Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Glenn Moore (Part One)

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

Join Emily and Raymond for a stroll in London’s Regent’s Park with Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Show Nominee, writer, broadcaster and stand-up Glenn Moore. Glenn is well known for his appearances on TV shows such as Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For You, 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown - as well as being heard daily as one quarter of The Dave Berry Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio. Glenn claims to be very good with dogs - but he has no evidence to prove it. He told us all about his parents’ Welsh Terriers - one of which has a rather creepy memorial in their garden… We find out all about the missed opportunity that changed Glenn’s life, the way he has juggled his dual passions of comedy and newsreading throughout his career, and the rather brilliant comedy training he unwittingly received at school…Follow @glennrogermoore on Instagram Glenn’s new show Please Sir, Glenn I Have Some Moore? debuts in Edinburgh for the full month this August and tours the UK from Autumn 2025 to early 2026. For full dates and to purchase tickets - head to glennmoorecomedy.comFollow Emily: Instagram - @emilyrebeccadeanX - @divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Faye LawrenceMusic: Rich Jarman Artwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The biggest compliment I'll pay myself as I'll say a joke works. But I would never say funny because it's not your decision to make. I've always used the example of like, it's like if you came back home from a date and you were like, yeah, I was really sexy this evening. Like that's not, like you don't get to decide that. This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I took a stroll in Regents Park with brilliant comedian Glenn Moore. We met up quite early doors. Well, early for Raymond anyway. He rarely shows his face before 10 a.m.

Because Glenn was coming straight from his co-hosting role on Dave Berry's Absolute Rayleigh, Radio Breakfast Show. I'd actually met Glenn before a few times and I'm a huge fan of his comedy, so I was dying to get to know him a bit. Glenn had always been passionate about comedy, but he started out studying journalism and began his career reading the news on radio. In fact, during our walk, the broadcaster Andrew Marr walked past us and gave Glenn a lovely little smile and nod. And it turns out one of the reasons Glenn didn't go straight into stand-up was because he felt as though it was tantamount to saying, look how funny I am. The truth is, Glenn is incredibly funny. So fortunately, he didn't waste his talent and has gone on to become a hugely successful stand-up.

Unfortunately, for me and Raymond, he also happens to be hilarious company and an all-round, lovely human being. If you haven't seen Glenn live yet, the good news is this summer he's kicking off his brand new tour. Please, sir, Glenn, I have some more. I know. It's a genius title, but frankly I'd expect nothing less from this man. He'll be debuting it at the Edinburgh Fringe in August and after that it's touring all over the UK from autumn through to next year. So get your tickets now at glenmorecom. Really hope you enjoy our chat.

I'll hand over to the fabulous man himself. Here's Glenn and Ray Rewe. What do you think of him, Glenn? He's lovely. He's real like 100% fur. There's no body. Imagine if someone said that about you. Yeah, I'd hate that.

Come on, Ray. I'm carrying him now, as you see. Yeah, you're really undermining the title of the podcast. Let's go in here, Glenn. I keep wanting to say your full name. People call me Glenmore all over time. Why is it? I have no idea.

I think it's because it's just two syllables. It probably makes it. I feel like Glenn just isn't enough name. So people feel the need to just add a bit to it. Glenn Moore is a great name. I don't mind it. I don't know my full name. My phone name is Glam Roger Moore, and I hate that.

Is it really? Yeah, my dad's called Roger Moore. This is true. He's called Roger Moore, and that's fine, because when he was born, Roger Moore wasn't James Bond yet. So, you know, his parents didn't know what they were doing. But my parents fully knew what they were doing. It's not just the Roger Moore thing. It's just no one remotely my age has Roger in their name. But I kind of love it for that reason. Right, okay. In the way that, I mean, you are talking to someone who calls her dog Raymond.

Do you know anyone? Yeah, that's fair. It's a really adult man's name. I know one Ray. I know one Ray on the comedy circuit, but I don't know like a Raymond. I like those old names, though. Come on, Ray.

So we're in Regents Park, and we have just met you, Gwen Moore. Yeah, not for the first time, but for the first time in ages. Well, the first time in ages, but I was going to say, we've just met you hot off your breakfast show with Dave Berry.

Yeah, this is the best time to talk to me before I just have, like, a psychological crash. like midday. And then I just can't really function after that. Yeah. I've got a, like, I know some people who if they work in like breakfast radio, they'll come home and have a bit of a rest and then they'll carry them with the rest of the day. I'm like, no, no, no, I've hit the ground running now. And I need to do all my commitments for the day. And then I'll be completely useless after that. It's not conducive with a stand-up comedy career at all. I have toyed with the idea of starting

my day at like 8pm, doing a gig as like breakfast and then staying up throughout the night and then ending with a breakfast show but I think that would be insane and would make me really unhappy. Well you don't want that. Look at those Glenmore. Ducks is it? Well it could be the pagoda I don't know what you're referring to. Well they're little geese I think are they geese and can you see oh look at them are they got Ryan Goslings they've got little Ryan Goslings with them. I just have a fundamental distrust of geese. They're horrible. Listen to them. Really? Do you not like them? Yeah they have a similar level of malice as what?

I think. They're not adding anything to the community. They don't have great PR, does they? No, really bad. Yeah, whoever's doing their PR is really selling them poorly. But I don't know what they're meant to do. They're a strange old. They're like an anti-swain. Because no offence to them, they look shit. And I know they can hear me say that.

