Ed Gamble & Matthew Crosby on Radio X

Episode 345 – "Nostalgia Is A Disease" (with Ivo Graham)

Date: February 8, 2026
Guest Host: Ivo Graham
Producer: Vin

Episode Overview

In this episode, Matthew Crosby is joined by comedian Ivo Graham, sitting in for Ed Gamble who is "on loan" to America. The show delivers its usual blend of offbeat banter, listener emails, musical tangents, live show mishaps, nostalgic club nights, and a hearty serving of tech disasters. Nostalgia and the perils of revisiting the past—musically, technologically, and personally—run as strong themes, with plenty of room for tangential digressions, absurd anecdotes, and affectionate self-mockery.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Host Swap & Comedy Transfers

• The episode kicks off with mock "Transfer Deadline Day" coverage, framing Ed's absence as an international transfer to "Call Her Daddy" and Ivo's arrival as a temporary loan from "that podcast where two posh boys talk about music" (Top of the Pops)
  • Memorable Monologue (09:12):
    • Ivo: "Good morning from a rainy central London for what's already shaping up to be a thrilling audio transfer deadline day... Ed Gamble and Matthew Crosby radio show has loaned out Ed Gamble to America... Matthew Crosby will be joined by Ivo Graham on short term loan from that podcast where two posh boys talk about music."
  • Sets the joking, self-aware tone for the episode.

2. Listener Emails: Odd Encounters & Work Disasters

• A run of classic listener emails span topics including embarrassing work mishaps, wild dreams involving Clare Balding and smoky bacon jelly, mistaken celebrity identities, and more (01:31–07:35).

  • Work Accident Story (03:48):
    • Rachel, a former chef, details an 18-hour shift where, plagued with tiredness, she tested a light socket with her finger and was thrown across the bar by an electric shock.
    • Matthew: "That's another classic. Mistakes at work!"
  • Dreams Gone Wrong (04:00):
    • Joanna dreams of Clare Balding strapping her to a chair and force-feeding her luminous green smoky bacon jelly, with the smell haunting her for days.
  • Mistaken Celebrity Identity (06:17):
    • Listeners share stories about being told they resembled celebrities, from Ryan Gosling to Joe Wilkinson.
    • Ivo: "The other way around is one of the great glow ups!" (06:42)

3. Who Did You Used to Look Like? (Recurring Texter)

• A recurring feature—listeners share who they were told they resembled, often to comically unequivalent ends.
  • Ivo shares he was once compared to X Factor's Owen Quigg at his early gigs (05:23–06:17).
  • Matthew's dad has been mistaken for Liam Neeson.
  • They riff on the fleeting nature of "celebrity resemblance" and ponder bringing the texter back next week.

4. Nostalgia Club Nights & Anniversary Gigs

• Core segment: Ivo details organizing an Arctic Monkeys club night to mark the debut album's 20th anniversary.
  • The Risks (14:07):
    • Ivo: "Nostalgia is a disease... Super spreader event for the ages. That was my announcement at the start of the night—20 years of whatever people say I am..." (14:31)
  • Full album playthroughs, themed drinks (dandelion & burdock for "Suck It and See"), and even fancy dress codes (leather jackets and ties for "Brianstorm").
  • Ivo describes technical mishaps (PowerPoint failures), the challenge of blending music with era-appropriate video clips, and audience reactions—especially to more "difficult" album tracks (Vampires, 17:14).
  • Highlight (17:07):
    • "I played a clip of Celebrity Big Brother 2006 as a palate cleanser for those less interested in 'Perhaps Vampires is a bit strong'"
  • Nostalgia is critiqued as both a comfort and a creative limit.

5. Gigs, Crowd Surfing & Stage Diving

• The team swaps gig stories, from Ivo's experience stage diving (and landing on his wife) to crowd surfing at a King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard show.
  • Matthew reflects on "tops off" moments as the true marker of a wild night (23:43):
    • "They go tops off. That's the sort of mark of like, this is a good night."
  • Vin encourages Ivo to crowd surf for the first time, likening the process to overcoming the fear of "sailing over the horizon" (22:52).

6. Tech Disasters: Archive ADD and Accidental Overshares

• A jumble of listener-submitted horror tech stories:
  • Archiving an important job email too hastily and arriving to teach a class totally unprepared (38:39):
    • Matthew: "I just wrote down the address and I've just got Gmail, you see, I'm addicted to archiving..."
  • Snapchat mishap—accidentally uploading a private photo publicly (44:02).
  • Family photo curation for a wake interrupted by accidentally including a folder of nude men (45:20):
    • Ivo: "You've got to archive the naked men."
  • Classic printer mistake: forgetting to take the cellophane off cartridges (54:29).
  • Sharing medical advice requests on a Teams call screen-share during a board presentation (55:11).

