it was interesting because whenever I've done like press, you know, it's quite funny. Because especially in America, they're like, oh my God.

And like, Drake discovered you? Wow. How did that happen? And I'm like, that didn't really happen. It helped for the story, don't get me wrong, for the story when I was first starting out, it helped for like the PI, if you want to call it that. But it's kind of like a little bit of a buzzword,

if you want to call it that. Because I had other people, like Ian Wright, Rio Ferdinand. That would like my stuff and comment. So solid crew. That was like the one for me. I was like, so solid crew. There's like 30 of them. No, but like Mega Man.

Mega Man. Yeah, Mega Man. Ashadee. Ashley Walters, who went to the same school but like him commenting and I was like raw

because I grew up watching them and listening to their music as a kid so I was like raw so solid crew and some of my sketches were kind of like especially when I do like the garage and Graham stuff

so solid crew paved the way from Battersea South London it's away from Peckham but Ashley was from Peckham so he brought the Peckham 21 seconds to flow that was a big tune

massive tune growing up especially like Romeo's turn up the baseline. I got 21 seconds to chat this line in time. First of all, I got to big up the ladies looking slender and fine. Romeo done. I cut to the end. Romeo done.

Have you met Ashley? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I met him before. I remember meeting him once just doing a comedy show and I was in Birmingham. And he was lovely, man. Then we done a show together called Drunk Histories. and we have to like dress up as like, I can't remember, I think it might be like King George V or something like that

and we're all sitting there and I was like, oh, did you learn your lines? And I'll never forget he said to me, he's like, no, brother, bad man don't learn lines. He didn't say that. He did, he did. Was he joking? He was joking, but I don't think he learnt the lines because you had to kind of learn the lines but they were almost like, what's the word? You kind of mimed them on drunk histories.

Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it doesn't matter that much. Yes. I reckon he learned his lines on adolescence. Yes. There was nowhere to hide on that. That was all single take.

But he's like one of my idols, I think, just meeting him where he's come from, what he's doing. Yeah, I've really got a lot of time for actually. Yeah, he's definitely had a few scrapes over there. Yes, yeah, yeah. Did you meet Drake? I met Drake twice. Yeah, a lovely guy.

Really, really, really lovely guy. Was this before or after the feud with Kendrick? This was before. Yes, this was before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. When that blew up, did you reach out and say, it's all right, you know, hang in there, this must be tough.

I just want you to know I'm thinking of you. I don't know. I think for me, one, I'm like, I don't know if you're going to listen to me, Mo Gilligan, in this feud. You could DM him on Insta, couldn't you? I could, but also I don't feel like Drake's like, oh yeah, all right, Mo, appreciate that, man.

You kind of got to let rappers, I guess, figure it out. Do you know what I mean? Because then I might be in the lyric. You know what I mean? I was killing them. Got advice from my guy, Mo Gilligan. And everyone's like, who's that? You just came out of that

That was good Can you freestyle I feel like I can And then when it gets serious I just kind of cramble a little bit But I do like In my car Can you freestyle a rap about

What's happening now I'm in a podcast With the man Louis I'm in a podcast We're getting real chewy Ooh We're about to get chewy And with man like Faroo

First name Louis Doing a dock Going overseas He's done docks In Asia none in the West Indies On paper that would look good But you weren't riding a beast

I know because you put me under pressure That's why I'm man In my head I was like In my head I had something But then I was like I don't know you know I don't know It's once you're on the spot

It's hard It's really hard Yeah but in the car In the front room fine All day Flowing man In the car Because I remember you had

Killingo and Gilligan Was so promising I know That's what I mean I'm on the podcast With Louis Faroo we're killing them. It's Louis. We've got Mo Gilligan. Doing docs, making series. It's really fun. We ain't got much time. 21 seconds. This podcast might be done.

Go on, Roe. That's brilliant. Yeah, stay out of rat beefs. I think your intervention could easily have... You don't want to be roped into that. I just don't think anyone wants any advice from a comic. A lot of people don't take comics very seriously anyway. I asked Ed Sheeran about the Kendrick Drake beef and he's like, I'm not even touching that. It's hard, I think, for musicians. Same with Little Sims. You just didn't say anything.

