I can’t remember how or when I came up with the silly idea of taking the show to New York, but I do remember carrying it around with me for a few weeks before daring to share it with Katherine Boyle, my producer and co-host. She didn’t laugh. She just nodded and agreed that we could do it. My boss at talkRADIO, Dennie, also didn’t laugh and said he’d help us anyway he could.
Gulp.
I didn’t just want to do the usual show in NYC. It seemed pointless to fly over there, pay for a hotel and present exactly the same 15 hours of entertainment we could have done at home. Kath and I were adamant we wanted to bring New York home to you, the listener. If we experienced it, we wanted you to experience it. The show had to be noisy, sweaty and packed full of voices you wouldn’t normally hear. With that in mind, we spent the 6 weeks or so before we went away asking you for guest suggestions, going through our iPods and emailing EVERYONE! Some people came back saying no, some didn’t even come back, but, the people that did come back with a positive reaction were amazing. If anything, we overbooked ourselves.
Over the course of 5 days we met musicians, artists, comedians, podcasters, authors and fruitcakes. It was delicious fun and incredibly inspiring. So many voices crammed our show that there is a chance you may have missed a few of them and the links and websites they gave out. So, here’s part 1 of a little catch up where I will do my best to point you in the direction of the people we spoke to.
MONDAY 12th June
Maeve Higgins @MaeveInAmerica – we were so thrilled to speak to Maeve. I had been aware of her because she had popped up in my Twitter timeline a couple of times, but I hadn’t listened to her fab podcast Maeve In America https://www.maeveinamerica.com It is funny, touching, sad, weird and full of stories. An absolutely wonderful listen. You can listen to our chat with Maeve here http://talkradio.co.uk/funny/late-nights-iain-lee-bonus-podcast-maeve-higgins-17061315121
Andrea Astoria @TheRedBunnyy – we broadcast our first NYC show from Pie By The Pound http://piebythepound.com and didn’t have a guest planned for the first hour. Jeffrey, the owner asked if we’d like to interview a local artist who had her work displayed in the restaurant. We of course said yes and were so pleased to chat to Andrea who does some very naughty pics! You can have a look at http://www.theredbunny.com You can hear our words here http://talkradio.co.uk/funny/late-nights-iain-lee-red-bunny-monday-june-12-17061315118
Gregg Young – The Bowery Boys http://www.boweryboyshistory.com is a superb podcast detailing the history of NYC in a unique and fascinating way. Each episode is a story focusing in on one aspect of the city’s past. I kind of developed a man crush on Gregg. He was so knowledgable and whereas I just usually make stuff up, he actually knows things! Wanna hear our voices? Go here http://talkradio.co.uk/funny/late-nights-iain-lee-bonus-podcast-bowery-boy-17061315119
TUESDAY 13th June
Steve Guttenberg @steveguttbuck – love this man. Absolute legend and friend. He kindly met us for breakfast and chatted to us about…life really. Such a cool dude. Love that man and you will too if you listen here http://talkradio.co.uk/funny/late-nights-iain-lee-bonus-podcast-steve-guttenberg-17061415200
Keith and the Girl @KeithAndTheGirl – This was such a thrill. Loads of you had suggested we try and get Keith and Chemda on the show, and I am so glad you did. Not only did we interview the, for our show, but Kath and I also had the honour of appearing on their show. We can only guess that someone else must have dropped out. You can hear our episode here http://www.keithandthegirl.com/Show-Detail/4890/Across-the-Pond.aspx and download all their shows from iTunes or your usual pod providers or http://www.keithandthegirl.com You can listen to them being interviewed for MY show here http://talkradio.co.uk/funny/late-nights-iain-lee-bonus-podcast-keith-and-girl-17061415203
While we were there we also spoke to two excellent young comedians. First was Andrea Allen. Here are her podcast and how to contact her
You can listen to my show on DAB in the UK and also on the talkRADIO app or the @radioplayer or @tunein apps. Or, you can listen live weeknights from 10pm UK time on www.talkradio.co.uk There are daily podcasts you can get from all your usual pod providers, or from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/late-nights-with-iain-lee/id1090367473?mt=2
SILLY VIDEOS
While we were in NYC, Kath and I decided to make some silly videos. Here are a couple of them. You can find the rest in my YT channel www.youtube.com/RabbitHole
Here’s a fun one. Free The Nipples!
And I got an exclusive interview with Donald Trump
Please share with as many people as you can, tick your RAJAR diaries and spread the word!
