Höre Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things

Did Tom Kerridge save a chef’s life by putting him in a gigantic fridge? It’s quite possible. But why? It’s all in today’s culinary chinwag.  Tom Kerridge brings his Five Brilliant Things, and as you might expect from a chef it takes in some of life’s extremes. There’s an incredible retelling of what it’s like to be on a racing car grid, and Tom’s tales of his old drinking days are the stuff of legend. Please do enjoy.  Do you want to be just as good as Tom is at cooking perfect barbecue food? Well as luck would have it you can do just that. His new BBQ book is out now, ready for you to practise a little before impressing all your friends at the garden party/beach rave/prison yard.  🔥🍖 It’s simply called ‘The BBQ book’ and you can get hold of a copy HERE [https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bbq-book-9781526688231/]. 🍖🔥 Otherwise, if you can get a table, and you’ve got a special occasion, Tom’s pubs serve some of the very best food in Britain. It’s worth doing at least once if you can get the money together some time. In this week’s Patreon show our Patreon team came up with some excellent questions for Tom (‘Do you ever get bored with being asked how to cook the perfect Roast Potato?’) and Tom reveals which country has the best cuisine, and it’s maybe a surprising answer? Please join us at Patreon by following the link here: patreon.com/RussellHoward [https://cms.megaphone.fm/organizations/0efac72e-6e10-11ea-acc7-af432fd72393/podcasts/23eaf27a-5340-11ef-bdcb-e77005dd8522/episodes/2b897748-a67b-11ef-8b8e-4f5c98ad9bda/patreon.com/RussellHoward]  It’s a really excellent community of people and it’s genuinely great fun to come up with the interview questions together. Come in, the water’s lovely! That’s all for today. Don’t forget to water your house plants, especially that one in the bathroom you always forget. Ciao baby. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

It’s the Taskmaster’s Assistant, Alex Horne! And he’s here to tell his Brilliant things and as you would probably expect it’s a complete delight.  Did you think birdwatching was boring? Guess again! Failing to see the majesty of the French Horn? Let Alex enlighten your ass! Alex brings an array of delights in an episode that will fly by and leave you with that cosy feeling in your guts. I probably should have used a more poetic word than guts. That description really tailed off at the end there. Guts can ruin anything. Just listen to the damn episode and enjoy yourself.  📕 Alex’s novel The Last Pebble (as mentioned on the podcast) is available to pre-order now here [https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781529502565/isbn/The-Last-Pebble-by-Alex-Horne.html]. It’s for teens but to be honest I bet it’s an excellent read whatever age you are. 📕 🎭 And of course you can watch Taskmaster, episodes new and old either at Channel 4 or you can feast on the best bits here [https://www.youtube.com/c/Taskmaster]. 🎭 ✨ And please don’t forget you can get this whole podcast advert-free forever, and get access to our second weekly show, and get it all a day before everyone else… and for a very small amount. Click here [http://patreon.com/RussellHoward] to find out more. ✨ Thanks for joining us, we appreciate you, especially you who reads to the end of the blurb. What are you doing here? There’s nobody here but me and a small family of friendly yet hungry cockroaches. Get back to the real world. We’ll be fine.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

What’s it like to be hunted by the son of a murderous Libyan dictator? Spoiler: it’s not a Brilliant Thing, but it is an incredible story from this week’s guest Spencer Matthews.  There are tales of desert marathons, growing up on an island paradise and what it’s like when reality TV thrusts you into fame before you’re necessarily ready for it… A fascinating chat that goes in many interesting directions. 🏋️‍♀️ You can hear more of Spencer on his new weekly podcast Untapped [https://pod.link/1788474884], which he co-hosts with Jake Quickenden. The podcast explores how far you can push the human body. Whether it’s embracing fitness challenges, mastering new productivity hacks, or exploring lifestyle changes, Spencer and Jake will try it all, and share what truly makes a difference in their lives. 🏋️‍♀️ 🎤 And Russell’s about to embark on a mini-European tour including live dates in Porto, Gibraltar, Berlin, Athens, Sofia and more - check out russell-howard.co.uk [http://russell-howard.co.uk] for dates and tickets. 🎤 ✨ And if you are enjoying the podcast but get fed up with the adverts, you can get the whole thing advert-free forever, and get access to our second weekly show, and get it all a day before everyone else… and for a very small amount. Click here [http://patreon.com/RussellHoward] to find out more. ✨ Thanks for being you, keep being you until you can you no more. Byeeee.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Nina Conti, ventriloquist supreme, her with the monkey, is in the studio (no monkey) and chooses some incredible brilliant things (the density of an atom’s nucleus! The orange of the inside of an eyelid!). It’s a privileged ramble through the brain of an artist. Please enjoy. 🐵 Ninaontour.com [http://Ninaontour.com] is where you can find out about Nina's extended tour dates for Autumn 2025 including five dates at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London from April 29th. Get your tickets! 🐵 As mentioned on the podcast, Nina’s directorial debut film Sunlight is doing the rounds at film festivals. To keep up with that and find out where you can see it next keep your eyes on Ninaconti.net [http://Ninaconti.net]  🐎 And this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7-sE3if0pQ] is a link to the John Mulaney routine, that Russell mentioned, about a Horse in a Hospital. Worth a listen for sure. 🐎 📻 And please give some serious consideration to enjoying this podcast in its natural form. No adverts, an extra weekly show and access to a community of many other like minded excellent people. Click here [http://patreon.com/RussellHoward] to find out more. 📻 And that’s the end. Let’s all do our best to make the next seven days life-changing and unbeatable. Let’s change the world. See you back here in a week for a debrief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

How do you go from being a young sex columnist to a nationally acclaimed restaurant reviewer? Food writer, broadcaster, jazz pianist and egg fanatic Jay Rayner is here. If you have even a passing interest in anything foodie, there’s so much in here for you. New ways of loving tinned fish, the dark arts of restaurant reviewing, and a noble attempt by Russell to convert Jay into a football fan. Did he leave wearing a scarf and hat munching on a balti pie? You’ll have to listen to find out. Jay is now reviewing restaurants for the Financial Times [https://www.ft.com/jay-rayner], so you can find those in print or online every week.  As Jay mentions on the podcast, his latest book Nights Out At Home is out now at all good independent bookshops, and there’s a few live tour dates to go with it. 📖 Buy the book here [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/nights-out-at-home-stories-and-recipes-from-25-years-as-a-restaurant-critic-jay-rayner/7620350?ean=9780241639580]… 📖 🎤 Find out about the tour dates and book tickets here [https://www.fane.co.uk/jay-rayner]… 🎤 🍾 Oh, and Jay mentioned his favourite food magazine Noble Rot - you can check that out here [https://noblerot.co.uk]. 🍾 🇺🇸 And if you happen to be in the United States right now, then why don’t you treat yourself and get along to one of Russell’s shows! He’s doing a brief tour of some cities in America that he hasn’t played for a while - check out where he be and get those tickets by going to russell-howard.co.uk [http://russell-howard.co.uk] 🇺🇸 If you’re enjoying this podcastness and you want it even podcastier, as in no adverts,  an exclusive extra show every week that you help to make, and getting it all a day early… all for less than the cost of one sandwich a month… then click here [http://patreon.com/RussellHoward] to find out more.  Thanks for being a passenger on another flight here with Five Brilliant Things Air. We hope you have had a pleasant crossing, please leave your seatbelts fastened until the podcast has come to a complete standstill. The local time is (inaudible) and the weather is drizzly but should brighten up later.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]