Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Flo and Joan (Part Two)

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

In part two of Emily and Ray’s walk with the wonderful Flo and Joan, sisters Nicola and Rosie Dempsey, the conversation continues with more laughs and sibling stories.If you haven’t already, make sure to catch part one. And don’t miss Flo and Joan live on tour with Flo and Joan with Feeling, kicking off in September. Tickets and dates are available at https://floandjoan.com.Follow Emily:InstagramXWalking The Dog is produced by Will NicholsMusic: Rich JarmanArtwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Part 2 of Walking the Dog with the wonderful Flo and Joan, otherwise known as Sisters Nicola and Rosie Dempsey. Do go back and listen to Part 1 if you haven't already and do make sure to catch Flo and Joan live. Their show Flo and Joan with Feeling kicks off in September, so make sure to book your tickets now at Flow and Joan.com. Really hope you enjoy our walk and do give us a like and a follow so you can catch us every week.

Here's Flo and Joan and Rewe. You started after you posted that video, your career started to stay exactly the same. Oh, did it? For a while, yeah. Yeah. It didn't really change at all. I think also because we were in Toronto. Don't take it the wrong way.

I think that's because you're young and you think, oh, it's taken us ages. Whereas when you get to my, it's like, that was meteorite. Yeah. I mean, it felt like a big thing at the time. I think, like, I don't know if you think the same, but often, like, big things happen in your life in, in the... in our career, for example, where you think this is going to be the thing that changes everything, and it very rarely does. And so it's interesting now when you have those big things,

if you are lucky enough to have those big things happen, to be excited in the moment, but be like, largely things aren't going to change after this. You just have to keep kind of plodding on forward. So, yeah, like, I don't think our careers definitely didn't change for a while. We did our first TV appearance in Canada off the back of it, and then it largely went back to normal. In terms of succeeding in the UK, I remember it's sort of live at the Apollo must have been quite a big deal for you to get that gig.

Yes, that was nice because we were told that music just doesn't really find its way on there. Is that right? Yeah. So you just sort of think, well, that's the job that I never have to lust after or get stressed about because we're never going to have it. So you can sort of write it off as a thing that's not for us and you look for other things, I guess. Is it a harder sell musical comedy to people? To some people, yeah. But it's also, if you love musical comedy, you love musical comedy.

I don't think you'd have to like musical comedy even to like what you guys do, because it just feels so different and fresh as well. I mean, I happen to like it. You happen to. Yeah, I happen to like that genre. But what I'm saying is, I think even people who weren't familiar with it or might say, oh, well, I just want straight stand-up or something. Yes.

I think what your show's offer is, it's so different. or anything I think people have probably encountered before. It's just something very fresh and unique. And I wonder if that is partly to do with, there's a really interesting energy between you, which might be to do with the sibling thing as well. That must come into it a little bit. Most likely.

And I suppose, like growing up it, because of the events of life, it was both of us experiencing strange scenarios together. So you do feel like us against, it feels like us against the world. And then in our shows, it feels like us against the audience. I suppose you're on a united front and, yeah, but if it turns, then it's us against the audience.

And the audience against us. Well, like, it's us and we're inviting the audience in. Yeah. And at the very least, we're on. It's different one. It look quite scary, don't they? No. No, fork legs.

Big old boys. Big old boys. Patrolling the city. I think that must be quite nice. Feeling, I suppose, emotionally safe. I would. If I was up there performing with my sister, you laugh at that as if to say,

don't be ludicrous. No, it's because you said, you must feel emotionally safe. I didn't identify with either of this word. Why? No, I was thinking. You all at the same time you are up there with your sister and if it goes wrong it's entirely embarrassing because you like let each other down.

Actually now I think we've gone beyond that moment now of thinking we'd in the early days you'd be it because we weren't sure if what we were doing was like any good or worth anyone's time or money and then you put loads of effort in and if it doesn't go too well oh my goodness look at you lodge. Look at this big old boy. Hello, my love. Hello, my sweet. You are so big.

