#the russell howard hour

[panelshowsource]

#the russell howard hour #russell howard #joe wilkinson #not a panel show #gifs #mine #mine:trhh #trhh 5.08

[rapha-reads]

The Russell Howard Hour | Full Episode | Series 6 Episode 8

I’m posting the whole episode, because more than half of it is Russell having a chat and a laugh with Greta Thunberg, and it is a fantastic interview with two awesome people. Greta is a brilliant mind, a heart of gold, a spine of steel and a brilliant human being, and Russell is one the funniest, kindest and warmest comedian of this time, with very human and incredible interview skills. This is the warmest, realest, most genuine conversation not interview, and I encourage everyone who’s burned out by the news to watch this segment, and watch Russell’s show.

#youtube #russell howard #the russell howard hour #greta thunberg #climate change #climate emergency #climate activism #humor #rapha talks

[lastweeksshirttonight]

4, 11, 16?

4) Favorite quote from the Taskmaster Book of Quotes --

Googling tells me that I, on Season 10, am just about to get to Greg starting to talk about his Book of Quotes. So looking at these with literally no understanding or context, I have to go with "It's floating like two dicks." That sounds like something I'd say.

11) Dream contestant(s) for the future --

Honestly my dream contestant is both never going to happen and a bit of a surprise considering my blog - RM of BTS.

RM is on a variety show with the rest of BTS called "Run BTS", and the best description I csn think of for it is "the seven richest men you can think of get into knock-out drag-down competitions over ramen coupons and $15 gift cards". It's honestly fairly close to Taskmaster, except every episode is one whole task.

RM strikes me as behaving like Ed Gamble, if Ed Gamble also acted like he's the smartest person in the room. RM would regularly explode while trying to fish a thimble out of a bathtub without touching either or whatever. RM's prize tasks would also be legendary, as he is a true Art Hoe and Greg would be losing his shit over the obtuse metaphorical meaning of whatever thing he shows up with.

I don't think TM could even begin to afford RM, and he's also not a comedian, but he'd be so so fun to watch fall apart.

Some more potential dream contestants who are a bit more likely to happen:

- John Oliver, obviously, because of my single-minded desire to see him in as many pieces of media as possible.

- Demetri Martin, because I have no idea how his extremely cerebral stand-up would translate to this show. I think poorly, which would be amazing to behold.

- Ed Byrne. Dara opened the door, let's get my college Mock the Week fave on there!!!

- Karl Pilkington. I think we see that a theme for my most wanted players has more to do with how weird or unique they'll be on the show, not if they'd actually be skilled at Taskmaster. So obviously I have to see how Karl would deal with this.

16) Favourite contestants --

I'm gonna divide this into two responses. My favorite overall contestant, in terms of performance, skill, chaos, and likability, is Richard Osman. He was the first contestant I watched that I fully rooted for, and he turned in one of my favorite creative tasks ever, the Bittersweet Symphony riff for his nursery rhyme. Runner-up here is Russell Howard, because good god what was he doing that whole time. Incredible. He should have gotten first place for the hypermasculine Top Gear tattoo (genuinely the hardest I laughed the entirety of season 6).

My favorite contestant for extremely shallow reasons is Mark Watson, because he's hot as hell. (I have a definite type.)

#taskmaster #taskmaster uk #lee's question hour #john oliver #kim namjoon #rm #rm bts #demetri martin #ed byrne #karl pilkington #mark watson #richard osman #russell howard

[terastalungrad]

One last plug for this!

I'm recording my solo standup show at Edinburgh TOMORROW at 1.30pm!

It's a high-energy, uplifting comedy show full of gags - and it all secretly builds up to a big thing at the end. Very much a show for Tumblr. Disguised as a mainstream comedy show, but is actually a queer, neurodivergent and Welsh perspective on disability and self-diagnosis. Some poignant bits, but no sad bits! Just a love hour, and you'll have a nice time.

Ticket link:

It's a big room, so every ticket bought in advance will make a big difference to my peace of mind.

This show doesn’t invite reviewers. Instead, here are reviews from audiences who’ve seen the show:

Steffan Alun is the Welsh bisexual Russell Howard.

Funny, light-hearted, and clever (yet still accessible for a tired hungover brain).

I love the way his mind works. I just want to see everything Steffan ever does from now on.

He doesn't waste a single line. Incredibly impressive show.

So satisfying. And crammed full of gags.

Brings everyone along for the ride - a rollercoaster from start to finish.

Warm, inclusive comedy that never takes the piss out of the audience (unless you're an Englishman named Mark).

Every year, Steffan gets better and better.

I took a chance on a whim, and I'm so glad I did.

Hilarious, relatable, and kind. I've never seen a show like this.

Some shows make you laugh until you cry. Some shows take your breath away. Some shows make you feel better about the world. This show does all three.

The most comforting standup I've ever seen.

Unmissable. I always come see Steffan at the Fringe, and this is my favourite show yet.