Geese look shit. I'm not afraid to say it. That's the trailer. What do you mean? be used to body shaming them or... No, no, no, no, it's a personality shaming thing. Right. They are, they are horrible for their core.

Yes. You couldn't go for a drink with one. Do you know what I mean? You wouldn't want to hang out. They'd never be... I don't rank animals based on how easily they can be sort of domesticated. But a geese, you're going to get nowhere. Well, talking of animals that can be easily domesticated,

you've just met my boy, Raymond. I've just met Raymond for the first time, yeah. How does he strike you, Glenn? Miniscule. In a really cute way. My aunt and uncle have got relatives who had a similar dog and you'd find yourself sometimes stroking them being like, I really hope this is their head.

They're like a physical palindrome. The back is exactly the same as the front. And that's not a criticism. Ray, you're a physical palindrome. I think he's quite drawn to you. I don't know why, Glenn. Oh, that's great. I'm fine with that.

I'm always someone, I'm a sort of personal always says, oh, I'm great with dogs and I've got no evidence to actually back that up with. So what's your history with dogs, Glenn? You don't have a dog currently? No, my parents have got a dog. They had a mother-daughter combo of Welsh terriers. What are Welsh terriers like? Untrainable, apparently.

They got turned down from like dog training both times. They were like, the dogs got like expelled. One, Gracie, who isn't alive anymore, was basically a cat. didn't like to be held, didn't like, just not absolutely not dog-like behaviour. And then Betsy, her daughter, was like a parody of a dog. And it's just, you know, overly enthusiastic, wouldn't stop leaping up on you. So they were completely opposite to each other personality-wise. But they were fine, but I never, my parents didn't get them until me and my sister sort of left home.

So I think they were sort of replacement children for my parents. Sorry, I'm just going to grab Ray. He's got, Ray, he will do this, Glenn. Is this typical behaviour? Well, I always say he doesn't really grasp the concept of walking, which is unfortunate for this podcast. He treats it like he's browsing in a shopping mall. Yeah, he's really taking his time, yeah. He's sort of like, I like that jumper in Zara, maybe I'll pop in there.

Yeah, if you're sort of like, do you want to walk over here? No, I'm all good. I'll let you know if I, I'll let you know if I want to walk anywhere. Come on, Ray. Come on, Ray, you've got to do some walking with Glenn. I'll put this on for you. Do you reckon he can sense that we haven't got like a destination? in mind. No, do you know what? I think he just knows his own mind. Yeah, fair. And whenever you say that

about human beings, you think, oh, I wouldn't like them. You know, he really knows his own mind. But no, he's just quite definite about... But this is how I feel about cats. I've never been a cat person. Because people have always been sort of like, no, but it's nice because you've got to work to sort of earn their respect and they do their own thing. And you go, how dare you cat? We own you. Like, why else do you Why else do you have a pet other than for them to be like a big part of your life? Raymond just vanished for weeks at a time and you were like, yeah, that's fine. It would be awful. People seem very laid back about their cats.

Like on my neighbourhood WhatsApp group, they'll say, anyone's seen my cat? It's been missing for three days. Yeah. And I think three days is quite a short amount of time for a cat to be AWOL. A friend of mine does cat sitting for people because what he did was he sort of built up a good online reputation. reviews-wise for like cat sitting for free. He just, you know, you don't even, like, he wouldn't even necessarily get paid. He'd just look after someone's pet, but he'd be in their house.

He'd live in their house while they're away for a couple of weeks. And he did it so that he could then basically go on holidays for free because he'll find like a family who live in somewhere really picturesque, like the Swiss Alps who need a cat sitter. And then he just gets to live in their lovely chalet for like a couple of weeks. But the amount of times he's come back and I've been like, how was the cat? And he'd be like, well, you shouldn't be.

Like, did you really? do the job? Ray, why have you stopped? Have you seen something you like? What's that? Oh, he's walking towards you, Glenn. This is great. I'm taking this as a compliment. Why does he like you so much? That sounded quite rude. No, that's, um, that's fine. Come on, Ray. What do you usually like around new people? Oh, he loves people. Right. He's, he doesn't really like, he gets a bit jealous of all the dogs. Does he have friends? What are you implying? He doesn't. He doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't, he He does have friends. Yeah, he does. I tell you he's got some, he likes, do you know, Diane Morgan, he likes her dog Bobby. Ah, nice. Yeah. His sister is Catherine Ryan's dog, Meg Ryan.

Wow. And that, his sister is one of his best friends. Does he have your son-name, over the way? Yeah, well, I find that very weird at the vet, because when they shout out his full name, it just seems a bit odd to me. They go, Raymond Dean. Yeah. I think, is he no? Well, I mean, does he, has he got any middle notes? My, I found it really weird when my parents' dog, Gracie, passed away a couple of years ago.

I was like, we should probably get my parents like a nice tree, like, over where Gracie's buried would be a nice sort of thing to do. And so I thought it would make sense to have like a little message on the tree, like a little plaque that says like Gracie, a wonderful dog or whatever. And then my sister opted for the full name. So Gracie Moore, then the year she was born and the year she passed away. But it just looks like we've got a 10-year-old kid buried in the garden. It looks horrible. Well, I think it's nice to distinguish for, yeah, for sort of homeowners. Let's say they moved from that house.

