Butterfly Stompers: Adventures in Alternative History

S1E11: Stomping on Isaac Newton with Ollie Edwards & Austin Hampshire (Part 2)

What if an apple never fell on Isaac Newton's head and he never came up with Gravity?  Join us as we take special guest historical vandal, Cardiff-based physicist and stand-up comic Ollie Edwards, on a joyride through alternative history. Armed with a suspiciously oversized time-travel watch, Ollie dials back to 1666 Lincolnshire to intercept a falling apple — and stop it from bonking the world’s biggest nerd, Isaac Newton, on the head. After seeing great success putting Newton on a Harley and arming him with a taper fade and a trundle wheel, we focus our attention on the consequences of his loss from the physics world. Along the way we talk: 🍎 Which show would be the biggest loss for the UK comedy scene without the clout of the Cambridge Footlights 💅 Whether the cold war powers ever just rang for a chat 🧠 Whether Jesus would buy us a round of beers PS: If you’ve been enjoying the pod so far, please follow, rate us 5 stars, and tell your mates - it takes two seconds but it keeps our time machine running! Historical Vandal: @ozzie._04 Chaos Consultant: @austihamps Cardiff University Comedy Society: @CU_Comedy Stand-up at Cardiff Comedy Society: Zingers, The Flute & Tankard: https://www.cardiffstudents.com/events/10648/40403/ Alternative History | What If History | Counterfactual Comedy | Isaac Newton | Physics | Time Travel | Cardiff Comedy | Queer Eye for the Nerd Guy

S1E10: Stomping on Isaac Newton with Ollie Edwards & Austin Hampshire

What if an apple never fell on Isaac Newton's head and he never came up with Gravity?  Join us as we take special guest historical vandal, Cardiff-based physicist and stand-up comic Ollie Edwards, on a joyride through alternative history. Armed with a suspiciously oversized time-travel watch, Ollie dials back to 1666 Lincolnshire to intercept a falling apple — and stop it from bonking the world’s biggest nerd, Isaac Newton, on the head. Ollie's plan? Derail the discovery of gravity by giving Newton a glow-up. With the help of returning guest and chaos consultant Austin Hampshire, we embark on a mission to turn the powdered-wigged volcel into a 17th-century sex symbol. Along the way we talk: 🍎 Newton’s lesser known 4th law of being a complete virgin 💅 Why he kept sticking a needle in his eye 🧠 What scientists back then even knew We also discuss the fate of Cambridge University without their MVP,  why ancient statues had little dicks, and debate whether Jesus would be a good pint PS: If you’ve been enjoying the pod so far, please follow, rate us 5 stars, and tell your mates - it takes two seconds but it keeps our time machine running! Historical Vandal: @ozzie._04 Chaos Consultant: @austihamps Cardiff University Comedy Society: @CU_Comedy Stand-up at Cardiff Comedy Society: Zingers, The Flute & Tankard: https://www.cardiffstudents.com/events/10648/40403/ Alternative History | What If History | Counterfactual Comedy | Isaac Newton | Physics | Time Travel | Cardiff Comedy | Queer Eye for the Nerd Guy

S1E9: Stomping on Andrew Tate('s dad) with Chris Chopping

What if Andrew Tate’s chess champion dad was humiliated by a 10 year old girl in 1986? Join us as we take special guest historical vandal, Newport-based comic & Bedfordshire bad boy Chris Chopping, for a joyride through alternative history. Chris stumbles upon a suspiciously dusty vinyl copy of Good Luck Babe by Chappell Roan in an abandoned record store, where he tinkers with a time-travelling turntable, spinning back the clock to 1986. Chris then exacts his grand master plan, along with the help of a 10 year old girl, to sabotage the professional chess career of Emory Tate, father of the internet’s most toxic influencer, Andrew Tate, to ensure he never rises through the algorithms of lonely lads across the world.  Along the way we talk toxic masculinity, whether Andrew Tate has any mates, if owning a Bugatti is better than owning a cat, and Chris has a spectacular meltdown over our infamous “kill a medieval peasant” game. PS: If you’ve enjoyed the pod so far please remember to follow us and drop us a 5-star rating - it really helps!   Historical Vandal: @chrischopping  Stand up for Trans Rights: https://www.facebook.com/standupfortransrights [https://www.facebook.com/standupfortransrights] Chris Chopping’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: https://nextupcomedy.com/programs/chris-chopping-chris-choppings-lonely-hearts-club-band [https://nextupcomedy.com/programs/chris-chopping-chris-choppings-lonely-hearts-club-band] Alternative history | What if History | Counterfactual | Andrew Tate | Chess Grandmasters | Chappell Roan | Judit Polgár