Do you find like a lot of musicians are in awe of you when they meet you? Well, I love that question. No, definitely not. Do you find that? No, I don't think they're in all of me because I think a lot of them, as a comic, you know, I realized when I've done the Brits, everyone was quite scared when I'd go to their table. it was like, oh, is he going to get me? Is he going to embarrass me?

And they're on the table with their record executives and their friends. And that's like their place. That's all musicians. Like you're going to deliver a sick burn. Yeah, because you've got to remember, if it's at the Brits, that might be your biggest opportunity. Some people is their first time ever there.

And you've got me as a comic. You're like, oh, God, is he coming over here? And also there is also a connection where you're like, I know how big this is for you and for me. and I'm not here to really I don't want to embarrass the mandatim I don't want to do that do that, do you know what I mean?

This is my moment as well as it's yours so yeah I always feel like I'm quite fortunate as a comic that I have a really nice connection with the musicians and with music in general but I feel like people are very much especially with yourself

because you're so when it comes to pop culture like you're very cool as well Louis do you know what I mean you're very cool I don't know about that you know this man come on don't do this man

no come on stop it You're flattering me and I'm... No, but you, come on. I've seen people... I see people being like, when you've done the Manisphere, and it was like, oh, Louis, man, he's... This guy's hot, man.

Like, the gal then were like, onto you, man. I haven't even seen, you're just making things up now. That's nonsense. I definitely haven't seen that. Come on, man, Louis, it's all right, man. Come on, stop it. The galen were feeling Louis, man. Stop here.

Send me some photo, screen grabs. Give me the evidence. This episode is brought to you by Claude. I have Claude on my phone. It's an AI that helps out with projects. It gives me advice. I asked it for the best episodes of the Louis Theroux podcast. It came back very quickly,

mentioning Adam Buxton, John Wilson, Marco Pierre White, all solid episodes. Nice to have Claude as a listener. Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you, whether you're debugging code at midnight. Not something I do very often.

but you might, or strategizing your next business move, I definitely do that. Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter. Claude's been helpful for me. You know, sometimes you just need like a screen grab, like a metaphorical one, a sense of what the landscape looks like. What's the key part of the narrative? You know, Steve Coogan, what are the key episodes, what are the parts of his story that I need to dig into,

the landmarks on the journey, and it'll give you citations. You can click through to the relevant websites. magazine articles, stories, podcasts, and like that, in the blink of an eye, you have all the information at your fingertips. For problems worth solving, get started with Claude at clod.aI slash Theroo. That's clod.a.i. slash T-H-E-R-O-U-X. And check out Claude Pro, which includes all of the features mentioned in today's episode. On the subject of comedy and especially U.S. comedy, did you watch the Kevin Hart roast? I didn't watch the let, I haven't watched it, I've not seen it.

Why not? Because I don't really watch a lot of comedy. So like, you heard about it? I heard about it. It was kind of extraordinary. I think Rosado, Rosas are like the most extreme when it comes to comedy. It was the aristocracy, it was the absolute creme de la creme of American comedy and especially black comedy. Although it was hosted by a white comedian Shane Gillis.

But it was obviously Kevin Hart was there and then Cat Williams. Did you hear about the Cat Williams bit? No, no. Did you not digest all of this? I don't, because for me, when I'm at home, the one thing I probably don't watch is comedy. Because then I'm going to start breaking it down of, okay, this and that and this delivery. And what about the nuances of this or the nuances of that? So for me, I watch one, I love wildlife.

Wildlife is my thing. I like something, you know, I need things that detach me from. That's not funny at all, is it? No, but that's what I don't want. I don't want the funny. Because I find the fun, I'm looking for the funny every day. Right. So you need a break from the funny.

Yeah, and also it's like, as a comic, I'm always looking at it trying to break it down and break it apart. And it's too much for me to handle. So I need to watch the thing that is pure escapism. Do you know what I mean? I'll watch a documentary on, I don't know, like dolphins or something. Do you know what I mean? And I just find it mad interesting and being like that right.