What kind of doggie is this? She's a Leon Berger. Leon Burma. Beautiful. Hello. Oh, how beautiful. Yes. She's very gentle.

You're so jovial. You're lovely, aren't you, my love? Are you interested in Raymond? You're interested in Little Raymond, don't you? You could wear Raymond as a wig. You could wear Raymond as a little hat. What a beautiful dog. It looks like he owns the ark.

Yeah. He's Mr. Regent. Yeah. Ask him how much it costs. Oh, is it a girl? What's the name? April. We've misgendered. April.

April's getting a lot of attention. Ray is livid. I love when a gigantic dog has a feminine name. Yes. Because that looks like it should be called like Mountain or Big Boy, Big Boy Buster. Look at that girl. like, my name's Jennifer.

I can't believe we're here's the same species as April. That's crazy. This is why I love dogs so much. Yeah. They're wild. Do you think they look at each other and know that they are both dog? I think they sort of sense that, but I think April just thinks, why are you even bothering? You small, strange creature.

I say that to Nicola every day. I say why you're even bothering. You're a small strange creature. to get on pretty well. Yeah. We do, yeah. We argue pretty well as well. But you're usually arguing about something you care about.

Yeah. Which sometimes when you're arguing, it's a bit like that same feeling of when people say, if the adrenaline doesn't kick when you go on stage, maybe that something's up, you stopped caring or something. If we stop arguing about the job, I think it means we stop caring. Yeah. I'd be worried if we didn't.

find friction along the way. And they're not like, like, it's not like life destroying fights. They're like bickers. Yeah, bickers about what rhymes with what. Yeah.

And I think also, I was certainly aware with my sister. What I loved is that we would argue all the time, but I loved the way that we would just forget we'd even been arguing.

Yeah. Yeah. So she just, you know, she'd call me unforgivable things and I'd do the same. And then she'd just say, oh yeah, you're making tea?

And I'd be like, yeah. Like, you could. couldn't do that with anyone else. There'd have to be some big conflict resolution. And I kind of love that about siblings. You don't need conflict resolution. Yeah, it's built it.

I find it wild. I know some siblings who don't talk to each other, and just the family is split, and they'll probably never talk to each other again. I find that crazy. Since things, I mean, I know you're insisting things didn't take off for you, but I beg to disagree. Because I felt there was this kind of buzz about you.

In fact, Frank Skinner, who I work with, is a big fan of yours. And he'd been to see you, I think. We did raw variety with Frank. Yes, we were both. Was that how you came across him? We, so when we were, I mean, talking of things that you have in common as siblings, we, have you ever seen Flint Street Nativity? Yeah.

Our mum filmed it off the TV onto a video. I think we were probably too young to watch it when it went out. but she had seen it and thought, oh, the girls were like this. We should explain what this is. It was an ITV. Yeah, ITV, like, a film for television. Yeah. And it was like the golden, like the absolute hitters of UK comedy

all in a film together about children putting on a nativity and all of these adults play the children and then play their parents. Yeah. And Frank was in it. And we watched it with our cousins. We watched it constantly. I love that that's how you look, Frank.

Yeah, that was our reference. Yeah. We would have been like... Literally. And like six or seven. It never came across him again until three lions. Yeah. And didn't know that he'd done three lions.

And so we quoted it. And then we did... You're sitting on Ali McCoyce. He's in trouble now, Des. He's in trouble now, Des. He's in trouble now. It's so funny. I never even seen him.

I've worked with him for 20 years. It was iconic. It would be like one of those like core fundamental. Yeah. Like our sense of humor came from watching. Like part of it came from that. And so then we did raw variety with him and we're like, Oh my God, it's Jack Skinner from...

That's like that guy, he was so funny. He was so, so, so, so funny. And he went on with his shirt on ironed or something, and we went in to watch on the little screen with the costume ladies while the show was on because she couldn't go side of stage. Yes, he got a lot of comments. Yeah, and the costume lady was like, oh my God, I can't believe we miss that. They just, like a button was undone or something like that.

