Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Nick Helm

Episode Date: October 5, 2021

This week Emily and Ray went for a stroll with Nick Helm. They chat about Nick’s childhood in North London, how he discovered comedy and how he copes with mental health struggles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Walking through Soho with Ramesh is like, you're constantly getting phones handed to you saying, can you take a picture of me with Ramesh? And you're like, sure. I was in Uncle. This week on Walking the Dog, I took Raymond for a stroll with comedian and actor Nick Helm in North London's Waterloor Park. Nick's very well known for his lead role in the successful BBC sitcom Uncle, his appearances on 8 out of 10 Cats' countdown, and his critically acclaimed stand-up shows. I actually first saw him at the Edinburgh Festival back in 2010

and was really blown away by his comedy. We had a lovely walk. We chatted about Nick's childhood growing up in North London, how he discovered comedy, and he was also really impressively open and honest about how he copes with mental health struggles. Nick wasn't entirely sold on Raymond at first. Basically, he's too slow and he does too many wheeze.

Just to clarify, that's Raymond, not Nick. But by the end of our walk, he was cuddling him and even implying to strangers that he was Raymond's owner. It was the bromance I never thought would happen. I really warned to Nick. He's very sensitive and empathetic, and he made me laugh a lot. But mostly any friend of Raymond's gets to be in my squad.

I love my walk with Nick, and I hope you do too. Please remember to rate review and subscribe and check out Nick's projects and live dates via Twitter on At the Nick Helm. I'll stop talking now and hand over to the man himself. Here's Nick and Raymond. Are we going to go for a walk with Nick? Hello, Raymond.

No. What do you think of him, Nick? Um, well, I suppose every dog is an adventure. I mean, this is the third piss he's gone for in five minutes. So is he marking his territory? He's for a very small bladder. Sure. Come on.

He's... He hasn't consumed anything to piss out yet. He's just... He's quite slow. Sure. So. He's got tiny little legs. Yeah, and I call it Walking the Dog, but

he's not a great walker. Maybe that that flags up a floor in your podcast. He doesn't really seem to be particularly aware of you.

You know? Like he's just doing it himself and you happen to be there. Yeah. How long have you had Raymond? I've had Raymond for four years. Four years? Yeah.

Does he come for another pest? This is the fourth pest? Raymond. Raymond, yeah. So I've brought Raymond along today. And I'm interested to know what your view is of dogs, Nick. Are you a dog fan? I'm not a cat.

cat person. So by default, I'm a dog person. I always wanted a dog, but I didn't want to clear up the shit. So I'm kind of like, I'm like an uncle when it comes to dogs. I don't have to own one, but I can get the benefits by just knowing people with dogs, I suppose. But I mean, your dog is... for his own unique challenges, hasn't it? He's so slow. He is slow, but I like his soul to sing openly.

You know what? If he wants to dawdle... I think it's fine. I think that I guess part of dog training is to protect other people from your dog. And part of it is to make it as fuss free

as possible. Right? Yeah. So that you can get to bed quickly. You can get it to go for a walk quickly. You can put it back quickly. Do you what I mean? It's kind of like it makes it convenient for you. And if you don't need that convenience,

as long as your dog isn't, you know, attacking other dogs and other people, then do what you like with it, right? How's he gone? You keep saying that you've lost your dog, but it's normally just behind a lamppost or a person's leg. Although, in this instance...

What's your dog called again? Raymond. Raymond. I mean, that's like the ninth time... Do you want to try and call him? Because you've got... He might lose... Raymond!

Raymond! Oh, he's over there. But he's sat down and he's just... He's nowhere near you and he's just... I think it's like a happy middle ground, isn't there? Between being a disciplinarian and just... letting it do what you're the pet he owns you come on Raymond very naughty naughty

he doesn't care come on you get carried like a baby when you're naughty he doesn't care I think he prefers that he makes he makes up more ground if he's been carried and if he walks he loves it I think he's going to really grow on you by the way I need to introduce you formally I also get to do that bit this is walking the dog and I'm so excited to have the very wonderful Nick Helm with me today and we're what do you want to tell us where we are Nick? Where are we? Yeah where are we I got an Uber here I can't remember where we are we're in Waterloo Park Waterloo Park that's where we are because you said you were keen to meet in a

park in North London. Yeah I've never been to What do you think? I mean, we've seen the cafe and a bit of a path, but so far, yeah, it's amazing. Oh, look, there's a lake, a pond. Well, do you know the history? So we were just in that cafe, which is called Lauderdale House. Yes. And I think it was built for, like, as a mistress's house for Nell Gwyn.

Right. Quite a nice mistress's house. But it's really beautiful here. I love it here. And I know you mentioned you wanted to meet in sort of Hampstead or Highgate. Are you North London then? Yeah. I grew up just down the road from here. This is dinky, isn't it? A tiny little bridge. Someone's left. What's that? A top or trousers? What does it say? Sorry, I hate plans with mum. No, sorry, I have plans with mum. Oh, I have plans. Sorry, that's Freudian.

I hate, I hate plans with mum. I have, sorry, I have plans. Sorry, I have plans. Sorry, I have plans. Sorry, I have plans. plans with mum and it's a kids t-shirt isn't my little kids jumper oh hopefully they'll get it back we've headed north because this is kind of your manner this is where you grew up north London isn't it yes well a chunk of it I was born it's born around here and I grew up in Finsbury Park and we used to go to Finsbury Park and Clissau Park we used to live in between both of them oh did you and so it would be like you it was a You go to Cliffsol Park for the deer and you go to Finchby Park for the heroin. But we were very little and there was a bit of a drug problem around the area,

which cleared up when we moved. And what did your folks do? My mum was a maths lecturer. And my dad was a civil servant. any work for the Medical Research Council. I'm so impressed by people with maths brains. Did you inherit that? No.

I think it's a sort of frustration. But like numbers, my brain doesn't really work like that. So when it gets into numbers and facts and statistics and stuff like that, my brain switches off. Really? But I'm like a sponge. I'm obsessed with like, where's Raymond?

I'm not obsessed with. with where Raymond is, but where is... Nick, why don't we call this podcast, Where's Raymond? Come on, Raymond! Raymond! Hello, Raymond! Hello. Say hello to Nick.

Hello, Raymond. No, not even aware. And what was your sort of family style like, if you like? What sort of a family would you describe? Because I always have this thing about how I wanted to be in a dog family, which is why I'm obsessed by dogs now. I think my mum loved maths. Well, she's still around.

