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

Brian & Georgina's Big Bang: Still Counting...

Podcasts can, in many cases, be a form of companionship to people. Music is all well and good on your portable music device but sometimes your favourite album doesn’t offer you a friendly voice, where a Podcast can. Many of my particular journeys on this great country’s far-from-great public transport system have been far from lonely, as they are shared with people from around the world in audio form. One pair I never travel without is Brian Luff and Georgina Sowerby, the hosts of Brian and Georgina’s Big Bang.

Both accomplished comedians and producers in their own right, Brian and Georgina reside in “leafy Crouch End” and from the outskirts of London they offer their own slanted, often times sexy, view on the world. From the moment the show starts, you feel like you’re sharing time with treasured friends. Brian and Georgina put their whole lives on display here leaving no stone unturned, and from Georgina’s infectious laughter to Brian’s mood swings it feels like you’re in the room with them.

Sowerby and Luff understand that a good Podcast can’t just be two people chatting nonchalantly and offer up recurring segments for listeners to contribute to. Weird news story segment – oddly titled “Dead Penguin” – has become the most popular feature in Sowerby and Luff’s Podcasting history. A close runner up for that crown is “Counting Things” which does exactly what it says on the tin. Listeners are invited to email Brian and Georgina and tell them what they’ve been counting this week. Believe it or not, this bizarre premise gets more correspondence than any other aspect of their show with people from every corner of the globe writing to tell everybody what they’ve been tallying in the last seven days. Proof, if needed, that when it comes to content simplicity is the key.

For half a decade, Brian Luff and Georgina Sowerby have provided consistent fun comedy for the iPod generation and are a shining example of a pair that “get it”. They are a big part of Comedy 365, the closest thing to a Podcast “channel” which features content from some of the funniest people to upload to RSS. True pioneers of the original Podcast boom, their consistency in the field should be applauded. Whilst they have adapted their style over the years they are still the Brian and Georgina we know and love and make excellent company for those long road trips or hefty delays at Birmingham New Street Station.

Brian and Georgina Official Website

Phill and Phil's Perfect Ten: Rather Fetching

About a year ago, me and my friend attempted to start a Podcast which was based around the two of us picking subject matters from a hat at random. We did two episodes until I discovered, shock horror, that Phill Jupitus was doing the exact same thing! Demoralised, we stopped and I avoided listening to Phill and Phil’s Perfect Ten out of some displaced loyalty to the ill-fated “Cos and Tom Do A Podcast”. When I finally got round to hearing Messrs. Jupitus and Wilding, I was happy to put my efforts to rest and enjoy the masters at work.

“The Perfect Ten” features UK comedians Phill Jupitus and Phil Wilding returning to the audio world for the first time since their departure from BBC 6Music in 2007. This time around there’s no restraints, no censors, no holds barred; just Phill, Phil, a pair of microphones and a ukulele. Oh, and Stephen Fry doing voiceover to give it that extra slice of brilliant.

The rules of The Perfect Ten are simple: Phill Jupitus and Phil Wilding have thirty minutes to get through ten questions submitted by listeners and chosen at random. This setup allows the opportunity to take some unbelievable flights of fancy; one minute they could be talking about weird moments they’ve had in the cinema, the next they are building a fighting cage in the middle of a busy roundabout. The possibilities are completely endless, and that’s when Jupitus and Wilding are at their best, going off on incredible tangents about anything and everything.

The trouble is, these two love talking on the ridiculous so much that they very commonly let time slip through their hands and leave themselves thirty seconds to answer two questions before the time runs out. I’m yet to hear a Podcast that doesn’t have Jupitus and Wilding not so much jogging their memory, but making it sprint to answer a question in under ten seconds. Even when this is happening, it’s funny enough to hear these two well spoken anecdote machines going into a mild state of panic when time begins to catch up with them.

