Episodes

  • JaackMaate

    JaackMaate
    Mar 5 2025
    How do you become a Habbo Hotel Scammer? And why did Russell ask a bunch of young men which of them was going to pleasure him in the street? Podcast royalty and ex-Youtube magnate JacckMaate is in the studio, and it’s as fun, breezy and enjoyable as you would imagine from a man of his mastery of chat. Jack’s stories about his days as a Habbo gangster are sensational. JaackMaate’s Happy Hour is one of the biggest podcasts out there and it’s available exclusively through Spotify. Go listen, then explore all the things that Jaack does. He’s great. If you’d like to get the podcast without being interrupted by adverts, and get an extra show every week, AND get it all a day before everyone else, then you can! You can join our Patreon. It’s inexpensive and we would love to have you as part of the club. Click this link to join or find out more: patreon.com/RussellHoward And that’s all folks! Have a mad good week. Mad good I tell you. xxx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Rachel Riley

    Rachel Riley
    Feb 26 2025
    Hear Rachel Riley's plan for pay-as-you-go giant adult prams! You'll find this and all your other must-know insights into Britain's most well-known maths genius in this episode of Five Brilliant Things! Rachel has a passion for all sorts of things and it was pure pleasure to hear her talking about the excitement of travel, of food, and of course, maths. In there there's some really simple ideas as well about how you, who is intimidated by maths, can instantly get better. Have a listen, feel fuzzy, get good at maths. What a way to spend an hour. 🧮 As talked about in the episode, Rachel has made a Tonie to help kids who are 5+ to get confident with maths. If you've got young kids or friends with young kids, give them the gift of not shitting themselves every time someone says 'long division'. Here's the link to find out more. 🧮 Russell's just got back from touring Europe, gearing up for his next international dates which are in various parts of the United States, which is turning into a very interesting place. Stay up to date at russell-howard.co.uk - which is also where you can stream Russell’s latest smash hit hour-long special. It’s not been long out and it’s bloody good. And as always, please check out the Patreon for this show. Look. Let's admit it. You're reading the blurb. You're clearly into it. Just give in to the vibes. Who reads the blurb? Legends like you, that's who. Anyway. The Patreon costs about five quid a month and for that you're going to get the show without those accused adverts, and every week (yeah!) you'll get a second show - Five Brilliant Questions - where you get to make the show with us and decide what we ask the guests. Lots and lots of fun. Also coming soon will be exclusive live recordings of the podcast and our Five Brilliant Things Patreon Army will get super discounts and first tickets. Woof woof. Click this link to join or find out more: patreon.com/RussellHoward And now let's all go back to what we were doing before we embarked upon this voyage of blurb. I personally have to go to buy some lentils. Red ones, as it happens, to make a particularly creamy daal. Byeeeeeee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Dave Gorman

    Dave Gorman
    Feb 19 2025
    Dave Gorman! The man, the legend, the maker of the most epic comedy shows of the past thirty years. How could you miss this? Dave is interested in everything, and makes everything interesting. The brilliance includes cryptic crosswords, it includes playing cards, and Dave tells us about the time he hosted a darts tournament where Eric Bristow was working illicitly. 🎯👮‍♂️ Dave is back on telly, with three new special shows of Modern Life is Goodish! This is indeed the best of newses. It’s on either now or very soon or just a while ago, depending on when you read this. If it’s not in the future, then you can catch up and watch here. If it’s in the future it’s on the channel Dave, which is now called ‘U&Dave’ because that’s an absolutely brilliant name for a TV channel. Just rolls off the tongue. God bless corporate mergers, they really know how to make a TV channel sound attractive. For any Dave Gorman fans, our Patreon episode this week is borderline unmissable: Dave goes into detail (because you asked) into how he has made his mega-shows. What goes into it, and why his have been successful and why the imitators fall away. It’s as fascinating as you might expect. Click this link to join or find out more: patreon.com/RussellHoward Russell’s globe-trotting at the moment, taking his show to theatres from Singapore to Sweden. There’s a run of US dates coming up soon too. Find out where, when, how and all that by going to Russell-howard.co.uk . 🧩 Finally, if you’ve listened to the podcast and you’re here because you want to find out more..if Dave whetted your whistle to have a go on cryptic crosswords, the place to start is the Guardian ‘Quiptic’ crosswords. These are like training crosswords to get you started. Highly recommended. 🧩 And that’s the end of it all. You’ve completed this blurb successfully and deserve a pat on the back. You get your blurb readers badge. Well done squirrels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Vittorio Angelone