The shirt was hanging out with something. It's all right. It was only like 10 million comments. Yeah. I think it's brilliant. I mean, that's a big booking, isn't it? We were terrified. It was, yeah.

It was terrifying. That was, like, one of the few things where you're, I think that at the time it was, we watched it growing up and there aren't, you don't see a lot of, like, musical comics doing, like, the normal sort of TV shows. Yeah. But Royal Variety is one of those ones where you're like, there might be a world where we get to do that one day. Well, you would have seen Victoria Wood, for example. This is it.

Yes. And, like, also. So that must be amazing to think, right, that's, you know. kind of the sort of level that she was operating at. Yeah. I think we were like... You didn't realise that though when you're in it. No. You just think you got lucky and it's a... Someone's made a mistake along the way or something. Yeah, it's too soon, we're not ready. Or what always happens in life, unfortunately human beings are wired to feel like this

is you get the whole variety and you're like, but look, so-and-so's going off to the golden clothes. Yeah. Yeah. And the Oscars, you know what I mean? Yeah. They're playing the O2. It felt like we did them all in quite quick succession and it felt like it everything got quite quick it felt like the beginning of a theme park ride where you have to go really quickly and then it eventually it felt like that initial like oh my god it's all like everything is everything is moving too fast and then COVID happened like four months later and slowed everything down in like a nice way

yeah but yeah raw variety was one way like this is this is mad and stressful and fun and cool that you get to do one of those like like bucket list items really Do you get recognised when you're together? Sometimes but usually Nicola has to be there because of the glasses. I think I could just blend in but yeah old glasses nerd. Oh, I just get a tiny nerd head. I think that's true. It's the Claudia Winkle and a fringe thing.

Yeah. If you have like, oh look, look, oh my goodness. Oh my goodness, they're similar but different. They look like two chestpies. Yeah. Oh, I thought that was a bit. Maybe not. There we go.

There's the owner. Dressed quite similar to the dog. Yeah. A bit like me and Ray, look. I've got my nephew print on. You are. You animal prints. So we should say you are touring.

Is it at the end of this year? Yeah. Your show kicks off. So tell me about that because I am going to come and I will be sneaking away in. You must. Oh, you must. We can come on stage. Sometimes you see dogs in the people bring their sort of assistance dogs and it's the best.

Yes. in your own. Absolute best. You can come in the green room, Ray. And you're so well behaved. Oh. You can come and sit on stage on the pillow. So tell me, guys,

are probably on piano. Tell me about your talk, guys. Well, we've written so much of it, because it starts in nine months. That means they haven't written it. We've got two minutes, and we've got loads of time to write the rest of it. We don't want to jump in too first. Yeah.

It's called with feeling and we have We have, when we were on our last tour a couple of years ago, we play a lot of music venues and often bands will leave their set lists on the stage. And we have stolen one of those set lists and we're going to write our show using someone else's set list. Wow. He's going on the mud guys. So we can go and see that from September. September 19. And if you want to get tickets, you can go to floinjohn.com.

Oh, yeah. We're going to go there, aren't we, right? You must. I think we'd have a really nice time at one of your gigs. I think you'd like to see a lot of your stuff online, but I've never, I don't think we've ever seen you live. Oh, well, you'll get that chemistry in person. Siblings, I will enjoy it.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to this one, because it's slightly different to how we usually do a show. We've never written our songs to someone else's titles. Yeah. So it'll be a little challenge to, it almost feels like a game. The show's going to be a game of how, How can we do it? What does this look like if we do that?

I wanted to ask you a question. We mentioned Frank Skinner, who you said he's very nice to you, which is handy. Yes. He's a very old and much love friend of mine. But let's just do a little me thing, man. We saw his tall show last year. A lot of years ago, yeah. Scream laughed.

Amazing, sir. I love it. You watch someone like that and you're like, oh, this is good. Like that's the golden. You're watching someone who knows comedy inside out. You feel so relaxed when you're watching performance. like that. That's the key, isn't it?