Yes, everyone likes those. Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of the striking things in the Black British and Funny documentary, was the fact that it's alleged in the 2000s there was like a step back and without getting too deep in the weeds on it there's a comedian dain baptiste yeah yeah yeah who says that um if someone comes up to him and says buyakasha as soon as you say it i fucking hate you right and um i was just struck that there was almost a sense like oh we've sort of arrived at a place where we can do edgy racial comedy there was also keithel Lemon and Little Britain are also mentioned, but the Ali G show in particular. Any reflections on that? It's funny, like, watching old stuff back, because I think whenever I watch stuff like that back now, I'm like, rah, is that what was on TV like that?

And it was very normalized. Do you know what I mean? And also hearing other people's experiences, I remember Richard Blackwood told me his experience of being successful at that time. and there's something that he says about Ali G where they had made some reference to him in the tabloid papers because of Ali G

and you realise that oh wow like as much as that stuff was very normalized some of it was feeling like you're being laughed at or laughed with so that realization once you get a bit older and how I guess comedy has changed a little bit

is like yeah like we're not no longer being laughed at or now being laughed with. It's a fine line, isn't it? Because I think at the time it was like, well, he's not, like, Sasha Baroncone who plays L.E. He's not darkening his skin, but he's playing an ambiguous character. Like, is Ali G, what is Ali G's ethnicity? It's never really made clear, is it?

Yeah. And so it felt like it kind of people gave it a pass, or some people gave it a pass at the time, feeling like, oh, no, I think he's making fun of a white guy, suburban white guy who'd like to think he's black, but it all got a little bit blurry. Well, yeah, because, you know, when I would watch it, you're like, oh, this is his kid from Staines that likes hip-hop and jungle,

and, you know, you're talking like the yellow max power car and all that kind of stuff. But I guess it's like how that gets digested into your friend at work and coming up to you being like, I is not black. You're like, what are you doing? We're in the workplace. What gave you the comfortability to go and. tell me that, do you know what I mean? But then I think also when I look back at television at that time,

it was so, because now you have social media. So I feel like if there was a character like that now, people are like, oh, this character is this person and he's from here. And you get this easier breakdown, whereas back then you didn't. You're like, comes on our screens. I don't really know much about this person that plays the character or the comedian. There wasn't podcasts. You didn't get to see a breakdown of Comic Tell You.

why they done a couple of cans that didn't exist. And where they got the inspiration from it was just on TV, it's blowing up. You know, I feel like back then when it blows up, it's, you know, you can now dress up as the character. It becomes almost like an outfit. People can dress up as Halloween characters, do you know what I mean? Which I think is a little bit different now, you know? It's evident that you have to, or maybe feel you have to,

pick your way quite carefully. Like maybe in a way that a white comedian might not. You talk about pressure, you can't slip up, you have to represent your community properly. Oh, 100%. I say that a lot. And I kind of know that. I think I've always known that coming into this space

that's not occupied by a lot of people that are from where I'm from, that's going to come with a certain amount of pressure. You know, you've got to represent your community in where you're from, but also that community wants to be represented right but also knowing that you're not going to please everyone in doing that there's a part of me that wants to feel free and be myself

and I felt like that when I first done the big nasty show because it was just me and nasty and it was just kind of do whatever you want so if I was with David Schwim and I'm like go on man look in the camera and tell them suck their mum like that stuff felt really fun and free but then also you had you know you've got to listen to their constructive criticism of some people saying, yeah, but bro, like, we ain't got to do it like that.

You know what I mean? Your mum is quite rude, isn't it? Oh, yeah, very, very rude. Very, very rude. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think I never heard you say that. I guess it's like, one, you want to bring where you're from in your culture

and feel like it's relatable to people that are watching TV being like, right, this is, I don't think I'd see, you know, big nasty Mo Gilligan on my TV, let alone them having the guests that they have and it feel like a free show where I always used to love that show because people came into our world and had to get on board. And if you didn't, you would stand out almost.