She's just not a math lecturer anymore. But my mum, when she was at school, loved maths. And I think having a career in maths is kind of like, was logical. It was like the next step. Whereas my dad, I think, was very artistic and very creative. And I think he chose a career. that but he didn't sort of like he wasn't he wasn't brought to a career oh he did lots of stuff actually they went they went all around sort of Latin America together

in the 70s and then when they got back my dad worked for shelter and but I think that like my dad got a job because they had kids so when my sister came along it was like my mum was almost like I don't know I've never really talked to her about it but I guess my mum sort of like had a job that followed directly on from school so maybe it was like a dream job and my dad sort of like took one for the team and got a job that paid the bells and were you um were you quite a sort of noisy expressive family well my dad and my mum but I was my dad really encouraged us to be creative and artistic up to a point so we were

We were always like painting in the house and we were always sort of entering sort of like art competitions when we were little and you know we used to go to the barbican every Saturday and it was like a kids club at the barbican and there was a film club at the barbican so we always went to see films on Saturday mornings and he'd sit in the lobby and do his boring work and then meet us at the end so yeah we had like he was sort of like he used to build a lot things with his hands like in like a workshop so he'd build like a little puppet theatre for us and he used to make toys for us because I guess we didn't have loads of money yeah it was just sort of like so he was very creative and I guess it was our way of

sort of bonding with him would be for him to encourage us to be creative up to a certain point and then when it came to me starting a career in comedy that's where my mum took over and she was like no this is what you want to do you should go and do that and my dad was more like get a job in IT son and I was like I don't want to I don't want to I'm no good but I'm no I'm no good at that stuff also what I was saying before is like you've got I mean this is like a Raymond's Raymond couldn't care well you you describe what's going on Nick well there's sort of like a like a standoff there's two dogs one of them what's your dog called

Chloe? Chloe? So Chloe, Chloe's completely lost interest in Raymond now. Raymond wasn't really aware that Chloe existed. Chloe stopped dead centre in the middle of the path, splayed out, flat on the floor, staring at Raymond and Raymond was just sort of like pottering around, not really paying much, don't Jane? Come on, Raymond.

And now it's become a thing, but I think they're both over it really. Chloe's gone back to it. No, Chloe's really. That means she wants a play? That's the play position, Nick. This is Raymond's on default mode. He's sort of like unimpressed with everything. Oh look and business as usual. Okay. Come on we're, we carry on again.

Come on, Raymond. Here you go. He's keeping up with us now, Nick. Yeah, it's down. hell he's in front of us now and but do you find that with dogs that everyone just wants to sort of like touch your dog and own your dog a little bit yeah and I quite like that he can run yeah come on we're going to go here so yeah and was your well your family did you laugh a lot was it a funny family uh yeah i suppose yeah

Yeah, I suppose it, well, I've got an older sister who's quite serious. But I think we've sort of like developed our taste through comedy from our parents. Did you? Yeah, like my dad would be into one sort of thing and my mum would be into, you know, so my dad used to read us stories and then he would fall asleep while he was reading. That's bedtime stories and I'd be wide away and I'd climb over him and I'd go downstairs and I'd watch Jasper Carrot with my mum or French and Saunders or the young ones or stuff like that. It's like 1980s London, early 1980s. So we got all like British TV comedy at the time from my mum I think.

My dad was more into kind of stuff like Mel Brooks and so we'd watch films with my dad and when he would laugh do you mean there's that thing where your parents are laughing at stuff and you can't quite work out what it is that's funny but you kind of mimic them yeah and then eventually you kind of I guess you sort of either adopt their sense of humor or you wake up one day and you go that's not funny at all and did you have pets Nick your family no I always wanted a dog and I haven't ruled out one day I should probably get a dog but I might move to the countryside one day.

You know, in an unwritten future, I don't know. I don't know what's ahead of me, but I imagine at some point in my life I will have a dog. I think my dad had dogs and they died and it broke his heart. And I think he wanted to protect us from that is one way of looking at it. And the other way is that he couldn't be bothered. But I've always liked dogs.

I got attacked by a dog once on Brighton Beach. Me and my dad drove my mum and my sister to Gatwick Airport. And they went away together to Venice for a fortnight. And me and my dad had to make our own fun. And my holiday consisted of going to Brighton Beach after we dropped them off at Gatwick and then spending two weeks separate, you know, in separate rooms. I got attacked by a dog by a bit on the beach

and then the owner came around and it was Paul McGahn. And in our family there was Joe McGahn who was in the upper hand and Paul McGahn and I'm sure there were other McGans but there was like a family likeness and so in our family we used to say he's a Magam.

This dog attacked me and then Paul McGahn walked around the corner and he walked off. And then we both looked at each other and went, he's a McGahn. But it was sort of odd that my dad knew who Paul McGahn was because my dad is not up to date on pop culture. So there's a barbecue that's going on over it. Doesn't that smell nice? So were you, I'm presuming you were funny then, Nick, at school and that was a kind of currency for you and you were sort of, were you popular? No. I was popular. So I grew up in Finchby Park and we grew up until about seven or eight and then we moved to St Albans and I had lots of friends in London and then move in school. It took me about 10 years to adjust.

And then when I, now I'm older and now I'm old, I can choose where I want to live and I've moved back to North London. And sort of where I live, you know, you can, from the roof, you can see the cinema that my mum used to take us when we were little and all that stuff. So I'm sort of like moved back to where I started. So did you make friends easily? No. I made, I used to make friends really easily on holidays, you know. I used to befriend like all the kids and tell. stories and make them laugh and stuff like that but um i struggled at school did you yeah what just because do you think that's because you were moving around though no well partly i think it was a little bit of

a culture clash as well if you get used to stuff um like london was very sort of like multicultural And you grow up. And there's like a big group of kids and, you know, there was Turkish kids and Pakistani kids and Nigerian kids and kids from all over the world. And then you moved to St. Albans and it's sort of very white and middle class. And so it's like a culture clash.

Yeah. And so I guess, I guess, I guess people pick out like what's different about that kid. So I was the fat kid. And then it's just kind of like, well, that sort of no one wants to be the fat kid. It's miserable. And I guess I didn't get over that for a long time. Did you get bullied?

Yeah. But it was never like physical bullying. It was like psychological and emotional stuff. Yeah. And there were other kids that got it worse. So was it a kind of... You had a smart mouth and you were funny and that was quite a useful tool to rely on?

