Second Helpings - Rob Brydon

What a belter of a guest for our Second Helpings finale! The wonderful, charming and funny Rob Brydon came to see us midway through his huge UK tour back in 2021; he popped over to mum’s for some spatchcock chicken, pecan pie (we recorded this episode on thanksgiving), a right old gossip and sing song. We spoke about Rob growing up in Wales, eating his grandma’s custard tarts, his comedy heroes, favourite food spots in London, ‘The Trip’, ‘mucus’ topping ‘moist’ as the worst word & life with 5 children! We end the episode with the biggest sing song we’ve ever had; mum’s favourite way to spend an evening! Listen & watch Table Manners here - https://tablemanners.komi.io/ Follow Table Manners on: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tablemannerspodcast/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@tablemannerspodcast Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/tablemannerspodcast YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TableMannersPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Jessie Ware?

  Hello and welcome to Second Helpings, our final installment for you before we're back with you for more Table Manners, season 19. So we're going to finish with Rob Brydon, who came on the podcast in December 2021. It was another season finale.

• 0:20Speaker 01

  And he kept it a secret, what happened in Gavin and Stacey on that fishing trip. I was desperate to find out. Will we ever really find out what went on?

• 0:31Jessie Ware?

  You made spiced spaxcock chicken, bejeweled rice, pecan pie, and he was midway through a huge UK tour. It was his memoir, but through music. It was also really special to have Rob on because obviously him and Steve Coogan did the trip, which was my inspiration on creating Table Manners. So thanks, Rob. We spoke to Rob about growing up in Wales, eating his grandma's custard tart, his heroes.

• 0:59Speaker 01

  Uncle Bryn.

• 1:00Jessie Ware?

  Uncle Bryn, the trip.

• 1:02Speaker 01

  And life with five children.

• 1:03Jessie Ware?

  Rob Brydon coming up on Table Manners, Second Helpings.

• 1:08Jessie Ware?

  We have Rob Brydon here. Thank you so much. You are, you, you, you came in, I told you that I'd been using a whip today and I feel very inappropriate about that, but that's another conversation. And we're so thrilled to have you.

• 1:22Speaker 02

  Well, thank you for having me. I've, I've been looking forward to this because I, I listened, I've heard three of those. You've done a lot. I, you know, I can't hear every one of them, but I, I, I love them. And as I was listening to them, I thought, oh, I'm going to be doing this.

• 1:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, how sweet.

• 1:38Jessie Ware?

  But I, who told you to listen to them?

• 1:41Speaker 02

  Well, you want the honest answer?

• 1:43Jessie Ware?

  Your PR.

• 1:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, because they, you know, they do.

• 1:45Jessie Ware?

  We love a good PR.

• 1:46Speaker 02

  I'll give you, I'll give you the honest, the honest truth, right? Is that you, you do stuff to promote what you're doing. So I'm promoting your tour. So you look in your phone, you look at the, right, what am I doing? Oh, I'm going to do Table Manners. Well, I've heard of that. I've heard of Table Manners. Yes, I've heard of it, but I've never heard it. And then I would be flicking through my diary and I would see Clapham of an evening. And I, yeah, and I went, oh, God, I'm going to Clapham and I, food, I've got, I've got to eat. Oh, yeah. So I thought, well, I'm going to, so I was on tour. So I listened to it and I went, the first one was Stanley Tucci and I re, and I love Stanley Tucci.

• 2:19Speaker 01

  He's lovely.

• 2:20Speaker 02

  Who doesn't? And I really liked it. And then I listened to the Schumer one, David Schumer, and then the Tom Jones one. So by the end, I went from, oh, I've got to go to Clapham to, ooh, I'm going to Clapham.

• 2:31Speaker 01

  Oh, good.

• 2:32Speaker 02

  It was a journey.

• 2:33Jessie Ware?

  Where, where, where do you usually reside?

• 2:36Speaker 02

  Well, not in Clapham.

• 2:37Jessie Ware?

  Where?

• 2:38Speaker 02

  Uh, Strawberry Hill in between Twickenham and Teddington.

• 2:41Speaker 01

  Lovely.

• 2:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's nice. Yeah.

• 2:42Speaker 01

  Lovely there.

• 2:43Speaker 02

  Not far from here, but just in terms of getting here, you know, it's, it's that classic London thing of it takes forever.

• 2:50Jessie Ware?

  So tell us about the tour. Are you halfway through? Quarter of way?

• 2:55Speaker 02

  I don't know, maybe a quarter. It, it's a tour with a band and it's sort of, it's very old fashioned. We, we just did, uh, two nights at the Palladium in London. And one of the reviews said, it's hard to imagine any show more suited to the London Palladium.

• 3:11Jessie Ware?

  Oh, wow.

• 3:12Speaker 02

  Because, because, well, it is a compliment, but because it is an old fashioned, you know, sort of one man variety show in that I tell stories, I sing songs, some of them are serious, some of them are funny. It's an incredibly talented band.

• 3:25Speaker 01

  Did you start as a comedian, an actor or a singer?

• 3:29Speaker 02

  Well, um, uh, I went to drama school. So you'd say, well, you're going to be an actor, but it was always comedy that, that I wanted to do. And then I left drama school early because I got offered a job as a DJ on the radio in Wales. So I did that.

• 3:45Jessie Ware?

  You have a beautiful voice.

• 3:47Speaker 01

  You have got a gorgeous voice.

• 3:49Jessie Ware?

  I mean, our listeners are, it's purring into their ears, right?

• 3:52Speaker 01

  I know, you and Tom.

• 3:54Speaker 02

  Well, exactly. That's right.

• 3:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's a bit, yeah.

• 3:57Speaker 02

  It was 1949, quarter to six, on the 2nd of June. It was a full moon. What a memory that man has.

• 4:05Speaker 01

  I know.

• 4:06Speaker 02

  It's astonishing, isn't it?

• 4:07Jessie Ware?

  Yes.

• 4:08Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 4:08Speaker 01

  When he arrived, it was really funny because I, I thought I'd do something Welsh for him, like a home cooked meal. So I don't think lamb shanks, someone really disappointed. I thought I was going to get a Jewish meal.

• 4:18Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 4:19Jessie Ware?

  And then, and then when he brought out the pudding, flipping, yeah.

• 4:23Speaker 01

  Oh, no chocolate.

• 4:24Speaker 02

  He doesn't eat chocolate.

• 4:25Jessie Ware?

  No, he loves it.

• 4:25Speaker 02

  Loves chocolate, all right then.

• 4:27Speaker 01

  What did I do? I did, I think I did one of my best, my roulade or something.

• 4:32Jessie Ware?

  I think you did a beautiful passion fruit roulade with lemon curd.

• 4:34Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 4:35Jessie Ware?

  But old Tom just wanted a square of chocolate.

• 4:37Speaker 02

  So he'd have chocolate with you because I would have thought, because I find chocolate, I'm avoiding chocolate while I'm, while I'm singing. Don't, don't you find it creates, I'm going to introduce an unwelcome word here.

• 4:47Speaker 01

  What?

• 4:47Speaker 02

  Mucus.

• 4:48Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 4:49Speaker 02

  Nobody wants that.

• 4:50Speaker 01

  That's where some moist.

• 4:51Jessie Ware?

  We had, we had.

• 4:52Speaker 02

  No, moist can have lovely connotations. Mucus can't.

• 4:55Speaker 01

  We had Rick Astley on and we talked about moist a lot.

• 4:58Jessie Ware?

  And he said, he said he was once, because we'd done it, I'd done a moist cake and.

• 5:02Speaker 02

  Why, why wouldn't you?

• 5:03Jessie Ware?

  And then, and he said, God, moist, he said, um, God, it's a bad word, isn't it? I was like, yeah, it's not a very nice word, is it? And then he said something like, yeah, I once, he said he was in a gig and he was playing and it was like, it was really going well. And he went, are you moist?

• 5:19Speaker 02

  No. What, did he mean, did he mean sweaty and stuff?

• 5:22Jessie Ware?

  I don't know what he meant.

• 5:24Speaker 02

  Oh, it was raining, right?

• 5:25Jessie Ware?

  And he's never forgotten it and the regret of asking like a, a room full of kind of very middle aged women if they were moist.

• 5:32Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 5:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, but I would say of moist and mucus, I would say, as I say, moist can have a positive connotation.

• 5:39Jessie Ware?

  Yeah, it can have a positive effect, yeah.

• 5:40Speaker 02

  Of course it can. Things are looking up. Whereas, um, whereas mucus has no redeeming qualities.

• 5:47Jessie Ware?

  I need to speak to you about the trip because I have to say, it did kind of inspire this podcast.

• 5:54Speaker 02

  Really?

• 5:55Speaker 01

  Did it?

• 5:56Jessie Ware?

  Initially, I.

• 5:57Speaker 02

  Your mum was on a way around.