Yeah, because at no point on the plaque does it state that a dog is there. Yeah. Yes, I see the problem with that. Yeah. Especially because Gracie's such an old name as well. There's real Victorian ghost vibes. around it now, yeah. I see that.

So I want to know a bit more about your childhood because I've heard you say, I think it might have been when you were on Lou Sanders podcast actually, but a lot of people think you're super posh, Glenn. Yeah, do you know what? It's funny you should mention Lou. Lou told so many people I went to Eaton

because she just assumed that. I think she got me mixed up with Ivo Graham. And no, no, I'm from Croydon, very much working class background. and an accent that in no way associated with that. So I've got all the stigma of having gone to Eaton and none of the connections, educational finances. All the abuse and none of the privilege.

But I get the assumption, if I met me, I'd hate me, I think, based on the voice. So is your voice, was it always sort of slightly different to your peers when you were growing up? I think it's an affectation. I think the school I went to, because we all had proper like South London accents, they were sort of like if you want to, I remember the teachers being very sort of like, you need to be talking better. The best way to get ahead in life is to, you know, have a bit more of like an RP accent. I think they probably mentioned that in passing once and I must have really taken it to heart. I meant to go into the comedy industry, the most oversubscribed for straight white

men with really posh accents. It was one of the worst decisions I could have made. But yeah, it's just one of those things. I've no, I've known, none of my family sound like this. Really? No, no, no, no. So what was your accent? Can you give us a burst or an idea of what it sounded like when you were growing up? I don't know, because I'd have to... It must have been...

It must have changed when I was about 11, so I don't know what 10-year-old me. Did it sound more like Rob Beckett or something? I'd say, yeah, like if I'm... Let's say my accents on the spectrum in the far right. It cannot stress enough as not politically. But far right, and Rob Beckett is saying... far left. Yes.

Mine was centre left. Okay. I'd say. So yeah. I couldn't even try and impersonate it if I tried. I think it would sound... Because Tom Allen's like you, isn't he? Yes, that's exactly.

Tom Allen obviously went to school with Rob Beckett. I'm trying to think of other people with really posh voices who didn't... Ahir Shah. It's probably the most posh sounding person I know. And again, doesn't have a background that was like that at all. And then on the flip side, you get people who have got the complete opposite. People who, you know, people assume... that they're from a real working class background actually they come from sort of

glittering well but I don't mind it but yeah it was I think the own I think the only time it's ever screwed me over like fully is in lockdown when people were doing like Zoom gigs and that was a big part of it was like the only way you can do stand up was gigs over Zoom and I remember being booked for a gig and it was like my only like paid gig that week because obviously all the industry had sort of shut down I was really looking forward to it I mean the night before the who got in touch and was like, I'm really sorry. I accidentally, I booked too many acts.

So he was like, I'm going to, he was like, I didn't know who to drop from the bill. He was like, I've dropped you if that's okay because I figured the eaten guy would be all right. And it was like, no, no, no. And everyone else on the bill was like privately educated and was like living with their parents over lockdown and stuff. And I was like, no, no, come on. That's been the only time, though. Isn't it funny how... And I appreciate podcasts like these for getting the word out there about the Coed and reality.

Isn't it funny how many assumptions were made, based on how people speak. Well, I used to have this at comedy clubs. If an American act went on the bill, I'd be like, this guy knows what he's doing. I'd immediately trust them because I guess I associated it with every experience I'd had a lot watching comedy when I was growing up. I'd be like, this guy must know Eddie Murphy.

No evidence to back it up whatsoever. And I think actually American acts do tend to go down quite well in the UK. And the flip side of that is as well, as a UK act, it's quite easy to go down quite well in America if you have a very English-sounding accent because I think they trust it for some reason. Americans just seem so confident as well, don't they? Oh my God.

In a really strange way, for instance, they don't really do self-deprecation. They do, but not to as great extent as the UK, and they certainly wouldn't do it in a formal setting. And I remember just before lockdown, going to New York to have some meetings with various sort of companies. At a meeting of Comedy Central,

and they sort of said, right, tell us about you. Are you any good? And I was sort of like very British about it and was sort of like, well, according to last night's gig, no. But like it's, yeah, I work in the industry and I like to think it's sort of, I'm okay, I guess. And I've been like that in all these meetings. And this guy at Comedy Central very kindly went, right, we're just going to stop this here. Do not do this. This is not what we do in America.

I know you're being British. You've just got to say you were like the best comedian in the world when you go into meetings like this. That's just what you've got to say. And I was like, okay. and he was like, so we'll start again, are you any good? And I was like, yeah, I'm the best comedian in the world. And everyone was like, oh my God, really? And it was like, you just talk.

And they were just like fully convinced by it. It was like that Ricky Gervaisal on the invention of lying. They just fully believe, like it was so, so weird. Because you just meant to really big yourself up in a, in that sort of way. But it's interesting because I think if you tried that here, I don't know if it would land as well. Because I do think culturally in Britain there is that expectation that you're not meant to do that. It's kind of a bit unseemly.

It is unseemly, but I think people are so taken abat by it that they do bow down to it. I think the two biggest bullshitters I know in my life have absolutely managed to get to the top because they just told everyone they're amazing. I can't wait to find out who this is. It's not on air, I can tell you that much. I'm not going to tell you that. I'm very envious of that. People who have almost, I want to say monstrous levels of self-believe.

