A (1:50)

Oh, really?

B (1:51)

No. And I mean, I come to Wicked with an open heart filled with love. The first one was really fun. The second one was just less fun. But I will say that I don't really actually know that much about the musical. Like, I've like, seen it once when I was like, much younger. But the first half of the musical, they split it up into two, like part one and part two, and it's like the basically first and second act or whatever. And the first part of the musical just like, is generally more fun. However, I do think they could have made the movie more fun as well. The second part of it? Yeah. What's in your pop culture right now?

A (2:27)

Well, I went to the cinema this week as well, actually.

B (2:29)

Okay. What do you see?

A (2:32)

So.

A (2:35)

It'S mine and my girlfriend's 10 year anniversary.

B (2:38)

Oh, my God. Congratulations.

A (2:39)

Thank you very much. So I took her to see Nuremberg at the cinema.

B (2:44)

Right?

A (2:45)

Yeah. Okay. Okay.

A (2:50)

Not bad, not bad.

B (2:52)

Okay. That Was your anniversary date just curious.

A (2:55)

Yeah.

B (2:57)

Dinner or something or.

A (3:00)

Yeah, well, I was actually. I was away for the actual anniversary. I was on the road, so.

B (3:05)

So you made it up in a huge way.

A (3:08)

Yeah, well, I did it before.

B (3:10)

I thought, we'll do.

A (3:13)

Do that on the Wednesday. And then I had to. I was away from the Thursday to like the Monday. So I thought if I just do. I'll do that Wednesday and if it goes down terribly, then I can just kind of escape. I'll send some flowers and forget this ever happened.

B (3:29)

Forget it. Forget that. Forget it.

A (3:31)

But actually it was. The film's good. The film is good. I think Russell Crowe is excellent. I'm a big fan of Russell Crowe. Okay. And I thought that just, you know what, the whole cinema experience was really good.

B (3:45)

Yeah.

A (3:46)

I've not done it for ages, but they've really upped their game. It's like big, comfy seats and a pint on a table.

B (3:53)

I know. It is quite comfortable.

A (3:56)

I loved it.

B (3:57)

Did you get snacks?

A (3:58)

Well, we had the. It was a Wednesday. I don't know what they call it. Pizza Lovers Wednesday or something.

B (4:02)

Oh, period. Never heard of that.

B (4:07)

Classic Pizza Lovers Wednesday type situation.

A (4:09)

You know that popular phrase, Pizza Wednesdays?

B (4:12)

Totally.

A (4:15)

But I thought it was a great deal. 15 quid for pizza and a film.

B (4:20)

That is way less money than the movies that I'm going to see in America is what I'll say to you.

A (4:25)

Well, I thought it was about like at least 18 quid just to go to the cinema.

B (4:31)

Yeah.

A (4:32)

But I think they're now like thinking we've got to get people in somehow.

B (4:36)

I pray to God. It is so funny how, like, I think there's obviously been this whole ongoing discussion about how to get people to go to the movies again. It's like, well, certainly it would help if it wasn't so expensive.

A (4:48)

I. That's literally just it, isn't it? Because I would normally, yeah, I'd swerve it because it was well expensive. But then I, for the first time in ages went and was like, oh, my God, this is great.

B (4:59)

Yeah.

A (5:00)

And I feel like not enough people, they don't actually realize how good it is now because they've not been in such a long time.

B (5:06)

Yeah, I know. I need to get the like, pass or the. Do you guys have that? There's like, where you pay monthly and then you can see X amount of movies or as many movies as you want or whatever. And I'm like, that does make it worth it, actually. But I'd be so Much more likely to go see a movie if it was just like $10 and not $22.

A (5:24)

Yes. Yeah. And they would make more money that way because I would.

B (5:28)

They would.

A (5:28)

I would go regularly, without a doubt. I think actually the membership here is only. I think it's like £15.

B (5:36)

Yeah.

A (5:37)

Which is amazing.

B (5:38)

No, they really make it worth your money, those little deals, I guess because.

A (5:42)

They really want you to come on Pizza Wednesday and spend on that front.

B (5:46)

Yeah, of course.

A (5:47)

That'll be why.

B (5:49)

Okay, wait. I'm so entranced by the fact that you guys celebrated your 10 year anniversary. I don't know why I'm like, that's amazing.

A (5:57)

Yeah. I mean, fair play to her. That's unbelievable.

B (6:01)

Really, to spend 10 years with you.