• 5:58Jessie Ware?

  No, but I, I, well, more, I was so jealous of you going out to wonderful dinners. And I thought, I want to do that.

• 6:07Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 6:07Jessie Ware?

  But I'm not a comedian and I'm, I'm not Steve Coogan or, you know, Rob. And so it started at a point where I was like, God, wouldn't it be nice just like chatting restaurants? I mean, you don't just do that. It's a beautiful thing that you do, but you do eat good food. And I was, I wanted in on it. And I thought, well, I can get good dinners at mum's house. So I thought, well, sod it. We'll do something like that. But who thought of that idea?

• 6:30Speaker 02

  Michael Winterbottom. He's the director and he, he writes the whole story and, you know, a fair bit of the dialogue as well. And then Steve and I sort of color it in and, and invent stuff. But the, the meals that you like, they're, they're always lunches. And it, it looks like when you watch it, as if you're just eavesdropping on us, but of course you're not. It, it's constructed. And with the lunches, we eat every course three times.

• 6:59Jessie Ware?

  Oh.

• 6:59Speaker 02

  So we have a starter and we shoot whatever we're going to shoot. Then we go, okay, cut, bring in another starter. We start again. And then we'll cut and then they bring in another starter.

• 7:08Jessie Ware?

  You're just trying to make me feel less jealous, aren't you?

• 7:10Speaker 02

  Well, because whatever, that's the reality of it. And then three mains and three puddings.

• 7:15Jessie Ware?

  So, so which has been your most cherished meal out of those kind of, you know, multiple starters, mains and puddings?

• 7:24Speaker 02

  Italy, Italy, um, particularly when we go down to the Amalfi Coast. And, and especially on, on Capri, there's this very fancy hotel called the Capri Palace, I believe. And it's twinned with a restaurant called Il Riccio, which is the one that you see in the trip when we're on Capri. But, but it was just, it was also the environment. It was, it was a beaut, I'd been back with, with my wife and the weather wasn't as good. When we were there in the early summer, it was perfect.

• 7:52Jessie Ware?

  But you're gazing at Steve Coogan. Now, I wouldn't mind gazing at Steve, but did you kind of look at Steve and you thought, I'd really like my wife to be right here right now?

• 7:58Speaker 02

  Well, she, she oddly enough, she did come out for that weekend as well. And then we went back out. I took her back. It was her birthday in the September, but the weather had kind of turned. So that was, that was one of the meals that I really remember. But you know, the, the truth is because we are improvising a lot of stuff, I'm not really thinking too much about the food because I'm thinking, what am I going to say next? You know, and we're trying to be funny.

• 8:27Jessie Ware?

  Right, yeah.

• 8:27Speaker 02

  So I, I, I almost remember the meals we had in the evening off camera more than the ones we did on camera.

• 8:35Speaker 01

  Do you find it hard being funny?

• 8:38Speaker 02

  Or do you just give that impression?

• 8:40Speaker 01

  No, I just wonder because we're doing two nights at the London Palladium.

• 8:45Speaker 02

  Good for you.

• 8:46Speaker 01

  But I'm just, I am relying on the guests being funny, not me.

• 8:51Speaker 02

  No, no, all you've got to do is just be yourself.

• 8:53Speaker 01

  Is that what you're doing?

• 8:54Jessie Ware?

  Because you've sold out the first one already, Mum.

• 8:57Speaker 01

  Thank God, darling.

• 8:58Speaker 02

  Well, you've got a, you've got a cast iron formula, format. So just don't change. Just, just be yourself.

• 9:04Speaker 01

  Do you think we should add Jesse singing a song?

• 9:06Jessie Ware?

  No.

• 9:06Speaker 01

  Just to keep things going?

• 9:08Jessie Ware?

  No, because that's not in the format.

• 9:09Speaker 01

  But I think people like to join in. I'm hoping that we're going to have Islands in the Stream all together at the end.

• 9:14Speaker 02

  I think it's almost inevitable.

• 9:16Speaker 01

  I think it is too. It is one of my favourite songs.

• 9:19Speaker 02

  There's a horrible sense of impending doom. And, and I think it's shaped like Islands in the Stream.

• 9:24Jessie Ware?

  Well, I know that you do a Guys and Dolls cover.

• 9:26Speaker 02

  Yes, that's right.

• 9:27Jessie Ware?

  Which one do you do?

• 9:27Speaker 02

  Well, uh, two, actually. I do, I do, um, all of Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat.

• 9:32Jessie Ware?

  Wow. Wow.

• 9:33Speaker 01

  Love that one.

• 9:34Speaker 02

  It's a big song.

• 9:35Jessie Ware?

  That's a big song. Showstopper.

• 9:37Speaker 02

  And then a bit of I've Never Been in Love Before because I tell the story about being at school. It's where I met Ruth Jones because she was at the same school, you see. And.

• 9:46Jessie Ware?

  Nessus.

• 9:47Speaker 02

  Nessus, I should explain to people.

• 9:48Speaker 01

  And you never married her?

• 9:50Jessie Ware?

  No, she, well, they were together.

• 9:51Speaker 02

  No, that's a different note. That's.

• 9:52Jessie Ware?

  Oh, right. Sorry. Oh, right. Sorry.

• 9:53Speaker 02

  Well, I never married Ruth in real life. No, well, I always say she's like the sister I never wanted. And, no, Ruth is, Ruth is probably my closest female friend, I, I would say. I've known her for, well, since I was about 14. And we were both in Guys and Dolls, but the.

• 10:10Jessie Ware?

  Who was she?

• 10:10Speaker 02

  She was Miss Adelaide.

• 10:11Speaker 01

  Oh, Jesse was Miss Adelaide.

• 10:13Speaker 02

  Were you?

• 10:13Jessie Ware?

  I knew me and Ruth had an affinity somewhere.

• 10:16Speaker 02

  Were you, were you, were you?

• 10:17Speaker 01

  Only at school.

• 10:18Speaker 02

  It's a great part, isn't it? Well, yeah, I was only at school as well. I, and I played Sky Masterson.

• 10:22Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 10:23Jessie Ware?

  Of course you did.

• 10:24Speaker 02

  No, not of course at all. You know, I, I say this in the show. I say, no, it's a bit of a shock, you know, what was, what was Uncle Bryn doing, playing the Marlon Brando role. But, but I played that part. And in fact, my wife went to an all girls school and they did Guys and Dolls and she played Sky Masterson as well.

• 10:42Jessie Ware?

  Oh.

• 10:42Speaker 02

  So we both.

• 10:43Speaker 01

  Lovely.

• 10:43Speaker 02

  When we first met, the day we met.

• 10:45Jessie Ware?

  Had a sing on.

• 10:46Speaker 02

  We, we, we, we did. We did. We sang in the back of a taxi because we'd both played this same role.

• 10:51Jessie Ware?

  Were you drunk?

• 10:52Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 10:54Jessie Ware?

  I love that.

• 10:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 10:56Jessie Ware?

  Was it your first dance?

• 10:57Speaker 02

  Uh, no, no, it wasn't.

• 10:59Jessie Ware?

  What was your first dance?

• 11:00Speaker 02

  Johnson. Better together.

• 11:02Jessie Ware?

  Oh, God, that reminds me of going travelling in Thailand.

• 11:05Speaker 02

  Does it?

• 11:05Jessie Ware?

  And, uh, wearing a lot of fisherman, uh.

• 11:07Speaker 02

  Fisherman's pants.

• 11:08Jessie Ware?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 11:09Speaker 02

  Yes, yes, yes.

• 11:09Jessie Ware?

  It was very popular then. Oh, I love, yeah.

• 11:12Speaker 02

  It's a lovely song.

• 11:12Jessie Ware?

  It is lovely. So, Rob, where did you grow up?

• 11:17Speaker 02

  I grew up in South Wales.

• 11:19Jessie Ware?

  I could listen to your voice. It is.

• 11:22Speaker 01

  And you're like, well, five is Welsh.

• 11:24Speaker 02

  No, no, I both of my wives, Lenny, because I.

• 11:27Speaker 01

  You've got two.

• 11:28Speaker 02

  I've known the heartbreak of divorce.

• 11:30Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 11:30Speaker 02

  What did you say, polygamous? Yes, I've not said it. I'm gonna announce it on your show. I am a polygamun. Mum, mum. Uh, yes, um, both my wives have been and remain English.

• 11:46Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 11:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against.

• 11:49Speaker 01

  Can I just say something very personal?

• 11:51Speaker 02

  Oh, God, what?

• 11:52Speaker 01

  Is Uncle Bryn supposed to be gay?

• 11:54Speaker 02

  Um, I.

• 11:56Speaker 01

  In Gavernstacy? Yeah, I've always wondered.

• 11:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:58Speaker 01

  Or just a bit androgynous?