    Vittorio Angelone
    Feb 12 2025
    The Northern Irish Comedian is in the studio with some outstanding Brilliant Things. If you’ve never experienced Minstrels and Popcorn, if you’ve never luxuriated in the spongy floor at airport security, then this show will open your eyes and blow your mind. Or open your mind and blow your eyes. Vittorio’s jokes and stories take a ride through is formal musical training, on a detour via traditional Irish delights (Guinness, anyone?) and there’s even a bit of fun pub quizzing at the tail end. Who doesn’t love a pub quiz? 🎤 Vittorio is massively online. If you want to find out about what he’s up to and you can’t then I just don’t think you’re trying hard enough. Go to his website to get all the things like tour dates, or to watch his stand-up special ‘Translations’ or to link to his very funny podcast that he makes with Mike. Or get into his instagram to get regular stand-up clips and nonsense. Here’s your linky-poos: 📸Instagram 🕸️Website 📻Podcast If you’d like to get the podcast without being interrupted by adverts, and get an extra show every week, AND get it all a day before everyone else, then you can! You can join our Patreon. It’s inexpensive and we would love to have you as part of the club. Click this link to join or find out more: patreon.com/RussellHoward Also please look out for Russell on the road. Not literally, he’s not there all flat like roadkill. He’s out and about - India this week would you believe?! And then all sorts of European dates then some American dates - there are shows across the entire globe. And one on the moon. Stay up to date at russell-howard.co.uk - which is also where you can stream Russell’s latest smash hit hour-long special. It’s not been long out and it’s bloody good. Thanks as always for being such a fan of podcast blurbs that you’ve read all this. It’s people like you that keep us podcast note monks in quills and low-alcohol mead. I must go now for matins. Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Troy Deeney

    Troy Deeney
    Feb 5 2025
    Insider tips on how to take the perfect penalty? We got ‘em. Genuinely fascinating insights from a man with a better record than many others. Troy Deeney was Watford’s talisman and striker for years, and now is on our screens as pundit with the main sports broadcasters. He’s got a fascinating life story to tell involving some pretty hard stories about his upbringing, a stint in prison and how he’s kept himself together through it all. OH, and one thing that’s worth mentioning… There’s a description of footballer’s toenails about a third of the way through. If you’re a little squeamish then give that a forward scrub. Footballers have the mankiest toenails. Yeurch. ⚽️ Troy has setup Vision Football Factory in Tamworth – it plays an important role in the Birmingham area, providing a safe & quality space for young people to play football & build community. The website is www.visionfootballfactory.com and you can find them on Instagram at @visionfootballfactory You can also catch Troy on various broadcast platforms covering football, and finally you could follow Troy on Instagram to see everything he’s up to - his handle is @t_deeney. ⚽️ Russell is out on the road also, with dates across the world. He’s zipping around with such ferocity that I couldn’t possibly pinpoint where on the planet he’ll be when you read this. Stay up to date at russell-howard.co.uk - which is also where you can stream Russell’s latest smash hit hour-long special. It’s not been long out and it’s bloody good. If you’d like to get the podcast without being interrupted by adverts, and get an extra show every week, AND get it all a day before everyone else, then you can! You can join our Patreon for less than the cost of a pint of beer a month (or maybe two pints of orange juice if you’re not a booze hound). Click this link to join or find out more: patreon.com/RussellHoward There we go. That’s this week’s missive. Thanks for being part of all this because really if you didn’t read this then it wouldn’t be worth writing. Only joking. I know there’s nobody reading this far down. It’s just me, alone with my thoughts, spurting out nonsense that nobody will ever see. I could say anything. I could say all the cancellable stuff. Obviously I won’t because I’m nothing if not a coward. I don’t really want to be up on a work tribunal explaining why I wrote awful things in a podcast notes sign-off. That’s no way to lose it all. I’ll stick to aimless rambling in the wind. See you later, nobody. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • William Hanson