Yeah. But I'm interested to know, is there anyone else just in terms of big comedy names, or any big names, I suppose, in the business, who've made you feel supported and being nice to you? Because I like hearing nice stories about people. Oh, many. One that stands out to me is JFL, Montreal. Sarah Milakum was out there and there was, she was really kind to us in the green room

already. She messaged us before we'd even gone to just say like, I can't wait to see you, like, can't wait to meet you all like excited to spend time in JFL and like where we were at that time, you're like, what's nice about working in a duo? JFL is just for last, yeah. One of the nice things about being in a duo is if you get a message like that, you can message another person to be like, look at our DMs, look what's happened. And you get to like celebrate and enjoy that thing without feeling like your, you're, showing after someone or like you're rubbing it in the face of like another comic like it's very nice to be like look our dms right now and at that time we were like we just got message from sarah milican

after like what we used to watch our specials all the time yeah actually do you know that i hadn't even occurred to me that's the really lovely thing about working with someone but also a sibling where you know sometimes there can be tensions in double acts there are always going to be tensions i should say not sometimes they're always going to be tensions but what's nice about a civil is just the fact that it's not really a choice to leave. Yeah. You're together anyway so we can have to make this work. Or if it doesn't work, there's no hard feelings because you're both like, well, we always joke, but...

Very considerably waiting for the crane hired to go pot. I should have said it then, actually. We always joke that at some point we're both going to have to go to my mum's funeral together. And if we're not talking, that's so embarrassing. It's so embarrassing that if we have fallen out, if we have fallen out over this, like writing comedy songs, that's such an embarrassing thing to have to explain to people in those kinds of situations, like at a family funeral, at a wedding.

So it's never going to be that important that you either walk away from it or you're like, this doesn't, we draw a line and we move on. But it's, yeah, I think that's like the one, the single perk is having someone to celebrate with and someone to like, yeah, I don't know. You can't... Falling out, my sister always used to say, if ever we would have an argument near Christmas, you'd say we can't fall out over Christmas,

it's so Noel and Liam Gallagher. Yeah, it's really embarrassing. You don't want to feed into the stereotype of siblings that can't work together. It's just a bit tacky, not speaking to your siblings. It's so tacky. It's so... That's the exact word for it.

It gives me the ick. It's tacky and it gives me the ick. Did you ever get close to like an argument and you're like, oh, we might never talk? Yeah, we did have a pair of. where we had, you know, over nothing, over something so stupid and now that she's not here anymore, so embarrassing when I think of that. I think, why did we fall out over that? But it just, there was one period and obviously now I sort of look back and I think, oh, it's totally my fault.

Because you're inclined to think that when the other person's not around, but honestly it's probably actually more her fault, I'm going to say now, I'm a little bit more over it, turning there under the bus. But yeah, I think that's normal. in sibling relationships, but I just think it's, I think the Christmas thing was a really interesting point she made because it's, it's the idea that you can't even fix it for that. Yeah. That you're being so stubborn, you're holding out over Christmas or something.

Yeah. And we two will always have that, which would be really lovely, that sharing that with someone is really important. I think also for your kind of mental health as well, that you're not dealing with it all alone. Yeah. But that can also have, mostly in, you know, again having to deal with something together or can also make it worse because you're having to find the

if two of you disagree on something you have to find the middle ground where you can move forward and agree on it and we're both stubborn we are quite stubborn we are both very stubborn everyone in our family is very stubborn it can not when people are like oh it must be so easy because you you've got two people to write the materials you must be able to write it twice as fast and you're like well actually it takes twice the amount of time because you have to spend so much time finding the middle of the bend diagram to what you both want to move forward with because you both come with you different ideas yeah which both of those those ideas could work might work but it's you have to know that you're going on stage each night to do something you're proud of so it has to be something you're

both on the same team for yeah and you have to have that freedom in a room don't you creatively work frank who i work with always says you know you have to give people space in a room so you can't be that person that's that's shouting down ideas all the time because you're going to really intimidated when you go into a room or creative space and someone's just kind of going oh yeah great idea but then what happens is then you feel inhibited and you might miss a really great idea yeah you've got to do the shit ideas before you get to the good idea yeah yeah yeah i think as well there's like a there's a safety in numbers thing of like well if well if it's a shit idea then at least we're going down swinging together or if it's one person's idea where you're

like try and see what happens and it goes badly it's also then finally to be like yeah okay that's really bad idea. I would also feel... It's a sibling thing of, yeah, told you so. How did that work out for you then? You're like, yeah, okay, thank you. I was wrong. I also think the fact that there are two of you, even the greatest performers have bad gigs. Yeah.