Do you know what I mean? Did you feel like you were in control? I think, yeah, majorly. Or in control enough, at least. Yeah, I'd say in control enough because we had a structure of the show. We had guests on the show. We would, you know, we'd have briefings and biogs and who was going to come on. But then I think what made the show what it was,

was that it sometimes was a bit loose around it. edges. I remember you coming on eating gummies. We didn't expect that to happen. But at the same time, I felt like there was an audience. I was like, right, these lot got Loufrew on here eating gummies. Yeah. Like CBD gummies. Like no one had ever really seen that on television, but also there's a constructive criticism that comes from your community. And they're like, yeah, but guys, we don't want this. We kind of want it now a bit, a bit polished, a bit, do you know what I mean? So I think you have to look at both sides of that. It had the chaotic energy that was brought by big nasty, a grime artist, just a sort of force of nature.

Liable to say or do anything. I think it was an open secret that he was often quite high during taping. I can't confirm nor deny this. I can't confirm nor deny this. No one would be wildly surprised if that were the case. I can't confirm not deny this one, Louie. I'm so sorry. And then you were kind of the disciplined one.

You were keeping things on track. I remember one of my takeaways was like, it's called the big nasty show, but most kind of keeping the train. running on time. But I think what helped with the show, it was almost like I'm driving the car but Nasty's the passenger as playing the music,

eating the snacks and having a fun time and I think it needed that it needed to balance you needed Nasty to be himself. Absolutely, he brought the kind of the X factor whatever that was.

But that wasn't ever a planned thing. We just realised that that was what worked for the show. We need Nasty to be like sometimes I'd have questions and he'd be like Hey, listen, forget that. Boom, I'm going to ask you this.

And I needed that and he needed that because Nasty comes from music. He came from doing Uncle Payne, which the audience loved. So now he's on this show and you, you know, Nasty was never going to be the person. Like, okay, cool. Let me ask you that time when you've done this.

He was like, I want to be loose. I want to ask you this. I want to ask you that. You know what, let's go old school. Let's do a quick roleplay. Like, you know, we've got Natalie Cassidy on. We're going to go and do an East Ender's sketch. You needed him to be that loose.

But you also needed me to be like, all right, now, so if we're going to do it, you go over there, I go over there. So it gave the audience this, oh, okay, cool, this looks loose, but there was a sense of structure. It needed that. I needed it as well, because I'd never done TV before. So it was a perfect way to be the person that's like kind of anchoring it. But I'm like, some of the things nasty done was so funny, so funny. Like, I'm talking belly laughter, which you get, you got that was captured on TV. And it was only until I think we were probably three seasons in.

And you start realizing what we were doing. And you're like, oh, okay, this is how this show works. This is what people like of the show. And what also people would, you know, come up to me and be like, I love your show, man. You know, when meeting people in prisons and they were like, bro, everyone in the prison waits up and watches this show. Like, we all wait and watch this show. I've met people recently, not I say recently, but in the last couple years, it's like, oh, bro, you guys got me through prison. like watching your show

and it helps me because when I didn't got my own show I had an idea of the show that I wanted to do I couldn't replicate the same show I was like I've got a different idea from my show that's going to separate our shows but again it comes with a lot of pressure

Louis like you're representing the whole community you're going to get people that are going to say hurtful things to you online Have you ever done something where you're like I slipped up or I shouldn't well I'm slightly also in my head is the fact that you've got a stand-up special where you talk about being asked to dress up as a chicken

and the producer's like, okay, just put on the chicken costume, okay? And then you're like, I don't think I want to do that. Presume because you think it's embarrassing. Yeah, exactly. And then you call your agent and they cancel it. Because it's a fine line between acquiescing in a bit, like being able to laugh at yourself.

