Why did Robbie Williams leave Sara a voicemail out of the blue? Sara actually plays Russell the voicemail live on the podcast. The moment when Sara was contacted out of the blue by her teenage crush. It’s an ELECTRIFYING podcast moment!  You’d expect Sara to be fantastic and you’d be right. What a guest. She’s a woman with a borderline psychotic obsession with soup. She tells Russell about her great grandmother who was an extraordinary woman and potentially a killer (unproven), and of course...

Does Rugby's hardest man have a dog with the least hard name? It's all in this barnstorming show with England Rugby Union Prop Joe Marler, who announced his retirement just a week ago. Joe tells Russell about drug testing in Japan, he explains the fine art of shithousery and they both get incredibly passionate about biscuits. As we talk about on the show, Joe's post-rugby work is his weekly podcast that he does with Tom Fordyce, 'Things People Do'. It's well worth checking out, it really...

Welcome to Five Brilliant Things, or as it used to be known, Wonderbox.  Like a latter-day Reginald Dwight we’ve had a wee name change - everything else is the same show that you know and love.  And this week, the irrepressible Giovanna Fletcher is in the studio to explain the beauty of silent discos (Russell disagrees), the majesty of a dibber and some top tips for dropping your guts on a mountain.  It’s a brilliant chat that bobs along at a lick, taking in Giovanna’s writing career, her...

Russell sits down with Liverpool stand-up legend Adam Rowe, resident at the famous Hot Water Comedy Clubs and host of the ‘Have a Word’ Podcast with Dan Nightingale.  Adam and Russell talk over the finer points of Liverpool the city, the football club (if you’re a Man Utd fan you can forward over that bit). Adam talks costumes, and we find out whether he finds a blow-up dinosaur costume or a banana costume more sexually attractive.  There’s also a great bit of advice for a way of driving...

David Baddiel has a story to tell about his upbringing and it’s… one of the most incredible stories you’ll hear in a long time. You may have read about it in his book, or seen his show, but if not then get involved in this Wonderbox and you’ll never look at a golf club in the same way ever again. David takes Russell through a blow-by-blow account of a family life that was let’s say unusual, and he doesn’t spare any details.  It’s funny, it’s astonishing, it’s just a fascinating hour in the...

How awkward is it to play a surprise set for the England Football Team when they’ve just finished training? James Bay did just this and told us all about it on this week’s podcast!  James and Russell talk about tight silver trousers, they get into how to write a song and Russell tells what he believes to be the greatest joke he’s ever written. It’s a thoroughly relaxed, intimate chat with plenty of tales from a life on the road as a musician. As James revealed on the podcast he has a new...

How do you go from a kid hanging around the DJ booth in Eurodiscos in Prague to creating one of Britain’s most iconic sitcoms of all time?  Seapa is here to take Russell through his Wonderbox, including the dreaded call centres he worked in where he met the other People Just Do Nothing stars, and the perfect Banh-Mi Sandwich.  Lots of fun. Really funny episode with proper energy, fascinating stories and some excellent digressions.  Keep up with Allan on Instagram here. Watch him as Andy...

US Comedy superstar Michelle Wolf is with us!  And as well as effortlessly funny, Michelle is a wonderful big bag of fascinating contradictions. She's a glamorous comedy star who runs ultramarathons and attends Paris Fashion Week. She also can't think of anything better than getting a hot Wigan-style pie in her hands and face. Seriously mate. You haven't heard love until you've heard Michelle Wolf talk about pies.  It's an absolute romp of an episode; a globe-trotting special covering...

Why did a young Stephen Merchant sneak a boat onto a Devon beach under cover of darkness? It's all in this absolutely spankingly good podcast episode where Russell and Stephen sit down in a Bristol-born meeting of titans! Stephen is as brilliant as always, taking us through some less-covered areas of his life, talking through hilarious old family holidays, his experiences trash-talking with strangers in online chess and he also gives some incredible insights into his creative process. This...

Secrets from the Pussycat Dolls tour bus! And more! Comin’ atcha in Russell’s absolutely delightful chat with Ashley Roberts.  Find out what life is like being a pop mega-star, what kind of mischief happened backstage and an alternative, let’s call it unconventional, use for a burrito.  You can hear more of Ashley by getting out your digital radio (or analog? Did they turn off the signal yet?) for she is on Heart FM every week. Ashley is a showbiz correspondent on the Heart FM’s breakfast...

Host of the Last Leg, Australian comedy royalty Adam Hills joins Russell in the studio this week for a warm and optimistic journey through Adam’s Wonderbox.  There’s some fascinating and funny stories from Adam’s childhood, about his Dad who worked on Qantas airlines ✈️, about those hot evenings on Australian balconies 🌅, and about sharing a bath with twenty two other grown men in Warrington singing drinking songs 🤪🍻. Adam has been away from live comedy for a while, concentrating on the...

Did Linford Christie take part in the Dad’s race at his kids’s school sports day?   Russell and Linford discuss what it’s like to be bloody quick, what it’s like to win an Olympic gold medal, and why Linford used to growl like a tiger at his competitors on the starting blocks.   It’s a really interesting and intimate chat with a British legend, seeing a side to him that we rarely get to see.   It’s really worth watching the documentary all about Linford’s career and life. It’s called simply...