Or did that come later? No, I was very quiet. I think what would... I think, yeah, there's like... If you're bullied and you're not part of the big group, you can either be the funny one and make everyone love you. Or you can sort of like be on your own. and you develop a really strong imagination.

And so I think that I, there's probably other stages along the way. But I think my thing was that I had a very overactive imagination. I was never into football. And when I moved to Hurston, I guess everyone was super into football. And when you don't have that, and I've noticed this later on in life, certainly as a man,

what I've noticed football is such a useful tool as a shorthand so I'd be on set doing, I did the sitcom with Romash Rangadathan. The reluctant landlord. Which is great.

And thank you. And what I noticed Nigel Havers was on it. He was one of the guest stars and I remembered Nigel Havers from Don't Wait Up from the 80s. I'd probably crawl over my dad who was reading the book

I go down and watch don't weigh up with my mum. And then I'm in a scene with him. And I get sort of like Starstruck quite easily. I'm in a scene with Nigel Havers. I'm standing there. And I've got nothing to say to him. And I've kind of like, what do you say to Nigel Havers? He's wearing a silk.

He's like got this immaculate suit, which he's meant to be costume. But he's richer than the costume department. So he just bought one from home. Do you know what you mean? And it's like anything that you can provide, I can do better. So he's looking up. fantastic and he stood like three feet away and I guess we're sort of like you look busy you like go over your lines and you feel like you know you're like beating yourself up in your

head internally you're screaming just like go say something to him say something and then Ramesh walks in like you know cool as a cucumber he walks straight up to Nigra Havers puts his hand up says thanks for doing my show what team are you and then they just start talking and then it's that and you kind of like go I don't have that And you can talk to anyone with football. I used to work in a pub and you just, you know, I would watch all of these conversations just start from nowhere and everyone's got football in common.

And I just think, if I have kids, I'm going to make them football fans. So at least they've got that, do you know what I mean? Whereas, you know, it's difficult to start a conversation over Thundercats when you're 40, you know. I like talking to people and I don't have football. So it's like one of those things, you know, where you kind of like, well, what do you?

Do you do? You can't just be quiet for the rest of your life. So then you make it an asset. But I feel like I've always got on better with women than men. Do you, Nick? Why do you think that is? Because I don't like football. I don't know. I just, I don't know.

I like to think I'm not competitive. And I also feel like competitiveness brings out sort of like an ugly side to me that I don't like. like. So I don't know, I guess kind of like when I'm not surrounded by other men, there's not kind of like this kind of competition that's going on. And then you can actually just chat to people, can't you? Do you prefer yourself around women then? That's interesting. Yeah. I guess so. Did you find it easy to sort of talk to women and stuff, though? Were you confident with girls when you were younger? I wasn't confident with anyone and I think there was a certain part of it where they had to do make the first steps or do a bit of the heavy

lifting at first but well when I was at secondary school there was you know everyone was super into PE everyone was super into sport which happens up until you get to the six form and when you get to six form then like everyone that did drummer and art sort of like took over and it got to I didn't have like any friends for like until about year 10 or 11 and then then, which is right at the end of school, I did have some friends, that's not fair. I say that I didn't have any friends. I did have some friends, but I didn't have very close friends.

And then when it got to sort of like just before leaving to the sixth form, I started hanging around in the art block, maybe this is like year 10. I started hanging around in the art block where all of the people that do art and drama and music and drugs, they all hang out. and they go to the pub at the weekends whereas everyone that does PE that's in your year they all get dropped off round of friends house by their parents and then picked up at the end of the night

whereas if you go around the art block there's like people in the sixth form people just about to go to university you know you've got like all ages it's not really about what year you're in it's about what you're interested in well you're an extrovert Nick um

I mean it's quite a loose word that isn't it it's harder but I don't think so I think that I found I think I found social situation is exhausting and I still do really and I think that when you do stand-up you can get away with being kind of like an extroverted introvert or whatever it is you know you can get away with you're not actually although you're on stage and you're performing and there's hundreds of people in the room you're not actually dealing with hundreds of people on a one-on-one basis Let's go and sit under the tree where we can relax.

It sounded a bit creepy, didn't it? Go on say it again. Okay, let's go and sit under the tree where we can relax. Alright, creepmeister. Yeah, so you're saying that's really fascinating, Nick, about how stand up is possible for introverts to sort of do that job because you're sort of not directly engaging, are you? It depends. I know comedians that don't even want the audience lit so that they can't see them and they can just pretend them on their own, you know. I like seeing the audience and I like going on stage and I like seeing the audience and interacting with them. But it's almost like I wouldn't say that I'm on standby all day and then I come alive when I'm on stage.

But I certainly... Well, I do come alive when I'm on stage, but I wouldn't say that the rest of the time I'm kind of like a zombie. Whereas I think some people find going on stage training or overwhelming. The idea that you actually eye to eye with the people that are sort of judging you.

It depends what your outlook is on stand at comedy because I know that I get very anxious and very nervous about performing. And then when I'm on stage, as soon as I'm on stage, it's fine, because I know whether it's going well or it's going badly or whatever, but until I get on stage, then it's all up to your imagination. And I know some people that can't wait to get on stage, whereas I'm just sort of, I sort of dread it until I have to do it.

And then I enjoy it. Do you find it hard if you've got a gig that night, are you quite stressed during the day? It depends how far through the run it is. Like if I'm on tour, you get to a certain point on the tour when you're not on autopilot, but you can kind of like get to the venue, do you get in, have a little relax, maybe see a bit of the town, and then go on stage and do a good show. But like towards the beginning when you're still sort of like learning the show and getting used to it,

like the whole day is hooked for right off. And then like when I did my first gig, my first gig ever it was kind of like there'd be a fortnight of just you know dread of kind of like almost not being able to move because you're just panicking so much about the fact that you've got to get up on stage

and then I did the gig and it went fine and then in the early days so I did my first gig and then about three four months later I started doing it more regularly but when I started there weren't that many gigs and so you do a gig and then you get on another gig but it would be two weeks away.

So maybe it would take you two weeks to get, of nerves building up. And then you do your gig, and then rather than learning from that gig and then doing the next gig and putting that into practice, you'd have another two weeks to get nervous again. So you kind of, like, didn't learn much.

