A taste of what is happening in The Back Room

Summary

Podcast Summary: ill-advised by Bill Nighy

Episode: A taste of what is happening in The Back Room
Release Date: June 26, 2026
Host: Bill Nighy
Producer: EYEPOD Studios

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Episode Overview

This episode of "ill-advised by Bill Nighy" offers a witty, cozy peek behind the curtain of The Back Room, the podcast’s Patreon-exclusive series. Bill Nighy welcomes listeners to a safe haven for the socially awkward and delightfully clumsy, where everyday dilemmas are met with dry British humor and a good deal of warmth. In this edition, Nighy introduces a quirky new feature — Talking in Songs — inviting audience participation, and continues the group reading of "Night and Day" by Virginia Woolf.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Back Room Atmosphere & Welcome

• Bill opens the episode with his signature tongue-in-cheek hospitality, blending mild absurdity with warmth:

  • “Hello, love. Do you mind if I pat you down?... Bend over. That’s it now. Oh, no, you can stand up now. There you are. Give us your drink. That’s it, love. All right, pop your top off and we’ll bring you a hot drink. That always makes me laugh because a hot drink is probably the last thing you need when you’ve just popped your top off.” (A, 00:04 - 00:29)

• He underscores the episode's casual, self-deprecating vibe:

  • “You’ve made it to the Back room and welcome to the third edition of the Backroom.” (A, 00:30)

2. Introducing “Talking in Songs”

• Bill launches an interactive new segment: listeners are invited to submit their most memorable examples of “talking on records” — the best and worst instances where singers narrate, chat, or go off-script in the middle of a song. Bill teases possible future features like audience-voted Top 20s of each category.
  • “We might have a top 20 best talking on records and a top 20 worst speaking on records.” (A, 00:51)

Inaugural Example & Listener Participation

• Mid-recording, Nighy receives a real-time suggestion from actor Andrew Lincoln: "Pu Pulala" by Roy Ayers.

  • “When I told him about speaking in songs, he suggested a song by Roy Ayers called Pu Pulala. The title alone has already reduced my colleagues here to helpless, silent giggling.” (A, 01:00)

• Bill recites the highly entertaining, spoken section of the Roy Ayers track, delighting in its melodramatic (and unintentionally comic) storytelling:

  • “She was the kind of woman that would trim your toenails at 5 o’clock in the morning. She was honest, loyal, sincere, dedicated, understanding. She was everything a man could ever want a woman to be... Let me kiss you on your poo poo la la. Oh baby, you gotta let me kiss you…” (A, 01:17 – 03:25)

• He encourages listeners to share their contributions for future episodes:

  • “If you have any contributions in terms of speaking on records, please send them in and we will read them out for you. Or rather, I will read them out for you. If you are interested in me reading probably suggestive lyrics over the microphone, you can send them in.” (A, 03:46)

3. The Literary Shift: Returning to Virginia Woolf

• Shifting gears, Bill pivots to “something slightly more highbrow”—the ongoing Back Room group reading of Night and Day by Virginia Woolf, contrasting Woolf’s classic prose with the previous segment’s playful absurdity.
  • “And talking of reading, let’s continue with something slightly more highbrow, with all due respect to Roy. This is Night and Day by the Supremes. No, just kidding. This is Night and Day by Virginia Woolf.” (A, 03:57)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On unnecessary hospitality:
  “That always makes me laugh because a hot drink is probably the last thing you need when you’ve just popped your top off.” (A, 00:25)

• On “Talking in Songs” feature:
  “We might have a top 20 best talking on records and a top 20 worst speaking on records.” (A, 00:51)

• Andrew Lincoln’s memorable suggestion:
  “The title alone has already reduced my colleagues here to helpless, silent giggling.” (A, 01:04)

• Quoting Roy Ayers:
  “She was the kind of woman that would trim your toenails at 5 o’clock in the morning... She was everything to me and she was my woman. I can remember the first time we met in New York City in Central Park...” (A, 01:17–03:25)

• Inviting listener participation:
  “If you are interested in me reading probably suggestive lyrics over the microphone, you can send them in…” (A, 03:47)