I want to go back a bit to your childhood. So you've told me it was Croydon that you grew up in. I managed to say that like Dame Magist. Maggie Smith, Croydon. And people choose to live there. I did not say that, could I say. Kate Moss, excuse me. Yeah, Trinney and Susanna.

Oh, are they from Croydon? I think so. I certainly saw them there. Handy for Brighton as well. Yeah. Oh, who else? Who else? Adele, am I right in thinking Adele? Yes, that sounds right.

She went to Brit school. So, Britschool was near me. Stormsie, of course. Stormsy being the... I knew our producer would help us out. The biggest one, I think. It's a nice bunch of, it seems to be. I don't want to hazard a guess at the nationality.

I'm saying Danish or some sort of Scandinavian vibe. When I see three-quarters-length shorts and bucket hats, I'm like, you are not only a Brit, but you are currently in Ibiza? Like they're both in Regents Park and they're in Spain, and those two things can coexist. Come on, Raywe. So yeah, so growing up in Croydon with your folks. Yeah. And what did your parents do, Glenn?

My dad worked at a company that fits, like, radiators and heating and stuff like that for schools. So it's kind of like a – he'd say engineer, but he wasn't like – you know, none of my family had gone to uni or anything like that. So he'd sort of like trained on the job, I guess from when he was 18 onwards. And they do schools and sometimes they did like celebrities. houses and stuff like that. It was all sort of big projects. Any celebrities we would know? No, the only one I remember was the golfer Nick Faldo

who I wouldn't have heard of under any other circumstances. But obviously that was like my big claim to fame when I was a kid. As a six-year-old saying to people, my dad knows Nick Faldo and everyone's like, what fuck is that? Because we were six. So, and then my mum would just do other sort of odd jobs that would

just allow us to go on holiday or whatever. So she was a tracer. She did a lot of tracing in the 90s. What do you mean tracing? As in you'd take, like, I think it was like she'd have this big tracing board at home and she'd be given like blueprints for like companies. And she'd put tracing paper over it and she would just have to trace the entire thing.

Now we have printers. Yeah, that was her job. And yeah, she did that a lot in the 90s. And then she became a nurse, just decided to train up and become a nurse. By that point, I'd sort of gone to union and left home and stuff like that. I mean, she would work in sort of like reception jobs and secretary jobs and stuff like that. Just all over the place, really. Yeah.

Yeah. And what was the atmosphere like in your home? Because often comedians, you know, they learn their comedy chops at home. Sometimes people will say, oh, you know, like Rob Beckett always says, he was in a, there was a lot of them and it was very noisy. So it was a sense of him slightly fighting to be heard. and you, you know, what was your comedy narrative, if you like? My sister and I were so well behaved.

So I'd say it was quite, quite so well behaved, absolutely terrified of ever getting into trouble, but never had detention at school or anything like that. I think I was just so, I'd really built up the consequences in my head of ever getting into trouble. So I was just so insanely well behaved. To the point where I remember my mum saying to me at one point,

she was like, it's okay to be, it's okay to misbehave sometimes, by the way. Like, she had to tell me to be naughty. Because she must have thought, I'm raising such a dick. He's so polite. No, she must have been... But it was very nice. And my parents had got a really good sense of humour

and we're very into sort of watching comedy and stuff like that and introduced me to so many sort of comedy films and stand-ups and stuff like that. I remember watching Lee Evans for the first time when I was about nine. And that was just the funniest thing I'd ever seen. It was on... He was on something like Parkinson's. He was being interviewed, like not doing stand-up. But in those very...

I remember talking to Matt Ford about this. There was a very specific type of... We can sit here, Glenn. Yeah, great. Should we sit on this bench for a minute? Just so we'll get some shade. There's a very specific type of British interviewing technique. Hang on, that bird shit isn't fresh, is it?

I don't think so I'm going to sit in the middle of it. Okay, okay. As in not right in the middle of it, but as in, it'll be the side of me. Yeah. Yeah, it was, he was being interviewed on those very 90s chat shows where whenever they had a comedian on, they wouldn't really interview them normally.

It would always just be a segue into the material, so they'd ask some questions. Like if it's Tom Hanks, it'd be sort of like, tell us about the new movie. And if it was a comedian on, they'd be like, and you haven't had much luck on public transport recently, have you? I always really wanted one of the comics to just go, what? No, it's been, what are you talking about? But I remember just thinking Lee Evans was just being blown away

that this guy was being so incredibly funny on the spot. And obviously he was doing like written stand-up routines. I didn't realize that. And just thought, like, oh, my God, this is, I didn't know people could be like that. And that was the funniest thing I'd ever seen in my life. And it was nice seeing my family, seeing my parents laugh the same amount as me and at the same thing. Because usually if we were laughing at something together, it would be something like Toy Story where you go,

I'm laughing at different jokes to what my parents are laughing at. All the same sense where you know. So it was just very nice for it. That really like leveled the playing field. I think this is an insult. I mean this as an insult. I mean this is a really positive thing. I think Lee Evans is like a perfect way to introduce children into the idea of stand-up. Right.