Never knew David O’Doherty used to be an underground DJ?  It’s all here. Russell and David sit down in front of a live studio audience at the Edinburgh Fringe (yes, it was a few weeks ago but we recorded a few, OK!?) to discuss David’s DJ hinterland. Also there is when a 13 year old David offered to cycle around Ireland as a newspaper think-piece, and he tells Russell about hanging out with Taika Waititi.  This episode bounces along with more energy than a demented space-hopper, with a huge...

Is this simultaneously the most uplifting and heart-rending episode we've done to date?    Matt Forde is Britain's foremost political comedian. Until the end of last year he seemed unstoppable, then from nowhere was diagnosed with a rare condition that saw him having to go through life-saving surgery.    His story is astonishing and it's told with such verve, such humour and humanity that it's required listening. Make a little bit of time to consume this one properly because it will touch...

Live from the Edinburgh Festival! Irish story-telling powerhouse and ignorer-of-the-basic-format Jason Byrne is with Russell and a packed out audience at the Fringe.   Jason is famous for his sprawling, gregarious, infectious irrepressible comedy and this podcast is no different. Who cares that he ignored the idea of the Wonderbox completely? It was a huge slice of fun.   Stories of rural Irish madness abound. I’d mention specifics here but you wouldn’t believe me. Get it in your ears...

Live from the Edinburgh Festival! Recorded in front of a beautiful audience at the Fringe, Russell goes through the Wonderbox of the exquisite Scottish stand-up, Larry Dean! This podcast goes from the serenity of the hills of Bhutan, to tender intergenerational moments of true connection, to a terrifying home-made nightmare of a sex doll.  If you’re a regular listener, you’ll notice that the live audience really adds a bit of spice to the occasion, and despite our afternoon time-slot, the...

What’s the link between Tom Grennan and Peter Andre? It’s all in this fantastic episode of Wonderbox with British musical superstar, Tom Grennan.   Tom talks about early life, how he made it, his surprising background in physical theatre (!) and what it’s like to play Glastonbury in front of thousands.   It’s an amazing insight into the life of someone living his music superstar dream.   And you know what’s the perfect chaser to this podcast? Go to see Tom this Saturday! Tom’s playing a...

The world’s most exciting clown opens his Wonderbox, sort-of. Either you know who Zach Zucker is and you love his work, or you’re going to soon; he is one hell of a comedian. It’s worth mentioning that his healthy distain for rules makes him an insanely good comic but also makes him not exactly follow the rules of a podcast.   So while most people turn up with an idea of the podcast, Zach brings some incredible stories about faking a broken leg at school, about trying to date someone while...

Does Rosie Jones have a wardrobe full of Nazi clothes? She wasn’t aware of it until she sat down for this podcast and opened her Wonderbox.   This absolute rip-snorter of an episode has got absolutely everything you would want and expect from the ebullient Rosie - waxing lyrical about Scotch Eggs, a slightly controversial side-track into the Third Reich and the most eloquent, beautiful explanation of disability rights history that you’ll hear in a long time.   Rosie has been touring her show...

It's Abi Clarke, comedian, Tik Tok sensation and viral bobbing-in-the-garden-with-parents superstar. Abi discusses her love of a plastercast of the female down-belows, her failed attempts to win back a man with Cherry Bakewells and Russell contemplates becoming a cheerleader.   Abi is taking her solo show (Role) Model to the Edinburgh Fringe this August and you must cancel your existing plans, get up there and get in that show. Book your tickets, get the times, find out everything you need to...

He's a regular panellist on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, he gone done Taskmaster, he's a fabulous touring comedian and he's made some insane documentaries: Jamali Maddix is in the studio with Russell! Let's get straight to the meat and potatoes about this episode - there's a fantastic story about the time Jamali had his Megadrive confiscated by his Mum. Also find out about his history as a paintball referee. Proper funny stuff all over the timeline.It's just a great hour spent with one of those...

Hawk Tuah! You've got to listen to this thang!Comedian Maisie Adam is in the studio. You'll have seen her on A League of Their Own or Have I Got News For You perhaps. It's a wonderfully thoughtful and funny episode; covering inspirational teachers, Victorian pornography and the time Russell bought a magic wand.  Oh, and in case you didn't believe it, here's a photo of Jimmy Carr, Stephen Hawking and the cast of Book of Mormon. Get it in your ears! Maisie is a terrific comedian (and a handy...

From Ghosts, from Stath Lets Flats, from Sewing Bee it's Kiell Smith Bynoe!  Kiell tells Russell about being trapped by some weird Scottish children, about the importance of massive birthday parties and the one feeling he would bottle and sniff forever...A lovely, jaunty episode that zips along and covers a good amount, only getting side-tracked once for an in-depth discussion on feet and what can and can't be achieved... I'm talking in euphemisms. You'll have to listen to that bit. It's...

Does Joel Dommett have beef with Alan Titchmarsh? And how did Davina McCall make Joel cry? The answers are all in this week's Wonderbox! Joel and Russell sit down across a rather fetching table to talk about the things that makes Joel such a happy chap. It's a lot of fun and covers everything from pig orgasms to bogling. Have a listen. A really splendid way to spend your next fifty-odd minutes. Then come back and read the next bit.  Hello again! I told you it was fun. You will now be thinking...