And I wonder if those gigs that don't go so well, that makes it slightly easier when there's two of you on stage, or does it double... I actually think it makes... For me, it makes it worse because you're like, we've put ourselves, what are we doing? What are we doing? Here is this for. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. We shouldn't be here. But after a way.

And you take on the emotional strangers for the other person as well because you're always, you're doing it together. You're not, you're not out there for yourself. Otherwise, we both do standard. Yeah. But also, like, I don't think we've ever had, I think this is right. I don't think we've ever had a gig where it went wrong or like it was a bad gig. Are you joking? No, let me finish the sentence. We've had plenty of terrible. It felt like there was a full stop there. Absolutely. More wrong than good, I would say. say. We've never had one where it's gone so badly that you then say that was your fault. Like that didn't work because you might feel it yourself and be like, I let that, that went

badly because it was me. You were never going to look at the other person and be like, you fucked that up, that's your fault. I see I would. I would never think that. We'd have to stop if that ever happened. Yeah. And I think that even if you were like, I can see why that didn't work. And it wasn't, it wasn't me. I don't think that's, that's never in the foreground. You're just like, okay, well, we have to fix this now. If your automatic instinct, you're right, is to think like that, to try and project that blame outwards, you're probably not suited to a double. I think it's why most of them, like, anyone working in twos.

It's why so few comics can handle me. I see why they don't work. Yeah, you make half the amount of money as a stand-up. True. And you are battling your, I think, again, like, I think the sibling thing is better. It works for us because we're on a similar path, and we came from the same place at the same point. Whereas if you're both, I think so many double acts and groups,

And like not just in comedy, in music and whatever. There's always an element of ego involved. And you often, if you're not familiarly conjoined with someone, you were eventually, bless you, going to think, well, I could just do this on my own, make double the amount of money, and I'm the person carrying this anyway. Like, I think there's a lot of ego in, I mean, there's a lot of ego in all kind of arty stuff, isn't there?

But there's, I think that's probably, I can imagine, that's one of the main reasons that those kinds of things don't. No, no, I get it, because I think that's probably why I can understand why you have Anne Sons on top of businesses. Yeah. I get it why you want your kids to take over. Yeah. Because it's like, you know, apart from the Beckham's, those relationships generally are for life, aren't they? Yeah, you know.

I hope they're sort of out of Beckham's. They'll be fine. It's perfect for this time of year. Yeah. I'd like to drive there. And we should also, just for the benefit of anyone who doesn't know, something I've really. as we didn't touch on is your name. Yes.

Stage name, as it were, Flora and Joan. And this is based on sort of matriarchs in your family. Yeah, it was your grandma and... Her sister. Her sister, so great-aunt. Yes, our paternal grandmother. Yeah. It was a throwaway choice that we made in our first gig.

And then we did another gig and the name was still there. And now we're still doing... I think if we were doing... If we started again, we probably wouldn't use that name. Wouldn't you? Well, I don't know. It just, I don't know. It feels a bit old-fashioned.

But that's why I like it. I think we named it knowing that we probably, there wouldn't be longevity in this, it was just a fun way to name that. Yeah. And now we're doing... Oh, look, it feels a bit old-fashioned. What do you mean giving yourself a sort of...

No, just like the names Floanne Jones out of old-fashioned. I like the rhyming in it. Yeah. I like how it looks... Half rhyme. Yeah. We're going down it.