Because it's so immature, but it's so funny. and everyone of every age really seemed to enjoy it. So yeah, it was just, it was like a nice, it was just a nice household, really. A really hard work and it definitely gave me a real work ethic. Like during summer holidays or Easter holidays or whatever, it was like get a job, like I had to get a job immediately, you know. Really, when your parents quite...

Absolutely, just don't be, like, just get out of the house, basically. So I was just every Easter and summer. I think that's great, Glenn. It was, I mean, like, it would have been nice to have just had maybe a tiny bit more fun, I guess. but it was, it meant I had like a decent CV by the time I was like 16 I guess. But it also it also helped like focus me into getting a serious job because like I remember from the age of 10 being like, oh I guess I want to be a newsreader was what it was. I was like really determined to be.

Yeah, a really weird thing for a 10 year old to want to be. Oh, I kind of love that. Well, it was kind of, I really wanted to be an actor as a kid because that just obviously just seemed so fun and was really, really wanted to do it. And then I think my parents were quite sensible early. on in being sort of like that great, that is risky. And it seems that you stand just as much chance of succeeding if you go to drama school for years and get professionally trained to if you just got spotted at an open audition

for something. So they were like maybe go into a more stable, serious job, but keep trying to do that sort of on the side as like a thing. And so it just became like, yeah, news reading was the thing. So I meant every summer holidays I'd be doing work experience at like radio stations and, you know, newspapers and stuff like that. And there was a moment at a wedding, wasn't there once, where you sort of inadvertently got your first laugh?

Yeah, I was about five years old. It was my aunt and uncle's wedding. So they're the ones who have a similar dog to Raymond. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are they Scottish or something? No, but they got married in the Highlands. Right, that's fine. Yeah.

Yeah, they got married in the Highlands and I can't remember why. Yeah. But I was a page boy. I had to wear a kilt and all this sort of stuff. I was about five or six. And yeah, it was a big, the huge sort of, banquet dinner and I was obviously bored during the speeches and my grand-a was giving the father-of-bride speech and I was just bored out of my mind and my

parents keep me quiet bought me like a tiny little toy car to play with that day and I was playing with like my mum's brooch or something like a bracelet sorry yeah and so I just kept flicking the car through this hoop and I managed to finally do it and I went mum my car went through the hoop and it just interrupted the speech and it was really obnoxious of me but um everyone just sort of went like just turned around I mean everyone burst out laughing and I hated it so much I remember just burying my face, my mum's arm and being like, this is so degrading, this is horrible. And I remember telling people around me like a couple of years ago, because I was like,

I just remember this story and they're all like, you know that's why you got into comedy. Like, that's fully, that's obviously a really embarrassing moment for you as a kid. And that's fully absolutely informed why you went into this because you were like, right, I'm going to do it on my, yeah, I'm going to do it on my terms. And it's kind of embarrassing that it's so easily traceable and it's so easily like, it's so easily diagnosed psychologically. You get, oh, that, yeah, there's nothing complex to you at all. That's what happened.

That's, it's really embarrassing. Well, I think it's that horrible sense, because kids are actually so much smarter than we realize. And, you know, sometimes you'll be laughing with a kid. And then you'll laugh uproariously kind of at something absurd they've said. Yeah. And they'll, their face will change. Yeah.

And they'll look, they'll say, it's not funny. Because it's heartful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you think, no, they're smart. They've realized that they've picked up on that. And they can. sense that they're now being laughed at. Yeah, absolutely. And I guess that's what happened with you, is you were like, oh, I'm not being intentionally funny. I mean, love that. Yeah, and I remember

trying all the time to try to make people laugh. Trying, not in no way succeeding. I was agonizingly unfunny as a teenager. Like really, really embarrassing stuff. But I would just kept trying. Would you tell jokes or was it more just comedic? Do you know, it was weird? It was just being silly. And I remember maybe about 16 years old, people started to like trade in jokes at school, like actual jokes. And I remember this guy at school would just come in each day and he would just, no one really knew much about politics. But he'd say really funny stuff about like Tony Blair and he just seemed to so on it. And it's like proper like one-liners. And we were like this.

We were like, this guy is this guy. And like, we were like, trying to like almost compete with this guy. sense of humour wise. And then it all came crashing down around him because a few weeks later, because we were like, we just can't be as entertaining as this guy. And one of my friends one day came in and he was like, guys, he was like, I was watching a TV show last night called Mot the Week. He's getting all his stuff from that. And it just like ruined this guy's life. It was just crazy. But he was just quoting Andy. A 16 year old boy was quoting Andy Parsons. He would be setting himself up for if this is the answer, what is the question?

I'm absolutely obsessed with the whistleblower in all of this. Yeah, it was just, he was deep throat. He just brought down the whole thing. It was like Watergate and he just ruined the guy. But what it meant was we'd now spent a year having to train alongside, you know, Frankie Boyle basically because this guy was doing all phrase. So like, it all upped our sense of humor tremendously. We were all able to write like a proper joke by the time you were like 17.

You were literally trying to keep again. from the best, but just secondhand. This happened to another friend of mine. A really, an even weirder version of this happened to him. His like first job out of uni. He was just doing like a temp job somewhere. And everyone in the office was like in their 50s.

