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He won't be forgotten. Mainly because we have no info to remember him by (though since I last looked a picture has been added). Please plant a tree in his name.
So the news broke about my decision to end RHLSTP. I mean, I broke the news, so I probably should have expected it. But I didn't really think it would make much of a splash beyond social media. It's not like this is Chicken Shop Dates (which was big enough news to make the BBC News website).
Thanks to those of you who have got in touch to say how much the podcast means to you, but also for everyone (I think) being very understanding and cool about why I am letting it go. Also to all those of you who have bought tickets, especially for the final show, which looks like it will sell out.
It made me realise what pressure there is on getting the right final guest(s) (not that we have more than one guest a week), but thinking about actually going on stage for the last time made me a bit emotional. So actually going on stage might be a bit of a mess. This podcast has been a big chunk of my life. Will I be OK to hear RHLSTP shouted back at me for the last time?
The audience has always been such an important part of this project, from them keeping the secret about the Stephen Fry episode to backing the kickstarters and becoming badgers. I've liked the democracy of it. This thing can be hear as long as you want it to be. And that democracy has also played a part in bringing it to an end - it feels like the audience is ready to let it og (if they haven't already) and that's just as cool.
But it should be a fun party for the last few and especially the last one. I know many of you have made friends at the recordings and a few of you have made more than friends and a few of you have even got married after connecting through this podcast. There are babies out there who exist because of me asking celebrities about auto-fellatio. Who would have thought auto-fellatio would ever produce a child?
So as well as feeling a bit teary and touched by your messages, I have also been feeling relief, which suggests it's also the right time for me. I will do some non-podcast stuff, but I also want to go all in on my more esoteric podcasts. Bizarrely Craven Newsround is getting twice as many viewers (or more) this time round and I am very keen to make this as regular a thing as other work allows. It took the world a long time to catch up with me about the possibilities of podcasts, so perhaps one day Amy Poehler will be doing a ventriloquism show for a million dollars an episode.
Her podcast is great by the way, but what chance does it give the rest of us. Would you rather listen to her talking to Tina Fey or me talking to Ian Boldsworth? I can't blame anyone for moving on.
I was messaging Ian tonight, who was taking the piss in order to enquire whether I was OK about it all. We were amongst the first to try podcasting out - I can't remember which of us was first and there's no way to find out, so let's just say it was me. Podcasting may have turned into a horrible behemoth and become a cash cow for certain usually very rich people, but we both agreed that we were glad to be there when it was just some stupid dweebs (and Ricky Gervais) and it felt like a punky Wild West (note to self- sitcom idea, Wild West but with punks instead of cowboys, maybe also vampires). It's a very rare thing to be amongst the first to explore the possibilities of a completely new medium. As nerdy as we all were (apart from Ricky Gervais), that's a pretty cool thing to have done.
I thought podcasts as a medium would lead to more experimental stuff than it has. How am I the only one to be doing stone clearing (don't think I can do this again without my Wolfie) and a daily news show involving ancient ventriloquist dummies or playing myself at snooker (haven't done this for a year apparently)? Come on guys, this is basic. Stop talking to your mates in a studio and use this thing properly.
I always said there was someone out there who'd be the Charlie Chaplin of podcasting and manage to make millions by getting their audience to pay a dime each time. I was right about podcast millionaires and only partially right about it being funded like the movies.
I have done OK out of it too. My million pounds was the friends I made along the way. Also maybe an actual million pounds if you add it all together, even if we spent a good chunk of that on just making more stuff.
This is what I like to do. Ideally to an ever diminishing audience (so stop telling your friends about it or it will get ruined like podcasts did)
Money raised will go to me... no wait, we're putting it towards making more podcasts. What is wrong with us?