Last minute decision to catch a show before the train home and so glad I did. Funny throughout and would definitely recommend.

Steffan made everyone laugh throughout. A great start to the morning.

A show packed with laughs but also a healthy amount of poignant self reflection. Exactly the vibe of comedy I needed. I hope I'm allowed to rate a show based on my judgement of him as a person? The support was also really funny. Will be recommending this to others.

#standup #comedy #edinburgh fringe #edinburgh festival

[devirnis]

Fuck It Friday

tagged by @disasterbuckdiaz @tizniz @daffi-990

I can't tell if this idea is brilliant or ridiculous, but here we are. The amount of research I have done on Backdraft is kind of ridiculous when it's just for smut. I should probably just rent the movie at this point instead of looking at random clips on youtube

More of let you set the pace chapter 2!

He recognizes that music… and as soon as the text on a black screen (“A Ron Howard Film”) transitions to a shot of fire helmets and the words “Chicago 1971”, Buck’s mouth drops open in shock. Eddie wouldn’t –  “Leave me alone, will you?” young Brian complains off-screen. “Eddie,” Buck hisses, squirming around a bit. “This isn’t funny.” “Who says I’m trying to be funny?” Eddie asks innocently. “I know this movie’s important to you. Thought we could watch it together.” Buck glares up at him. He knows for a fact that Eddie’s seen Backdraft before. Eddie admitted to him that he went through a Kurt Russell phase after watching Escape from New York when he was a teenager, and it wasn’t until years later that he realized his obsession with Snake Plissken had less to do with the character’s badass persona and more with Eddie’s big fat crush on the actor playing him. “Oh, and you aren't allowed to come until the end credits roll,” Eddie adds. Buck gapes at him. Is he serious? The movie is over two hours long!

if you wanna @bigfootsmom @homerforsure @princessfbi @try-set-me-on-fire @shortsighted-owl @wildlife4life @spaceprincessem @eddiebabygirldiaz @honestlydarkprincess @giddyupbuck @housewifebuck @jeeyuns @bvckandeddie @loserdiaz @eowon @messyhairdiaz @shitouttabuck @exhuastedpigeon @malewifediaz @lemonzestywrites @rainbow-nerdss @underwater-ninja-13 @thewolvesof1998 @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @fortheloveofbuddie <3

#fuck it friday #tag games #911 #mywip #fic: let you set the pace

[thinkingimages]

Glass plate negative of Eta Argus by James Short and H C Russell

In 1887 the Government Astronomer, H.C. Russell, worked an international project to map the stars in the southern section of the heavens using photography. Planning for this began in 1887 and started in 1892 after which it continued to play a major role in the activities at Sydney Observatory up until the 1960s. 

The success of this project depended upon a special kind of photographic telescope, officially known as an 'astrograph', but which Russell often referred to as the 'Star Camera'. The casing and mounts for the 'Star Camera' were made in New South Wales and were completed by 1890. As the lens, ordered from Sir Howard Grubb, had not arrived Russell experimented with a six-inch (15.2 cm) portrait lens made by J.H. Dallmeyer. Using this camera Russell took a number of scientific photographs of the stars which he felt were "…the first of their kind of the Southern Skies." 

Negatives taken by Russell,and his camera operator James Short, were printed and bound into a book title 'Photographs of the Milky Way and Nubeculae taken at Sydney Observatory 1890'. This Plate was exposed for approximately 2 hours 40 minutes. For more information see attached Powerhouse Museum Theme 'Sydney Observatory Star Camera First Photographs 1890'.

Geoff Barker, Curatorial, September, 2008

References Bhathal, R., Australian Astronomer; John Tebbutt, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, NSW, 1993 Haynes, Raymond, Haynes, Roslynn, Malin, David, McGee, Richard, Explorers of the Southern Sky, Cambridge University Press, 1996 Nangle, J., 'The Sydney Observatory; its history and work, Sydney Technical College, 1930 Russell, H.C., Photographs of The Milky-Way & Nubeculae taken at Sydney Observatory, 1890, publisher unknown, 1891-1907s

#Eta Argus #James Short #H C Russell #astronomy #astrophotography #stars #heavens

[thebeesareback]

Where to find multiple people from Taskmaster outside of the show

Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned: David Baddiel, Frank Skinner

Big Fat Quiz of the Year/Big Fat Quiz of Everything: Mawaan Rizwan, Judi Love, Noel Fielding, Dara O'Briain, Sarah Millican, Jo Brand, Romesh Ranganathan, Asim Chaudhry, Rose Matafeo, Mel Giedroyc