• 12:00Speaker 02

  No, well, there's a part of me that doesn't want to say anything because I think it should be in the mind of the audience, you know, I think, because obviously they've written it. Well, it's not ambiguous, is it? I mean, I mean, I'd be surprised if he wasn't.

• 12:15Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 12:16Speaker 02

  But, um, but I wonder perhaps.

• 12:18Speaker 01

  Because I have no gaydar whatsoever.

• 12:21Speaker 02

  But I wonder if he's just never acted on it. I mean, they've never, they've never said to me, you know, it's just what's there in the script. But, I mean, you know, eh, eh, eh, the way he, the way he gazes at, at Larry Lamb, you know, at Mick and stuff.

• 12:37Jessie Ware?

  I'd gaze at Larry Lamb, to be honest.

• 12:39Speaker 02

  Well, he's, he's a lovely looking boy. Um, but, uh, they've never, they've never sort of nailed it on their head, but I think it's for the audience, you know, to, to decide for themselves, rather than.

• 12:52Speaker 01

  Just might be just not interested.

• 12:54Speaker 02

  What's that? Is that asexual or is that?

• 12:56Speaker 01

  Asexual.

• 12:57Speaker 02

  Or is that liking it from everyone? I can't never remember.

• 13:00Speaker 01

  No, I think.

• 13:00Speaker 02

  No, asexual is someone who's not fussed.

• 13:02Speaker 01

  Not fussed.

• 13:03Jessie Ware?

  I, I wanted to know about Wales and who was cooking, uh, in your family and were you cooking and were you a fussy eater?

• 13:14Speaker 02

  No, it, it, it would have been mum, but, but I've been thinking about this, obviously in advance of coming.

• 13:20Jessie Ware?

  Thank you for prepping.

• 13:21Speaker 02

  It, well, yes, yes, no, it, it's, it deserves a little bit of prep and we were, I, I very limited palate as a child.

• 13:29Jessie Ware?

  Mm-hmm.

• 13:30Speaker 02

  Very limited palate. I mean, oh, I won't say embarrassingly so, but when I went to drama school when I was about nineteen.

• 13:38Jessie Ware?

  Which drama school?

• 13:39Speaker 02

  Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.

• 13:41Speaker 01

  Were your family kind of actors and musicians? Were they shocked when you chose that?

• 13:45Speaker 02

  No, because I'd always been a bit of a performer and no, they were always very encouraging. And as a parent now, I find that more remarkable than ever because.

• 13:56Jessie Ware?

  Do you?

• 13:56Speaker 02

  Well, yeah, because if you, you know, because most people that go into this line of work do not succeed. Um, so.

• 14:03Speaker 01

  It's true.

• 14:04Speaker 02

  It could be, it could be concerning, although the other side of that is it's great to do something that you have a passion for.

• 14:10Jessie Ware?

  Do your, how, how many kids do you have?

• 14:12Speaker 02

  Five.

• 14:13Jessie Ware?

  Do your kids, any of them want to go in this direction?

• 14:17Speaker 02

  Uh, the youngest is, seems to have a performing bent. And eldest is involved in the business, but not as a performer. But then the others, uh.

• 14:31Speaker 01

  How old's your oldest?

• 14:32Speaker 02

  I go twenty-seven, twenty-five, twenty-two, thirteen. Thank you, Lenny. I like you.

• 14:38Speaker 01

  Don't look in your, like, late forties.

• 14:40Jessie Ware?

  Were you quite young when you had, were you quite young when you had kids?

• 14:43Speaker 02

  Uh, my first one, yeah, twenty, married at twenty-seven. Uh, I sound like Tom now. It was, it was October the sixth.

• 14:51Speaker 02

  Um, yeah, I married at twenty-seven.

• 14:53Jessie Ware?

  Yeah.

• 14:53Speaker 02

  First child, my daughter Katie, when I was twenty-nine and then, uh.

• 14:59Speaker 01

  So I'm working it out now.

• 15:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, yeah, so she's twenty-seven, so twenty-seven, twenty-five, girl, boy, girl, boy, boy.

• 15:04Speaker 01

  So you're in your fifties.

• 15:05Speaker 02

  I'm fifty-six.

• 15:06Speaker 01

  Very good fettle, handsome.

• 15:09Speaker 02

  Oh, no.

• 15:09Speaker 01

  Good hair.

• 15:10Jessie Ware?

  Do you want a third wife, Rob?

• 15:14Jessie Ware?

  A third English wife?

• 15:15Speaker 02

  Why not?

• 15:16Jessie Ware?

  So, so, so what was your mother cooking?

• 15:19Speaker 02

  Well, it was, I, as I, as I think back, it was very, I mean, I, I don't want to, I don't want to offend my mum, but it was, my memory of it is pretty plain.

• 15:29Speaker 01

  Don't worry, some people only have frozen food. We've had.

• 15:32Speaker 02

  No, it.

• 15:32Jessie Ware?

  But that was probably because.

• 15:34Speaker 02

  I think that's what people had then.

• 15:35Jessie Ware?

  But also you probably wanted that.

• 15:38Speaker 02

  Well.

• 15:39Speaker 01

  Might not have done. You didn't know.

• 15:41Speaker 02

  No, I, I certainly wasn't adventurous when it came to food. I wasn't adventurous when it came to textures. I can remember at school they had, um, semolina or what do you call it, rice pudding? And I remember thinking.

• 15:53Speaker 01

  Frog spawn stuff, yeah.

• 15:54Speaker 02

  Exactly. But I do remember, there, there was a kid who, who ate spaghetti hoops or something. And I remember thinking, that was a step too far, you know, that, that, that was exotic.

• 16:05Speaker 01

  On toast or off toast?

• 16:06Speaker 02

  I think possibly on toast. So we were meat and potatoes, steak for a treat. You know, fillet steak for a treat, fish on a, my memory is the, the, the, uh, window in the kitchen getting very steamed up when it was fish night. So it was, it was very unadventurous, very nice food. Um, my, my maternal grandmother would make, uh, a stew and would also make Welsh cakes. My paternal grandmother would make egg custard tart. And when she came for lunch, and you know, we'd have a normal Sunday lunch and she would bring, this is when I was very young,

• 16:51Speaker 02

  egg custard tart to have afterwards and she and I would talk about.

• 16:56Jessie Ware?

  A bit of nutmeg on the top?

• 16:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I always remember she would talk about having seen that week's Benny Hill and wasn't he funny? And she used to use the word comical. Oh, it was comical. Wasn't it comical?

• 17:07Jessie Ware?

  Did you, did you model your comedy on any particular person?

• 17:13Speaker 02

  Yes, I.

• 17:14Jessie Ware?

  I can't say Benny. I don't feel like it's.

• 17:16Speaker 02

  Well, I know, but the thing is now, you see, we are in twenty twenty-one, but this was nineteen seventy-two, seventy-three. It was a different, different climate. Uh, I'm not gonna get into a defence of Benny Hill, but he, he was not, he was not without his skills. Um, let's just say that, right? Um, so, yes, I would watch all sorts of people. I always had a very wide taste in comedy, so from the very popular, popular stuff like Bruce Forsyth, watching what he did, and then the slightly more trendy stuff like Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Barry Humphries has always been a huge sort of hero of mine. Um, but loads, loads of comedians. It's harder for me to find a comedian I don't like than one that I do like.

• 17:59Speaker 01

  Do you think comedy's harder now because of all the kind of

• 18:04Speaker 01

  restrictions and woke and thing? I, I don't say that in a pejorative way.

• 18:09Jessie Ware?

  But you see what happened with Dave Chappelle.

• 18:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, but you can get yourself into a big hole by saying something that would have been totally acceptable when you started out and now isn't.

• 18:19Speaker 02

  I think there are, there are new challenges with it. I think there are some comedians, frankly, who don't care. So I can't imagine a Ricky Gervais or a whoever worrying about it. Um, and you wonder as well how much these Twitter storms actually affect anything. I mean, if someone were to lose their job as a result of it, you'd say, well, it has, but a lot of these things cease to blow up and then, and then go. I've never been particularly controversial in my comedy.

• 18:55Speaker 01

  Are you political?

• 18:56Speaker 02

  No, I've always been very wishy-washy.

• 18:59Speaker 01

  Have I got news for you?

• 19:00Speaker 02

  Only once I didn't enjoy it.

• 19:01Speaker 01

  Didn't you? Why?

• 19:03Jessie Ware?

  Was it intimidating?

• 19:04Speaker 02

  No, but it was, it was, I was hosting it. It's, it's not my world. I think you've got to know what your strengths are. And topical, political stuff, because it's not all politics in that show, but it's, that's not where my strengths lie. So I didn't enjoy it.

• 19:21Jessie Ware?

  So, I mean, and please forgive me if you've already done one, would you go and do musicals? Would you go?

• 19:26Speaker 02

  I, I would. The reason I haven't done them is because of never stopping having children in the last, you know, however many years.

