What do I do in my free time? Apparently this.
I was an complete wagon jumper when The Frank Skinner Show won a Sony award back in 2011. Despite being a comedy geek, Frank Skinner was still fixed in my mind as a 90s lad with blue humour & football as his main themes. But I loved radio so I gave it a chance... and I am so pleased how wrong I was.
Sprinkling references to literature (he used to be an English lecturer), musicals, ukuleles & comedy heroes among his ridiculously funny personal & celebrity anecdotes, it is comfortable, consistently funny listening, punctuated by frighteningly fast wit. He's currently backed with Alun Cochrane, one of my favourite stand-ups, and the divine miss Emily Dean, a radio & comedy find. Deputy editor of In Style magazine, she wears her superficial, fashion & celebrity obsessed (though clearly... partially... ironic) persona with flair and wit.
Apparently Frank used to say "if I ever said I was passionate about radio you’d know my career was through", which he quoted at the Sony Awards, showing the comedian's inability to resist being inappropriate. But it's clear that he loves radio through & through, often bemoaning how inferior making TV is now compared to the (relative) freedom of radio.
Advice:
Listen if you love puns and comedy
Don't listen if... you don't like regional accents?
I can't think of a reason (although you have to accept that Frank will occasionally be 'a bit of a git' as a reader once wrote in and informed him - which he acquiesced to. But he makes up for it with his warmth and humanity otherwise).
So this...
it was reserved for private purposes, but then it occurred to me belatedly that dear fellow readers of the radio show might also be similarly obsessive. (NB Frank and the team prefer to call their followers, inaccurately, 'readers'. And why not? Again, apart for accuracy).
Ugh, I feel sick at the geekery.... oh well. It's who I am.
Series 2009
March
14-03-09 - 1st show, Comic Relief, Vorderman's mental arithmetic, Michael Jackson's tour, Charles Bronson, Gareth's grandma's secret invention, shouldn't but woulds, breaking up, Dave Gorman, public proposals, Genius
21-03-09 - Dancing on Ice finale, Spanx, strange phobias, Emily's fear of flirty animation, Mr Rascal, Mimi's review of The Fall, penthouse problems, Ben Miller badly promoting his shows, getting into stand-up
28-03-09 - Crouch's robot, London - a large conurbation in the South-East of England, Darth Vader on the South Bank, normal vs. freakish tallness, No 6 podcast!, doing a solid, restaurant anecdotes, sans onions, bath inquisition, Adrian Chiles, Fall.fm, West Bromwich Albion, Absolute biopic
April
04-04-09 - The Grand National, compulsive gambolling, Red Rum gig, horse taxidermy, Basil Brush on Frank's This Is Your Life, recognising plastic surgery, wheelchair Fall gig, The Fall on Jools Holland, induction into the Birmingham Walk of Stars, moving, Girls of the Playboy Mansion, what makes you cry, Derren Brown, GSOH
11-04-09 - Saturday morning! Dear readers, unwashed socks, pheasant listener, Frank's bathing routine, live haircut, first crushes, electrolysis, the Dog Whisperer, Emily & the dog in the playground, Frank's tumble with Susan Boyle, Omid Djalili, Gareth's son
18-04-09 - Air drums, Cubby Broccoli season, favourite bond girls, women's facial hair, haircuts, The Cadbury's Escaped Bunny, Easter bunny notes, the travelling cross, face transplants, Cat-Man-do, Simon Bird, Same Dress Nightmare
25-04-09 - Sandy Mason pun, stupid rows, Saturday Morning! jingle premiere, Susan Boyle makeover, Loch Ness premiere, The Fall's Who Makes The Nazis, Mimi's ideas for the radio show, moving schools, Nick Hancock, 3 Mars bars, flag puns
May
02-05-09 - Meeting Alan Sugar, selling ice, auctioning Frank's hair, Frank & Kath's hair argument, stupid lies, where I lay my hat, chat-up lines for Emily, Bob Dylan's rubbish, kill switch, Gaby Roslin, Frank's American accent
09-05-09 - Meeting McCartney, mistaken identites, best and worst jobs, meeting Alan Sugar, preparing for the due date, green lightbulbs, Katy Brand, air tambourine, The Bubble ghost, Emily gets asked out by a listener, shop assistants, A-Has from your elbow, meeting Kate Moss, the WBR dies
23-05-09 - WBA relegated, Derek Acorah & the world of spirits, Emily's tarot reading, childhood aspirations, Frankie - do you remember, the team do impressions, Horrocks snub, Emily's date, Kenneth Williams as a fighter plant, ambition road-trip, Alistair McGowan
30-05-09 - BGT's fake tears, Boyle rampage, lance a Boyle, complimenting women's figures, scuts, who should be PM, accidental cleavage look, the Hay Festival, ebooks, saying no, Isy Suttie, love songs, broken ankle
