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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

Avalon Television

Each week Russell sits down with fantastic guests to chat about their Brilliant Things; the items, places and people that make life worth living.
Five Brilliant Things is a fun, funny and sometimes heartfelt look at life through an optimistic lens.

Russell Howard’s Wonderbox

I tell you what’s fun to listen to: someone who loves cake, talking passionately about cake. Griefcast’s Cariad Lloyd sits with Russell and waxes lyrical about Pavlova and wider cakes. There’s more! We get all down and dirty with the Moomins and then there’s a weird bit where Cariad and Russell start acting out passages from Labyrinth. Which music star was originally slated to play Jareth? It wasn’t Bowie… the answer lies in this terrific episode.

Cariad talked in the podcast about her book, the Christmas Wish-tastrophe, and that is available now, and if you know an 11-14 year old just get them this for Christmas. Then that one is done, another one off your list. They will read and enjoy it. 
You can get that book at your local independent bookshop, or google the name of the book and choose an independent book provider online. You can do this! Don’t just default to the monolithic behemoths!

Cariad’s regular podcast is Griefcast, where she talks to all manner of people about the various ways people deal with life when things are tough. Cariad is an absolutely incredible host and it’s a wonderful podcast, whether you yourself are struggling or not. Check it out HERE. 

In this week’s Patreon show of Five Brilliant Questions, Cariad answered some deep knowledge questions about Gondor (It’s Lord of the Rings apparently. I have no idea). She also reveals what kind of hat she would be (as always, really probing questions from you guys) and Russell has a crisis about hat-wearing in general. 

Go to: patreon.com/RussellHoward to get involved. Looking forward to seeing you there! 

And that faint glugging noise means our Bathysphere has reached the surface of the water and our underwater journey through the Great Sea of Blurb has come to an end. Let us make our soggy way into the decompression chamber and talk about all the magnificent words we saw over a lovely biscuit and a cup of tea. 

See you next week. Don’t leave your Christmas shopping until the last minute. This time of year is busy enough without having to hate yourself for being disorganised too.

Bye bye x

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

Cariad Lloyd

From a town planner, to dressing as a burger, to conquering the world of podcasts, Vogue Williams strides across this podcast like a Colossus, taking us to mad Irish Christmases in the pub, to sleeping with unfeasible numbers of pillows (6?!) to wild Podcast tour shows. 

It’s a real blast. You’ve probably heard Vogue on many podcasts so you know she’s just great to hang out with, and this is no exception. A conversation that bounces along gleefully from one Brilliant Thing to another. 

Now go and subscribe to one or all of Vogue’s podcasts:

🤭Never Live it Down with Vogue Williams
👻 My Therapist Ghosted Me
👩‍❤️‍👨 Spencer and Vogue

As ever we recorded an episode of our Patreon show ‘Five Brilliant Questions’ with Vogue, and this week it was actually useful thanks to the question ‘I’m lazy, how can I get fit with minimum effort’ and there’s an answer! A real, useful answer!

Check out our Patreon which you can find here patreon.com/RussellHoward and you can join on a basic level - for free! 

Here endeth the sermon of blurb. Thank you for attending church this week, please pop a few pennies in the collection box on the way out and do be careful of falling masonry. They stole all the lead, the blighters. 

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

Vogue Williams

You want rollerskating telephone operators? We got ‘em. You want arguments about how many gears a decent bike should have? It’s all here in this episode of Five Brilliant Things with Suzi Ruffell. From the rough-arse pubs of Portsmouth to the fashionable theatres of London’s West End, this lovely show touches on all corners of Suzi’s past. 

Suzi’s on tour in 2025 with her brand-new show ‘The Juggle’. It’s going all over the UK to a town or city near you in the second half of the year. Tickets and dates can all be found and acquired at suziruffell.com

Aaaaand Suzi’s latest recorded special ‘Snappy’ is out now, available to rent HERE.