I absolutely love it because my grandmother, who was fabulously, centric and had five husbands. Yes. Oh, yes. Go on girl. And she just used to discard them and say, yes. Oh, that's glam. But we're one of those femme for towels, you know, with the compact and the red lips. She was incredible woman.

But she did about 50 different jobs, as these types of women often do. One of which she was in a sort of musical theatre, a sort of double act, and it was called Val and Josie. And that always reminds me. When I first heard about Flo and Joan, I thought, oh, I love that. I mean, they used to come and visit. Our dad's family are from Liverpool, and they are from Liverpool, and they would get the coach down to Portsmouth Harbour, and we picked them up and they'd come and stay with us.

So we were used to hearing the names Flo and Joan together. Like Flo and Joan are coming today, Flo and Joan are coming. We've got to go and Joan to Flo and Joan. Or where Flo and Joan gone? Yeah, we've lost Flood and Joan. A Joan awake? Yeah. Get Flo and Joan of gin and tonic. And so I think it was like a thing that we were just used to hearing as well.

Yeah. And they were a double act to it, not like a comedy double act, but they were known as a pair. So it just sort of fit and worked, I guess. Right, child. So, girls, I have a question to ask you. I'm interested in people who have conflict avoidance. Because my whole life, I've struggled to deal with conflict. You are talking to the wrong people.

Well, that's what I'm interested to know. Are you both, is there one of you who's more likely? to fight the battles or do you both shrink from them? I'm a shrinker. Right. Run away, hide. With each other, conflict, aggressive. What?

Any other person. Aggressive? As in with you. I wouldn't say you come across as aggressive? No, if we're just fighting with, if we're just fighting with each other, very argumentative, very conflicty. I wouldn't say aggressive. Would you not? I don't think you've ever been aggressive.

I don't think you've ever been aggressive. What? Not physically aggressive. No, I wouldn't say there's any aggression in the way we talk to each other, stubborn and argumentative. So there was a little bit now. Okay, yeah, maybe not aggressive. Oh gosh. Oh, no, there's conflict with other people.

I'd rather cut my own head off. But when you're dealing with, let's say there's something you don't want to do, let's say, God forbid, you didn't be asked to do this podcast, and you thought that irritating woman and her ridiculous dog. Fabatim, this is the conversation. Yeah, you're asking us because you've hacked into our emails. This is how you've been getting all of our own. information. She asked very personal questions and we don't like those kind of interviews.

Yeah, we've really tapped into us today. We don't like it. It's too deep. How can we get out of this? Who is the one who's going to say, I'll handle this? I'll call her and say, you know what, no offence, but actually there is some offence we don't like you or something. Yeah. Who's going to make that call? We would have the discussion together and then send it from our joint email so the person on the other end doesn't know who has come from. would you say? Yes, but I would also say... Hired in the group. Fortunately so far, I don't think we've ever had to deal with anything that's been that big.

No. This isn't big. But you know what I mean? If it's difficult conversations to be had, which we all have those in any sort of career. Yeah. Who has those, who's less frightened of those difficult conversations? I would say, I think. think I would be the mouthpiece for them ever so slightly more.

And then either backup. Yeah. Maybe. I think it's, I don't really know if we've had any conversations that I've. No. We have, we've got conversations all the time without realising it. Probably. If it's for work, then we will always have the conversation between ourselves first and then

go in together. Yeah. Like, you can use each other as chat. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't know if we say that, I don't know if we give each other the right responses.

No. Yeah. I think as well, though, like it's, it's. If those conversations are happening, it's us with another person. So we generally have to have a united front because again, it's for the... Yes, you have to be Malaria and Donald, don't you, really. Oh, please don't mean that. I'm glad you described this that way.

But like the... We would have to... We would have the conversation first between us because we then have to go into the person and say, we don't want to do this thing. You'd maybe be the person that would say the words. Possibly. I would probably say it quite unelequently,

and then Nicola would sum it up in a nice... That's not true to sentence. But ultimately, we're always on the same, we always have to come to a place where we're on the same side of those things. Yeah, you work out what you want to fight for. Yeah. So hopefully that you know that when we do fight for something, it is something that we really care about.