Recently completing two live performances of the show, it does feel like Phill and Phil are back in the cult state they relished in whilst discussing the finer points of gay monkeys on 6Music all those years ago. The show’s structure makes it stand out from a lot of other very good comedy Podcasts out there and incorporates audience participation and borderline insanity very nicely indeed. So far, things we’ve learned from The Perfect Ten are that Phill Jupitus is a dab hand on the ukulele, Phil Wilding wouldn’t say no to a good fight and Stephen Fry makes a perfect addition to any MP3 in the world.

Subscribe by iTunes - Phill and Phil's Official Website

The Collings & Herrin Podcast: Better Off As Two

When double acts go their separate ways, there is a consistent pattern that emerges. Whilst one goes on to achieve multiple levels of fame and fortune, the other is left to watch his former running mate running as far away as he can. At least, that’s the theory anyway. What we learn from The Collings & Herrin Podcast (the G changing hands in the title for reasons unknown) is that fame is a fickle Mistress.

Richard Herring spent many years working alongside stand up star Stewart Lee, creating TV highlights Lee and Herring’s Fist Of Fun and This Morning With Richard Not Judy. In another place and time, Andrew Collins was working along with Stuart Maconie earling plaudits for his various TV and Radio projects (most notable, The Collins and Maconie’s Hit Parade on BBC Radio 1) Both teams parted ways roughly at the same time, with Maconie achieving success in the literary world and Stewart Lee carving himself a niche in stand-up comedy. Whilst Andrew Collins and Richard Herring worked hard on their own projects, nobody knew what to expect when this very eclectic pair entered the great Podcast race last year...what they got was an absolute treat!

Andrew and Richard are cut from extremely different cloth and have become the standard bearers for Odd Couple comedy. Andrew, a woolly liberal with a penchant for rambling stories about the London Underground and the Mitford Sisters; and Richard a brash, loud, proud swearbox who takes great pleasure in pushing the envelope at every chance he’s got. The result is an hour and six minutes of Andrew attempting to discuss current affairs all the while keeping Richard Herring’s bad tasting editorials at bay.

With Richard's edgy outbursts, Andrew approaches each show with the same level of cautiousness as a polite Pitbull owner would walking through a park full of children…however more often than not the pitbull does get off the lead! Andrew is brilliant foil for Richard’s childish comedy, and seems genuinely uncomfortable every time Richard Herring asks to “bum” him, which is exactly why Herring keeps saying it. The fact that Richard has turned “Will Andrew finally give in and let Richard bum him?” into a question on par with "Will Mulder and Scully get together on The X-Files" in terms of audience anticipation shows just how funny this aspect has become. If anybody else had delivered it, it would have got boring by now.

Collins and Herring earn no points for production on the show, but in a strange way this is the programme’s charm. There’s no flashy opening and closing, no recurring segments, just two guys who press the red “REC” button on Garage Band and discuss what’s going on in this world of ours. Admittedly, I’ve picked shows apart for bad production in the past, but Andrew and Richard aren’t trying to make this an imaging masterpiece and I’ve decided I genuinely prefer NO jingles as opposed to BAD jingles.

Collins and Herring have used their online time to offer something very funny and enjoyable to listen to. Andrew and Richard joke about how they desperately want to get back with the two Stewarts and return to the dynamic doubles of yore, but I flat out refuse to believe that. Working together, Richard Herring and Andrew Collins are greater than they’ve ever been.

Subscribe by iTunes - Collings & Herrin's Official Website

The Top 5 Podcast Spectacular: Halfway There

With a title like this, I am expecting everything from The Top Five Podcast Spectacular. I’m expecting the show to open with a huge marching band accompanied by elephants and ten thousand singing children, all capped off by a special appearance by Neil Diamond on the back of a swan. I’m expecting something, well, spectacular. Does Gabe and Mike’s Podcast reach my lofty views of what is ‘spectacular’?