It's like, no, okay, fine, why not? Okay. Because you don't want to be precious in full of yourself, but you also don't want to be mugged off. But also, you know, when you get into this space, you want to do things that make you feel comfortable and I guess like when I got into I got to do stand up and I got to do comedy

if it wasn't in the brief before and almost like hey we got this chicken suit you want to try this on to be quite a laugh it goes back to the allergy thing a little bit where I'm just like I don't think people are going to be laughing with me at this one do you know what I mean I just don't Was that a real situation? Yeah it's a real situation

Which was that on your show? I can't say what show it was yeah I can't say that But it was enough that I was like, I'm just not feeling this. I'm just not feeling this at all. There was no malice in it, right? No, it wasn't malice. But I guess it's that thing where once sometimes as a young black man in this space, you feel like if you say no, you then might get the difficult card of like,

oh, it's very difficult, very hard to work with. Now, I only know that because it's stuff that I've heard before from other people that have been in this space. if I say no I might be difficult they might not even invite me back again

I'm not trying to be a diva but I do want to have ownership of what I do and how I do it you have to stand up in what you believe in and you're like my morals just tell me

I don't want to do that because I'm going to be laughed at and I don't want to be laughed at I'm representing almost a whole community and they're going to be the ones who sit there and be like oh bro what you're doing man

that's just not it why you're wearing a chicken suit you know such a fine line Yeah. I wore like a badger suit, I think, on Harry Hill's podcast, Badger or a Ferret or something. I was like, I'm 56 years old. You know, like, do I have some pretensions to being a serious broadcaster.

But then they said, well, you don't have to wear it, but if you don't, the only other person who's refused is Deborah Meadon, and we will put on a sign saying Louis Theru refused to wear the badger outfit or whatever. So I was like, all right then. Did you regret it? I don't think I regretted it but I look quite uncomfortable in the publicity pictures Yeah, yeah Not because I was unhappy

It just didn't really fit that well Yeah, yeah, yeah And I think, and I was like, I think I'm in on the joke Yeah, I think I am But I'm not 100% sure Yeah But then I think that's also like

When you think of the history of black comedy Quirkiness is not something that people relate to With black comedy Especially black British comedy

I guess things might have changed for a different generation with social media and stuff but being a quirky comic and being like well I'm just going to chuck on this fox suit when you're a black comic and you're doing shows

especially if you start off in the black circuit you're looking for big laughs like they're the laughs that you are writing for and you're like I need the big laugh I need the handclaps I need the hitting the friends I need to Ah, so we're always writing for big laughs. We're not writing for, this will get a chuckle.

Did you get it? Did you get the pun in that? We're always writing for big laughs. And I think that's also down to, you know, our audience. They're looking for the escapism with our comedy. You know, I've got my hair done. Got babysitter for the kids. This is a big show.

And you have to deliver. You get 10 minutes. Most of the time, most of us comics are going over. because there isn't really a time constraint. It's just like, cool. If he's smashing, he's on fire, you're going to stay on stage. Like, it's only until I'd probably do more mainstream shows, it was, if I go over that five or ten,

they're like, you know, the guy who runs a show, like, so-mo, you've got to come off now, regardless how good you are. It's not the same in the black comedy circuit. It's like, he's smashing. They him kill, do you know what I mean? But we're not competing for small ass. We're competing for big laughs and big rooms.

It's also striking that you think of the legends of black American comedy, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy. They're very funny, but actually, you get enormous, Dave Chappelle as well, enormous sense of integrity and self-respect that comes from them. One of the things in the Kevin Hart roast is that Cat Williams is giving Kevin Hart hard time for what he sees is pandering, but excessively sort of playing a certain archetype of someone who's sort of, of ingratiating. Yeah. Cat Williams kind of personifies

this sort of pimpish. Have you seen much of Cat Williams? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm talking about. He's, like, even though he's like a five feet tall,

but he's got his hat. Yeah, very stylish. Yeah, very stylish. Yeah. And his whole thing is like, I'm like God out here. Like, you pay respect to me. It's the same in a black comedy circuit.

Especially in the UK. It's like, you can't go on stage looking raggedy. No. That can affect your whole performance because your audience is looking at you like, right, you look a bit dusty.