Yeah. We don't really raise things that are like small-fright issues because we let them, we probably just let maybe the conflict avoidant part of ourselves lets those fall to the side. But you'll also know if we do, if we are ever in a confrontation, situation with someone workwise or something workwise,

you, they probably, well, you'd hope that they know that this actually is really important to us, otherwise we wouldn't have watered up because we are a bit conflict. Yeah. All the best people are. Yeah, we let a lot of stuff go and then we only fight for the things that we really care about, I would say. Yeah, I think so. Which we probably could have fought for and about a lot more things that we're not,

it's not that of a big deal. No barking. She's doing it the wrong way, isn't she? she needs to give them the silent treatment. There's a woman who's telling her dog off, she's recruited saying no barking. And Ray is looking so snug. Do you know that's Ray's favourite thing? We watch a show for dogs behaving badly and he loves it.

I'm not joking. He looks at the screen at someone saying, no, naughty boy. And he looks back at me. I'm not joking, guys. It's a horrible side to him. The schadenfreude of the... This doll. Take the wins, Ray. You're a perfect little double-axed.

You're like me, Ray. The perfect levels of smug. You don't find? You don't find. The idea that he's my double-act. He's your and Joan. You've got the blonde and the brunette going down. Yeah.

We like flow and joan. Can you sing, Ray? Keep up there. Can you sing? I bet you've got a terrifying voice. Have you ever heard him bark ever? No, the most he's done is sort of a Star Wars noise. Okay.

He occasionally wants to come up on the sofa, just because he likes to sit with me. And Shih Tzu's were bred to live in royal palaces, which is why they like to be high up. They like to be on cushions. So occasionally if he wants to come up, he'll just go, oh, like that. And that's a Star Wars noise. Yeah, it's a kind of Chewbacca noise. Oh, Chewbacca. He does.

He was waiting to hear what. And he goes, that's so funny. It's so sweet. Guys, I've absolutely loved Star Wars. I think this is a nice way to spend a day, isn't it? Have you enjoyed it? Yeah. I imagine if we said no.

It was quite terrifying. I know. It made us address our own thoughts. It's a bit more personal than a lot of the stuff you normally do, I know. It's a nice way, I think. You made astute observations. You sort of presented an essay to us. Yeah.

The conclusion is that we're not well. That's why I like you. That's why we get on. Well, I've loved it. And I hope Ray. has encouraged you to maybe think about getting a dog. I think it's a dream. I'm getting the sense you're responsible and I like that

because you're sort of touring and constantly away it's probably not good timing-wise. If we had a ray who the dream is to get a small ray-sized dog who has similar ray frequencies, which is to say none. What you're saying is you want Ray. I want Ray. Yeah, if everyone wants to go around the UK. Do you come to Durham, sit on a little pillow next to the piano?

That's the thing because I've had him on the stage doing things and I've done events and things and book things and you put him on a chair and he doesn't move for two hours. Yeah that's what you want. That will be my absolute perfect. How long did you do much training? Did you start? Yes. Raining. I did. I did actually do it and I did I thought it was a waste of time until I sometimes see other dogs behave, yeah, shall we say. Yeah. And I think oh yeah, maybe that wasn't a waste of time. Yeah. He's such a prince. Oh, very kind. Well, we've loved seeing you guys. We're definitely going to come and see you in September.

We can't wait. Ray, do you want to go? Go on, Ray. Pick the craziest venue. Yeah, well, I love that. Thank you so much, guys. Thank you. I'll give you a heart.

It's been such a joy. We love Flore and Joan. Will you say goodbye to Ray? Bye, Raymond. See you, oh, my way, maimand. Thank you for letting us hold you like a baby, a rabie. Oh, maybe not. That's the best ending ever.

That's just how we're keeping the ending, guys. I really hope you enjoyed that episode of Walking the Dog. We'd love it if you subscribed. And do join us next time on Walking the Dog wherever you get your podcasts.