I didn't learn much at first because I was just always too nervous about the gig. But when you get more into it, then... Presumably, when you do your first Edinburgh as well, because you've got consecutive gigs. it's that 10,000 hours thing, isn't it? That you've got, you'll just get you so many hours. As a stand-up, you can do a year's worth of, like, when you're starting out,

I would always recommend doing Edinburgh. I think later on it becomes kind of like you can get sucked into, oh, well, that's what we do. You know what I mean? It's sort of like, it's like, it sort of takes care of your year as well, because you do it in August. It's like, it's like a school year. Yeah.

So at the beginning of the year, September, all the new kids have started. And then around Christmas time you start getting ready for your exams and then you do your exams in the summer. And then a new year group of comedians have established themselves with their first hours or whatever. When was the first moment when you thought I want to... I mean, was there a conscious decision? Did you think I want to be a comedian? I didn't know what I wanted to do.

So when I started hanging around with all those kids at school, we did drama and then our drama teacher took us up to the Edinburgh Festival when I was 16. In 1997, we did Romeo and Juliet. That must have been so exciting. It was incredible. It was absolutely incredible. It was amazing. We were 16, so we were sort of drinking at the weekends anyway.

And so when we went up to Edinburgh, we did the show, the show was on at about 11.45 or maybe 11 o'clock. Romeo and Julia, it was over by one o'clock. And then we basically would go back to our shared accommodation, we'd get changed, and then we'd have the rest of the day to do whatever. And I used to go to watch stand-up comedy. We all did. And I saw Al Murray's second show at the Pleasants.

And I saw Jason John Whitehead at the Tron. and they're all these you know you're watching comedy and you're watching theatre because we would like doing drama at school so part of it was educational but like mainly we were getting drunk and watching stand-at comedy and then 10 years later 12 years later uh i'm doing gigs at the pleasants i'm doing gigs at the tron and it's like oh i'm doing this i think the moment that i started doing standard was that i didn't know what i wanted to do i had my own theatre company out of university, I ran my own little theatre company where we did theatre and education

and took that around schools. And then that sort of went nowhere. And so I was in like bands and I was in writing theatre and stuff of that. And I wrote this big list of all this. And I literally didn't know where I was going. I did really well at university. I did well at school in the end.

Did you? But without putting a lot of work into it. So I was sort of like, I don't know what to do. And so I made this list. and then one of the only things that didn't involve other people aside from write a book, write a novel which requires thousands of hours and sitting by yourself and doing it

I wanted to do something like immediately so I found a stand-up course which was a one-day course did that they said you're good or you're good enough to do whatever you did today at a club. That must have been great when they said that.

Were you really happy? It was amazing because I was sort of like picked out of the group. Everyone else was kind of like hadn't done anything I think. There was sort of like people in catering and people in nursing but I'd already been writing theatre and I'd already performed and stuff

so people kind of wanted to do it maybe it was a gift for like their birthday to do a course or maybe it was you know, just out of curiosity. But for me, it was sort of like, maybe I'll try this. And then at the end of the day, he was like, oh, if you just did what you did today, you've got a starting point for an act.

And it was like, I've graduated in 2002. Yeah, 2002. And it was like the first time I felt like, I don't know anything about this, but I'm fascinated by it. And I want to get back on stage again and get good at it. and it was like the first time since school or the first time since university that I felt like I was learning something. There'd be like four years where you just sort of like, is this what it is now?

Once you finish all your education, is that it? Like learning is optional, you know? You know, and all you're going to do is you're going to get thicker. Do you what you mean? If you're not learning, you're just forgetting information that you used to know, right? And so when I started doing stand-up, I was like, I'm at the... the bottom of a ladder that I want to climb, you know, as opposed to half way up a ladder I don't want to be on, you know. So, so that was what was, that was, that was the moment

where you kind of like, oh, this is, this is great. And then it opened doors to music and to acting and to directing and all the other stuff. What did your parents say then? Were you sort of saying to people, right, I think this is it. I think I want to be a stander. And how did that go down with people? So I was working at a, I was working at BusinessLink in Hatfield. I was a temp and I was doing like 9 to 5.30. So my joke was, I do, I work 9 to 5.30, which is half an hour longer than totally apart.

I never fucking bothered with. That was my big joke. I love that joke. And I'd do that. So I was working however many hours a week. And I'd get paid. I'd get paid. I'm laughing at the Dolly F?

Yeah, it's great. It's great. I'll bring it back. It's such a good joke. I'll get a job being admin and then I can use it again. But I was working like 40 hour weeks. However long the week was, 45 hour weeks. And then at the end of it, I was getting paid $205.

I love that you remember that. It's $205. You go, that's criminal, right? It's like, what do you do with $205? You drink it because you can't save it. Do you know what I mean? It's like, what are my men are doing? with 205. I'm not going to buy a house with 200. I haven't got time to do anything else in the week

because I'm working every single day. And I hated the job. The job was terrible because it was two jobs. At the beginning of the week, you would have to take in these forms with people's addresses and national insurance numbers and everything like that. And they'd be handwritten and you'd have to take these handwritten forms and type them by hand into a computer. and if they were wrong, you had to redo it. So you couldn't do it hung over. You had to pay attention, right? So you had to pay attention

with this mind-numbing job, data entry, and you had to transfer hand-written pieces of paper into digital files, right? So that's what you're doing Monday to Wednesday lunchtime. And at Wednesday lunchtime, you stuff envelopes for the rest of the week and you print out labels and stick them on the envelopes, right? And it was like,

you'd be so bored of the data entry by Wednesday lunchtime you'd be like, please, can we just move on to the envelopes? And then you'd do the envelopes for the rest of the week, and then you'd be bored shitless with the envelopes. And then you'd go, thank God on Monday, I go back to the data entry. And you'd do that.

And it was like, oh my God. And so it wasn't even kind of like, I wasn't saving any money. It was just kind of, I was sort of like in this perpetual cycle. And anything that I could save, I sort of like put towards Edinburgh. So what do my parents think? My parents, my dad wanted me to be kind of like getting to IT.

And my mum was just kind of like, well, this is the time to do it. This is sort of like your last chance to do it, maybe. And I don't believe that. But I think it was like I was in my mid to late 20s. I just discovered this thing. For me, it was like an expensive hobby. It was like, I love doing stand up. If I could do this every night for the rest of my life,

that would not be a bad life. I'd be happy with that. I think my parents, my dad wanted me to like get a proper job. And my mum was like, I want you to saw like an angel. I want you to spread your wings and saw like an eagle. And it was like, all right, all right, mum. Oh, I love Mrs. Hell. But she was like the maths one.

and my dad was the creative one. But is that maybe why she said that then? I think maybe my dad had some bad experiences and was like trying to protect her. I suppose with parents you just want them to be able to, you know, kids to be able to look after themselves and pay their bills really. But until you start doing something,

I think it all feels impossible. So when you said, when you asked, you know, did you always want to be a stand-up or did you always want to go into comedy? No, because, Because my favourite, I was always into comedy. Like when I was little, I used to watch comedy with my parents. And then when I was older, me and my sisters, were into the Mary White House experience and Fist of Fun.