    William Hanson
    Jan 29 2025
    Etiquette expert William Hanson is with us, and he’s had enough of being asked the correct way to touch yourself under the table. Do you want to find out the correct way to do the incorrect things? It’s all in this podcast with one of the most charming, funny men in Britain. 🌂 William goes through his Five Brilliant Things, including Mary Poppins (you won’t believe how many times he’s seen the stage show. It’s a bigger number than the one you are thinking of). There is also a very informative discussion on the practical and sartorial pros and cons of becoming a cape wearer on the regular. 🌂 📖 William’s wit and wisdom is available for you to own and refer to at your whim, in the form of paper with ink symbols printed on it. I believe you earthlings refer to these things as ‘books’. William’s latest book is called ‘Just Good Manners’ and it is a breezy, informative and deeply fun read. You can either get this at your local independent bookshop, or you can go online and get it here. 📖 In the Patreon episode, things take a real turn because you heathens got us to ask William to explain the dos and don’ts of rimming. Yeah. Exactly. Thanks. Anyway it’s all in there. It’s fascinating, and obviously very funny. If you’re not a Patreon member this could be the week to get involved. 🍩👅 Click this link to join or find out more: patreon.com/RussellHoward And that’s that. If you want to get your grubby mitts on more Brilliant Things, then you can. We’d prefer you washed them first of course, but if you like those digits dirty, then we can’t stop you. We will be back here next week with a catwalk of Brilliance for you to poke. Goodnight my pretty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Andy Zaltzman

    Andy Zaltzman
    Jan 22 2025
    Can Russell convince Andy to go to a Water Park? And can Andy convince Russell to visit an Ancient Greek Citadel? It’s a tussle for the ages. This episode of Five Brilliant Things all comes from the brains of comedian and cricket statistics royalty, Andy Zaltzman. It is, frankly, a fiesta of culture. From obscure Ancient Greek plays to casting sculptures in bronze the depth and breadth of Andy’s magnificent brains are on full display. Oh, yes, there’s also a smattering of cricket chat. Just a smattering. About an over’s worth. 🏏 Andy is fast becoming a household name for his work on Test Match Special, but he is first and foremost an outstanding comedian with some of the most original, funny and brilliant satirical routines out there. His current one man show is touring theatres across the UK right now. It is called ‘The Zaltgeist’ and you can find out the dates and book the tickets by going to andyzaltzman.co.uk. 🎤 Russell’s doing some gigs in Scandinavia 🫎 and then India, Hong Kong and some even further flung places. If you’re in those places then get tickets and dates by going to russell-howard.co.uk. And there endeth the sermon. Hopefully your souls are all now saved, or at least not quite as filthy as when you walked into this chapel. Now go out there, love thy neighbour and all that shit. 🙏 Amen. Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Jessie Cave

    Jessie Cave
    Jan 15 2025
    There is something wonderful about this episode. Jessie has been through a lot. She’s taken more life thrown at her than most other people could handle, yet there is still an emphatic positivity that shines through. These Five Brilliant Things have a bittersweet quality to them which makes for a tender, funny and terrific show. Jessie talked about her novel ‘Sunset’ on the podcast, and it really is a great piece of work, highly recommended. Please either buy it from an independent bookshop, or you could get it online HERE. Jessie also has a podcast called ‘Whenever it Kicks’ which is about parenthood, life generally and more - give that a look HERE. In our Patreon show with Jessie this week, her Five Brilliant Questions did tend towards the Harry Potter, I’ll be honest. But there was none of that in the main show so it was fascinating hearing what it was like on set, what cliques there were - and then we get into the real business of Jessie and Russell discussing the finer points of filming sex scenes. Do I have your attention? It’s all in our Patreon which you can find here patreon.com/RussellHoward And now you can see the walls coming back into focus as we descend back into the real world and leave this astral plane of blurb. It’s been a wild trip and it has been a humbling experience to be your spirit guide through this. If you ever regain your sanity maybe we’ll see you again next week? Good Day to You, Enlightened One. Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 6 mins