Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster – Episode Summary

Guest: Will Sharpe
Date: August 20, 2025
Main Theme:
Comedian, writer, director, and actor Will Sharpe enters the Off Menu restaurant to construct his dream meal, sharing anecdotes from his career, university days, and culinary experiences, with plenty of humor and warmth.

Episode Overview

Will Sharpe joins Ed Gamble and James Acaster for a freewheeling conversation blending nostalgia, comedy memories, insights into food preferences, and the creative process. The episode is peppered with personal stories—particularly from Ed and Will’s past sketch group exploits—and digressions into Japanese cuisine and the construction of Will’s fantasy meal.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reuniting Old Friends: University Rivalries and Comedy Beginnings

• Ed and Will reminisce about their university days, clarifying the enduring joke about attending "Doxbridge"—a portmanteau of Durham, Cambridge, and Oxford (05:48).
• Discussion of their old sketch troupe, “The Four Horsemen”:
  • Core group: Ed, Will, Tom Williams (now a teacher), and Al Roberts.
  • Signature sketches involved surreal humor—e.g., making a cup of tea, pouring it down a toilet, eating Muller rice as the full gag, “Old Man the Rocker” who wears tights and a fake beard for comic effect (08:12).
  • "We had a hit sketch group… we’d have a show and go to your flat during the day… just messing around for ages, and one of us would go, that’s a sketch, that’ll do." – Ed Gamble (11:17)
• Both express nostalgia for the creative playfulness of their early days, noting how careers have diverged but camaraderie persists.

2. Food Preferences & Pet Peeves

"Uptight & Fussy" Restaurants

• Will appreciates good food but dislikes pretension; his 'barometer' for “too fussy” is when staff constantly refill water, disrupting conversation (12:49).
  • "[If] they refill your water for you... I like to be in charge of that…" – Will Sharpe (12:49)
• Both hosts and Will riff on awkward dining social etiquette, including how to deflect overattentive staff (13:32).
• Will enjoys simple pleasures: “I'm normally just tap,” for water, favoring the informality experienced in Japan (15:06).

"Bread Course": The Magic of Context & Hunger

• Will’s dream bread: Focaccia from Olympia Provisions, Portland, described as the most delicious ever—enhanced by exhaustion and hunger after a long American city walk (18:22).
  • "I got up… I was like, what’s going on with this bread? This is the best! And they were like, it's just focaccia" – Will Sharpe (18:24)
• The episode explores how setting (post-walk, travel) can elevate food memories.

"Starter": Deep-fried Fish in Greece

• Will selects “deep-fried small fish with lemon” (possibly gavros or sardines) as his ideal starter, again describing context—hungry after swimming, eating simple food on the beach (23:26).
  • Hosts banter about the joy of eating whole fish, bones and heads included, and squeeze in a comedic White Lotus reference.

3. Japanese Cuisine & Culinary Identity

Kaiseki-Inspired Main Course

• Will’s main: a personalized Japanese kaiseki-style tray—“multiple little dishes” both traditional (pickled daikon, cold soba with tempura, white fish, unagi, natto) and comfortingly nostalgic (Japanese cereals like Gemmai Flakes, “Combos,” and convenience store snacks like Koala biscuits and Hello Panda).
  • “I'm trying to hack it… can it be some nostalgic things, not just beautiful Japanese cuisine?” – Will Sharpe (32:06)
• The hosts interrogate Will for details on each dish, leading to a mixture of specificity and vague “go with what feels right” answers, much to their amusement (35:22).

Okonomiyaki, Kewpie Mayo, and Food Culture

• A lively discussion about okonomiyaki: pancake/omelette hybrids sometimes cooked at the table, topped with Kewpie mayonnaise and bonito flakes (41:03–43:05).
  • “Sometimes they cook it in front of you… it's like somewhere between a pancake and an omelette. Often there's noodles inside.” – Will Sharpe (41:19)
• Will and Ed geek out about Kewpie mayo branding and Japanese food mascots (44:23).

Snacks and Sweets

• Adds Japanese convenience store food (corn dogs, Koala and Panda biscuits), highlighting the spectrum from “perfectly prepared vegetables” to “downmarket, basic nostalgic pots” (46:55).

4. Sides & Sandwiches: The Comfort of the Club

• Will opts for a retro choice: the club sandwich from the Tokyo American Club (early ‘90s version), inspired by childhood bowling trips and renting VHS tapes (49:10).
  • Variations on “side dish” amuse the hosts, especially given the decadent size and caloric heft of a club sandwich after a kaiseki tray.
  • “This huge tray, then just a full-sized club sandwich… just because they’re good, aren’t they?” – Will Sharpe (49:17)
• Nostalgic digression: “Land Before Time” trauma and the “Sarah the Triceratops Redemption Arc,” tying childhood media to adult creativity (51:13).