The Cleaner: Greg Davis, Asim Chaudhry, Sian Gibson

Cuckoo: Greg Davis, Asim Chaudhry

Doctor Who: Mawaan Rizwan, Ardal O'Hanlon

The Inbetweeners: Greg Davis, Joe Thomas, Susan Wokoma

Eight out of Ten Cats/ Eight out of 10 Cats does Countdown: Josh Widdicombe, Roisin Conaty, Romesh Ranganathan, Katherine Ryan, Richard Osman, Joe Wilkinson, Paul Chowdhry, Rob Beckett, Sara Pascoe, Lolly Adefope, Aisling Bea, Nish Kumar, Alice Levine, Liza Tarbuck, Jessica Knappett, Phil Wang, David Baddiel, Rose Matafeo, Daisy May Cooper, Johnny Vegas, Lee Mack, Morgana Robinson, Chris Ramsey, Judi Love, Sophie Duker, Fern Brady, John Kearns, Sam Campbell

Frankie Boyle's New World Order: Frankie Boyle, Sara Pascoe, Nish Kumar, Desiree Burch, Fern Brady

Feel Good: Mae Martin, Charlotte Ritchie

Fresh Meat: Joe Thomas, Charlotte Ritchie, Rob Beckett

Ghosts: Lolly Adefope, Charlotte Ritchie, Jessica Knappett, Katy Wix, Bridget Christie, Keill Smith-Bynoe

The Great British Bakeoff: Rob Beckett, James Acastar, Sue Perkins, Mel Gierdroyc

Hypothetical: James Acaster, Josh Widdicombe, Roisin Conaty, Liza Tarbuck, Phil Wang, Lou Sanders, Rose Matafeo, Guz Khan, Victoria Cohen Mitchell, Judi Love, Dara O'Briain

Have I Got News for You: Roisin Conaty, Dave Gorman, Mel Giedroyc, Nish Kumar, Alice Levine, Liza Tarbuck, Phil Wang, Jo Brand, Richard Herring, Desiree Burch, Munya Chawawa, Sarah Millican, Ivo Graham, Julian Clary, Lucy Beaumont

Off Menu Podcast: James Acaster (host), Ed Gamble (host), Greg Davis, Nish Kumar, Alex Horne, Dara O'Briain, Katherine Ryan, Joe Thomas, Joe Lycett, Lolly Adefope, Bob Mortimer, Jamali Maddix, Morgana Robinson, Bridget Christie, John Kearns, Keill Smith-Bynoe, Mae Martin

Outnumbered: Hugh Dennis, Katy Wix, Lee Mack

Late Night Lycett: Joe Lycett (host), Katherine Ryan, Daisy May Cooper

The Last Leg: Josh Widdicombe (host), Romesh Ranganathan, Lolly Adefope, Jessica Knappett, Johnny Vegas, Sophie Duker, Lucy Beaumont, Jo Brand, Frank Skinner, Joe Thomas, Katherine Ryan, Greg Davis, Russell Howard, Roisin Conaty, Aisling Bea, Joe Lycett, Victoria Cohen Mitchell, James Acaster, Sally Phillips, Nish Kumar, Alex Horne, Kerry Godliman, Phil Wang, Jamali Maddix, Guz Khan, Desiree Burch, Munya Chawawa, Susan Wokoma, Rose Matafeo, Kiell Smith-Bynoe

Miranda: Joe Wilkinson, Mel Giedroyc, Sally Phillips, Liza Tarbuck, Katy Wix

Mock the Week: Dara O'Briain (host), Hugh Dennis (every episode), Frankie Boyle, Josh Widdicombe, Romesh Ranganathan, Katherine Ryan, Al Murray, Mark Watson, Nish Kumar, Kerry Godliman, Rhod Gilbert, Ed Gamble, Desiree Burch, Chris Ramsey, Sophie Duker, Sarah Millican, Ivo Graham

Man Down: Roisin Connarty, Greg Davis, Mike Wozniak

Not Going Out: Lee Mack, Hugh Dennis, Tim Vine, Katy Wix

Parenting Hell: Josh Widdicombe (host), Rob Beckett (host)

Paul Sinhar's TV Showdown: Paul Sinhar (host), Rob Beckett

QI: Romesh Ranganathan, Katherine Ryan, Richard Osman, Dave Gorman, Sara Pascoe, Hugh Dennis, Lolly Adefope, Aisling Bea, Mark Watson, Nish Kumar, Tim Vine, David Baddiel, Jo Brand, Rose Matafeo, Johnny Vegas, Alan Davis, Desiree Burch, Victoria Cohen Mitchell, Bridget Christie, Dara O'Briain, Ivo Graham, Jenny Eclair, Julian Clary, Sue Perkins

Quickly Kevin, Will He Score?: Josh Widdicombe (host) (busy guy), Ivo Graham

Rob and Romesh vs...: Romesh Ranganathan (host), Rob Becket (host)

Russell Howard's Good News: Russell Howard (host) (obviously), Roisin Conaty, Romesh Ranganathan, Doc Brown, Joe Wilkinson, Aisling Bea, Iain Sterling, Lou Sanders, Ed Gamble, Chris Ramsey

The Russell Howard Hour: Russell Howard (host) (obviously), Paul Chowdhry, Jessica Knappett, Lou Sanders, Desiree Burch

Would I Lie to You: Richard Osman, Bob Mortimer, Phil Wang, Rhod Gilbert, Joe Thomas, Lou Sanders, Sian Gibson, Jo Brand, Katherine Parkinson, Lee Mack, Sarah Kendall, Desiree Burch, Ardal O'Hanlon, Judi Love, Munya Chawawa, Sarah Millican, Lucy Beaumont

Very Modern Quests: Alice Levine, Greg James, Joe Lycett, Phil Wang

Enjoy!