And then I developed my own taste. My sister liked Eddie Isard. And we both liked Joe Brand and I liked Jack D. And then Jack D was my comedian. And then Harry Hill, Lee Evans. But you watch these comedians and go, they're the best. How do you do that, though? That's an other thing.

That is something that other people do. That's something that Jack D does. For a start, how do you remember all those words? How do you stand up there for an hour? How'd you have the confidence? Where do you start? And, of course, you don't start with Jack D live at the Palladium that I add on VHS.

You don't start there. That's a goal. You start a lot smaller. and so maybe I'd always been a little bit curious to be like oh it's sort of like a monologue maybe I could do that I've made people laugh in real life and and people sort of like I guess said oh you should be a comedian because I'd sort of make them laugh or whatever but you never think of that as a thing but when you start doing it and you realize actually 90% of being a comedian at the beginning is failing is like not being funny going in with

your big ideas getting it getting a beaten out of you by the audience and then having to like go all right what's what I find funny in my head and what people find funny out loud are two different things and then having to you know those early gigs what they do is they break down but if you want to do it you want to do it but they break down your confidence to the point where you've got to rethink how you do it and then you build up again and then you build up to the point that you're doing an hour and then you go oh actually it's the easiest you know it's not the easiest thing in the world but I find I find doing five minutes very difficult and I find doing ten minutes difficult 20 minutes is slightly easier but an hour I love I can I

find in terms of all of the stages of doing stand-up comedy I find standing on stage doing an hour of new material the easiest and then it gets you know harder again. I first saw you, I think, it was at the Tron and it was keep hold of the gold which would have been 20,

when was that? 2010. 2010. And I was in Edinburgh. I was doing the Frank Skinner radio show up there. And Gareth Richards, who's a mutual friend of us,

he said, I'm going to go and see my mate. He's really funny. So we go into the Tron and we sat in this basement and I, honestly, I just couldn't even it was, I hadn't

laughed like that since I was sort of a toddler or something where I was just clutching my stomach and I was in pain. And I mean, poor Gareth, of course, I didn't really quite realise the etiquette because not only was I going, I mean, that is incredible, I mean, that is the best show. Yeah, I know

afterwards, I just kept going on, he went, yeah, yeah, it's really good, yeah, it's really good. Oh, right, after the show, yeah, yeah, yeah, but he is the best. He's a comedian as well and he's like, yeah, right. No, and then I saw, Jimmy Carr later and I went, I have seen this guy. It's the best stand-up I've ever seen.

It's the best show I've ever seen. It was last night you came to see my show, yeah? Yeah, right. So, but honestly, Nick, it just... Oh, well, Jimmy Carr came to see my show. I know. I know. So is that because of you?

Yeah. Right, because that was a big game changer for me. Oh, good. Because he tweeted. Carrot told me that once. He said, I think Jimmy's gone to see... Because I said, you've got to go and see this guy's show, keep hold of the gone.

He said, where is it? And I said, the Tron. and yeah yeah he came to see it he sat at the side yeah and I got him on stage with everyone out with everyone else was it nice to meet you

yeah nice to meet you nice greet you and what I'd do is I'd get everyone for the listeners at home or driving I would get the whole audience on set I'd start with one person and eventually the whole audience would be on and I think Jimmy Carr thought

he had diplomatic immunity because he's Jimmy Carr and I go I don't give a fuck who you are you get on stage as well I said Jimmy Carr got on stage and he tweeted about it and then that was when like I had people from home that were like Jimmy Carr just tweeted about it and Twitter was quite new. Yeah. I didn't really know what Twitter was, I wasn't on it.

And so Jimmy Carr was tweeting about me and then and then all of a sudden all of these people at home that thought, oh Nick's trying to be a comedian were kind of like oh Nick is a comedian, I suppose now. So what I'm saying Nick is, I mean it's all down to me. It's done to you. I finally met the puppet master that's behind it all. But yeah, it's interesting. And I just, I did get that sense with you when I saw that show that there was, it was like I'd never really seen anyone behave like that.

And I think what it was was just that danger. So, and that is essentially what you do, isn't it? Your comedy is very sort of dangerous your comedy. I think for like audiences, they're, especially those first two or three or four shows yeah there was kind of like an element to whoa what's he going to do this show when more and more people started coming and you couldn't get everyone on stage and you know I sort of ran out of ideas and things to do with audience participation and I got interested in other things yeah when when when I first

started doing audience stuff. I think with that Keep Hold of the Gold show, that was kind of like me working out what it was that made me different. And then with the show that came after that, it was kind of like, well, there's going to be an element of audience stuff. And it was in this tiny little porter cabin. So the year, so the year before Keep Hold of the Gold, I did a thing where I'd make someone a cup of tea on stage. And I had a kettle and a cup of tea. And a cup of and a tea bag and I would chest there's one person in the audience and I'd just chat to this is 2009

was a show called Bad Things Happen in Trees and it was a filler show because I was meant to do another show with two other comedians who dropped out right at the last minute and so I had to fill an hour and so part of what I did to fill an hour was I'd make a cup of tea and it would take as long as it takes

to make a cup of tea so you boil the kettle and you check in to someone I'd do a poem when we're boiling the kettle and then I'd say well do you like milk and then I'd say you know do you like the milk in first or do you put it in at the end and do you like sugar and yeah it's all very like calm and then I'd fill the cup with like boiling water and I'd make the tea and I'd hand the tea teacup to someone on the front row when they'd pass it back and everyone would have this you know hot mug of tea and it would get to the person that had ordered the tea and then I'd stand

over and I'd say down in one down in one down in one and said panic and because it's boiling water and you go now I'm only checking and then everyone was like oh all relaxed and so it's like oh it's fun to play with the audience you know like they're there yeah you got offered TV stuff as a result of Edinburgh and and what was the big thing what was the big call for you in terms of career-wise like Jimmy Kast saw me thanks to you and then and then you have to do this audition process for eight out of ten cats which is just eight at ten cats not countdown but just the regular show and you have to do this sort of like audition process where you go to this church around the corner