S1E8: Stomping on the 2019 Champions League Final with Stuart Laws

What if the hand ball rule was slightly changed meaning Tottenham didn't go 1-0 down in the first 30 seconds of the 2019 Champions League Final? A lot, it turns out! Join us as we take special guest historical vandal Stuart Laws, gilet-wearing stand up comic with some of the best show titles in the biz and director of some of the biggest names in UK comedy (including James Acaster & Nish Kumar), on a joyride through alternative history! Stu completes a committed round of crossbar challenge on a magical football pitch and takes us back to 2019 to reverse the short lived handball rule that marred that year's Champions League final for his team, Tottenham Hotspur. But while the result of the game still hangs in the balance, Stu's meddling in space-time has wide reaching historical consequences - from saving the queens life , snapping open tory MPs, and bringing the UK to net zero by 2025, we change everything short of tilting the entire world off its axis. We also discuss Stu’s methods for making medieval peasants "sludge out their butts" (much to VAR referee Stuart Atwells chagrin), as well as providing Hitler with a special screening of Jurassic Park to shape his inquisitive mind.  Historical Vandal: @stuartlawscomedy Stuart Laws Is That Guy Still Going? Standup Special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeOYMIEXu44&ab_channel=800PoundGorillaMedia Stuart Laws Has to be Joking - Tickets (Cardiff 23rd May): https://www.jokepit.com/comedy-in/cardiff/stuart-laws-has-to-be-joking/24452 [https://www.jokepit.com/comedy-in/cardiff/stuart-laws-has-to-be-joking/24452] Sissoko handball clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJWRyFwaaBI&ab_channel=FootballWatafak Timestamps Intros - 2:50 How do you feel about the past? - 6:30 Complex Series of Events - 9:45 Dirty plates Twitter Thread - 19:15 Intro to Topic - 24:30 Baby Hitler - 35:30 Football Handball Rules - 38:30 Effects of Changing History - 43:15 The Queen Survives - 54:00 5 Minutes Rental Left - 1:04:45 Peasants "Sludging Out Their butts" - 1:07:45 Fading from History - 1:16:15 Actions in the Present to Change the Future - 1:18:20 What if History | Counterfactual History | Alternative History Podcast | Tottenham Hotspur FC | Champions League Final 2019 | Liverpool FC | Liz Truss Unobtainium

BONUS - Stomping on Steffan Alun

BONUS EPISODE: What if we gave you the highlights of our 3 hours of chat with Steffan Alun? Join us for the best bits of our wide ranging conversation with previous guest, bisexual, bilingual stand up Steffan Alun. This bonus episode sees us diving deep into Steff's origin story, his winding path towards becoming a standup, as well as some really interesting insights into Welsh language activism and how activism is represented within comedy. We also dive deep into local comedy lore, discussing how we build community within the open mic scene, share tips on breaking into the clubs, and even chat a little bit about gossip from the annals of South Wales comedy history circa 2015-19. We also discuss Steff's podcast idea which he hopes will bring down the Tory party once and for all. Historical Vandal: @steffanAlun Watch Academi Gomedi: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0kp6b5r Place holder for Edinburgh Fringe Tickets: TBC What if History | Counterfactual History | Alternative History Podcast | Ed Miliband 2015 Election | Big brother | Open Mic Comedy Tips | How to Start Stand Up Comedy | Welsh Language Activism