• 19:34Jessie Ware?

  How old's the youngest?

• 19:35Speaker 02

  Uh, ten.

• 19:35Jessie Ware?

  Okay.

• 19:36Speaker 02

  So I've done theatre runs. I did, I did a play at the Old Vic, a play at the Garrick and a play at the Pinter. So I've done a few runs of plays. But as, as, as you know, it takes over your life. You are out every night of the week. Sunday you collapse. So it's very hard on, if you're a family person, you have young children.

• 19:59Jessie Ware?

  Basically, I have to wait until my kids are teenagers until I do a musical theatre job.

• 20:02Speaker 02

  Well, I, I think that, um, that I did, I think the last play I did was at the Old Vic and it was about education. I played the teacher and all the other, all the others meant to be the students, but.

• 20:12Speaker 01

  Which play was it?

• 20:13Speaker 02

  It was called Future Conditional, directed by Matthew Wartus at the Old Vic.

• 20:20Speaker 01

  When was that?

• 20:20Speaker 02

  It was the first one of Matthew's tenure as the head of the Old Vic. Um, when was it? I'm not very, I don't have that memory. I don't know. I'm gonna say five years ago, maybe something like that. Um, and all the other, well, they were young, these actors, all in their early twenties and, uh, we'd be in the wings before we go on. And they'd say, so what did you do after the show last night, Rob? And I go, I went home. Oh, we, we went off to this so-and-so place and then we ended up in this salsa bar.

• 20:49Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 20:49Speaker 02

  And then after that, we, and I said, well, no, no, I, I went home and I went to bed. That was, that's about it for me, really. Because you have to, I find now, and as you get older, you, you've got to conserve that, that, that energy. And I want, so, so the answer to your question, I definitely want to and I will do a musical. This, this tour is my way of getting around that because, you know, I can pace it exactly as I want to. So I do two, maybe three shows a week, maybe one, two, day off, another one, two days off, another one, another one. So that I can be at home back before.

• 21:35Jessie Ware?

  Mum, I'm a bit hungry.

• 21:37Speaker 01

  Darling, it's cold.

• 21:38Jessie Ware?

  Is it ready?

• 21:38Speaker 02

  What are we having? I've no idea what we're having.

• 21:40Jessie Ware?

  Well, she's pulled out.

• 21:41Speaker 01

  I hope it's nice. I've done a spiced chicken.

• 21:46Speaker 02

  Oh, yes.

• 21:47Speaker 01

  With bejeweled rice. Let's see if that works.

• 21:51Speaker 02

  Don't you find that the vajazzle has rather diminished the word bejeweled? Because the minute you said bejeweled, that's where my mind went.

• 22:00Jessie Ware?

  You thought of a fanny.

• 22:01Speaker 02

  No, honestly.

• 22:02Speaker 01

  Good God. What are you lying?

• 22:04Speaker 02

  There's nothing I can do about it if that's the way.

• 22:06Speaker 01

  It goes straight down there.

• 22:07Speaker 02

  Well, because of the, this, this.

• 22:11Speaker 01

  Because of the only way it's tested.

• 22:12Jessie Ware?

  I'm really looking forward to tucking to that, right?

• 22:15Speaker 01

  And then I've done carrots roasted in raspberry mousse.

• 22:19Jessie Ware?

  Oh God, now I'm thinking phallic images, mum. Stop, stop, enough, enough.

• 22:22Speaker 01

  And I've done a pecan pie because it's Thanksgiving today.

• 22:25Jessie Ware?

  I appreciate that because I am very jealous. I'm very jealous of the Americans, not so much about what Thanksgiving stands for, but the fact that they get to have turkey twice.

• 22:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, they get, they get the excuse to have the occasion and get together, yeah.

• 22:40Jessie Ware?

  You know, it's a bit of a variation.

• 22:41Speaker 01

  You don't get the presents though on Thanksgiving, do you?

• 22:43Speaker 02

  No, but it brings everyone together. I quite, I quite like that.

• 22:46Jessie Ware?

  Love it.

• 22:46Speaker 01

  Is your wife a good cook?

• 22:48Speaker 02

  Brilliant. She's a brilliant cook and she can bake. Yeah, she's terrific.

• 22:52Jessie Ware?

  So what, what's your favourite dish by her?

• 22:56Speaker 02

  She, well, there's one thing she does, and I won't say this is a favourite, but it's great, and it's a quiche. Quiches seem a bit uninspiring. And it's basil and feta cheese. Does that sound?

• 23:09Speaker 01

  No, it sounds fabulous.

• 23:11Speaker 02

  That's delicious. But she can kind of make anything. She's one of those people who can.

• 23:16Speaker 01

  Does she make it up or does she follow a recipe?

• 23:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, she, she does both.

• 23:19Speaker 01

  Oh, see, I can't do that.

• 23:19Speaker 02

  She can make it up. She can see what's left and go and stick it all together. And she can bake. And our, our thirteen year old bakes as well. He's, he's got into that. So he'll, he'll make blondies and things like that. Yeah. And I, as a result, I mean, I was never a cook.

• 23:35Speaker 01

  Did you not bake in lockdown?

• 23:37Speaker 02

  I tried something. I had a go at, oh yeah, she said, Claire said, tell them about, I tried cooking a Nigella thing, which was something to do with crispy chicken, and I just cremated it. It was an absolute disaster. The kids were appalled by it.

• 23:53Jessie Ware?

  I want to know, where was your first date with your wife? Like food?

• 23:58Speaker 02

  Well, it was that, oh, the first when we actually went out. Because we actually sort of went, we went on a date the day we met, because I met her at these awards.

• 24:06Jessie Ware?

  Yeah.

• 24:06Speaker 02

  And I had, which were lunchtime awards, and I had tickets for this, for this advanced screening of Ocean's Eleven.

• 24:13Speaker 01

  Oh, wow. With George Clooney. You were going to compete with him. Are you mad?

• 24:18Jessie Ware?

  So you were like, hey, why don't we get out of this, mate?

• 24:20Speaker 02

  I was, I was drunk. So, and I, and I'd seen her, you see, in the, in this reception. I said, oh, who's that? And so I'm talking to her then, and I thought, and this screening was about half six or something, you see, so we were now in the American bar and we're having drinks and there's a crowd of us and I'm sort of talking to her quietly. And I say, look, hey, you wanna come with me? I got these tickets for Ocean's Eleven. It's not out yet. She said, oh, I saw it last week.

• 24:45Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 24:47Speaker 02

  But nonetheless, I, I persuaded her and it was in the taxi that we, I think that's when it emerged that we'd both played Sky. I don't know how it came up.

• 24:56Jessie Ware?

  I love that.

• 24:57Speaker 02

  And then we went and watched this, this film and, and.

• 25:00Jessie Ware?

  Did you make out in the cinema?

• 25:02Speaker 01

  Oh, sorry.

• 25:03Speaker 02

  Thank God that went off then.

• 25:08Speaker 02

  We might, might have kissed in the taxi. We might have, we might not, who knows?

• 25:12Jessie Ware?

  I love it.

• 25:12Speaker 02

  I don't think we'll ever know for sure.

• 25:15Jessie Ware?

  Um, I, you know, you've, you've eaten at some amazing places and you've, but anywhere local that you really, really love or any London places that, you know, you couldn't live without?

• 25:28Speaker 02

  I like, well, I just happened to be at Scott's today. That, that's always great. When I was in the theatre, I used to like going to Sheiky's after the show because it feels like you're part of that theatre life.

• 25:44Jessie Ware?

  Yeah.

• 25:45Speaker 02

  And that's.

• 25:46Jessie Ware?

  Is that like the new Joe Allens then?

• 25:47Speaker 02

  I, yeah, I, yeah, I suppose you could say that, yeah. I mean, that's where, because it was around the, we were at the Garrick. Uh, so that's where, where I would go. I like it there. Where else? Um, there are, there are nice places out near us. There's, um, there's one in St Margaret's. I don't know if it's still there. I think, what was it called? Brula? Oh, it's a nice one. There's one in, just before we get to Richmond, so they call it East Twickenham called Achna.

• 26:16Jessie Ware?

  Achna.

• 26:16Speaker 02

  We tended to, we've gone there quite a bit, but all that kind of stuff has been, has gone, hasn't it really? Because we've got out of the habit.

• 26:23Speaker 01

  At Marble Hill, that pub on the.

• 26:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, on the, on the, the Crown, is it?

• 26:27Speaker 01

  Just near the Crown. That's a nice pub.

• 26:29Speaker 02

  Yes, yes, we've, we've been there. Um.

• 26:32Jessie Ware?

  Do you eat out a lot? No.

• 26:35Speaker 01

  I think Richmond's nice.

• 26:36Speaker 02

  Richmond's lovely. Gout Show on the.