from Sepertron in Shepard's Bush so you go to this church that they've rented out and you've got another comedian that's standing in that you're on the circuit with who you kind of like do gigs with but they're Jimmy Carr and you're kind of like and now I've got to respect you

it's this weird sort of but now you're in charge okay and so then you do like a run of the thing I think I made it through the first one and then the second stage is that you do it with Jimmy but you do it it feels like the lunch break

in their office and what was it like when you first had you met Jimmy before had I met him I'm not sure if I had met him but he came I think Jimmy Carr's great in that he

he like encourages new comedians and so this is this is testament to him I did the second eight of ten cats audition I think Catherine Ryan did my audition as well and Jimmy Carr did it

and I was like I'm not saying that I was shit but the people in the room didn't enjoy it. They didn't like me. And Jimmy said, well, you've got to have him because he's brilliant. And then because he, he pushed for me, I ended up doing the show. But the same thing happened with Russell Howard where they filmed, Russell Howard was the big TV thing for me. What's good? Russell Howard's good news, is it? Yeah, after keep hold of the gold, they put me on as like a joker, like a joker card.

where they needed, for instance, eight comedians and I was the ninth, and if one of the others didn't work out, then they'll put me on. But I wasn't granted. I was there wild card because they thought I was going to basically punch someone in the audience. And so they were like, well, we'll have him on,

but we're not sure about him. And then my, Russell Howard, went really, like, great in the route. I don't remember recording it because it went so well. I came off, and then they said, you've got to go back on and do some pickups, and I went back on, just by coming back on stage, the whole audience cheered. But I didn't remember that it going well.

So, there's a helicopter. Sometimes when I read interviews with you, Nick, people are, I find it interesting. People do this slightly odd thing, which is he's nothing like his on stage persona. No one is. No one is. It's like, it's like even Jimmy Carr, you know.

He does that an hour and a half of one-liners. You interview him afterwards. He's not talking in one-liners. know what you mean? It's like everyone that gets on stage to do comedy. There's nothing natural about it. The art of stand-up comedy is to make it look like you've just thought of that thing and it's coming out your mouth for the first time. So it's a testament to how good you're as a performance, I suppose. It's like a compliment. My agent said that when she first started out, she saw Jack D and she saw Jack D one night at the comedy store and he did this.

amazing material where he just came up with everything off the top of his head. He improvised it and it was amazing. And then she saw him the next night and he did the exact same show. And I think there's some audience members that find that disappointing to think that it wasn't just for them. And then there's some audiences like what my agent said was she said and she thought it was the most amazing thing ever because she thought it was amazing when he was just making it up. But actually the fact that the skill isn't in making it up off the top of the time. your head. The skill is in making it look like you're making it up. And that's what she left with. And I think that's the thing. And you get like, like you say, you get seasons comedy writers and comedy critics and say, it's nothing like his on stage. She's like, how many comedians have you met? But with comedians, that's what I find interesting is that I think, you know, if it wouldn't

say, Anthony Hopkins didn't attack me and start eating me alive. Didn't eat my liver. Do you know what I mean? That's what's so interesting is that they, I think sometimes it's, people find it hard to separate, that it is essentially a performance which is why I wonder what that's like for you particularly when you started doing telly and I suppose you know you did uncle which was hugely successful and you've done a lot of successful TV shows I get more of it from uncle where people think that I am exactly yeah I'm like I am on uncle people people write to me and say oh I get stoned all the time like you do an uncle or like you no like you and I'm like what I don't I don't I don't do drugs so I'm like do you

Do you know what I mean? But you have people that, like, see all this common ground in this TV show that you do. And you go, well, I'm not like that character. But there are sort of, like, now that I've had more space between me and uncle, I do sort of like later on notice similarities. We go, oh, I am a bit like that, and I do do that. And do you, how do you find being recognised, like when people come up to you, is it? If people come up to me and they say hello,

I'm a big fan or like they have to say that they're a big fan they can't just say that they're a fan but if people come up and they say oh you know they acknowledge that they've if people recognise you and they come up to you and they can have a photo or can have an autograph or whatever like that that's brilliant I love meeting people

I love knowing that stuff that I've done and sort of like reached people and we can have a conversation about it anything, it's great. When people recognise you and then they try and sneak a photo, like they're trying to steal something from you. It's just like, if you come up to me, you'll get a really good photo. But if you steal a photo of me, then I think it's just rude. So I just feel like I'm a person, you can come up to me. And I'm not like a superstar where I'm walking around and batting people away. It's kind of like, I like, I like it. What I think, I'm at the level of, I'm at the, I'm at a comfortable level where it makes walking down the road in London like I'm walking down the street and then like a village, you know, where people will wave or people will say hello or whatever.

And you can have these nice, friendly little interactions, but it's not like, walking through Soho with Romash is like, you're constantly. constantly taking photos for them. Do you know what I mean? You're constantly getting phones handed to you saying, can you take a picture of me with Ramesh? And you're like, sure. I was in Uncle. Have you seen BBC 3?

It's not on anymore. Is it back? Do you know what I mean? You know Susie Den? I've done, you know, Suez. I'm that guy. I'm the guy that seems to Susie. Are you quite shy, Nick, with new people? with new people?

I'm shy. Yeah, I suppose I'm shy with like, in terms of like me, like going to a social situation, like a friend's wedding or something like that, in terms of like meeting people, I find if people, if people, if I meet a fan,

then we've got, got like they can say oh I know you from that thing and I can back that away really quickly and then I can ask them about them I can have a conversation with them and I'm fine with that and it doesn't the whole experience doesn't have to be about me it doesn't have to be oh what is your favourite jokes I mean it's like I'll sort of like scrub past that as quickly as possible whereas when you are sort of like on a day-to-day social level I've not necessarily noticed it with me, but I've noticed it with people that I know where, but I suppose I have family members that even do this, where they kind of like go out of their way to say

they haven't heard of you and they've never seen anything that you've done. And you're kind of like going, I'm fine with that. But it's such a weird opener. Do you know what I mean? For someone to say, what do you do? You go, I'm a comedian, I've done, and I tend not to say that either. I tend to say I'm a writer. Do you? I say I'm a, like, it's a weird. I have lots of mental health problems and you go to the doctors and you say, I've got depression or whatever and they go, right, and how long have you had this depression?