#taskmaster #taskmaster UK #Little alex horne #greg davis #baddiel and skinner unplanned #david baddiel #frank skinner #big fat quiz #mawaan rizwan #judi love #noel fielding #dara o briain #sarah millican #jo brand #romesh ranganathan #asim chaudhry #rose matafeo #mel giedroyc #the cleaner #sian gibson #cuckoo #doctor who #ardal o'hanlon #the inbetweeners #joe thomas #susan wokoma #eight out of ten cats #8 out of 10 cats #8 out of 10 cats does countdown #josh widdicombe

[awigglycultist]

So like many others I'm sure, I've been getting tons of Taskmaster clips popping on my tiktok fyp and youtube recommend

Mostly the new Zealand version, so I've became a little obsessed with Paul Williams

Then I started getting more clips of the UK version and ofc have also become a little obsessed with Alex Horne

Then a clip with Russell Howard showed up and I remembered how I used to watch clips of the Russell Howard Hour and Mock The Week

So I decided to watch more clips with him and I found out all of series 6 is free on youtube so ofc I'm currently binge watching it and I'm a little obbessed with Russell Howard too now

#chloe says shit #paul williams #alex horne #russell howard #taskmaster

[ophcliaswrites]

GREG DAVIES GIF PACK || by clicking on the source link below you’ll find #500 gifs of greg davies in taskmaster, would i lie to you, the graham norton show, the russell howard hour & various youtube videos. all of these gifs were created by me from scratch so please do not repost or claim as your own. you are more than welcome to use them in edits and whatever else as long as you credit me ( @ophcliaswrites​​​​​ ). if you use these gifs, please like or reblog this post. if you enjoy my gifs please consider donating to my friend’s gofundme to help with his transition.

#rph #greg davies gif hunt #greg davies gif pack #gifpackshq #gmcentral #thegifpackreblogs #*mine #dearindies #userdevon #usersweetface #userollivia #lcverevermcregifs #svejarph #starlightjessie #olderfcs

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

My journey through John Oliver's IMDB page that I've been doing in the last few days (summary: his old Cambridge doc got taken off YouTube, I got paranoid about how I'm glad I'd saved that but this is a reminder that nothing stays on the internet forever so you need to save the stuff you want to keep, this escalated too quickly into me buying a new external hard drive just to see how much of his IMDB page I can download and put in one place) has brought me through a documentary about Russell Howard from 2021. I previously knew that documentary existed, but I hadn't watched it because even before Russell doubled down on the Jordan Peterson thing enough for me to be done watching his stuff (I ignored the mild comments for months before he actually invited Peterson onto his show and made ignoring it impossible), I didn't need to see a documentary about how the pandemic made life difficult for an extremely rich and successful touring comedian.

However, I learned today that John Oliver had a credit in the documentary, so obviously I immediately downloaded it. To be honest I haven't watched the whole thing, I just skipped through it in search of the John Oliver bits. Because I have given up on Russell Howard, but his former connection to the Chocolate Milk Gang, and my hobby of cataloguing all Chocolate Milk Gang history, is the only thing that will make me temporarily suspend my closely held principles such as a hard line against all Jordan Peterson apologists. I did the same thing with his recent podcast, rolling my eyes when I first saw it announced because surely he doesn't need another platform and Britcom doesn't need another bland podcast, until I saw that there would be a John Oliver episode and obviously I listened to that one.

Anyway, the point is that there was some fun Chocolate Milk Gang history in the documentary, I've cut out the relevant clip:

The Chocolate Milk Gang goes by many names. Andrew Maxwell apparently called them "the guys with the bags". Stewart Lee has called them "The hanging around gang". In a discussion with Richard Herring they were labeled "the nerds of the circuit". But here we have a new one: the golden generation. A name coined by Russell Howard and then immediately and entirely justifiably ripped apart by John Oliver, what good stuff. I greatly enjoyed that. Someone should make a Chocolate Milk Gang documentary. I could probably cut together a Chocolate Milk Gang documentary from all the media files I've hoarded. See how many names they've been given over the years.

Based on the ten or so minutes I watched, I think I might genuinely be capable of putting together better videos than the person who made this Russell Howard documentary, the editing on it looks surprisingly amateur-ish for a film about such a huge mainstream star. However, it did provide me with very slightly (only very slightly, but still) higher quality versions of a couple of CMG-related images I had seen before, but had only seen in terrible quality, so it's nice to have those a little clearer:

And I hadn't seen this one before, I don't think Andy Zaltzman changed in appearance at all between 2003 and about 2017.

