Tuesday 25 August 2009

The Peacock and Gamble Podcast: Two's Company

When The Ray Peacock Podcast came to an end in early 2009 there was a terrible sadness. Whilst the fans wanted more of the trio of Ray Peacock, Ed Gamble and Raji James Who Used To Be On Eastenders But Ruined It, it was obvious that the three men in question felt the show had gone as far as it can go (in Ray’s case, far too far). After several months in the darkness, Ray and Ed made a dramatic return to the Podcast world sans “their little beige friend” for the renamed and rechristened “The Peacock And Gamble Podcast”.

Before the show began, I admittedly questioned how much comedy Ed and Ray could create without their popular fall guy. In retrospect, I should have not worried in the slightest; from the moment the opening, jaunty, pirate-esque music kicks in and an unnamed child welcomes us to the show you know you’re in good hands.

The content of the Podcast offers no variation from many of the usual comedy downloads, as it is two friends sharing a lot of laughs in no particular order. Peacock and Gamble have made, in the past, fleeting efforts at recurring segments but find that they have too much fun to stick to any rigid show structure. Normally, this would be a mark against the MP3 but I simply cannot bring myself to remove the lid from my red pen. Ray and Ed’s infantile humour and – as always – infectious laughter allows you to forget all about any continuity blunders (deliberate or otherwise) and leaves you chuckling along with them , sometimes in a guilty fashion. Listening to Ed and Ray is like eating a Dairy Milk before dinnertime; you know it’s wrong, childish and foolish but you just love it!

At time of writing Ed and Ray have twelve episodes of the Peacock and Gamble Podcast under their belt and – unlike in their previous serialised incarnation – show no signs of stopping. After flirting with the top ten of the iTunes chart and with a dedicated following of hundreds on Facebook who have encouraged the pair with gifts ranging from pasta sheets to “Waiting For Godot” tickets, Ed and Ray may ride this particular Podcast train into the hearts of thousands more people yet.

Peacock and Gamble Podcast Official Website