Today’s Patreon episode of Five Brilliant Questions sees both Suzi and Russell get very serious about the question ’Is it ever acceptable to eat a baguette sideways?’ If you think you know the answer then please join us and get involved and settle the debate.

You can join our Patreon for free if you like, and we’d be delighted to have you on the team. Check it all out at patreon.com/RussellHoward 

And who even are you, reading this far down some show notes. But thanks for sticking with me. I hope you have a wonderful 2025. Just think, you're probably the only person in the world who's read this. And that means that it's only you who's received this well-wish. It's just for you. Because you're special.

Until next time!

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

Suzi Ruffell

Would you expect to find the Pub Landlord chowing down in a Wagamama? Neither would we but it’s exactly where he’ll be. Al Murray tells Russell why he always has the same noodles, the best place to get pissed in Ireland and a sidetrack into trained cannon musicians. 

Al Murray is a proper British treasure. If you only know him as the Pub Landlord then there’s so much more - he gives so much History, explains some fascinating background to percussion (he’s a dab hand percussionist) and is a font of knowledge that refuses to stop spewing interesting stuff all over the podcast floor. 
It was a nightmare to clean up but that’s NOT YOUR PROBLEM.

As you heard on the podcast Al makes a regular WW2 podcast ‘We Have Ways of Making you Talk’ which you can find HERE. 

If you haven’t seen Al live, then you really should. One of the best. Such a great comic. He’s just extended his current tour ‘Guv Island’. Check out the tour dates and get tickets by visiting Al’s website www.thepublandlord.com

In our Patreon Show this week, Al answers your questions, telling us which country is best at wars in history ever, he recommends the greatest drum solo ever recorded and Russell tells Al about the best/worst prank that was ever played on him. It is a cruel one. Really spicy.

Go to: patreon.com/RussellHoward to get involved. We want to see you there, it’s a lot of fun and you can join for free to start with so nothing to lose! 

I believe that’s all the housekeeping. If you’re still with me on this epic reading journey then well done. As a treat, I will tell you that I think the word ‘shoffice’ is the worst in the English Language. And I don’t mind mashing two words together at all, but everything about shoffice is ugly - it demeans two perfectly good words, and ideas, and the word, concept and everything about it is bleak. It’s not a shoffice it’s a shed with a computer in it. 
There you go. Some ‘treat’ that was.

Until next time, and remember to wrap up warm. You can’t catch a cold by going out dressed like that (it’s a virus, that’s not how colds work) but you will look like a plucked chicken. Bye bye. 

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

Al Murray

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

Jessie Cave

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

Andy Zaltzman

A Wonderbox is a place where you keep little reminders of what makes life worth living. Each week Russell will chat to a special guest about what they’d keep in their Wonderbox, recounting the most memorable and funniest moments of their lives. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trailer

Today’s guest is internet comedy star, Munya Chawawa, who chats to Russell about why he loves Streets of Rage, the importance of a slice of pizza and reveals his jaw-dropping hidden ability.

 

Russell is currently on tour in the US and UK: visit russell-howard.co.uk to find out more and book tickets.

 

Munya is also on tour now and you can get tickets for his show at livenation.co.uk

 

 

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

1. Munya Chawawa

Sitting down with Russell today is Britain’s singing sensation Sam Ryder!

Sam and Russell discuss Sam’s love of Formula One racing, Sam tries to get a whole branch of Zizzis into the Wonderbox, and he explains why a sheriff’s badge brings back the best memories of all.

Russell is currently on tour in the US and UK: visit russell-howard.co.uk to find out more and book tickets.

 

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

2. Sam Ryder

Jimmy Carr joins Russell today to put his most treasured possessions into the Wonderbox. Jimmy explains the importance of a tennis scoreboard, why there’s nothing better than a perfectly made suit and Russell explores the idea of Jimmy having a hype-man at his gigs.

 

Jimmy currently has tour dates in the US and the UK, and you can buy tickets at jimmycarr.com.

 

Russell is currently on tour in the US and UK: visit russell-howard.co.uk to find out more and book tickets.

 

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

Trailer

Trailer

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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