• 26:39Speaker 01

  Great on the river.

• 26:40Speaker 02

  During lockdown, they would do, they would do stuff outdoors. So, you know, you'd go for a huge walk on a Sunday with another family. And in that crisp air, at the feel of a ski resort, you know, you'd be queuing up for your food. And that was, that was kind of nice. No, there's, there's loads of nice places.

• 26:56Speaker 01

  Do you still have family in Wales?

• 26:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. Mum and dad in Port Talbot.

• 27:00Jessie Ware?

  Oh, great. We didn't actually speak about, yeah, so Porto, Porto.

• 27:04Speaker 02

  Well, some people call it Port Talbot. I've always said Port Talbot.

• 27:08Speaker 01

  That's not where, where Michael Sheen lives.

• 27:10Speaker 02

  Yes, yes, yes. Oh, he doesn't live there now, but he's from exactly the same place. His, his parents go to the same church as my parents.

• 27:18Speaker 01

  And did you go to the same church?

• 27:19Speaker 02

  No, no, I'm, I'm older than him by about, I don't know, eight years, something like that, maybe. And he, I'd never knew, I've only known him as an adult. I didn't know him when I was a kid. But I heard of him because he was in youth theatre, but he was in a different youth theatre, different county.

• 27:37Jessie Ware?

  Right.

• 27:37Speaker 02

  Because I'd moved schools, blah, blah, blah.

• 27:39Jessie Ware?

  I feel like the Welsh are like Jews in the sense that like.

• 27:43Speaker 02

  I agree with you. I've said that before. I've said that many, yes, many times.

• 27:47Jessie Ware?

  It's like when you meet one, you're like, hey, we say, shalom, but you know.

• 27:52Speaker 02

  I've said that many times. I always feel an affinity with Jews. I always do. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

• 27:59Jessie Ware?

  That's, it's very interesting. Um, so, okay, we're about to eat. Oh, is that the bejeweled? It's not bejeweled yet though, is it?

• 28:05Speaker 01

  It's not that, darling. It's just cooking, darling.

• 28:07Jessie Ware?

  It's not vajazzled yet.

• 28:08Speaker 02

  No, no, let's, let's, let's, let's put that vajazzle thought out of our minds.

• 28:13Jessie Ware?

  Okay, well, whilst mum bejewels her rice, please tell us what your last supper would be.

• 28:18Speaker 02

  Oh, okay. Well, I think, yeah, because you, you don't, you're not going to go healthy, are you? Um, what's the point?

• 28:27Jessie Ware?

  What's the point?

• 28:27Speaker 02

  What's the point? I would go for, oh, I watched that Netflix documentary about veganism and went vegan for about a week.

• 28:38Jessie Ware?

  The one about the athletes?

• 28:39Speaker 02

  Yes, yeah, yeah.

• 28:40Jessie Ware?

  We all did, right?

• 28:40Speaker 02

  I know, everybody did.

• 28:41Speaker 01

  I didn't. Never.

• 28:44Speaker 02

  Well, I, uh, so I would probably have a rib eye, salt crust steak.

• 28:52Jessie Ware?

  For a starter?

• 28:54Speaker 02

  Oh, sorry.

• 28:54Jessie Ware?

  No, I, I, I thought it was blonde. I liked it.

• 28:58Speaker 02

  No, not for starter. Um, I would, okay, for starter, I would, oh, it's so hard, isn't it? I mean.

• 29:07Jessie Ware?

  Have a few small plates, you know?

• 29:09Speaker 02

  Okay, well, I'll have a few. I love scallops.

• 29:10Jessie Ware?

  Okay. Were they good scallops today?

• 29:12Speaker 02

  Are they scallops? I can never remember.

• 29:14Jessie Ware?

  I don't know. Scone, scones, scallop, scallop.

• 29:16Speaker 02

  I say scallops, okay.

• 29:18Jessie Ware?

  I don't know.

• 29:18Speaker 02

  Oh, they were good. They were, they were lovely. Yeah, very nice indeed.

• 29:21Jessie Ware?

  What did they come with?

• 29:22Speaker 02

  In, in shells with some sort of juice or something.

• 29:25Jessie Ware?

  Was it like a buttery, lemony? And they just do it well. Oh.

• 29:29Speaker 02

  I'd probably, see, I like, I like the most simple of starters, the old Palmer ham and melon.

• 29:36Jessie Ware?

  Oh, I like it too.

• 29:37Speaker 02

  No one's going to be impressed by my sophistication, but I like that.

• 29:40Jessie Ware?

  And when it works and it gets the spot and refreshes and, yeah.

• 29:43Speaker 02

  So that would be, oh, I'll tell you what they could have on the table as well. They could have some, what do they call it when they do something with cauliflower? Cauliflower popcorn? Do they call it that?

• 29:53Jessie Ware?

  Oh, you're into cauliflower popcorn. Yeah, I like, I really like it. Where have you had one that you like?

• 29:58Speaker 02

  The Mit, oh, they tell you a nice place near us, the Mitre, on the river at Hampton Court.

• 30:02Jessie Ware?

  Okay.

• 30:02Speaker 02

  That's where we, I was trying, no, we've been somewhere recently. We went there quite a bit over the summer. We, I'm just trying to decide whether to tell you this story or not.

• 30:11Jessie Ware?

  Um, I want to hear it now.

• 30:14Speaker 02

  Ah, it shows me in a very poor light. We, we took, I took my wife there for her birthday. So you can see where it's going, can't you? With Capri first of all, right? And then we're down, suddenly we're in Hampton Court, right? No, there's a lovely restaurant there and it's on the river. And, and I'd been there a few days before with some of my older kids for one of their birthdays. And I'd noticed a boat come, a big fancy boat coming up and some people getting on it. And I thought, right. So I arranged that at the end of the meal, this boat would come and would whisk us off back down to where we live, which is down river.

• 30:50Jessie Ware?

  Yeah, lovely.

• 30:50Speaker 02

  So the boat comes and she knows something's up because I'm making little gestures to the staff and everything. And then, um, I'll tell it anyway. So, so we get up to go and someone comes over and says, oh, hello, can I say I'm a, I'm a big fan and I love you. So can I have a photo? I said, yeah, okay, fine. So we do that. And then someone else from another table then comes over.

• 31:10Jessie Ware?

  You didn't miss the boat?

• 31:12Speaker 02

  No, no, no, no, it's better than that. So they, they, so I'm stood there like this. Oh, thanks very much, you know, it's lovely. And she's just stood there. And then as we leave, everybody applauds me as I leave. It's her birthday. The whole restaurant is applauding as we walk down the stairs.

• 31:26Jessie Ware?

  Because they're such big fans of you. Oh, God. How did you feel about it? Did you feel really great about it?

• 31:32Speaker 02

  I thought it was hilarious.

• 31:33Jessie Ware?

  And how did she feel about it?

• 31:34Speaker 02

  Oh, she was laughing. I mean, she was joking about it, but it's hilarious.

• 31:38Jessie Ware?

  Does it happen quite a lot? Because I feel like you're quite an approachable man.

• 31:41Speaker 02

  Not spontaneous rounds of applause. I won't pretend that's happening all the time, no. But yes, people come up all the time, yes.

• 31:47Jessie Ware?

  But there is that feeling that you are approachable, so therefore I feel like probably people approach you more than maybe they would.

• 31:54Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 31:56Jessie Ware?

  Someone else who, yeah, another comedian or actor, yeah. And how do your family find that?

• 32:02Speaker 02

  Nine times out of ten, it's fine. And then once in a while, it'll be not the right moment. And you'll think.

• 32:10Jessie Ware?

  And how do you behave in that moment?

• 32:12Speaker 02

  Well, you try, try and be nice. I'm sure you could find someone who says, well, he wasn't nice when I approached him. But I tried to be nice, you know, because, because why wouldn't you try to be nice?

• 32:24Jessie Ware?

  So we've got, you, you were mentioning the main course being that.

• 32:28Speaker 02

  Well, oh, hang on. So, okay, so I'd have a salt, a rib eye steak. And I'd probably have some potato dauphinois.

• 32:36Jessie Ware?

  Mmm, I love that. Mum did dauphinois the other night and I said, I bet you Rob Brydon would like that.

• 32:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, I did it the other night.

• 32:44Jessie Ware?

  And she's given you vajazzled rice.

• 32:48Speaker 01

  They ate that more than they they were just.

• 32:50Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's it's a real treat, isn't it?

• 32:51Speaker 01

  It's so lovely, isn't it?

• 32:53Speaker 02

  But I'd also like, though, as well as those, as well as that. There's, I'd like just some, just some chips, but but lovely chips.

• 33:03Jessie Ware?

  Thrice cooked.