You know. some comics, like, you think of your outfit sometimes before your material, you know. Let's talk about your shoes. Yeah. The ones I've got on now? No. Which ones?

The ones in the room that you have that's specially dedicated to shoes. Right? You're on record as saying, at one time you were buying eight pairs a month? Yeah. Is that true? You've got a sneaker room.

That one got me, you know, Louie? Because I was like, what's the one of my shoes now? Yeah, so look, I'll be honest Once I started doing well for myself That was like my thing And I used to be into trainers Way before You know, any of the success happened

How many do you have? I've cut down a bit now But I think I'm on about 180 You had 400 at one time Yeah, no, I've cut a lot of them down What was the most you ever had? Probably about 400. 400 pairs

Yeah, yeah, yeah 800 shoes Yeah There's a lot There's a lot. Like, because I think at that time, that was more of an obsession. Because what happens... Sounds like an illness.

No, it was... No, the reason why it's an obsession, right? Because you're like, I want a pair to have a way, which is they stay in the cupboard and no one sees them or in the attic. I've got a pair on display, maybe. Then I've got a pair that I wear. So you're buying three pairs of the same shoe. That's weird. But it's a limited shoe, do you know what I mean?

Because sometimes... How much is each pair costing? I would say average, around that time, I'm saying like 200. pounds a pair, but now the prices have skyrocketed. Doesn't that feel like the system's got you thinking you need these things and you don't? No, because I really do like trainers. Like some of them, it might be a childhood pair trainers I've always wanted. Some of them.

Or vintage ones or just a reissue. I would say vintage. It's almost like, I remember having those when I was younger and you're like, oh, they're back out again. Some of them are exclusive. Some of them are, they just go nice with outfits. so you want them now in a few different colors. Stupid. Yeah, yeah.

And the minute I started doing all right for myself, it was like, finally, I can get the ones that I want. And that was when it was a real obsession. I think now I've just got the ones I really like, and a lot of them I've just given away. Really? Yeah, yeah. The ones that you'd put in a box and lay down like a wine,

like a fine wine, when do you go back to those? Do those get given? You kind of don't, unless they're, like, become like majorly exclusive do you know what I mean if they become like a deadstock exclusive pair then you're like just don't touch them because they got up in value

and you pass them down to your children no because it might not fit it might not be their size but again there's like shoes that are going for like thousands of pounds Millie's open the door we haven't even talked about Big Chicken Oh okay

Big Chicken's your documentary coming up on Netflix Yeah The premise is that you're exploring the world of chicken fast food and as an experiment you're eating it three times a day for 28 days. Yeah. Surprise, surprise, your health suffers. And not just your health, but your mental health, right?

You look like you're breaking up. What was going on? It was probably the best way to describe it. It was fight or flight. That's really the best way. I'll be honest, when I was eating the food, probably the first two days I was like, this is going to be a breeze.

And I was quite naive in thinking that I didn't do any research on the food and what's in it and how it's going to make me feel. And you say that you actually in general, in your normal life, would eat quite a lot of chicken. Yeah, fried chicken specifically. Yeah, because fried chicken, I was like, I know it's always going to be tasty.

You can get chicken anywhere. But no, I think, honestly speaking, it was the hardest thing I think I've ever done because the food tasted great. And I'm eating some of the food in America as well. And it felt like at first, I was like, this will be a breeze. This won't be as hard.

But mentally, I could feel my mood changing. I was becoming more snappier, less patience, brain fog. Like, as a comic, I feel like I'm quite sharp. You kind of built that way to be a comic to be like, again, you're looking for the funny and stuff, but the funny just didn't exist. I couldn't find anything that was funny. And that's the silly things, normal things I would see.