Oh and Steve Hall shows up at the end, which is fun. I like that guy. I like Steve Hall probably too much, given the fact that the main thing I've heard him do is be quite gross on several episodes Daniel Kitson's radio show in 2007-2008. But it was really funny. Those episodes made me laugh almost constantly and I recommend them to absolutely no one, no one should ever hear that. Though it's not the only thing I've heard him do. I have to be the only person in the world who watched the We Are Klang sitcom in 2023 just for one actor, but that actor was not Greg Davies. Oh and Steve Hall was in that Late 'n' Live recording from 2007, but that's not a lot better for making him respectable. He writes on The Russell Howard Hour and on some level I know he was probably involved in bringing in Jordan Peterson and probably if I asked Steve Hall to tell me all his political opinions I wouldn't be able to enjoy his old sitcom anymore, but luckily he doesn't have a big enough platform to tell us all his opinions so I'll just assume it's fine.

@lastweeksshirttonight, tagging you in case you don't happen to see this post because you'll really enjoy that video clip, it is relevant to your interests.

[panelshowsource]

hi, sarah! i see you've watched a lot of british panel shows/comedians and i need a specific recommendation: where to start with dara o briain? he's right now my favourite taskmaster contestant ever and after listening to his episodes on the tm podcast and off menu, and watching him on wilty, i'm completely in love with his humor and manner of speech. what are the "must see" things he's done in the past? he's such a prominent figure in british tv but idk how to choose what to watch next

i have watched a lot of panel shows...you got that right hehehe...

i'm happy for you that you found someone you really like and get to explore a lot of new content! i gotta say, that doesn't happen often for someone quite so famous and prolific like dara, so it's fun for me to think back to all the stuff he's been in :')

he's a comedian, but he's also known for being mr big smarty pants, so he's done a lot of comedy programmes as well as smarty pants programmes & documentaries. you may choose to start in one of these distinct directions if there's a side of dara you like best! let me start with a few of my own faves...

he's probably best known — definitely by my followers, but also in general — for being the long-time host of the news-focused panel show mock the week, which JUST ended after 17 years. of the panel shows about news, of which there are many, this one is the most accessible and the most silly. dara is a GREAT host and has hilarious dynamics with the regular panelists, especially his literal best friend ed byrne (who we heavily stan). in fact, on mtw, you'll also see lots of other taskmaster contestants you may recognise, including panel captain and cult fave hugh dennis, frankie boyle, russell howard, and ed gamble. i know 17 years is A LOT, so if you've never seen the show and aren't sure where to start, i'm gonna recommend you give series 15 a go — as a new-er panel show fan, i think a more recent season like this one will be most accessible. also, this compilation of comedians roasting dara on mtw for half an hour is fucking hilarious lmaooo

dara has been on tons of panel shows as a panelist opposed to hosting, and you'd be amiss not to catch up on him on qi! one of stephen's smart lil boys and a clever laugh, he was made for that show. you can find dara's episodes here and i have all of qi linked on the masterpost! if you've never seen qi here's a silly clip that is mostly sean being one of stephen's naughty lil boys but it's a great example of the learning a lot/learning absolutely nothing dichotomy that can happen with a great panel (including dara!!)!

apart from that, i'd highly recommend you watch his stand-up! i put two specials on drive for you, 2012's craic dealer and 2015's crowd tickler (sorry for the mid quality — they're just dvd rips). these are pretty perfect for blossoming dara fans because they're funny, witty, clever, goofy — all the things we love about dara at once!!

as for my final personal recommendation, you should definitely check out dara & ed's great big adventure, a bbc two miniseries where the besties travel along the pan-american highway! they have top-tier wholesome bantz, ed is very fucking goofy (you will find quickly that being a fan of dara is being a fan of ed hahaha), and they explore some very beautiful cultures. i will work on getting decent rips of the show for my drive, but in the meantime you can watch this on dailymotion!

it would be amiss if i ended the recs here, because dara has hosted a lot of different series — but these series are based around very specific interests of his. some of the big ones include the following: go 8 bit, one of his most recent shows about classic and indie video games, very nostalgic with fun guests; science club (if you need full eps of this lmk, i should be able to get them but it will just take a lil time) and school of hard sums, nerds talking about science and maths, def have qi vibes; and the underrated stargazing live, broadcast every winter and when dr brian cox & our fave amateur astronomer mr ó briain talk about stars and shit! these are less necessary watching and more worth watching if the topics tickle your fancies~

okay i hope that helps!! there is obviously so much more to his career — including his many books — but i think this is overwhelming enough and i hope you don't mind the long post! feel free to catch us up on what you're enjoying down the line, we love dara and hearing what others love about him too :')

