Blank Podcast with Giles Paley-Phillips & Jim Daly

Ellie Gibson is an award-winning journalist, presenter, stand-up comedian and co-host of the phenomenal Scummy Mummies podcast. Ellie very kindly invited us around to the Gibson house for a natter about all things BLANK. We started by talking about preparing for a live tour and Edinburgh Fringe, and the incredible success of Scummy Mummies and the podcast movement in general. Ellie told us about her early career as a video games journalist and the challenges of working in such a male dominated industry. We discussed how Ellie met her comedy partner Helen Thorn and then entering into the precarious world of stand-up and the hottest topic of all, which is better, Sonic or Mario?! 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

James O'Brien is a British broadcaster, radio presenter, journalist and podcaster. James is best known for his show on LBC and his recent book 'How To Be Right' We met up with James back in July to talk about his early life, going to boarding school and how he eventually followed in his father's footsteps to become a journalist via a short stint trying his hand at acting. James talked candidly about his time working as a gossip columnist and what led him into broadcasting and his now infamous take downs of callers on his live phone ins on LBC. Amazingly it takes us nearly an hour before we talk about Brexit and Trump and we could have chatted for hours, James is always incredibly insightful, intriguing and wonderful company. 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

Tiffany Stevenson is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actress, who has starred in the highly acclaimed Gameface and People Just Do Nothing. We met up with Tiff not long after she'd returned from LA, where she had been doing some stand-up shows as well as working on a new show she is writing for HBO. We talked about the differences in the comedy scene in the US from the UK and how blank moments are a common occurrence when writing new material and formulating a new show. Tiff told us about preparing for Edinburgh Fringe and the pressure and expense that comes from having a show at the festival and the continued elitism attached with such a prestigious event. 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

Ed Byrne is a stand-up comedian and actor. Often seen on shows including Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo, Ed is currently on a huge nation wide tour with his show 'If I'm Honest' It was down at the Nordic Bar just before the summer holidays that we met up with Ed to talk all things comedy. Ed told us about his journey into stand-up from studying horticulture at university to heading to London to join the club circuit. We discuss blank moments in writing new shows and searching for perfect book end jokes for a show. 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

David Harbour is an American actor from New York who has performed in film, television, and the theatre. He is best known for his role as Chief Jim Hopper on the Netflix original series, Stranger Things and the lead in the new adaptation of HELLBOY He is also known for his role as CIA agent Gregg Beam in Quantum of Solace, Shep Campbell in Revolutionary Road alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Van Hauser in End of Watch and Dexter Tolliver in Suicide Squad Trying to arrange interviews for the podcast is often challenging, all our guests have extremely busy schedules and finding a time and place to record can be tricky. We tried really hard to meet up with David while he was fleetingly in the UK at the tail end of 2018, but we just couldn't make it work. However, David is a wonderful man and promised to work out some time for us in January whatever his schedule. So, we finally sat down at Acast studios a few weeks back and recorded our first episode live from New York via Skype, which we've tried to keep as natural and authentic to our own experience in the room listening through the headphones. We discussed David's exploits living in Bristol, England when he was just 16, having been back there recently to shoot HELLBOY. We talk about working in theatre and the impact on David's life now being in a huge show like Stranger Things. David speaks openly about his mental health and the new book he is writing he hopes will open up more discussion around the subject. 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

It's the summer break, so we though we'd put together a little selection of clips from some of our favourite episodes so far to keep you going till we return in the Autumn with some amazing new episodes. 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 Lloyd is an English television producer and writer best known for his work on comedy television programmes, including Not the Nine O'Clock News, Spitting Image, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Blackadder and QI, blackadder and QI. We spoke to John as our special guest on our first ever live podcast at Latitude Festival, which was daunting enough in itself as well as meeting one of British comedy's most influential producers and writers. We started our conversation by taking John back to school days where he began to first cultivate, what has been his lifelong determination to question authority and buck trends. John tells how Blank moments are an ever present part of the creative life and how using mindfulness techniques and practices has really helped him in these moments. We talked about the lack of questioning for high level politicians now that shows like Spitting Image are no longer on TV and how we need to get back to a place in comedy where we can start to do that again. 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

Matthew Syed is a British journalist, author, broadcaster, and former British number one table tennis player. We met with Matthew at Acast Studios near Old Street on a hot day in central London. We started our conversation by talking about the challenges facing top coaches in sport and in particular the ongoing success and adaptability of top football managers like Sir Alex Ferguson. Matthew told about his journey to becoming Britains No.1 Table Tennis player and how he sustained that position for 10 years. We talked about the power of camaraderie in team sports allowing the victors a greater sense of achievement and enjoyment at winning, than in individual sports. In discussing his new book 'Rebel Ideas' Matthew tells us about how he been looking into anthropology, performance and the echo chambers so many of us find ourselves. 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

Sanjeev Bhaskar is a British comedian, actor, documentarian and broadcaster, he best known for his work in the BBC Two sketch comedy series Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42 as well as documentary series 'India with Sanjeev Bhaskar' and Bollywood and Beyond. Most recently Sanjeev has been none for his role as DI Sunny Khan in Unforgotten and is currently the Chancellor of the University of Sussex. Jim and Giles met with Sanjeev at Acast studio and started by talking about Sanjeev's lifelong love of The Beatles and how a lot of us consume music differently these day, rarely listening to full albums. Sanjeev explains his late arrival into comedy having studied marketing at university and after experiencing a dark period in his professional life he decided to pursue comedy and live performance. We discuss the power of the creative journey and how that is why we often do what we do, not the end goal. 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 Sewell is an Olivier award-winning actor and has appeared in films such as Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. As well as films Rufus has appeared in many high profile TV shows including Victoria, Zen, Pillars of the Earth, Middlemarch, and most recently The Man in the High Castle, Zen, The Pillars of the Earth. We met with Rufus down at the Nordic Bar in central London to chat about all things BLANK. Rufus had just finished filming with Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman in feature film The Father, before heading back to his home in LA. Rufus talked openly about his early life, the loss of his father at a very young age and how being a truant during secondary school had a lot to do with anxiety. We talked about the power of critics and knowing when to say no to the things. WARNING there is some strong language used in this episode that some might find offensive 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