Blank Podcast with Giles Paley-Phillips & Jim Daly

David Baddiel is a comedian and writer from London. He is very well known for his work on The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Newman and Baddiel in Pieces and his work alongside Frank Skinner on Fantasy Football. In recent years he has branch into writing books for children and his sold out tours and recent play God's Dice have been highly acclaimed. We met David on a very cold General Election Day in London, we tried to avoid politics, but could only hold back for a couple of minutes before diving in on the current political landscape. Thoughts soon changed to dealing with insomnia and David's early life growing up in North London, and his early love of music and trying and failing to be in a band. We discussed getting into comedy, forming collaborations with others and how that has sometimes not always been the easiest way of working. David tells us about his blank moments, which often manifest in his anxiety around health and mortality, that often been exacerbated by caring for his Dad, who had dementia Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Miller is a comedian, actor, and writer who is known for the award-winning The Armstrong and Miller Show and his acting roles in Death in Paradise and The Worst Week of My Life. In recent years Ben has appeared in many films including Paddington 2 and as well as publishing two highly acclaimed books for children. We met up with Ben at Nordic Bar and began our conversation by discussing Vikings and their true motives back in the day. Ben told us about his life at school and being an academic before discovering comedy and pledging himself to the craft. We discussed being writers, how sometimes that gets forgotten as performing becomes more prominent and being away from home filming can be very challenging. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rufus Hound is an actor, comedian and presenter. He is best known for his regular stints on shows like Celebrity Juice and hosting coverage of Glastonbury and Top of the Pops. More recently he has been receiving critical acclaim for his acting roles in a number of stage productions including most recently The Boy in the Dress at the RSC. We met up with Rufus in Stratford Upon Avon at the Royal Shakespeare Company, where we is currently performing in The Boy in the Dress, the new musical based on the book of the same name by David Walliams with music by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers. We headed up to the 'Quiet Room' at the top of the building to chat about moving away from comedy, but still feeling like a comedian. The difficult moments at being away from home for long periods of time for work, being an absurdist and how disconnected we have become as a society. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Bradley is an English actor, best known for his role as Samwell Tarly in the HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones, and has recently finished work on the film Marry Me alongside Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. We met up with John on a very cold afternoon in London to sit down and talk at length about his acting process, the little intricacies that he wants to put into every role and how sometimes that attention to detail spills into his real life. We discussed the pressure of expectation on being in such a huge show and John's own moments of coping with impostor syndrome and how home, in Manchester, is such an important part of his life. John tells us about finding a quiet respite in drumming and his ultimate drum along song. Make sure you listen right to the end! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dawn French is a British actor, comedian and writer. Her partnership with Jennifer Saunders, which began in the early 80's has produced multi-award winning sketch shows for the BBC and made them household names. She has been a successful actor in her own right starring in comedy shows like The Vicar of Dibly and dramas such as Delicious for Sky Arts. Dawn is also a prolific writer and has had several bestselling novels including A tiny Bit Marvellous and her ME/YOU Diary. We met up with Dawn on a crisp autumn morning at Frequency Cafe near Kings Cross, our conversation began with discussing the merits of Gloucester services and the many times we have to stop when we're on the road whilst touring. Dawn spoke about her time moving around as a child because of her Dad's job in the RAF. We discussed trying to find our thing and when we do making sure we own it. Dawn spoke about the serendipity of meeting her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, dislike of awards and how blank moments for her need to be face head on. *Little warning; the c-word does appear once in this episode so if you have kids listening you may want to use headphones!* Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jess Impiazzi is an actress, writer and former glamour model and reality TV star. Jess first came to prominence during her time on Ex-On the Beach and Celebrity Big Brother, but her first love has always been acting, having trained at Italia Conti as a teenager and she's now back doing what she loves. We met up with Jess in Surrey to talk about her early life and the many challenges and difficult moments she faced at a very young age. Jess talked candidly about suffering from depression in her late teens and the moment she attempted to take her own life and why that was a turning point for her. We talked about the negative aspects of reality TV and the lack of aftercare that is shown to participants and how Jess is excited about returning to her lifelong passions. It was a real privilege to chat with Jess, and her warmth and positivity are truly inspiring. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sir Nick Faldo is one of the greatest British golf players of all time, winning The Open three times – the first home player to do so since Henry Cotton – as well as the Masters also three times, he spent 97 weeks as No.1 in the world and is now a regular analyst for CBS and designer of courses.  We met up with Sir Nick in his UK home in Eton, right by the river Thames. It was an early start for us all, so we hastily retreated to a local cafe to grab a cuppa and chat about Sir Nick's incredible career, his dedication to the game, which started at an early age and how blank moments can be controlled by visualising positive outcomes.  Sir Nick tells us about taking risks, in particular, when going through a period of poor form he decided to drastically change his swing, which changed his career forever.H Huge thanks to Ben Corrigan of the amazing Excuse the Mess podcast for the additional post production support.Check out his podcast here: https://castbox.fm/va/2111179 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Melvin Odoom is a British DJ, Broadcaster and Comedian. Alongside Rickie Haywood-Williams and Charlie Hedges, Melvin has hosted Kiss Breakfast every weekday morning. Melvin has presented on TV shows like Xtra Factor, Bang on the Money and Channel 4's Lego masters. Giles and Jim met up with Melvin just before the summer to chat all about 'blank' moments in broadcasting, how having a positive outlook on life has lead to many opportunities and considering new paths to travel including stand-up comedy Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lucy Pinder is a British model, actress, and podcaster. Originally from Winchester, Lucy has been seen in several films and has made many TV appearances in Dream Team, Book at Bedtime and Celebrity Big Brother. We met up with Lucy back in July at Acast to chat about our mutual love of podcasting, changing careers and how Lucy's 'blank' moments come from an unexpected place. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jessica Fostekew is a comedian, actor, writer and podcaster. We met up with Jessica just before the start of her Edinburgh Fringe show, which she was busily putting the finishing touches to. We discussed food and podcasts before diving into finding out about Jessica's early life and negotiating friendship groups through secondary school and how one group allowed her to finally find herself. Jessica tells us about finding comedy and the power of collaboration, working with a producer and also, starting to produce with others. We talk writing groups and the perfect 90's ice creams Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theblankpodcast.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices