Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things

Jeff, AKA Racist Grandad by the internet, is in the studio and his Five Brilliant Things are a wonderful trip across a rich and colourful life. In case you’re not aware, Jeff is one of the UK comedy circuit’s top acts but for decades was unknown outside the clubs. Now, after all that time, he has become Insta-famous. This wonderful episode of the show takes in 60s reggae record hunting, working on a dog track and the dos and don’ts of wearing a dead man’s silk pyjamas.  Jeff has recorded his latest special and it’s on Youtube for all to enjoy. He is best tasted live, of course; to watch his Special and find links to get to Jeff’s live shows including future tours, you need to keep your eyes on https://www.jeffinnocent.com [https://www.jeffinnocent.com] And in our extra show just for our Patreon crew, Jeff tells the most astonishing story about the wildest behaviour of his youth. It’s a bit more strong flavoured than the main show this week but a fascinating, utterly absorbing story that has to be heard to be believed… Click this link to join or find out more: patreon.com/RussellHoward [http://patreon.com/RussellHoward]   And now the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the obligatory over-long indulgent sign-off. The business is completed, and now almost as a point of spite you have to wade through this unnecessary punishment of words. Here you still are, reading on, maybe in the hope that at the end there will be a reward for your continued presence, your efforts. You’ve got an inkling that it will fade to nothing but you’re still here. That stupid part of your brain that contains hope is urging you to continue without stopping to consider what even could the reward be? What would be worth all this waste of time? Is there anything? Reader: there was nothing. Until next time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

What is the rudest thing a therapist can do during a session? Kae Kurd found out and tells a belter of a story in this episode all about it. This quite brilliant Brilliant Things takes in perverts watching Panda sex, it covers the beauty of Rottweilers and there’s even a bit of perineum sunning in there for good measure.  Kae Kurd is a fantastic British-Kurdish comedian and gives incredible insight into what it’s like gigging around the UK had how he weaves his fascinating cultural heritage into his comedy. 🎤 Kae is going on tour in 2025. Over September, November and October he’ll be all over the UK’s theatres with his brand-new show ‘What’s O’Kurd’.  You can get tickets and find all the dates at kaekurd.com [http://kaekurd.com]  🎤 At that same place you can watch his last two specials in full for free, and you can get hold of his weekly podcast too. It’s all there. As you’d hope. 💥 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.  💥 And so the podcast word scribe closed his antiquated typewriter and made sure the submarine was still on course, doing one last upload for the week. He stared out of the dirty portholes at the murky darkness, hoping to see a passing crab or lantern fish but still nothing. It would be another nine years until he would see the surface again, he contemplated, but it was worth it in order to keep pumping quality content across the internet on a weekly basis. He grabbed his 5 Brilliant Things branded duvet, shuffled over to his bunk and slept a good long sleep. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Russell gets his tarot reading live on the podcast! The guest this week is Emma Gannon, the the Sunday Times bestselling author judge for the prestigious 2025 Women's Prize. Between 2016-2023 she hosted Ctrl Alt Delete, one of Britain’s most successful industry podcasts. She is seen as many as the quintessential voice of the millennial generation. Emma and Russell talk about fascinating areas of unlocking creativity, making time for all the things you want to do (can you have it all?) and singing nuns. A breezy brilliant hour of chat for you to enjoy while you’re walking in this glorious sunshine. If you’re reading this when it’s raining then just pretend.  🍽️ Emma’s new novel ‘Table for One’ (which was discussed in the podcast) has just come out, and you can get that from all the best independent book places. You could go to a local bookshop, or just click here [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/emma-gannon-untitled-book-2-emma-gannon/6333349?ean=9780008382766] and order it now! 🍽️ ⌨️ Emma’s hugely popular Substack newsletter ‘The Hyphen’ is a weekly dose of everything fascinating in Emma’s life and you can check that out here [https://thehyphen.substack.com]. ⌨️ ✨ And if you’re finding that this is one of your regular podcast listens, then it makes sense to subscribe to our Patreon; not only do you get it without adverts, you also get an extra show with our guest where you, the listeners, set the questions. It’s a lot of fun.  Also it’s only the price of one packet sandwich a month. Click here [http://patreon.com/RussellHoward] to find out more. ✨ And with that, our unstoppable force meets the immovable object of the end of this week’s descriptions. What fun we had. The first paragraph was a trip, then we moved through some factual information, and ended up here at a sort of dribbling arse-end of a sign-off. Next week will be better, I promise you that. Something epic. See you here at the end, again, next time, for a real little treat for you my curious little blurb reader.  TTFN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

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]