but then when it probably halfway in and I guess as well for the crew I think they could see it more in me than I could see it really and they would say like are you all right and I'm like yeah but they're like you just don't seem like your normal self well you recorded little sort of video diaries in your room

and it and it was clear that you were struggling oh yeah yeah really struggling I had a few times I broke down but like I wanted to just persevere and get to the end I didn't it didn't make sense stopping

because I'm like why would I stop halfway through it and makes me feel like this and also I just didn't know like when you do a project like this that it's only till some of the crew was like oh you know like some people don't really go through it

like the way you're going through it and what do you mean is like yeah they might go for a run or they pretend to eat the food and not eating it and I was like known to happen and I got to do the thing

you know yeah good for you you committed to it yeah I think we're pretty good Thanks for coming by Moat What does the future hold We've got the big chicken dock

Dropping on Netflix any minute If it isn't already out Yeah yeah yeah What else is going on Just touring, world tour now Hollywood Most definitely yeah Yeah

I think Go to move out there I don't know I just don't know if you need to move though They film so much stuff here Or in Ireland now Did you see Druski's bit About Black British actors

Taking American Jobs I thought it's so funny It's all guys being in the hood and time, oh man, I'm going to, and then they break it. Oh, is that okay? It's like very posh British actors. Yeah, but you've got to laugh at it. You know, if you're an actor being like, no, no, but we don't speak like that.

Like, we know we don't speak like that. Well, there's a couple of black British actors who probably do speak a bit like that. But then also, it's like sometimes you have your kind of, you've got your TV, PR voice, do you know what I mean? Like, if you're on Graham Norton show or, you know, Jonathan Ross, or the Louis Theroux podcast. Yeah, you can't just be like, yeah, you know what I'm sitting. because you're mandem. Like, Louis, come on, you know this man.

You're trying to do the whole like, I don't know if I am. You're mandem, Lou, so it's different way we're with you. But when it's like, you know, big BBC or ITV and you're sitting next to a bunch of, you know, other stars and I'm like, so tell me, what was that like making that track? You're like, yeah, I really had a great time making it. It was fantastic.

It was wonderful. But I guess like here, because you're mandem, we'd be like, hey, Louie, no, like it was an dope experience. I can't laugh. Like, we could really like, you. Yeah, you're a mandem, Louie. That's the difference. You heard that, everyone.

That's official. Yeah. Got to do it for the mandem. Keep up the good work, Mo. Thank you for coming by. Thank you so much, Louis. Appreciate you each and every time, man. And we're back.

Big thank you to Mo. We didn't get to this. Mo isn't short for Mohammed, which I thought it might be. It's a common abbreviation of that name. It's short for Mosiah, which was Marcus Garvey's middle name. Marcus Garvey,

the pan-Africanist leader of the early 20th century, Marcus Mosiah Garvey. It's also a name in the Book of Mormon. I'm not sure if that connects or not. Mo's not Mormon. I don't think Marcus Garvey was Mormon. It remains a bit of a mystery. Do check out Mo's new doc, Big Chicken, a fast food conspiracy on Netflix from the 5th of August? Is it a conflict of interest that a company I co-founded helped make the documentary? Let us know in the comments. There was a reference in the conversation about me dressing up as a badger, fact check. It was a hamster. If you want to see the Harry Hill episode in which I do dress up as the hamster, it's up on YouTube. People found it amusing. Someone who never made a comment about my podcast said, I loved you on the Harry Hill podcast.

I said, I didn't make that podcast. I said with some asperity, if you're going to give me a compliment, I'd rather hear it about something I've done. That's a little note, like, any compliment I guess is good, but I'd rather have the right compliment. I'm at that stage of life. You've seen the darker side of Louis Theroux now.

The onion-skinned sensitivity. That's not a good place to land for that's it, this week. All compliments are welcome. And I'm also on the Theo Vaughan podcast, the Rommish Ranganaathan podcast. I've been on the Joe Rogan podcast. Find me a podcast I haven't been on. But people should just listen to the back catalogue of this podcast.

Dish. Annie Max podcast. Or you could just listen to the Louis Theroux podcast. But why would you do that? That's it for this week, apart from the credits. The producer was Millie Chu. The assistant producer was Beth Johnston. The production manager was Francesca Bassett.

The music in this series was by Miguel Di Olivera. The executive producer was Aaron Fellows. This is a Mindhouse Studios production for Spotify.