#riemmetric #a #long post #whoops heh

[bag-for-life]

Semi-coherent self indulgent ramble about Edinburgh below, mostly because I forget things if I don’t record them somewhere - feel free to ignore…

- Within 10 minutes of getting off the train we spotted David O’Doherty, the first show we were seeing that night, I too loudly whispered ‘look, David O’Doherty, green bike helmet, oh my god’ and was instantly ashamed at having so little cool about that stuff although he either didn’t hear me or just convincingly acted that way - his show was fantastic, one of my favourites, I will always be excited to hear his ‘beefs’ song - shortly after the show while I was at the bar my friend saw him walk past with Josie Long, I was pretty relieved as I’m sure I would have started crying as I told her how much I loved her book

- Show 2: Frank Skinner, I wasn’t sure about this when we booked it, the audience demographic changed massively and it was a huge shift from lovely DO’D, he definitely flirted with some more ‘old school’ stuff about brexit but then moved away from the obvious jokes, enjoyable but not so much my thing, Russell Howard and David Baddiel were in the audience taking the comedian count up to 4

- Show 3: Simon Amstell was the last show of day 1 - very much a work in progress but enjoyed it, different again from the first 2 shows, we were talking to some people the next day who said they had seen him a few years ago and would never go again as he was so self involved, couldn’t argue with that so I suppose it comes down to if you like him in the first place?

- Day 2, show 1 was Daniel Kitson - just wonderful, he makes its look so easy, hard to talk about without going into the premise but so far removed from the work in progress show earlier in the year and I can’t wait to see it again once it’s ‘complete’

- Show 2: Tarot, another work in progress - I absolutely love them and was cackling like an idiot for the whole thing and can’t wait to see finished show, was accidentally too enthusiastic and got pulled into some very mild audience participation regarding Mr Blobby (and my brain just can’t do audience participation) pretty sure my response was shite but it didn’t even dent how much I loved it

- Show 3: Stuart Goldsmith - bang on the front row (at the side at least) good lord he has VERY twinkly eyes… also I think the first proper ‘themed’ show we saw, good but very strong competition based on earlier shows of the day

- Show 4: Last minute scarper to the next street over to see Stuart Laws, the first show where I hadn’t seen them before either live or on TV, great visual gag fairly early on. Really enjoyed it, more low quality audience participation from myself… decision taken not to sit on the front row again if I could help it

- Show 5: Nish Kumar was brilliant and I could have listened to him screaming about the government all night, also the loudest audience of the weekend and everyone in the room loved him. Ed Gamble was in the crowd and got some stick which was fun, it was billed as a work in progress but I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was unplanned and he just ranted for the whole hour

- Last show was an ‘All Stars’ show at the Udderbelly, booked mainly because we couldn’t get to see Chloe Petts’ main show - she was fantastic obviously - also loved Lara Ricote

- Day 3, show 1: Ed Gamble, brings out the mum vibes in me despite only being 5 years younger, I find myself thinking he’s a lovely young man, and so handsome too etc He was very funny despite the smell in the venue and the actual children in the crowd, have tickets for the tour next year and am hoping to see him walk onstage wearing his camping trousers

- Show 2: The same stinking venue (Hive 1) for Alison Spittle who took the step of spraying air freshener around the room, great segment where she made assumptions about people’s lives based on their favourite soups, the show was a last minute booking but fantastic

-Show 3: Paul Merton’s Impro Pals, we booked this based on our shared childhood love of watching him on Have I Got News For You, the friendly posh lady we sat next to told us she didn’t like it when comedy was political so we decided not mention how much we enjoyed Nish…it was fun but very ‘lite’ and we were ready to get shouted at by an angry Scottish man

- Show 4: Frankie Boyle, lots of shouting and calling people cunts, lots of his psychotic giggle, couple of what appeared to be walk outs but who knows really, he only heckled the blokes leaving the room which was interesting, took the Prince Andrew is a nonce joke count up by about 100 and loads of fun stuff about the royals which I enjoyed

- Show 5: Buffy Revamped - the only non-stand up show we saw but it was great fun, crowd was full of very enthusiastic people and some VERY drunk people but he handled them expertly

- Show 6: Ivo Graham - pretty chaotic and I’m not sure if it was because it started late or if that’s just the show/the man, regardless it was really fun and had a great audience participation angle that would have worked really really well if the show was extended over a couple of hours, still a great last show of the weekend

This was my first trip to Edinburgh and it was amazing, the bad stuff I had prepared for wasn’t as bad as expected (the crowds, the queuing etc) although it was obviously expensive and I doubt I could afford it every year, also it totally fried my brain so I’m spending the next week indoors and not talking to any other humans as much as possible

Disappointed not to have spotted a wild Watto and also guilty we couldn’t fit his show in, but I am going to see Search next month and have his book on pre-order so I hope that balances things out in the long-run (see also John Robins but with Howl later in the year and without the book) and I didn’t give up hope of a no more jockeys show until ludicrously late into the weekend

I think our comedian spotting skills were fairly poor - we also saw Paul Chowdry and Paul Williams (separately) out and about and then Amy Annette walking down the street with Nish and Ed after Nish’s show, but that’s it

Thus ends my ramble - pics of the stages etc on my equally ‘not of much interest to anyone but me’ shows I’ve been to blog @mylifeintickets

[labbaik-ya-hussain-as]

👌🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍⭐⭐⭐

[mejomonster]

I love reading.