Points for originality go to both of them. Gabe and Mike are obviously very good friends and don’t bore us too much with ‘in-joke’ self destructive comedy. They have made the decision to incorporate a guest band into each episode of their show. I really like the idea a lot and the band in question probably loves it too. Fame in the vast multi-media ocean does require both parties to throw a lifeboat. Whilst I like the idea of the Top 5 Spectacular House Band, what I cannot bear is the way they use the band’s tracks as music beds. This is twofold, one you can’t appreciate the songs in question and two it’s sometimes tough to hear what Gabe and Mike are talking about because you find your brain plugging in and out of the song lyrics. The Top 5 fellas aren’t the first to commit this very obvious imaging sin and won’t be the last, it’s still quite distracting...but they are doing it for good reasons so you can’t stay too mad at them...but maybe stop doing it now, thankyou!

The “Top 5” formula works a treat and stops the adventures of Gabe and Mike becoming just another audio earful of two guys rambling about their shoes, Space Invaders and nothing in particular. Their passions for “Tech and Tunes” are handled in the same way as their ever-changing main subject, with five headings leading on to discussion between the two. The advantage of this is that both feel compelled to talk on a subject and then move right along with the next one, both guys building up their Top 5 lists to the inevitable and sometimes disgusting list-topper.

As far as Gabe and Mike: the presenters go, despite the vague hint of alcohol or relaxants causing the tiniest hint of rambling (which may be incorrect and libellous, only time will tell), Gabe and Mike are well spoken, funny and likeable guys. Whilst I personally don’t relate to the antics these two Californian twentysomethings get up to (being a twentysomething from the very rural South West of England) I imagine that, with the right exposure in the right direction, this pair could be folk heroes! After listening to a few episodes, the one thing I would say is that I still get the two mixed up with the only really stand-out difference is that Mike has a sleazier life than Gabe (or is that the other way round?)

When I was emailed the RSS feed and asked to put my journalistic goggles on, I started off admittedly sceptical. A grand title and the general premise didn’t totally inspire me that these two could bring anything new to the table. Gabe and Mike don’t shake the Podcasting world to its very core, but certainly have enough ideas to make a difference if they wanted to devote more time and energy to what they do. House bands and countdowns are a good start and show that both guys have put some inital thought into what they do, not just turned on the microphone and hoped somebody would say “boobs” by mistake. The show is in need of a lot of polishing and tweaking though. Some new audio elements (and a music bed without vocals, pretty please!) and maybe some unique ways of audience interactivity would go a long way to making this show what it sets out to be...spectacular!

UPDATE: Gabe and Mike have made numerous changes to the show recently, including dropping the guest band music beds. This was one aspect that we did critique heavily in this review and are glad that it has been fixed up. The show sounds better than ever and is worth a listen!

Subscribe by iTunes - Top 5 Podcast Spectacular Official

The Ray Peacock Podcast: Forgiven, Not Forgotten

After forty-five plus episodes The Ray Peacock Podcast came to an end just before Christmas last year, a move that had the same effect as a father figure walking out whilst you are putting presents under the tree.  Ray Peacock, Ed Gamble and Raji James seemed like they had enough of the Podcasting world (as it turned out, Ray and Ed had just had enough of Raji), but the impact of their show will be fondly remembered by fans and critics alike.

The three presenters involved in this four-series show were stand-up comic Ray Peacock, up-and-coming stander-upper Ed Gamble and former Eastenders actor Raji James.  As unique a trio as a chalk, cheese and a stapler, the three were united on one front: the downfall of Raji James.  During the run of the Podcast, Raji played foil to the giggling and mischievous (some have said malevolent and bullying) Ray and Ed in such segments as “Letters For Raji” in which Ray and Ed took turns in writing badly-written and insulting letters to production companies attempting to get their acting friend back into work, and “Raji’s Autobiography” in which Ray and Ed took turns ghost-writing the life and times of the former Ash Ferreria, pushing creative license to unbelievable places.