• 33:04Speaker 02

  Well, not necessarily those. There's a, we we go, we go to an area in of France, um, uh, near Carcassonne, and and a lot of, with the Langford area, which is, you've got on that one there. Right. And a lot of the restaurants you go to there, that do their chips the same way, which is, all I can say is they're quite brown. And that's, that's the only way I can describe them. Right, this is, but so not like these fancy.

• 33:31Jessie Ware?

  Yeah.

• 33:32Speaker 02

  Thrice cooked, like little, little Lego bricks.

• 33:35Jessie Ware?

  Wide or thin?

• 33:37Speaker 02

  Irregular shapes, which is nice.

• 33:39Jessie Ware?

  Yeah, lovely.

• 33:40Speaker 02

  Um, and different sizes. They're delicious. I'd have some of those as well. And then I'd want some sort of greenery on there. I might have, well, to use what I'd have.

• 33:53Jessie Ware?

  Hmm.

• 33:54Speaker 02

  I can't eat mushrooms because it affects my, it affects my skin.

• 33:59Jessie Ware?

  Oh.

• 34:00Speaker 02

  So I'd have mushrooms, because presumably I'm about to, I'm gonna die imminently, yes, with this meal.

• 34:05Jessie Ware?

  Either, yeah, either you're or, or you're going somewhere and nobody's gonna see your bad skin.

• 34:10Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 34:11Jessie Ware?

  So it's like, either way, you basically, you're gonna die, or does it hurt you?

• 34:14Speaker 02

  But you've said, you've, you've said it's my last.

• 34:17Jessie Ware?

  Last supper or before you go to a desert island or death row, it's up to you. It's upset a lot of listeners when we said it was death row milk. So we've kind of given the option.

• 34:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, all right. Well, if if if there were, if there was no more living, I'd have some lovely mushrooms.

• 34:32Jessie Ware?

  What, but, so you like mushrooms?

• 34:33Speaker 02

  Uh, yes.

• 34:34Jessie Ware?

  And how does it affect your skin?

• 34:36Speaker 02

  It, well, it gives me horrible, kind of, you know, big horrible spots.

• 34:39Jessie Ware?

  Oh, really?

• 34:40Speaker 02

  It's to do with, when I was a teenager, very bad acne, had tons of antibiotics, because in those days, they would just send them out. And as a result, I've been told, I don't digest yeasty fungal things, you see. So, um, and also citrus I often react to, but mushrooms in particular, you see.

• 35:01Speaker 01

  You haven't got any of that.

• 35:02Speaker 02

  Lovely. So, so I would probably have some of those. And then for pudding. Oh, oh, probably something chocolatey, because mucus wouldn't be a concern. Oh, the words come back. Oh. Oh.

• 35:18Speaker 01

  Shall I put it over here to serve?

• 35:20Jessie Ware?

  Yeah, sure.

• 35:21Speaker 02

  Oh, look at that.

• 35:23Speaker 01

  A spatchcock.

• 35:24Speaker 02

  I was about to say the word spatchcock.

• 35:26Jessie Ware?

  Yeah.

• 35:26Speaker 01

  I know.

• 35:26Speaker 02

  But given that we've already had moist and the jazzy, I I I wondered whether it was wise.

• 35:32Jessie Ware?

  Oh, gee. Mama, I wonder whether that could have a sprinkling of herbs, just to really.

• 35:38Speaker 01

  Darling, it's not supposed to.

• 35:39Speaker 02

  You're an affectionist, you. She, there's no way, there's no way I'd suggest anything else to that.

• 35:45Speaker 01

  How much have you cooked of this?

• 35:46Jessie Ware?

  Yeah, I know, you.

• 35:47Speaker 01

  Jessie.

• 35:47Jessie Ware?

  Ah, we got so far before you said it.

• 35:53Speaker 01

  Do you go to Panto?

• 35:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, I have done.

• 35:56Speaker 01

  The Richmond Panto is always great, isn't it?

• 35:58Speaker 02

  Anton Dubec is doing it this year.

• 36:00Speaker 01

  Oh, I love him.

• 36:01Speaker 02

  Who doesn't? Who doesn't love Anton?

• 36:03Jessie Ware?

  Are you a Strictly fan?

• 36:05Speaker 02

  Uh, yes, yes, yes, we watch Strictly. Um, so I think we may go, I'll tell you a funny story about Pantomime. Here we go. Finally, he comes up with a funny story.

• 36:13Jessie Ware?

  Oh, good.

• 36:15Speaker 02

  I did a charity event and I was with Jerry Hall.

• 36:21Jessie Ware?

  She was at Richmond Panto?

• 36:24Speaker 02

  That's part of the story.

• 36:25Jessie Ware?

  Well, I'm spoiling the backstory, Mama.

• 36:27Speaker 01

  Sorry, I was just trying to commune with him.

• 36:31Speaker 02

  She says, I'm gonna be in Richmond, in Pantomime, you must come to the opening night. I said, that's Jerry Hall, I said, yes, of course. So we go and we're sitting up in the circle.

• 36:46Speaker 01

  How'd you know her?

• 36:47Speaker 02

  Because I was at an, at a.

• 36:49Jessie Ware?

  Because he's fabulous, duh.

• 36:52Speaker 02

  I was at, um, I'm, I'm an ambassador for the Prince's Trust, and I think she is. And we were at a lunch, and they were, I'll tell you the story, they were auctioning off a round of golf with me. And at one point, she's, she's, I do, and at one point, she stood up and she said, she said.

• 37:08Speaker 01

  It's going so well, Mum. Everything.

• 37:10Speaker 02

  She, she, do you not like golf? You hate golfers?

• 37:12Speaker 01

  No, it's just about golf things.

• 37:14Jessie Ware?

  I have a problem.

• 37:14Speaker 01

  People who play golf.

• 37:15Speaker 02

  No, you are, you are, well, I'm gonna say prejudice.

• 37:19Speaker 01

  I think I am a bit.

• 37:20Speaker 02

  I'm calling you out for prejudice.

• 37:22Speaker 01

  I know.

• 37:23Speaker 02

  All right, well, you need to, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself.

• 37:26Speaker 01

  I do, I probably do.

• 37:27Speaker 02

  It's an unappealing quality in an, in an otherwise very appealing package.

• 37:33Speaker 02

  So, and we're at this thing, and they're bidding for this, you know, for to play golf with me. Well, yeah, well. So at some point, she stands up, she goes, I'll caddie for Rob. So I had.

• 37:46Jessie Ware?

  It was going that badly, Mum?

• 37:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was. Well, I genuinely, no, seriously, I think that's why she did it, because who would want to play golf with me? So, we go and we do this thing. And she, she caddied and she walked the course with me and it was great, you know.

• 37:59Speaker 01

  Which golf course did you belong to?

• 38:00Speaker 02

  Wisley.

• 38:01Speaker 01

  Oh, right.

• 38:02Speaker 02

  Well, I don't belong there, this was, they arranged it, you see. So we're going around the golf course, right? So this is.

• 38:07Speaker 01

  And she's caddying?

• 38:08Speaker 02

  Yes, and she's lovely, right? She's vivacious and lovely and.

• 38:11Speaker 01

  She's gorgeous.

• 38:11Speaker 02

  She's gorgeous, but she's also not just looks, she's very appealing and, she was, she was lovely. Anyway, she says, I'm gonna be in Pantomime, you must come. So I said, okay, lovely. So we go, and here's the story. We're sat behind Mick Jagger.

• 38:29Speaker 01

  He went to.

• 38:29Speaker 02

  Yes, because, because they're all, you know, they all get on, don't they? And la di da. So she plays the baddie, so she's on, they're going, I'm evil, I'm bad, and he's there going, boo, yes, boo. It's behind you.

• 38:46Speaker 01

  It's behind you.

• 38:47Speaker 02

  And then in the interval, I went.

• 38:50Speaker 01

  Voice, exactly.

• 38:51Speaker 02

  And then in the interval, I went to the loo and I came back and he was, he was in the, he was in the queue for ice cream or something. And he saw him and he, and he went, oh, some good jokes, Rob.

• 39:01Speaker 01

  Oh, God.

• 39:03Speaker 02

  As if to say, I'll talk to him about, you know, about comedy.

• 39:05Speaker 01

  Do you get hecklers?

• 39:07Speaker 02

  Um, oh, not in a nasty way, you.

• 39:09Speaker 01

  Jo Brand, if you listen to her, she, I mean, she came on and she said she used to have the most, she, of course, was horrendous.

• 39:17Speaker 02

  Oh, I had, when I was starting out, I was playing, I was doing an open mic spot, that's where you go on for no money and you're allowed five minutes, maybe, okay, and.

• 39:25Jessie Ware?

  Terrifying.

• 39:25Speaker 02

  Yes, so the audience don't know you, you're totally unknown, the expectation is that you won't be very good. And I was at a place in, up in, in Greenwich, called Up the Creek, famously tough.

• 39:37Jessie Ware?