I frequently select novels which are just So Long it takes me weeks to months to finish them. Making speed reading through a couple a week (my dream) unobtainable. I mean, I like reading nonfiction too, and maybe because of old college cramming skills I can read 2-4 400 page nonfiction books a week if Im okay with feeling tired all week.

Which, I have some niche recs if you're into non fiction: Stalking the Wild Pendulum by Bentov, When the Body Says No by Gabor Mate, Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn, The Reality of ESP by Russel Targ if youre into remote viewing history, Psychic Discoveries beyond the Iron Curtain by Ostrander and Schroeder on archive.org if youre into parapsychology and looking for other names to look into further since tbh this book is more journalism-entertainment than nonfiction reference also this books fairly old now, Immortal Remains - from a philosophy angle it was okay but frustrating to me except i got some good sources for further reading mentoned... but I prefer the UVA youtube lectures and the research they do since i just tend to prefer reading collected information myself, The Emotion Code - not necessarily informational in a verified sense but if youve ever considered paying money for an emotion code practitioner i liked the book cause i could just Learn the method and try it myself... free... and test and decide for myself regardless of if ifs placebo if its actually helpful to me or not, The Ancient Science and Art of Pranic Healing - this book doesnt have studies sourced as its more about teach The technique but i like that it lists sources for further reading - and its another case of "well i can just learn, test it on myself, see if its helpful or not" also im an absolute nerd about older books and the considerations that went into X book at Their time compared to now... if you ever saw my language learning textbooks collection from 1800s books to 2023 books youd know.

Speaking of here are some Fascinating Language Learning books. If youre curious about the Nature Method as in learn a language IN the lamguage by comprehensible context I recommend Ayan Academy playlists on youtube and the books: English by the Nature Method, Lingua Latina, La Francais Par Le Methode Nature, L'Italiano Secondo il Metodo Natura, Poco a Poco. (I also have many a youtube channel lessons recommendation for this learning method as I prefer it). For textbooks to learn primarily with graded reading materials Ive got: Beginning Chinese, Intermediate Chinese, and Advanced Chinese by John DeFrancis, Spanish for beginners by Charles Duff, French for Beginners Charles Duff, A Japanese Reader: Graded Lessons for Mastering the Written Language by Roy Miller (steep learning curve but decent preparation for reading actual novels and news which is great because i find a lot of japanese textbooks hover at beginner-intermediate but dont bridge all the way to necessary skills to understand complex texts). Cool books: Chinese Self Taught by The Natural Method by John Darroch (old af and some information is outdated and the pinyin system Hurts so focus on actual hanzi - but the grammar explanations are the easiest ive read and enjoyed reading), Japanese in 30 Hours (its basic japanese but it explains basic grammar understandably and helps you get a basic mental framework for the language making further study, i felt, much easier to adjust to, and its a short quick Study Up Basics book - id especially recommend it to people planning to learn using immersion/comprehensible input asap as it will give them a little bit of a skeleton to lean on), japaneseaudiolessons.com is an interesting introduction to audio flashcard lessons (fun fact glossika is just an expensive version of audio flashcard study which are just... audio in target language then a language you understand so you comprehend the sentence meaning and can learn new words/grammar from it by listening) and the site has a free grammar book to accompany it AND the site makers made kanji teaching books that come the closest to providing prewritten mnemonics for meaning AND pronunciation of japanese kanji in book study form. Something i appreciate since heisig books make you Make Up Your Own mnemonics so i find his books useless, and many japanese kanji teaching books that use mnemonics focus on meaning and skip teaching pronunciations since its harder to include multiple pronunciations in a mnemonic. For Chinese hanzi study, my favorite book is Tuttle's Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1-3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters, the book provides mnemonic stories for pronunciation including tone, and meaning, and example words. Its the backbone of how i learned the first few hundred hanzi and Learned How to personally remember more which made continuing to learn hanzi much easier. Since that Hanzi book, ive been desperate for a similarly written book for japanese kanji and... japaneseaudiolessons.com has the most similar kind of kanji books, but theirs is a drier and therefore harder read.