A (6:03)

Yeah, genuinely, I'm in awe.

B (6:07)

She loves you.

A (6:08)

Yeah. I mean she must do either that or she is just waiting for the blow up.

B (6:15)

Or she's in it for the pizza and the movie.

A (6:17)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's in it for the.

B (6:19)

It was just that.

A (6:20)

For the films about war crimes and pizza. She just loves it.

B (6:23)

Yeah, exactly.

A (6:24)

Yeah.

A (6:27)

It's been a fun week. I was in where you've been fairly recently. I was in Cambridge on Thursday.

B (6:33)

Yeah, nice. Did you enjoy it?

A (6:35)

I did enjoy it. I was supporting. Do you know Stephen Merchant?

B (6:40)

No.

A (6:41)

He's in a couple of films, I think recently. But he co wrote the Office.

B (6:46)

Okay.

A (6:47)

The UK one. But I was supporting him in Cambridge at the Corn Exchange.

B (6:51)

Okay. What is that? The coin exchange?

A (6:55)

Corn.

B (6:56)

Corn, yeah. Right. What is that?

A (6:59)

But there's so many now that like I've done so many gigs in like ex corn exchanges, which is where farmers used to go with corn.

B (7:06)

Oh, okay.

A (7:08)

And literally in the name, literally exchange corn for money.

B (7:13)

Yeah.

A (7:14)

But seemingly that's the common denominator. Rooms that are great for corn are good for comedy, apparently.

B (7:19)

Are they?

A (7:21)

I liked it.

B (7:22)

Okay, cool.

A (7:23)

Yeah, it's one of those, you know, you go to venues sometimes and there's like real history to it. Like all on the stairs backstage. It's really good. It's like a local artist who. It's like stencil drawing and it's got all the people who've played there over the years and there's like Queen and the Rolling Stones and you and me. I didn't make the wall. It's the third time I've played it. Still not on the wall.

B (7:49)

When you get to number five, you will be on the wall. Trust that.

A (7:52)

Do you reckon?

B (7:53)

Yes.

B (7:56)

I'm certain.

B (7:58)

I'm 100% certain.

A (8:00)

Mm. We'll see if you could put a word in. Actually, that'd be great. Maybe by popular demand we could do it.

B (8:06)

I'll try.

A (8:06)

Yeah. I'll send you the email address.

B (8:08)

I don't know how much they'll listen to me, but. Yeah, yeah, I'll get, I'll get it going.

A (8:12)

Don't say that at the start, though. Don't say. Hi, I've got your email off Matt Bragg. Just a query.

B (8:17)

No, no, no, I'll say, like, I'm a huge fan of Matt Bragg and like, I just really think that you guys should have a drawing of him at the Corn Exchange.

A (8:25)

Yeah, perfect. Yeah, great. Well, that's that sorted. Yeah, that's a weight off my mind.

B (8:30)

Thank God.

A (8:31)

But it was fun. And I went to. I was in Glasgow after that, which is always a pleasure. I've been up to Scotland.

B (8:37)

No, I want to go, but I haven't been.

A (8:40)

It's a long drive up there. But the drive is really.

B (8:43)

I mean, it looks beautiful when you're.

A (8:44)

In the car because you suddenly get surrounded by like snow capped big hills. It does feel like you've gone over the wall.

B (8:52)

Oh, that is awesome.

A (8:54)

It's really great. Yeah, I love it up there. Did you see that? Was it Jimmy Fallon?

B (8:59)

What did he do?

A (9:00)

Who was in Scotland?

B (9:01)

Oh, I don't know. That's not part of my pop culture. But I bet he was.

A (9:06)

That is pop culture. You should be all over that.

B (9:09)

I know, but I missed that one. Jimmy Fallon in Scotland.

A (9:13)

It's so wholesome.

B (9:15)

He was just like exploring.

A (9:17)

I think he was. Yeah. I think he went on his own on holiday.

B (9:20)

Okay.

A (9:21)

And he took this video on a bridge somewhere. I think he was throwing something into a river. I don't know what he was throwing in the river. It wasn't like fly tipping. A friend of his who had Scottish ancestry.

B (9:33)

Yeah.

A (9:34)

So he threw something of his into this Scottish river, you know.

B (9:37)

Okay.

A (9:37)

And there was some members of the Scottish army at the other end of the bridge and they got chatting and stuff and then they took Jimmy Fallon back to where they were based and they got him a kilt and a hat and they gave him a big meal. And honestly, it's the most wholesome video I've ever seen. I think it's so sweet.