  Yeah.

• 39:37Speaker 02

  Famously tough place.

• 39:38Jessie Ware?

  Is it still there?

• 39:39Speaker 01

  Oh, oh, Crete, it was Crete Road, darling.

• 39:42Jessie Ware?

  That's where Soft Play is.

• 39:43Speaker 02

  The guy has died, Malcolm Hardy, who was a well-known guy that that ran it. So I go on, I'm doing whimsical observations about whales. And I'm getting nothing. And at one point, somebody in the audience goes, baa. And I made sheep noise.

• 39:57Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 39:58Speaker 02

  And I go, I just carry on. Then someone else goes, baa. Oh, that's like our cat.

• 40:03Speaker 01

  No, get down here.

• 40:04Speaker 02

  Now, when we clap, we've got two cats, and Biscuit is the bad one, but when we clap, he just thinks, oh, I'm doing well.

• 40:12Speaker 02

  He says, well, thank you, my darling, you're very kind, try do it again. So if you clap when he's near food, he won't come down, but yours.

• 40:19Speaker 01

  He will.

• 40:19Speaker 02

  That's good. So anyway, someone, so it was one person does sheep, another one does sheep, another one, another one. And before long, the whole room is, is doing sheep noises and I'm just stood there like this, and it's terrifying. And I, and I.

• 40:30Speaker 01

  Did you want to cry?

• 40:31Speaker 02

  Yes, and I carried on. And I remember when I drove back home from that gig, it's a long way, because we lived then in sort of in Mortlake, East Sheen. And I remember thinking, well, that's it, it's all over. And I was doing okay, I was making a living as a voiceover artist, this was in the nineties, mid nineties, so I was, you know, we were doing quite well, but, but I remember thinking, it's all over. And my, my thought was, don't spend any more money. That was my thought.

• 41:02Speaker 01

  Just in case.

• 41:02Speaker 02

  Just, no, just hold on to it because you're gonna need it. But the next morning, I woke up and I thought, right, I'll show you, buggers. And I'll go back. And I did go back, and I let, I certainly didn't raise the roof, but they didn't, but they didn't.

• 41:17Jessie Ware?

  Didn't, you shoot and heckle again?

• 41:18Speaker 02

  No.

• 41:19Speaker 01

  Can I just point something out?

• 41:20Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 41:21Speaker 01

  Often, when people come on this podcast, they end up doing duets with Jessie, like Kylie Minogue.

• 41:27Speaker 02

  Did you join with Kylie?

• 41:28Jessie Ware?

  Yeah, it's out now.

• 41:29Speaker 02

  She's good.

• 41:30Jessie Ware?

  She's very good.

• 41:30Speaker 01

  Do you want to do a duet?

• 41:32Speaker 02

  Of course.

• 41:33Jessie Ware?

  What would be our song?

• 41:34Speaker 01

  What would be your song?

• 41:35Jessie Ware?

  No, we're not gonna sing now.

• 41:36Speaker 01

  No, but what would be?

• 41:38Jessie Ware?

  We're gonna put one out professionally.

• 41:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think you should.

• 41:40Jessie Ware?

  Listen, we could do.

• 41:42Speaker 02

  Guess it's over, call it a day.

• 41:45Jessie Ware?

  Which one was that?

• 41:46Speaker 02

  You do, I see, I'm too old for you.

• 41:47Speaker 01

  No, it isn't.

• 41:48Speaker 02

  Sorry that it had to end this way. No reason to pretend. We knew it had to end someday.

• 41:59Jessie Ware?

  What's the chorus?

• 41:59Speaker 02

  Well, it's gonna be me and you, Lenny.

• 42:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think it will then.

• 42:02Jessie Ware?

  Someone forget about me.

• 42:02Speaker 02

  You must know this.

• 42:03Speaker 01

  Who sang it? Little too late.

• 42:05Speaker 02

  To ever try again.

• 42:07Jessie Ware?

  No, I don't, but I like it.

• 42:08Speaker 02

  Johnny Mathis and somebody else.

• 42:10Jessie Ware?

  No, you, no.

• 42:12Speaker 02

  Johnny Mathis, was it Pebo, was it Pebo Bryson? Or was it, um, that's the first song that came to my mind.

• 42:19Jessie Ware?

  Oh, I mean.

• 42:20Speaker 02

  Where is the love?

• 42:21Jessie Ware?

  Oh, yeah. Yeah, I do, but like.

• 42:24Speaker 02

  Or Jessie, you, you, you could suggest a song from the last fifty years, maybe.

• 42:28Jessie Ware?

  Yeah.

• 42:30Speaker 01

  Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack.

• 42:32Speaker 02

  That's right, yes.

• 42:33Jessie Ware?

  Where is the love you said you'd give to me?

• 42:36Speaker 02

  Oh, okay, what about, what about, let's come bang up to date.

• 42:40Speaker 02

  Uh, uh, sh- shadows falling, baby, I stand alone.

• 42:45Speaker 01

  Oh, now you're talking.

• 42:46Speaker 02

  Out in the street, everybody you meet, got a heart of their own.

• 42:51Jessie Ware?

  You wanna be a hero.

• 42:53Speaker 02

  Yeah. Making a crime to be lonely or sad. Ain't gonna be illegal.

• 42:59Speaker 01

  Oh!

• 43:00Speaker 02

  You got a reason for living.

• 43:01Speaker 01

  You're very good. You do everything.

• 43:04Speaker 02

  With the love we're building, uh, we're gonna be right.

• 43:08Speaker 01

  We used to put in Barbara.

• 43:10Jessie Ware?

  We used to put the frigging tree up to that.

• 43:12Speaker 01

  Guilty was my.

• 43:14Speaker 02

  We did nothing to be guilty of. Our love will climb any mountain, near or far. We are gonna highway to the sky.

• 43:26Jessie Ware?

  Yeah, I love it. Gorgeous.

• 43:28Speaker 01

  Have you ever met Barbara?

• 43:29Speaker 02

  No, no Barry.

• 43:31Speaker 01

  No Barry.

• 43:32Speaker 02

  I'd rather meet Barry.

• 43:34Speaker 01

  That sounds like my little Barry. You said that very well.

• 43:38Speaker 02

  I met Robin Gibb, because he was on like, because the Bee Gees wrote Islands in the Stream, so, um.

• 43:42Jessie Ware?

  Of course.

• 43:43Speaker 02

  Robin did backing vocals on.

• 43:44Speaker 01

  Bee Gees wrote it?

• 43:46Jessie Ware?

  I didn't see that. Yeah, now, think about it again.

• 43:50Speaker 01

  Oh my god, but I thought it's a country.

• 43:53Speaker 02

  There was peace unknown. I said I'd get you out the fight, just go home. Yeah, so, so Robin did backing vocals and he was in the video, so I got to meet him, which is really good. And we did Top of the Pops singing that, and Oasis were on it and Take That and.

• 44:09Jessie Ware?

  Did you feel bloody rock and roll?

• 44:11Speaker 01

  Number one.

• 44:12Speaker 02

  And I said to him, as we were about to do it, I said, oh, I'm quite nervous, Robin. And he said, do you know what I do when I'm nervous? And I said, no. He said, I turn what if into so what.

• 44:23Jessie Ware?

  I love that.

• 44:24Speaker 01

  Oh, that's such a good motto.

• 44:27Jessie Ware?

  Have you gone on to open mic nights since and thought, that's.

• 44:32Speaker 02

  What if?

• 44:33Jessie Ware?

  The wise words.

• 44:35Speaker 01

  Who would like some pecan pie?

• 44:36Jessie Ware?

  Me.

• 44:37Speaker 02

  I for one would love some of your pecan pie.

• 44:40Speaker 01

  Jess, would you get some little junk out?

• 44:42Jessie Ware?

  I eat the whole pecan pie. So what if I eat the whole pecan pie?

• 44:46Speaker 01

  Just get some little junk, darling.

• 44:48Speaker 02

  Now, can I ask, will it be sufficiently moist?

• 44:52Speaker 01

  Oh my god, I don't know.

• 44:57Jessie Ware?

  Rob, do you cook?

• 44:59Speaker 02

  No, I, I've flirted with cooking over the years. It's something I'd like to do. And when I do it, I enjoy it in a kind of therapeutic way.

• 45:08Speaker 01

  Do you?

• 45:09Speaker 02

  I like the beginning, yeah, because I'm not, if I had to do it all the time. But I think if you can treat yourself to just doing it now and again, I love the beginning, middle and end nature of it.

• 45:17Speaker 01

  Do you barbecue?

• 45:18Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm Mr. Barbecue, but that doesn't count. Yeah, yeah, we, we.

• 45:22Jessie Ware?

  Gas or a coal?

• 45:23Speaker 02

  Gas. But I actually went to, I went to a day-long course. It was given to me as a, as a Christmas present once. At the Weber Academy in, uh.