On the outside, The Ray Peacock Podcast looks carved from the model of the hugely successful Ricky Gervais Show.  The main ingredient is there, two men picking apart a slightly slow acquaintance to funny and sometimes awkward levels of humour.  But once you start listening, you realise that this is similar to Ricky’s offering on only one front: it is a Podcast.  Ray and Ed’s child-like humour and bursts of uncontrollable laughter are as addictive as they are infectious.  To his credit Raji takes all the abuse like a pro, only ONCE walking out following a particularly violent moment which resulted in Ed biting his arm.  You get the impression that, underneath it all, these three are probably good friends and respect that they are onto a winning formula.  This theory has been put in doubt with the return of Ray Peacock and Ed Gamble to the Podcasting circle without Raji James, and with no mention of him either.  We shall discuss this once the newly titled “Peacock And Gamble Podcast” gets running proper.

It is the treatment of Raji which has polarised listeners, with some believing that the weekly acts of humiliation on the struggling actor it is only making his plight worse.  Ray aired his thoughts on this in series two, in which he rights a letter on Raji’s behalf to himself chastising those who can’t distinguish “between life and fuckin’ art!”

The three men very much run out of steam in series four when they begin to abandon numerous new segments such as “Ray and Ed’s Diet” and “Raji’s Beef” to just talk about anything on their minds, with Ray blatantly and frustratingly going through the motions in the penultimate episode.  The series concludes on a high as the three drink champagne to celebrate the end, the results of which make for entertaining listening.  If you’re one of those people who like watching your friends get very drunk very quickly then you will love the way it ends.

With The Ray Peacock Podcast done and dusted, people who missed this comedy milestone first time round have the chance to download hours of fresh, entertaining content providing they don’t side with Raji…Ray and Ed don’t like that too much.  

Download via iTunes - Ray Peacock Podcast Official Website

The Peacock And Gamble Podcast

Distorted View: The Freak's Peak

There's somebody out there for everyone...a common belief that I buy into wholeheartedly.  It's also an idea I believe when it comes to Podcasting and why I am so passionate about it all.  We are at a point now where there is a Podcast for EVERYBODY, whether you're into football, darts, dungeons and dragons, fishing, TV, video games, granny sex, skateboarding, hock...wait, what?

Tim Henson is the voice and the mind behind the hugely successful and long-established Distorted View, the Podcast equivalent of a carnival sideshow.  Several times a week, Tim Henson brings stories of the weird and the weirder to his fanbase of hundreds known collectively as “Sideshow Freaks”, which works like a charm.  From the moment the Podcast starts, a first-time listener knows they are in for a bumpy ride (“coming up on the programme, shitting in a feeding tube and maggots in open sores...plus your emails!” is a typical opening gambit for the Internet’s resident stomach churner).  From there, it’s anything goes as Tim plays depraved audio spanning thousands of trashy topics from bizarre sexual activity to mentally handicapped wannabe-rappers.

If you’re reading this and beginning to feel deeply offended, I advise you to steer well clear of this one, you may not quite “get” where Tim is coming from.  The creator will admit himself that it’s not a show for everybody.  If you’ve ever found yourself laughing at something that you know, deep down, you shouldn’t be laughing at – then Distorted View is waiting for you.  But not just everybody can do a show like this; Tim Henson is perfect for the role.  To me, Henson comes across as s creepy Uncle who talks about all sorts of disgusting stuff when your mum isn’t around to hear it.  Whilst quite unnerving at first, you learn that he is probably the coolest member of your extended family and you find yourself wanting to hang out with him more and more.  I’ve never had a conversation with Tim Henson, but I believe that if he were to read this, he’d see this as the compliment it truly is. 

What makes this show so special is the incredible online following that love the show so much that he has turned it into a full-time job for Tim.  By selling monthly membership and offering reams of additional content in return, Tim has converted enough listeners into members of his Sideshow to make his daily delve into the disturbed a career option, for which Tim should be applauded (if you have enough hands to do so).  Distorted View proves that there IS something out there for everybody, and by tapping into our twisted sense of humor, Henson has a consistently open vein of comedy and income.

So if you are of an open-mind, I recommend a trip to see Uncle Tim…if you’re lucky, he’ll show you his puss-filled scars and dirty photos of a hooker he met on holiday.  Just don’t tell mother!

Subscribe on iTunes - Distorted View Official Website