And they were showing him around and they were like, this is such a person, this is Deborah. This is Brian or as he calls himself Quagmire. And this guy's whole personality was pretending to be quagmire from family guy. The creepy, the like the pervert, which is a weird thing to

try to be, but he would be like around the office, would always be like giggily, giggedy, and like would quote quagmire over time, and no one had seen Family Guy. So they just thought he was like the funniest guy in the world. And everyone was laughing at this Quagmire guy. And my friend Greg was like, said in front of everyone, oh, like Family Guy. And this guy's face immediately fell and he was like, can we have a word outside, please? And he basically said to my friend, what the hell are you doing? Do not tell anyone that Family Guy is a TV show? Like, like, you can ruin my life. It's like something out of I think you should leave. It's a kind of like crazy behaviour of someone. But there was this like, yeah, 58 year old man who his entire like social

currency, his entire reputation has staked on the fact that he was pretending to be a character from family guy. But everyone in the office seemed to love it. They just thought it was the funniest person in the world. So yeah, that's, so I was able to like write actual jokes when I was a teenager because of this one person. Because you were basically, as you say, you were having to earn your stripes alongside Frankie Ball and Russell. You could have been on mock the week and you did end up being on mock the week. Yeah, which felt 10 years later. I wonder if that boy at school was watching.

I hope so. The shame he messed up. But now he's got a whole new bunch of jokes he can tell people at his work. Yeah, it was, that was because I remember the first time being on that show was so surreal because I just felt I'd never got to be. My family applied all the time. My dad would apply it all the time for us to try and be in the audience. never ever managed to. Is this before you were a comic, obviously? Oh yeah, not like after I, yeah. I managed to sort them tickets after. I was going to say, yeah. We'd love to see you and I'm like,

yeah, just apply through the normal route, just like everyone else has to. I know your agent. She knows what she's doing. Yeah, well, I remember I got them into the green room and really regretted it. They're very, very sweet, but they wanted photos taken with everyone. And I was like, oh, can you not? Because it's like, everyone's just sort of winding down. This is like their one, this is like the one room where Dara's not swamped by people. So like can maybe just give them some space. and he was so, so sweet, and he was like chatting to him and stuff. And they're getting a photo with him and they went, Glenn, get in. And I was like, no, it's okay.

And they went, you can tell you're friends you met Dara O'Brien. And it's like, but I work. He's a colleague. He's a colleague. But it was the first time I did it was really surreal because having never experienced it from like an audience perspective or anything like that, as in like being sat in the audience, it just felt like I was watching an episode just up close, especially because I was sat on the very edge of the panel as well. So I just had the whole line up just in front of me. and I kept accidentally just zoning out and just enjoying the episode of Mott the Week

I was watching forgetting that like I need to be saying stuff because but I didn't realize that like at the beginning of each episode they do actually like play the theme tune in the studio and stuff so that just made it feel so surreal it was like oh my god I'm actually on I'm actually on what was my favorite show not just yours I wanted to ask how because you ended up going to Is it Sheppold University? Yeah, it's University of Sheffield. And you did English? English lit and then I stayed on and did.

I knew, again, it was like, I know I want to be a news reader. And I'd been told by people like, actually it's probably best to just do something you love at uni if you can. And then do it like a master's in journalism because then you get to learn it in one year instead of a whole, you know, three years. And you're obviously funny. And comedy is, but I can imagine. So back then you must have had signs of being funny. And comedy was sort of a currency for you. And you were, so the newsreader thing is interesting.

That I wonder, why weren't you thinking at that point that you wanted to, I suppose, do something that involved you being funny? I guess I just didn't see a way in, whereas with journalism I did see it. There was very clearly a way in. There was like a curriculum. There were qualifications. There's no qualification you can get in comedy. So I was like, I'm obviously going to go for the safer route.

And then just do that for a few years and see what happens. Do you think also, this may not be true in your case, but I wonder, it's that confidence thing we were talking about, that it takes almost superhuman levels of confidence to say, I think I'm so funny, I can stand on a stage. That's why I never did it. That's why, because I was like, I think it's, I think it's a dick move. It's a dick move to go on stage. You go, who do you think you are?

How dare you? In the same way that, like, I remember when I was doing a work, one of the many work experience placements, and it was at Heart Radio, and one of the, um. This was during the news reader. Yeah, yeah. So I was like, I got my, I was 18 because I got my A level results on the day, or one of the days I was working there. And one of the people who worked there, their niece or whatever was also doing work experience.

And she was just physically, just absolutely stunning. But I remember saying, oh, what you do after this? And she was like, well, I want to go into modelling. And I remember just thinking like, that's not your decision. Like, yes, you are absolutely one of the most beautiful people have ever seen. But it's, I was like, it's a subjective job. And so to say you want to go into that, I think takes a degree of confidence that I would thought I'd never got. In the same of it like, um, well, it's a bit like saying, I want to be Miss World. It feels like it's like that.

And of course people should be absolutely within their rights to say that because otherwise you wouldn't have any models. But I feel this way about, I would never say about a joke of mine, oh, I think that joke's really funny. I would sometimes say if a joke works over time, I'll be like, I think this joke's really effective. It usually works. It works with audiences as well. That's the, that's the biggest compliment I'll pay myself as I'll say a joke works. But I would never say funny because it's not your decision to make. I've always used the example of like, it's like if you came back home from a date and you were like, yeah, I was really sexy this evening.