• Bill’s punchline before Woolf:
  “With all due respect to Roy, this is Night and Day by the Supremes. No, just kidding. This is Night and Day by Virginia Woolf.” (A, 03:56)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:04: Playful, tongue-in-cheek welcome to listeners
• 00:50: Launch of “Talking in Songs” feature, explanation of listener involvement
• 01:00: Andrew Lincoln’s call and introduction of “Pu Pulala” as inaugural entry
• 01:17–03:25: Dramatic reading of Roy Ayers’ spoken lyrics
• 03:33: Repetition of one of the most memorable verses, audience laughter
• 03:46: Encouragement to send in more spoken word/song examples
• 03:57: Transition to Virginia Woolf reading

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Episode Takeaways

• A taste of what is happening in The Back Room perfectly showcases Bill Nighy’s blend of wry humor, gentle self-parody, and genuine engagement with his audience.
• The new “Talking in Songs” feature stands out as a fun, participatory segment, setting the tone for future crowd-sourced hilarity.
• The contrasting shift to Virginia Woolf speaks to the eclectic spirit of the podcast, offering both low-key mischief and touches of literary culture.

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For those seeking comfort, laughs, and a touch of literary class – Bill’s Back Room is a refuge. And don’t forget to send in your most memorable “talking on records” moments!

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(Ads, intros, and outros have been excluded for clarity. The summary reflects content and tone as presented by Bill Nighy and contributors.)

Transcript

[A]

Hello, love. Do you mind if I pat you down?

[B]

Oh.

[A]

Ooh, no, don't do that. Bend over. That's it now. Oh, no, you can stand up now. There you are. Give us your drink. That's it, love. All right, pop your top off and we'll bring you a hot drink. That always makes me laugh because a hot drink is probably the last thing you need when you've just popped your top off. Anyway, you've made it to the Back room and welcome to the third edition of the Backroom. And we're going to continue today with our reading of Night and Day by Virginia Woolf. And also we're going to introduce a new feature which is exclusive to the Back room, which is our Talking in songs feature, where we will ask you to contribute your best and worst talking on records that you've ever heard. And we will have some suggestions as well. We might even have a chart, and according to listeners votes, songs will make it, you know, to the top five, top 10, top 20. We might have a top 20 best talking on records and a top 20 worst speaking on records. And to inaugurate this feature, we just actually, mid recording received a call from my friend Andrew Lincoln, who suggested immediately. When I told him about speaking in songs, he suggested a song by Roy Ayers called Pu Pulala. The title alone has already reduced my colleagues here to helpless, silent giggling. And the words go like this. Let me kiss you on your poo poo la la Let me kiss you on your poo poo la la. She was the kind of woman that would trim your toenails at 5 o' clock in the morning. She was honest, loyal, sincere, dedicated, understanding. She was everything a man could ever want a woman to be. She was everything to me and she was my woman. I can remember the first time we met in New York City in Central Park. I was wearing a pair of white sneakers, a pair of white shorts, and I had a white T shirt on with the inscription that read in the front of it, earth, wind and fire. You could not tell me that I was not good to go. Oh, we got married. Two days later we got married and everything was cool for about four years. And that's when the other voices came into the picture. You know what I'm talking about when I say the other voices, you know, Mary said that Roy was running around with Harriet and Beverly and we got back to the home front and me and my old lady started going through a repetitious cycle of splitting up and coming back together and splitting up and coming back together until it just got ridiculous. Let me kiss you on your poo poo la la oh baby, you gotta let me kiss you kiss you Let me squeeze you on your do da da. Let me kiss you on your poo poo la.

[B]

She was the kind of woman that would trim your toenails at 5 o' clock in the morning. She was honest, loyal, sincere, dedicated, understanding. She was everything a man could ever want a woman to be. She was everything to be. And she was my woman.

[A]

There you go. That was just a little taste of Pupilala by Roy Ayers, which was new to the team here. So we're going to thank Andrew for that and I hope you get the kind of general tone of what we're looking for. So if you have any contributions in terms of speaking on records, please send them in and we will read them out for you. Or rather, I will read them out for you. If you are interested in me reading probably suggestive lyrics over the microphone, you can send them into contactusl advisedbybill Nye and talking of reading, let's continue with something slightly more highbrow. With all due respect to Roy, this is Night and Day by the Supremes. No, just kidding. This is Night and Day by Virginia Woolf.