And you go, oh, I've had it for all my life really. And they go, and what do you do for a living? And you go, I'm a writer-performer because you don't want to have to get into. Yeah, you're a comedian. Also with the police as well. I got my house broken into no I didn't I got my phone

nicked and when I got home I had to go and contact the police through my computer because I didn't have a phone the police came over and they were like and I was literally stood in my flat surrounded by merchandise with my name all over it and the police were in my flat and said what do you do for a living and I'm like stood next to DVDs that said Nick Halm all over him

and I said how I'm a comedian and they go oh do you my favourite comedians Joe Lysett and I'm like this is at the time when we were both on TV quite a lot Joe's like a superstar now but at the time we were sort of like

did you mean Joe Lyset and go yeah he's great on 8 out of 10 cats and I was like I was on the same fucking episode as him you know what I mean I was on the other side right fine so they're in my living room

surrounded by all my merchandise and they're telling me that they're a do, like that's a bit too close to comfort. But, um... I know you've said, you've mentioned you've had mental health issues and I, you know, I mean, I think that's, that's really good that you've been honest about that because I think it is helpful for other people. But...

That's why I would share it. Is it? Because I find talking about it, I find, I haven't... It's only until quite recently that I've deliberately started talking about it. And what's happened is I've always talked about it. I just wasn't aware that I was talking about it. And what I found was more and more people coming up to me and writing to me and talking to me about mental health and depression.

And I was like, oh, right, okay. And it became a lot on my plate to deal with because I've not mastered my own mental health. And I go to doctors and I sort of like, it's like this lifelong puzzle that you're trying to solve. And you might not solve it. But I think now my mission is to sort of like learn how to cope. with it as in the best way possible and as I'm learning this I find it helpful to like share it with

people and my last show Phoenix from the Flames was really it was like a show that was all about my mental health and it was and I don't want to do every show about kind of like what's wrong with him this week you know but I wanted to sort of like lay my cards out and say this is what this show is it's about mental health about my mental health is how I deal with it I don't want to feel sorry for me I'm just going to talk about it and then the idea was that people would come and see me because I knew a lot of my audience

a lot of this is a bitter pill to swallow but a lot of my audience suffer from depression you know and you kind of like you don't really want to make a name for yourself saying yeah my audiences are miserable

but they are right and so I think one of the hardest things in the world is to be dealing with something and your instinct is always to cover it up or to make the best of it and actually

sometimes it's just important to just say I'm fucked actually and I need help and in me talking about it what I found through interacting with audiences I'll always come out at the end of a gig and I'll sign like posters and merchandise and stuff like that.

And what I found was in meeting people, they'd come up and they'd say oh, your show helped me talk to my parents about it or to my partner about it or to go to a doctor and get medical help about it. And I can only ever sort of like tell people about my personal experience. And I

wouldn't say, I took these pills so you should. Or I stopped taking these pills so you should. It's always like, this is what worked for me. And now it's up to you to go out and sort of like, like work out what works for you. But I just think in talking about it and normalises it and it helps people.

And I think as a stand-up comedian, I'm incredibly grateful that it was something that I got good at. It was something that I love. It's something that I enjoy. I, in the 10 years after university before my first TV appearance, I had no money. I never went on holiday. I was in a load of dead-end jobs and I was just trying to survive with this expensive hobby that I discovered and then when it took off it's taken me around the world

and I've seen stuff and I've seen audiences and I've connected with the audiences and comedy's brilliant because people come to a comedy, they laugh and hopefully they leave in a better mood and they leave happier just by comedy in general

and then in talking about things that affect me I think you can generalise and you can sort of like go I'm going to write a general thing about how people are meant to feel about depression or you can write something that's specific and personal and the more personal I write the more I think it

other people can identify themselves in it and I think that that's a gift I think I'm, you know, you, by doing something and expressing yourself and using it as an art form, you can kind of connect with people and you can help people and you can help them help themselves. And I'm not Jesus, but I'm just like saying that I'm proud of that aspect of what I do. And not every show has to be that. But it turns out I can't not talk about it.

people now are saying we should all talk about mental health and we should talk about mental health and my thing is like what is mental health because I have noticed myself that I suffer from mental health issues but what are the specifics of it and what is it that I'm dealing with and am I dealing with depression or am I dealing with anxiety or ADHD or OCD and am I dealing with one of those things or am I dealing with several of those things? Like diagnosis, I think, is the thing. It's all very well that we all talk about like mental health,

mental health, mental health. But nobody knows what mental health is unless you get specific. And things kind of like you can treat one thing, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you're treating the other thing. So I think what I'm going through at the moment is I'm trying to get diagnosed with what's actually wrong with me so that I can sort of like work out a coping mechanism on how to move on with it. And other people in my audience, I'm not the expert, other people in my audience may be further down that road. It's a personal journey and other people might be further down that road.

And it's about having those conversations and helping. You know, I go to therapy every week. I've been to see doctors during the last two years, during the pandemic. I've seen, you know, and I took some time off from comedy just to sort of like work on my mental health because we had this time. But what I find useful about therapy is that it's like a dumping ground for like, yeah, I don't let things bother me in the week because I know that I've got one hour on a Wednesday. It's just sort of like I can put all.

that stuff. I found like I was getting to a point where I was boring all my friends. And I was like, I don't want to do that. And I don't want to just use them as like a sounding board. I want to get to a point where we're friends again and we're all getting stuff out of this friendship. And so having therapy was a really good place for me because it meant that all of all of my, you know, issues that I have in the week can all go there. Nick, what are you like in a, what do you like to go out with Nick? What are you like in a relationship? It depends what mood

what the season is. Do you know what I mean? It's like I'm in a relationship I've got a girlfriend I like to think I'm supportive. Yeah I expect you are I would imagine you would be. I like cooking but I haven't done a lot of cooking

I mean I've been dealing with depression recently and I think that's very difficult for her to deal with and I feel very guilty about that. It's hard, isn't it? When you're with someone who's going through that, just not taking it personally, I suppose, as well, you know, that it's nothing to do with you. Yeah, but I think a large part of it is communication.