Anyway wow I got lost ToT back to my older point ayy. I have no time to read these fucking long ass fiction books I keep wanting to read ;-; my focus can resolve to read a nonfiction book in a frantic 6 hours of Research Mode then burn out and lose focus until im up for the next book. But i pick these long ass fiction books, and oddly i seem to read fiction slower so maybe im like savoring it idk. But i took like 2 months to finish Silent Reading by priest so. Yeah i WISH i was getring through these novels a touch faster ;-; i have so many i wanna read. Perplexingly i also read manga super slow, so i guess any fiction i slow down and savor or something

Books im trying desperately to read, to finish, or to get to after finishing my current books: Observations by janon (a fanfic but a great one and im only 30% done after 1 week intensively reading), kamikaze girls (1/3 done then i forgot the book so its been a few months), Old Fashion Cupcake (1/4 thru and the single volume is LONG), Devilman (1/8 through maybe), Sudden Silence (this book is like 200 pages frankly i have no idea why i didnt manage to finish it in a few days), Game of Thrones book 1 (in my defense its an audiobook so im only in like chapter 3 theres a cool youtube guy who does different voices and music for the chapters), The Expanse (i just started), The Dark Forest (book 2 of three body problem series im half done then i forgot it), In The Dark book 1 (1/3 done and its just... not quite getting my attention as well as other stuff i recently read), Little Mushroom (likely to start more solidly once i finish Observations), 2ha (i got volume 4 babey!!), Can Ci Pin (id like to restart and read in earnest im in a sci fi mood lately so i think ill get obsessed with this once i start), Breaking Through the Clouds (my instincts tell me this is most likely the only crime mystery novel thats going to manage to catch my attention after Silent Reading by priest impressed me so damn much its like in my top 5 books i ever read now), discworld (im just reading little snippets as i have time), Final Girl Support Group (1/4 done then i got busy and forgot it - this is by Grady Hendrix and so far ive loved everything they write, I highly recommend My Best Friends Exorcism it was great), Guardian (i have the english translation but im... eternally chugging away at the chinese and at the end of the First Arc which ive reread in chinese like 4 times now i need to just GET PAST THAT PART TO NEW PARTS and i dont really wanna read the english translation until ive read the original so i can compare), so many fucking novels by priest in my to read list... sha po lang, jinse, huai dao, guomen, lord seventh, faraway wanderers, the blue seal, tai sui, liu yao, lhjc, and again Can Ci Pin... then I have Peach Blossom Debt and Imperial Uncle, and Golden Stage on the to read list too... and Thousand Autumns, Peerless. And Wu Chang Jie, and Nightfall (evernight). Oh I also started reading Vampire Hunter D omnibus and that fucker is like 800 pages. Frankly most books i buy are 400-1200 pages. Usually 600 at minimum. Oh i also started reading One Piece manga, got to Sanji's introduction arc, then like most things... i forgot i was reading it and havent picked it back up for weeks. Basically... i try to get through a book but if it takes me more than 3 days (nonfiction usually takes me 1-2 days) then i risk forgetting i was reading it, forgetting for months, picking it back up and having to start over cause i forgot it for too long -.-;

Anyway my point

#rant #theres some nonfiction and fiction recs under tje cut but #its also just kind of a rambling mess lol #rec list #if you have any favorites in that fiction section let me know #it might help me prioritize what the fuck to read next lol #apthough i predict im gonna be reading observations for another month first

[vanilkaplays]

This Is Why The Media Wants to Keep You Outraged

From The Russell Howard Hour, Russell delves into the culture war peddled by the media.

#I thought it was an important video to watch these days #like it's something I keep noticing as well #'woke outrage' or whatever shit they claim it is #can often be tracked down to like one tweet or something some insignificant weirdo said somewhere #and some youtuber or influencer or the media or whoever just grabs it and runs with it #completely blowing it out of proportion #and what's worse #people read/watch it and think the world as they know it is fucking ending or something

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Wednesday 16 October 1833

8

1 10

much rain in the night, but fair this morningF54 ½° at 8 and 55° at 9 am  - breakfast in ½ hour at 10 - writing out German translation till 11 ¾ - from 12 to 5 25 at my travelling account - dinner at 5 25 in 1 5 hour - sat musing and whistling over my wine - finish day - might have gone out but for my accounts - dressed - out at 7 40 to Madame de Bille’s - meant to stay only ½ hour and then go to the De H-s but so agreeable staid till 11 and home at 11 20 - tea - about before 9 - sandwiches and fruit at 10 - young M. and Madame de Bille’s and Madame and the 2 Misses Schultens came soon after me - then before the tea went out Comtesse Blucher and Miss Ferrall - the mareschal von Hauch came for above ½ hour - M. Sarmento, M. Oxholm and the new Danish secretary of legation to London to succeed M. de Bourke - Lord William Russell perhaps to go to Stockholm to be succeeded by lord Howard de Walden because objected to by Don Pedro for being in the miguelite interest - led by Lady William! How strange if I should find the W.R-s at Stockholm! from 11 ¼ (as usual also while 2 - did my hair) to 12 20 at German - translated above a page - I certainly improve - finish day – F55° now at 12 ½ tonight