June
06-06-09 - with Dave Gorman and Jimmy McGhie - Big Brother, Wii girlfriend, forgetting Mum's birthday, worst birthday presents, 1/2 toilet rolls, ring tones, Jenny Éclair
27-06-09 - Coleridge Absolute Weekender, MJ passes, John Le Mesurier's interregnum, WBA's 'water' chant, Around the World in 80 Days, holidays, Gareth's new son, celebrity memorabilia, home from business, Emily's childhood acting, The Duckworth Lewis Method
July
04-07-09 - Dreams, Frank spotting on a school trip, leching, Blur reunion, odd socks, predicting personality from keyrings, Emily's new pet, Reece Shearsmith, team Papa Lazarou impressions
11-07-09 - The Day of The Triffids repeat, jolie-laide, celebrity couple names, Emily's birthday, Competition Time, sunburn, ghosts, Phil Nichol
18-07-09 - Fern Britton leaves This Morning, don't diss Absolute Radio, man bags, the fourth plinth, Deal or No Deal, missing in the Bush, wigs, laser jeans, chat-up lines, Ian Broudie, encores
25-07-09 - Emily's swines, fashion TV, Arlene Phillips off Strictly, Celebrity Swears, visualising others, MJ's burial, Richard Herring, Emily's Fall impression, Triffids, the Guess What I'm Thinking Game
August
03-08-09 - In Birmingham, bodyguards, Walk of Stars, revenge bikini, practical jokes, sleeping habits, Birmingham facts, Emily's Brummie, Alun Cochrane, Alun's marriage, Alun's Brummie accent, hotel with no bed, Roberto Di Matteo
09-08-09 - Frank being groped, Walk of Stars presentation, havin' a Mayor, Gareth in Edinburgh, Edinburgh weather, tarpaulin streets, Desert Island Disc luxury items, no news or travel, E McMillan, Lee Mack, Around the World in 80 Days, To-ur, Aldo Zilli
16-08-09 - Edinburgh festival, Credit Crunch Cabaret, Emily getting kidnapped by the Capoeira Knights, diva Emily's room incident, diva Gareth's barman incident, celebrity swears, footballers vs comedians, cleaners, Janeane Garofalo, ventriloquism, Gareth's 30th
24-08-09 - Emily's festival date, Gareth's heckler, Chippendales, gifted organs, meeting exes, favourite moustaches, Jason Byrne, listener phone-in suggestions, Oooh denim
29-08-09 - with Lee Mack, sore throat remedies, strange eating habits, Shouldn't but Would, haitch, honest Edinburgh promotions, Gareth's musical asthma pump, Gareth's heckler incidents, Peperami mystery, alternate names for Greg Behrendt
September
05-09-09 - Celebrity anecdotes, moral conundrum, favourite primate, Charlie Higson, foreign children, the death of Shep
12-09-09 - Honorary doctorate, brummy Godfather, Question Time - women, re-decorating, red socks & breaking up, Laura Solon
19-09-09 - Havin' a doss, Questions for the WTM, flashing the builders, bed clothing, celebrity missed-opportunites, Ross Noble
27-09-09 - Sophie Anderton, week-long argument, Christmas argument, Gareth's Bible knowledge, talking in your sleep, Cerys M
October
03-10-09 - World's Strongest Man ideal celebrity friends, bus poster anecdote, David Essex, Ozzie's autobiography, early Christmas
10-10-09 - Twitter, annoying phrases, listeners in Japan, David Mitchell impression competition, Russell Kane, baby pigeons
18-10-09 - Childhood fears, encounters with the Queen, Ed Byrne's broken down, 'Ed Byrne', Ardi, pointless lying, 4th plinth
25-10-09 - with Laura Solon - Laura's job, Daly puns, P Anderson's pool, Gareth as a sock puppet, personal brands, A Parsons
31-10-09 - Halloween special, Guy Fawkes Night, Christopher Lee, Kelly Brooks and Jedward on BGT, good advice, Rhod Gilbert
November
07-11-09 - Bonfire Night, Catholic oppression, anachronisms, Absolute security, Derek Acorah & MJ, Rob Deering, cat fights
14-11-09 - Webcams, the man with a sword, Frank's underpants, Mickey Flanagan, Frank's short story
21-11-09 - Children In Need, staff to the famous, Beautifulpeople.com, celebrity memorabilia, Gareth & The Fall, J Manford
28-11-09 - Tiger Woods, Beautifulpeople.com, pet names, white make-up and fake tans, Jon Richardson
December
05-12-09 - D Mitchell impression, Tiger Woods, Emily's profile, new lessons, Ethan rolls, A Chiles - Journey to the Centre of the Earth
12-12-09 - World Cup draw, An Evening With, 'Lucky young man', Charlotte Hatherley, cotton spool
19-12-09 - Christmas, X-factor fake tears and embarrassments, works outing, Gareth's song, Jimmy Carr's dream joke, Joey Tempest
26-12-09 - Boxing Day, health farms, New Year resolutions, Frank on Parkinson, Christmas arguments, Camille O'Sullivan
*Notes
These are far from comprehensive & mainly represent the stuff that makes me chuckle.
They use shorthand as I was previously using them as filenames.
They'll be updated more fully as I re-listen to episodes... which I do... sadly.
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