7. Film Review: 'Along Came Polly' via Nostalgia and Grief

• The gang revives the Film Review feature [27:08–33:59], with Ivo reviewing "Along Came Polly" as part of an annual memorial tradition for his late friend Tom.
  • They read Tom's original caustic journal review ("A series of lackluster jokes strung together...") and reconcile it with current nostalgia.
  • Discussion about meaning, catharsis, and comedic performances, especially Philip Seymour Hoffman’s legacy (rain dance, “white chocolate” basketball scene).
  • Notable Quote (30:54):
    • Ivo reading Tom’s review: "Where does one even begin? This was a real shocker... a series of lackluster jokes strung together... The toilet humor was woeful..."
  • Coin the euphemism “an Along Came Polly” for a certain notorious bathroom mishap, referencing Philip Seymour Hoffman’s pioneering use of the now-accepted portmanteau (33:42).

8. On Tour: Ivo Graham’s ‘Orange Crush’ and More

• Ivo plugs his new solo stand-up tour, "Orange Crush"—a show about embracing your favorite things (in his case, orange) and leaning into personal quirks.
  • Encouragement for orange dress code at shows ("Someone’s already turned up with a traffic cone in Basingstoke", 51:41).
  • The joys and struggles of selling tickets in Hertford become an extended running joke (60:10).

9. Microsoft Office: What Even Is Word?

• A surreal, extended tangent as Matthew struggles to define Microsoft Word as an "app, software, word processing program, or potato" (47:08–49:33).
• A “recapped” list of open text topics includes "Tech Disasters", "What even is Word?", "What are the other Office programs?", and "Who did you used to look like?"

10. BackRecs (Recommendations) & Hummus

• As the show wraps, each host gives “Beckrecks”—recommendations for culture, music, food, and podcasts (59:43–70:54):
  • Ivo: New Order’s "The Perfect Kiss", Tyler Ball Game’s new album, Abba Voyage experience in London, John Tothill’s stand-up.
  • Matthew: Crash Test Dummies live, Rat Boys’ new album.
  • Vin: Ramona Hummus (extensive, affectionate tangent about their customer service), Public Service Broadcasting, Professor Penguin's music.
  • Classic Crosby line: "This is the end of old men half-ranting things for three hours. And then you could be 6Music in private for 10 minutes at the end."

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Nostalgia (14:31):
  • Ivo: "Nostalgia is a disease. Super spreader event for the ages."
• On Club Night Technical Disasters (25:20):
  • Ivo: "Due to some tech issues at the Fairfield Social Club, I was not able to communicate with the PowerPoint using my clicker, so I had to go to my laptop every time… across the dance floor."
• On Tech Disasters (40:19):
  • Matthew: "I'm addicted to archiving. I'm on inbox zero... She waved me goodbye and said 'well, this should give you a bit more time to on your stand-up comedy.' Oh, you've absolutely done me there."
• On Gigs & Friends (11:59):
  • Ivo: "It was a story about friendship. It's never about football. It's always about something bigger."
• On Stage Diving (21:01):
  • Matthew: "I fell on my wife. And I also fell on Tom Crane's wife as well. But less said about that the better."
• On Microsoft Word (47:08):
  • Matthew (exasperated): "What is Word, guys? Is Word an app? 83936 on the text or you can WhatsApp us through the global player."
• On the perils of unsupervised radio (68:13):
  • Vin: "And they think I'm unsupervised. Yeah, they accuse me of being unsupervised. Sorry, your back rec is a hummus hotline."

Important Timestamps

• 00:02–07:50: Listener emails, mistaken identity stories
• 09:12: “Transfer Deadline” monologue and football banter
• 14:07–19:54: Arctic Monkeys nostalgia club night recap, PowerPoint disasters
• 20:33–24:25: Stage diving, crowd surfing at gigs
• 27:08–33:59: Film review—"Along Came Polly"; grief and nostalgia
• 38:39–41:25: Tech disasters: Gmail archiving mishap
• 44:02–47:08: Tech disasters: Snapchat and grandma’s wake slideshow fails
• 47:08–49:36: “What is Word?” tangent and text recap
• 50:33–53:19: Ivo plugs his "Orange Crush" tour and accidental traffic cone autograph
• 54:29–55:52: Tech disaster: Dad forgets to remove cellophane from printer cartridge
• 59:54–63:09: Beckrecks (music, comedy, hummus) and wild recommendations

Tone and Style

The episode is light-hearted, anarchic, and warmly self-deprecating. Matthew’s avuncular, rambling style bounces off Ivo’s sharp, quirky observations while Vin reels them in (or not) as chaos mounts. The show is packed with listener interaction, surreal asides, affectionate jabs at aging and obsolescence, and recurring gags about tech failures, nostalgia, and the radio team’s improbable celebrity lookalikes.

For New Listeners

• Expect a mix of silliness, honesty, and genuine warmth about the foibles of modern life, technology, and fandom.
• The inside jokes are welcoming rather than exclusive; jumping in at any episode will get you up to speed on the show’s friendly, often shambolic rhythms.
• If you like musical deep dives, stories of things going spectacularly wrong, or off-piste anecdotes about club nights and hummus, this one’s for you.

Next Week Tease

• Ed still away in America; Ivo returns for another week of mayhem.
• Promised features: “Who did you used to look like?” and possibly more on the metaphysics of Microsoft Word.

Summary prepared in tribute to Crunch, Crumble, Ivo, and the whole band of beautifully imperfect Radio X regulars—just don’t let Matthew near your PowerPoint.