B (10:02)

I should watch it. I do have an inherent distrust of Jimmy Fallon.

A (10:05)

Oh, interesting.

B (10:06)

That. That's like a me thing.

A (10:08)

Where does that come from?

B (10:09)

I find him to be like a dubious person. I'm like, stop that. I don't. Anyway, I just don't like what he's doing sometimes. And I don't feel that he's a trustworthy individ.

A (10:22)

Well, that's good to know. I know very little about Jimmy Fallon aside from that video that I saw.

B (10:28)

That is basically me just having a vibe that is really not. That is not based on like basically anything in real life.

A (10:34)

Amazing. And I'd just like at this point to say shout out to the nightly lawyers who.

B (10:40)

And y' all can cut that out if you need to. But once again, that's just my vibe.

A (10:43)

Don't you dare cut that out.

A (10:48)

It's good to know. I like to know who you've got a vibe for.

B (10:51)

And look, Matt loves him. So it's like Matt loves him and I feel scared of him. So that's basically it.

A (10:56)

You got both sides of the story.

B (10:58)

Yes.

A (11:00)

Well, watch the video. It might change your mind. You never know.

B (11:02)

It might. Or it might make me feel more scared than ever.

A (11:07)

It might, yeah. I'll tell you what it will do. It will give you an over idealized view of what it's like to go to Scotland. You know, when you see in like those holiday movies, particularly when like an American person comes over to England, there's a cottage in a snow drift and they're all welcomed by the locals and it's like the most beautiful thing ever. I do feel like people sort of get the wrong idea of what is.

B (11:33)

Going on and maybe the general attitude.

A (11:37)

Yeah, I mean, you're very welcome to come into mind for a cup of tea, but.

B (11:41)

Okay.

A (11:41)

You know.

B (11:41)

Well, I just actually watched speaking of pop culture and British, Bridget Doane's Diary.

A (11:47)

Nice. Jill. I've. I've never seen it.

B (11:49)

It's cute.

A (11:51)

Yeah.

B (11:52)

It's a retelling of Pride and Prejudice.

A (11:54)

Is that what it is?

B (11:56)

Yes.

A (11:56)

I did not know that.

B (11:58)

And Colin Firth's character is named Mark Darcy. Sometimes with the retellings you're like, okay, there's some stuff that isn't like completely fleshed out because you have like the source material. And I was feeling that a bit. But that's also just kind of like the way of rom com sometimes, I suppose. And it did make, of course the UK seem like very, very quaint and sweet.

A (12:16)

It is in places. But what is the general gist? Because I can't even remember what Pride and Prejudice is about, to be honest.

B (12:23)

It's like this girl who is in love with her boss and then he is expressing that he has feelings towards her and. And then she meets another guy, Mr. Darcy, who she's, like, kind of into, but kind of not. And he's, like, with someone. Whatever. And then it turns out that her boss, who's played by Hugh Grant and Mark d', Arcy is played by Colin Firth. Her boss. Hugh Grant's character had slept with Colin Firth's wife. They had been best friends. He had slept with her wife.

A (12:55)

Right.

B (12:55)

And Colin Firth had walked in on them, and then they'd ran off together. And. And so then it's like chaos ensues, of course, because she has two men and she has to pick which one she wants. And Hugh Grant's character is lying to her. And then in the end, she ends up with Mr. Darcy, of course. But there's, like, three of them and they're. They're based on books as well.

A (13:16)

Oh, right. Okay.

B (13:17)

Yeah.

A (13:17)

With all the marketing, the giant underwear plays less of a part than I thought it would.

B (13:22)

Yeah. Wait, there's a thing about her being in big underwear or whatever.

A (13:26)

I thought that was the main thrust of the story. I'll be honest.

B (13:30)

I don't know how well I was paying attention to it. And I watched over the course of two nights, like a week apart. But there is a thing with her underwear. Well, the whole thing is that they literally keep calling her fat. And she is, like, simply not, I would say, objectively. And so that is like, a big thing, is that they just kind of make her. It's a classic trope of being like this, like, beautiful movie star, being Renee Zellweger, trying to make her like a bumbling fool, basically.

A (13:56)

Right, okay.

B (13:57)

And so of course they're like, she has big underwear on or something at some point.

B (14:03)

And she's just like a beautiful woman.