5. Drink Pairing: Japanese Summer Vibes

• Dream drink: CC Lemon, a Japanese lemonade, described as “absolutely sugary and unrefreshing but amazing” after playing football on a humid day, with cicadas chirping (57:19).
  • Will and the hosts joke about zany Japanese ads showcasing “drinks with vitamins” (58:12).
• Hosts suggest a shandy, mixing CC Lemon with a cold Japanese lager, reminiscent of filmmaking trips with Tom Kingsley and discovering bars in the heat (59:20).

6. Dessert: Textural Punch & Sweet Nostalgia

• Will picks a trio:
  1. Flourless chocolate torte – “so dense I want to be punched in the face by chocolate” with matcha ice cream and berries (66:09).
  2. Grandmother's lemon tart with vanilla ice cream and magic "ice magic" (hardening chocolate) sauce—childhood memory from visits to England (68:02).
  3. Perfect fruit – “Japanese melon… the real deal” (69:15).
• Discussion on failed desserts: banana-misu (banana tiramisu), disastrous fridge cakes—Will owns his chaotic, last-minute improvisation skills in the kitchen (70:55).

7. The Joy (and Absurdity) of Eating On Camera

• Will shares the “acting choice” of eating as much as possible in a new Lena Dunham show—explains why eating, when done naturally, helps with character portrayal (76:23).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Bread and Context
  "It was the most delicious bread I've ever eaten… I became like Will Ferrell in Elf. I got up, went over to the counter, was like, what’s going on with this bread?" – Will Sharpe (18:24)
• On Getting Kicked Out for Secret Ingredient
  "If Will just says the secret ingredient… we will kick him out, Ed, and I hope you’ll be okay with that." – James Acaster (03:12)
• On Deep-Fried Fish
  "I just remember that being a really satisfying… it’s just a greasy bag of little fishes. And they're very crispy and then, like, it’s not too bonesy… crunch it away like crisps." – Will Sharpe (24:49)
• On Will’s Creative Approach
  “The context of eating is part of the experience… when you feel like [tired & hungry], sometimes bread is just the perfect food.” – Will Sharpe (19:22)
• On Kaiseki Choices
  "Normally they choose, but on this occasion I can sort of choose… that’s my pitch for how to approach this." – Will Sharpe (33:08)
• On Intense Chocolate Cake
  "I want it to be so dense I basically feel like I’m being punched in the face by the chocolate." – Will Sharpe (66:47)
• On Making Terrible Fridge Cake
  "Had no scientific knowledge, just melting down snacks and put it in the freezer. It was really bad. So sweet, you would faint from eating it." – Will Sharpe (72:54)
• On Sketch Group Absurdity
  "The sketch we chose to do in the middle of their set was called Bow… we’d come on and bow as if it was the end of the show… no laughter… my favorite thing we did." – Will Sharpe (78:53)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 05:48 – Doxbridge, University rivalry, formation of Four Horsemen
• 12:49 – “Too Fussy” dining, over-refilling water
• 18:22 – Magic Focaccia story (Olympia Provisions)
• 23:26 – Dream starter: deep-fried small fish in Greece
• 32:06 – Kaiseki meal, nostalgia vs. tradition
• 41:03–43:05 – Okonomiyaki, Kewpie mayo, Japanese food quirks
• 49:10 – Side dish: Tokyo American Club club sandwich
• 51:13 – “Land Before Time” & the Sarah Redemption Arc
• 57:19 – CC Lemon story, Japanese drinks
• 66:09 – Dessert: Flourless chocolate torte
• 68:02 – Grandma’s lemon tart & Ice Magic
• 70:55 – Kitchen failures: fridge cake, banana-misu
• 76:23 – Eating on camera & acting choices

Summary Table: Will Sharpe’s Dream Meal

| Course | Selection & Description | |---------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------| | Water | Tap, “from the mountain wall” of the restaurant, cold & “special” | | Bread | Focaccia from Olympia Provisions (Portland, OR) | | Starter | Deep-fried small fish (gavros-style) with lemon (Greek holiday) | | Main Course | Kaiseki tray: pickled daikon, cold soba with tempura, tofu, white fish or unagi, natto, Koala/Hello Panda biscuits, Gemmai Flakes, Combos cereal, 7/11 snacks | | Side | Tokyo American Club club sandwich (lettuce, tomato, chicken, bacon, no cheese, triangle cut, toothpicks) | | Drink | CC Lemon shandy (Japanese lemon soda + Japanese lager) | | Dessert | Trio: flourless chocolate torte (with matcha ice cream & berries); Grandma's lemon tart (with vanilla ice cream & ice magic sauce); Japanese fruit (melon, strawberry, etc.) | | After-dinner | Digestif—Fernet Branca or similar bitter Amaro |

Episode Tone & Style

• Casual, absurd, intimate, and loaded with comic diversions
• Plenty of playful teasing between James, Ed, and Will
• Vivid food memories paired with wry observations about the creative process, childhood, and the idiosyncrasies of eating (both in life and on camera)

This episode offers a feast of personal and culinary nostalgia, sharp wit, and affectionate ribbing—a must-listen for fans of Off Menu and admirers of Will Sharpe’s unique comedic voice.