• 45:32Speaker 01

  The Weber Academy.

• 45:34Jessie Ware?

  Oh my god, I'm getting that for Sam.

• 45:35Speaker 02

  If that doesn't give me a free new barbecue, nothing does.

• 45:38Speaker 01

  I know, Jessie, that is such a brilliant.

• 45:39Speaker 02

  It's, it's a good thing, it's, it's, it's good.

• 45:41Jessie Ware?

  We've all got Weber. It's a day long.

• 45:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's great fun. It's really enjoyable. And, um.

• 45:46Speaker 01

  That's brilliant.

• 45:46Speaker 02

  And I switched to gas after that, because we were always charcoal and a little snobby, if I'm being very honest.

• 45:52Speaker 01

  Yeah. The Weber, have you got the spirit?

• 45:54Speaker 02

  Uh.

• 45:55Speaker 01

  The small one.

• 45:55Speaker 02

  No, we got, it's got a big, it's big.

• 45:58Speaker 01

  Oh, you've got a big one?

• 45:58Speaker 02

  Got a big one, yeah. And the general opinion at home is that I've got better.

• 46:04Jessie Ware?

  Really? Since the academy?

• 46:05Speaker 02

  Y- y- well, no, since lockdown, because we, we did more of it in the lockdown. The difference is, I'm, I take a bit of a chance now as to whether or not it's done. As, as opposed to, as opposed to cremating it, I'll air on the other side, so that there's a lot more flavour. So it is always.

• 46:20Jessie Ware?

  You let it rest.

• 46:21Speaker 02

  It's always done.

• 46:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:22Speaker 02

  But I don't overdo it in the way I used to.

• 46:25Speaker 01

  You've got a meat thermometer.

• 46:26Speaker 02

  I don't need it.

• 46:27Jessie Ware?

  I've asked.

• 46:27Speaker 02

  I go on instinct.

• 46:29Jessie Ware?

  Do you do like the poking of the finger?

• 46:31Speaker 01

  He's an instinctive meat cooker.

• 46:32Speaker 02

  I'm an instinctive, I'm, you can tell I've had a drink, can't you? I'm starting to get, I'm having to pull myself back from certain jokes.

• 46:40Speaker 01

  Oh, no, carry on. I'm waiting for them.

• 46:44Speaker 02

  I am with the barbecue, as I, no, um. Yeah, so I've, I've got better at it anyway. And, and my wife says, oh, you've got better, you've got better, because there's more flavour. Yes, I do.

• 46:57Speaker 01

  Did you, when you graduated from the Weber Academy? What do they give you as a symbol of your graduation?

• 47:05Speaker 02

  I think they basically try to sell you stuff, is what, is what happens. They say, well, you're, you're so good, Mr. Brydon. Would you like to buy this?

• 47:13Speaker 01

  They don't give you a hat and tongs.

• 47:14Speaker 02

  Uh, they might, it's a few years ago now, they might have done. But seriously, they taught you, for example, uh, the importance of cooking with the lid on, and all the stuff you can do with indirect heat. So as opposed to just, you need to.

• 47:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, you put it on the side.

• 47:27Speaker 02

  You put the thing at the other side and you have the heat down at that end, so it's just like an oven, really.

• 47:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:31Speaker 02

  But also chocolate puddings done.

• 47:33Speaker 01

  Oh, what?

• 47:33Speaker 02

  In the, no, seriously, in the barbecue.

• 47:36Jessie Ware?

  Have you done it, have you done it since?

• 47:37Speaker 02

  Yes, once.

• 47:41Speaker 01

  Does anyone want a bit more ice cream?

• 47:42Jessie Ware?

  I'm done, mum.

• 47:43Speaker 02

  Oh, no, no, I, I mustn't, but thank you.

• 47:45Jessie Ware?

  I, I, I'm like landscaping my garden and.

• 47:48Speaker 01

  So the children can't use it?

• 47:50Jessie Ware?

  But I, my landscaping designer.

• 47:54Speaker 02

  Alice knows where I was going with that. Nobody else does.

• 47:56Speaker 01

  Oh, what, let me hear.

• 47:57Jessie Ware?

  I, okay, yeah, bejeweled, right, landscaping.

• 48:02Jessie Ware?

  Got it, Rob.

• 48:03Speaker 02

  I looked round and saw Alice could, Alice could. Whereas you two were, you know, blissfully other way.

• 48:09Jessie Ware?

  I wanted to talk about my, my, my.

• 48:11Speaker 01

  We're sure, yeah, I think it's.

• 48:13Jessie Ware?

  My layout.

• 48:18Jessie Ware?

  God, you are drunk, Rob.

• 48:20Speaker 02

  Look, if you want to talk about your layout,

• 48:23Speaker 02

  please don't let me stop you. It's Christmas.

• 48:25Speaker 01

  I think you probably could get diabetes after that pecan pie.

• 48:29Jessie Ware?

  I really love pecan pie. Good. So thank you, mum.

• 48:32Speaker 02

  Delicious.

• 48:32Jessie Ware?

  Thank you for dinner.

• 48:33Speaker 01

  It's too sweet. I don't think so.

• 48:35Speaker 02

  Well, you could, it, it was, it was sweet, but, you know, in, in moderation.

• 48:39Jessie Ware?

  Yeah. So.

• 48:41Speaker 02

  Anyway, back to your layout.

• 48:42Speaker 01

  What is your karaoke song, Rob?

• 48:44Speaker 02

  Um.

• 48:44Speaker 01

  We asked everyone.

• 48:45Speaker 02

  My karaoke song? Oh, probably Delilah.

• 48:49Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 48:50Speaker 02

  I sing that in, I sing that in this show.

• 48:51Speaker 01

  You don't really stick to the, the, bloody hell.

• 48:55Speaker 02

  Why, why go elsewhere?

• 48:57Speaker 01

  Should we just have one chorus of it?

• 48:58Speaker 02

  Or, well, no, hang on. No, I'd rather sing something that.

• 49:01Speaker 01

  Okay, go on, sing something.

• 49:02Speaker 02

  Well, we've already sung a bit of Guilty.

• 49:04Speaker 01

  I'd like another one. Guilty is a great album. Don't you love that album?

• 49:08Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. I'm a man of information, I'm a stranger to the cost, been watching you, watching me, baby.

• 49:18Speaker 02

  A room with a view is heaven and hell.

• 49:21Jessie Ware?

  Is that the one that's got Woman in Love in?

• 49:23Speaker 02

  Yeah. I am a woman.

• 49:27Speaker 02

  What is it called? Life is a moment in time, when the dream is on, it's a lonelier place. I kiss the morning goodbye, I stumble and fall, but I give you it all. I am a. We're very low now.

• 49:50Speaker 02

  And I'll do anything to get you into my world and hold you within. It's a rite I defend.

• 50:01Jessie Ware?

  Beautiful, Roberto.

• 50:02Speaker 02

  Over and over again.

• 50:07Speaker 01

  What will I do?

• 50:07Jessie Ware?

  You came in, you were.

• 50:09Speaker 02

  You were in too soon. You were in too soon.

• 50:11Speaker 01

  Oh, that's me. In too soon.

• 50:14Jessie Ware?

  Anyway, okay, well, Rob Brydon, it's been an absolute pleasure.

• 50:18Speaker 02

  Oh, my pleasure.

• 50:19Jessie Ware?

  Losing my voice on my tour with you. And, and, and talking to you about, honestly, you're, you're just lovely and thank you very, very much for doing this.

• 50:27Speaker 02

  Thank you for having me.

• 50:43Jessie Ware?

  So that was Rob Brydon on.

• 50:45Speaker 01

  What a fabulous guest.

• 50:46Jessie Ware?

  Second Helping. Uh, there was a lot of singing.

• 50:50Speaker 01

  Yes, curiously, yeah.

• 50:52Jessie Ware?

  Yeah, we still need to release our duet, Rob. Also, Rob has his first children's book coming out in September, The Cat in the Cupboard. No doubt, it will be a hoot and brilliant, so please go and get it. Thank you to everyone for listening to Second Helpings. It's always fabulous to go through old episodes. And shout out to producer Alice for getting this all together.

• 51:14Speaker 01

  Jessie, do you think everyone's got a ticket for your show?

• 51:17Jessie Ware?

  I don't know.

• 51:18Speaker 01

  Well, they haven't got long now, have they?

• 51:20Jessie Ware?

  No, I'm going on tour very, very soon. Hence, I'm banking a few eps before I go.

• 51:25Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 51:25Jessie Ware?

  Um, yeah, come see me around the world. America, I start with you first. Europe, you're next, and then we finish in the UK. Thank you for listening. We are so excited to start the new season of Table Manners very, very soon. And we can't wait to give you a whole new feast of guests and memories. Lots of love.

• 51:44Speaker 01

  Feasting.