Like that's not, like, you don't get to decide that. And for every person who does agree that your comedy's good, there is someone, there's also someone who would hate your comedy and would be made even more furious to hear you go, yeah, I'm really good. Like that would boil your blood more than anything else. Nothing's more annoying than a not funny person saying they're funny because they're wrong.

You're right. It sort of forces you, it immediately sets you up as people assuming you're slightly arrogant because you're saying, I think, if you say I want to be a comedian, immediately, it's sort of, you're basically laying down a bit of a gauntlet. And it's like, okay, prove to me that you're good enough to do this job. Exactly that, exactly that. It's not like if you say want to be a surgeon, well, we'll never know if you're good enough. Or you're acting.

Being in a play, I was in loads of plays at uni, and that felt fun. I didn't feel embarrassed about doing that. Right, because people aren't going to say, do some of your acting now. Yeah, exactly. Except just now when I asked you to do a Croydon accent. Oh, yeah, a 10-year-old boy's Croydon accent. So I... Are we all right with this noise? Yeah, I'm fine of it. Let's see if it goes on for much longer, but it's not too bad.

By the way, when I said, are we all right with this noise? I wasn't referring to Glenmore's speaking. I'm loving Glenn Moore's noise. He's one of my favourite guests we've ever had. Oh, that's very kind of you. Thank you. So you're very easy to talk to. Oh, thanks. As are you. How do you find compliments, Glenn? Well, you've seen me just absolutely freeze up and not make eye contact with you anymore from that. So, yeah, badly.

That's why I asked you, because I could tell. As soon as I said it, you looked, if you were in Snow White, I'm not going to say the full title, because I don't know if it's okay anymore. But you'd definitely be bashful. Oh, no one's ever described me as bashful before. Yeah, I just, I don't, it makes me feel, pleased and horrible in equal measure. I love it.

I feel like I'm in for weddings with Hugh Grant. Right. Because of that prostitute. We say sex work and ugly. Sorry, you're absolutely right. And, no, Divine Brown was wonderful. Again, great trailer. Anyway, let's go back to the model.

I was doing like plays at uni. And I, there was like an improv, group, my uni had an improv group, and I was a bit interested in that. And some friends of mine were involved. One of my housemates was in the improv comedy group, and I'd never considered it as an idea. That really did sound the most terrifying thing I'd ever heard of. And it was some people I knew put on like basically a student comedy festival at the uni, and it was on over three nights, and it was basically like, Glastonbury, in which like your Saturday night headliners were Cambridge Footlights, and it was all the big, like,

Bristol Reunions on the Friday night, which at the time was like Jamie Demetriou and, um, Charlotte Richie and loads of people who've got on to become like fully absolutely, you know, big names and sort of comedy and acting. Jamie Dmitry, big Raymond fan, can I say? Really? Yeah. I remember watching people like Jamie Dmitri and being in utter disbelief at how funny people just a couple of years older than me could be. I just couldn't watching Cambridge Footlights and just dying laugh. It was like it was, I was in agony laughing because I'd never seen people remotely in my age bracket be that funny and I

couldn't believe that was like a possibility. And so I joined the improv group and I was, I really enjoyed it. And it was terrifying, but I absolutely loved it. And there was, there's a, the big comedy reviewing website, Chortle, do a Chortle student award every year, like a comedy competition. And so my friends basically sign me up for it because they were like, they knew I'd never done stand up, they knew that I was fine going on stage as part of an improv group where it's a big group of you and you're all sort of helping each other out and it's not

just like a self-serving look at me sort of thing. And they knew that I'd written jokes in the past, but was never gonna have an opportunity to say them. And they knew I was never gonna have the sheer arrogance and gall to sign myself up for it myself. So they signed me up for me and basically said, you're doing this in two months, so you gotta write seven minutes to stand up now.

And I'm really grateful that they did that because otherwise I never would have done it. So I was forced into doing, I was absolutely forced into doing it. So my first proper gig was doing the Chaucer Student Comedy Award and that was really nice. After you left, did you do a master's in journalism? Yeah, so by the time I started doing, I did stand up during my master's.

So by this point I was like, I'm so fully, I know I'm going into news reading and it didn't matter that the first gig I did was a Chaucer One and that was really good fun. And then the second gig I ever did was the semi-finals and then the third gig was going to be the final. So interesting the newsreader thing though because I think I understand it in a way because it's sort of like, it's partly the parents in there, have something to fall back on, you know, there's that when you've been told that, and they're right, by the way, but it also allows you to go, it gives you a great route into that, which ended up happening for you, you know,

as well. Yeah, and it was also, newsreading felt like a way of sort of performing a bit in a serious way, but you get to be on a screen and you get to say something someone else has written for you. Did you look at newsreaders and think, I want to be like these ones? No, I'd interest in the news. But that tells you a lot. Yeah. You were looking at Lee Evans. Yeah. Yeah. That says a lot and I didn't realize that at the time at all. And I've only, that's me realising this now. You're not going to, you haven't told me a 10 minute story about Peter Sisson's and I'm waiting. I had. Yeah, I just didn't, I didn't, I wasn't engaged with the news whatsoever. It was, yeah, it was, it was, it was just something I just knew I

sort of wanted to do and I thought I'd be, I'd be quite good at. So when it, um, I did, I did the, I did the Chortle student final and I remember thinking I've spent so much of my life up until this point trying to be a newsreader and I just graduated I got my first job as a newsreader at a radio station in Sheffield called Hallam FM. It's got nothing to do with the uni Sheffield Hallam but it's just a part of uni called Hallam and so I got my first job as like a roving reporter there before I'd even finished my master's degree so I was like well I have to do I have to do this and I remember going into the Chortle student final thinking All right, how about if I win, I'll go into comedy, and if I don't, then I'll stick with news reading.

