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The final RHLSTP recording of 2016 and my Lannister notebook is now full - I will be auctioning it to raise funds for the next series at some point. I don’t think I have enjoyed a series of this more. Mondays have been such fun (even when tired or ill) and I will miss it. It starts up again in June, which feels like a long way away!
But two cracking and charming guests to end on: Lucy Porter and Peter Serafinowicz. Lucy and I shared flats in Edinburgh for four of my most enjoyable Fringes (along with her future husband, Justin Edwards and Sarah Kendall and Henry Naylor). Most of it is a blur to me, but Lucy remembered the kitchen karaoke we had where I took off my shirt and Justin swung her around the kitchen. Apparently in spite of my semi-nudity it was at this point that she fell in love with Justin. It makes no sense. I recall Sarah and me trying to recreate the running jump from Dirty Dancing (maybe I still had my top off) and Sarah who is about the same height as me, if not taller, nearly killing me as we inevitably fell to the floor. For some reason that did not make Sarah fall in love with me either. In spite of being left out in the cold on the flat romantic stakes it was one of many awesome nights we had in our flat shares. I can’t believe it was all about a decade ago (and some of it longer ago than that). How lovely to spend an evening just chatting with an old mate. I almost forgot that there was an audience there.
I have never danced topless near to Peter Serafinowicz, but we still have a very easy rapport. He is a very laid back man, but can hold a room with incredible ease, as you’ll know if you listened to the last chat we had four years ago about the Phantom Menace. He had some great stories about Brian Blessed and Michael Caine, but also lots to say about the American election and the terror of what might be to come. We droned on a bit, but it was mainly entertaining. I had had a lot of fun watching his Brian Butterfield sketches on Youtube this afternoon. In spite of his amazing success, I feel he is underrated in the UK, or at least not given the credit that he deserves. I don’t think he’ll mind too much as he still has an incredible career in film and TV on both sides of the Atlantic. He is a very beautiful man and I think if he picked me up and swung me round a kitchen I might very well decide to marry him too. I am not sure he’d marry me, but I reckon he’d be up for a fumble.
It was a great audience tonight too, with a bit of cheek and fizz to them, but also very engaged and ready to laugh. The whole nature of how this 134 episode series has been put together does make it feel like it partly belongs to them too and the success of the kickstarter and the increasing audiences are part of the reason that it feels special. And I love working with our small team of producer Ben and (usually) Craig, Kinga and George the incompetent sound man, as well as Chris Evans (not that one) and the Leicester Square Theatre staff. We’re doing our own thing and making it work and getting interesting stuff that I don’t think you could ever hope to replicate on telly.
Anyway thanks for coming along (if you did) or for supporting the kickstarter or monthly badges or for spreading the word or just listening. I suspect we will hit 200 episodes at least. And maybe it will go on for even longer.