And I think as long as you're, as long as you're communicating with people and you're letting them know that it's not their fault and that they're not doing it. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I've been on the other side of that as well. I've been in relationships where I've been an absolute fucking nightmare

and I've been really depressed and I've been a terrible burden on them and I've felt awful about that, right? And I've always been in relationships where I've been, you know, I've put my own issues to one side and I've focused entirely on helping. them and at the end something breaks and then you're just like I actually I've been ignoring my own problems for such a long time that you know when you look back at them they've like multiplied and you're like oh god you know you open the door and it's like oh fuck there's it's a horror show and I feel like I don't know I feel like relationships if you if you if

they're always difficult I think but it's about kind of give and take and I'm going through I've been going through like a phase that I've been finding really difficult and she's been really good and she's helped me but also she goes through times that are difficult and I help her I think the key is not to have one-sided relationships I've seen you angry on stage but how does your anger manifest itself offstage not like that I think that's I think that's the thing. It's like it's a caricature of what an unpleasant person would be like. Do you know what you mean? And it's kind of like

and also like it's the act is this is what a terrible comedian would do. They'd come on, they'd lose their temper, they'd blame the audience, you know what I mean? They'd shout at them, they'd call them all cuncelain and they'd leave. And it's kind of like it's sort of like it's ironic, you know? I know, but if that's why I'm assuming that nothing like how you'd really be.

So if I'm sort of, let's say, low-level anger, okay, so let's say we've had a fender-bender. Well, I don't drive. So I'd be like, it's probably my fault because I shouldn't have been driving. I don't have a licence. Never learnt. It's entirely my fault. Okay, I've got one. Let's see, you're meeting a friend.

This is the one, Nick. You're meeting Gareth. Yeah. And he turns up half an hour late. In all honesty, if I was meeting someone and they were late, it would be an absolute fucking godsend. To have half an hour to yourself, you're only going to take it off the end of your time with them anyway.

Do you know what I mean? It's like you were going to meet for two hours now. It's only an hour and a half. It's their own time they're wasting. You get half an hour of solitude. Do you know what I mean? It's your own time you're wasting. You get half an hour of absolute bliss to just deal with your own thoughts.

What I try and do in times of anger, what I try and do is I try and see it from their point of view. I'm quite empathetic, which I'm only just really learning about. But it's about sort of like, I feel other people's... pain to the point of view that I often take their side over mine. You know, so someone will say, you did this, and I'll be like, well, maybe I did do that. And you're right, you've got every right to be angry with me, which sort of like works in kind of a way because you see it from other people's point of view, but also works in a way where, you know, I've let the wrong people walk over me in the past, and it's kind of, but in terms of anger,

I don't, I don't generally get me. really angry. The anger that I feel is sort of like, you know, like the long-term seething, the government. I'm angry with the government. I'm angry with lockdown. I'm angry with, you know, injustice and all of this stuff. You know, that's like that. But I don't get angry with people in the street. What's the dog called again? Oh, Nick. I really... Rufus. He's called Raymond.

Raymond. I'd really like you to give him a little cuddle. Because look at this. Is he growing on you at all, Nick? I mean, I'm not taking it personally, but he hasn't given me any attention. But he hasn't given anyone any attention. Sit down, Raymond. Sit down next to Uncle Nick.

When I first saw him, the thing is, what sort of person owns a dog like this, you know, is the question. Wow. And then you go, oh, you're normal. But based on dogs, you kind of like go, oh, right, so maybe this person's a high-maintenance person. Do you know what I mean? It's like, what does the dog say about the owner? But in actual fact, you seem to have retained your personality.

I want you to get a dog. Yeah, I'll get a dog. I think you will. I'll get one on the way home. I think you will. I'll get a dog one day. I'm sure I will. What dog would you get if you were going to, come on Nick, let's walk.

I like Jack Russell's. Oh, I can see you with a Jack Russell. There's an integrity and an honesty to the Jack Russell that I think you possibly share. I don't like a, I don't want a big dog. But yeah, Raymond is walking towards us instantly, but you then got distracted by like a fly that was sort of and stopped and looked at it. You know, we are way down on the list of important things in Raymond's life right now. And he keeps you hyper aware of that by the fact that you'll walk on assuming, like with most dogs that he'll follow you.

Like, no, he stopped and made friends with other people. Oh, yes, look, he's chatting to those kids. Come on, oh. Yes. Do you know, you're absolutely right. He is like a mini sheep, isn't he? Yeah, that's his harness. I put his leader.

He's adorable. Do you like him? He's so nice. It's exactly amazing. These kids have bonded with Raymond faster than I did. Do you like him? Yeah, he's adorable. He's cute, isn't he?

He really likes you. This face. Adorable. Oh, thank you. It was lovely to meet you. I love to meet you. Oh, my God, you go to be here. Oh, bye.

Bye. Bye. Yes. Did not what I was expecting. Just really polite and nice and sweet. And he likes dogs. Oh. It was when he said he's adorable.

I thought they were going to kick him at first. We're in hiking now, Nick. Yeah, we're in highgate. We're just a little bit up the road from Holloway Road, sure. You were getting out the mace. Oh, good. Yeah, I was just about to punch that child in the face to protect the dog. But no, didn't need to.

Put stage Nick back in the box for another time. Inland, are you going to say thank you to Nick? Nick, I really love chatting to you and you've been so sweet with Raymond. I had a lovely, I'm going to say day. It'll crunch down in the edit. But I had a lovely afternoon stroll with you. Is that a Shikson? Yes, it is, yeah.

He's a bit of a strange one, isn't it? Is he very young? What's that? Is he very young? No. I sort of know about his age sometimes, because I'm ashamed of past morning. Yeah, he's about...

And he's... What's this one called? She's a Mortise. What's her name? Doris. Doris. Doris and Raymond Nick. What's that's name?

Raymond. Raymond. Raymond. Raymond. What's my husband's name? Ray? Your husband's name? Oh. How interesting. So what's, what sort of dog is yours? This is a Maltese? Multisario.

Multi-seria. Yeah. Thank you very much. He's about four. Yeah, she's four. Yeah. So about the right size. Oh.

Thank you. Bye-bye. Thank you. Bye. Nick? You see it already? I think you slightly pretended as he was yours. I like that.

You said, thanks very much. Yeah, I know. I just was fully embracing, you know, this is my... I'm just sort of like trying to see what sort of a dog owner would be. I'd be a good one. I'd be one that was like, you know, I don't just own a dog, but I've got like the chat to back it up when I bump into someone else. Nick, we've loved our day with you. Thank you so much.

so much. When you say goodbye to Raymond? Well, goodbye Raymond. I mean, all of that would have meant a lot more coming from him, but fine, I understand. He's tired. He's been walking. Fine. I really hope you enjoyed listening to that, and do remember to rate, review and subscribe on iTunes.