And then I came second and I was like, ah, that's, what do I do? That's so close. That implies I should maybe give us another go. And then I got an email from just a complete stranger about a week after the final being like, hello, I watched your set. I think we should go, would you like to have a chat in London? I managed comedians. They didn't tell me who. And I was like, I was already going down to London.

So I was like, yeah, I'll see them. And it was a guy, he was like, yeah, I managed Ricky Jervais, and he was like, I quite like to sign and work with you. And I was only like three gigs in, so it was just crazy that that was happening. And I remember sort of saying, I've literally just gotten my dream job as a newsreader. So do you mind if I like, can we revisit this in like a year's time? And he was like, oh my God, take your time. Because I was like, I'd rather just do this for like a year and then see what it's like. And then it turned out I didn't really enjoy being a roving reporter at all.

I found it really thankful. And the pay was really bad. And I wasn't good at it. I'm not a good. I'm not confrontational, so I really couldn't hold people to account. So whenever it would be like Sheffield City Council announcing tons of cuts, and my job was to talk to the head of the council, I'd be like, What would you say?

Oh, that must have been hard. Oh, bless you, that must have been awful. I can imagine you outside 10 down the street. Minister, you go, how are you feeling? Yeah. Do you get much sleep in that job? Oh, Kier. I was just crap.

I was so crap. put it because I couldn't I couldn't bear to be you know did you threaten to overrule him you know it was like I was never going to be like that well you didn't have the paxman no I just don't I never will it's never been me at all very few people do to be honest yeah so I eventually was like I don't enjoy this enough and it's not the career I thought it was going to be and loads of my friends by this point I graduated and moved away from Sheffield and I just thought I'm going to move to I'm going to quit everything and move to London and just do any tempt of a can during this the day and any gig I can during the night, any unpaid, open spot, open mic night, whatever.

And I just throw myself into it. And I thought, because I've got Rick Gervais's agent, essentially, you know. And so as soon as I quit everything, I moved to London with nothing, no plans, nothing. Just move, just four friends of mine were moving into a five bedroom house in northwest London. And they were like, we have space if you want to rent a room. And I was like, you know what, let's just do it. I was so like, I just had zero plans. My parents were like, you know what, yeah, do it for a year and see what, see what happens, you know. But there Well, like, if you, if it doesn't work out, we will probably just say to you, maybe go back to journalism if you can't. So I just got a temp job at Thameswater.

And I remember ringing up Ricketer Basis agent on day one being like, hey, I've moved to London. It's Glenn. And him being like, Glenn. And I was like, yeah, Glenn Moore, we had a meeting. And he was like, yeah. Oh my God. Yeah, I remember. And he was like, yeah, I'm kind of fully booked up now with acts.

And it was like, oh, shit. What have I done? That was a wake-up call. Oh my God, what have I done? And I just thought, I've absolutely blown this. I also like you having to say, sorry, can I just put you on hold? Thameswater. Your call is important to us?

Hello, is Glenn there? It's Ricky Jervais's agent. It was just, yeah. If you have a problem with your guilt, please press one. It was, that was a really bad moment. And also, I was really, really. Well, a salutary lesson to learn maybe that actually, in some ways.

It's to work at LBC together. Oh, I love him. Yeah. I'm a huge friend. We should probably make it clear. We're talking about Andrew Marr. We've just seen Andrew Marr walking through Regents. We're saying it's like it's a nature document.

It does feel like that. And Andrew Marr, and I have to say, I felt really proud to be with you, Glenn, because I'm a huge fan of his. I think he's brilliant. Who isn't? And as he walked, He just, he smiled and nodded very respectfully. It was like a sort of champion heavyweight boxer,

nodding at a fellow fighter on his way to the ring. Oh, I saw it as like bus drivers flashing their lights at each other. Well, were you like the role of what Frank Skinner calls bus driver's friend? Yeah. He says, you know that one who's up at the front? Yeah, yeah. I know everyone here. I'm quite well connected.

And he just stands up at the front the entire time. Like he's a VIP status. I had a very similar moment a couple of years ago where I live quite near former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. And I used to be his newsreader on LBC. And I mean, just as a freelancer, but obviously I'd just get whacked on the Saturday morning shift, which was when his show was on. And he was in a chemist a couple of years ago. And I saw him and I was like, oh my God, I wonder if he'll remember me.

And as he turned around to leave, I went, Ken, hi. But at the same time as another random member of the public, went, Ken. And he walked past going, hello, thank you, everyone. Thank you. and just left the chemist. And it was like, no, no, I'm different to the, I'm different to the civilian. I knew you.

We, I've made you tea so much. Do you know everyone is damning? That everyone would have cut me to the quick. Thank you, thank you so much. Yeah. He may as well listen. Thank you fans. It was bizarre.

I really hope you love part one of this week's Walking the Dog. If you want to hear the second part of our chat, it'll be out on Thursday. So whatever you do, don't miss. it and remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week.