A (14:07)

Yeah, well, that's what's always confused me with it, because I thought the whole idea was that she saw herself as very unattractive. And it was like, oh, she.

B (14:14)

You know, it's unclear how, like, self aware it is in the movie. If it's like, she thinks that she's unattractive, but really she's not. Or. I mean, it must be that because both of these men are attracted to her and she has these options or whatever. But people do continuously make snide remarks to her about the way she looks throughout the movie that aren't herself.

A (14:34)

And yet Hugh Grahn and Colin Firth are into it.

B (14:38)

Yes. Because she's really. She's hot.

A (14:41)

Yeah. Yeah. Out of interest, what year did Bridget Jones star had come out initially? Because I feel like that'll be quite revealing. Won't it?

B (14:50)

Yes.

A (14:51)

2001.

B (14:52)

Okay.

A (14:53)

I do feel like it's part of that sort of nostalgia run now, isn't it? From, like, late 90s, early 2000s. Seeing a lot of stuff like that now coming back round.

B (15:03)

I know. Well, they made, like, one kind of recently, another Bridget Jones, like, kind of recently, I think.

A (15:07)

Yeah. Yeah. I do remember hearing about that in the past.

B (15:10)

I think, like, five years or something. I don't know.

A (15:12)

It's interesting, that whole. Because I think it's a real nostalgia boom at the moment. I watched a really interesting documentary on it, like, on nostalgia generally, because it's such a powerful thing. But you know how everybody says, like, music's not as good now?

B (15:30)

Yeah, yeah.

A (15:31)

There was a study. They said they want to definitively find when the objectively best period of music is. So they studied thousands of people and music and charts and all that kind of thing. Can you take a guess at when? Like, the decade.

B (15:47)

I'm scared. Well, I kind of feel like they're gonna say now, but it's because there's so much music but that I feel like isn't right. I'm gonna randomly guess and say.

B (15:58)

The 70s. I don't think it's right.

A (16:02)

So the science says that objectively, the best period of music is whenever you were 17.

B (16:11)

Oh, well, of course. Yeah, of course.

A (16:14)

Interesting, though, that for everybody, like, the whole. The average of everyone was 17.

B (16:20)

Oh, I see. I see. They asked, like, for some reason, I thought you meant they sampled all the music and found out. But I see your thing. No, I mean, of course.

A (16:27)

Well, I tried to make it sound that way just to make it more of a reveal.

B (16:31)

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's, like, the same as so many things. That's the same as, like, Saturday Night Live, which is that everyone is like, it used to be so good when I was in high school and I thought sketch comedy was funny. It's like, Right, Yeah, it's a show for children, but it's just not really for adults. But. Sorry, I'm, like, coming for, like, comedy institutions right now, and I want to say that I would, of course, love to work with Jimmy Fallon and Lorne Michaels.

A (16:55)

Just remember, remember who was nice to you, Jimmy.

B (16:57)

It was me, Jimmy. Don't forget.

A (16:59)

Come on, Jim. Come on.

B (17:01)

But, yeah, I mean, that makes sense. I was literally yesterday was basically listening to music that I listened to when I was 17. Being like, this sounds amazing.

A (17:09)

Oh, really?

B (17:10)

Yeah.

A (17:10)

Do you kind of get yourself stuck in that, then? Or are you into. Because my girlfriend keeps an Eye on, like, the current top 50. Like, she'll play all the new music out that week. And I just. I can't bring myself to do it.

B (17:21)

I'm really trying to be better about, like, when I hear of, like, an album that someone likes or whatever, like, saving it on my phone and listening to it all the way through. But I'm definitely don't pay attention to, like, the top whatever. I was finding that I was, like, just not listening to a lot of music because I was like, oh, I don't know, like, what to listen to, and I don't know, like, what's good right now or whatever. And then I was like, I can just put on a playlist that I made when I was 19 years old and have the time of my life. And I did it.

A (17:48)

I do think that's the way to go.

B (17:50)

Speak. I literally was, like, having, as you said, waves of nostalgia feeling. It felt amazing.

A (17:57)

It does. It feels great. Why would you not do that?

B (18:00)

I know.

A (18:01)

I get nostalgic for type before I was even born.

B (18:03)

Yeah, yeah. I've also found that in relistening to music that you listen to when you're, like, 17 or whatever, that at the time I'd listen to whatever, like, all these different bands, whatever. And to me, they all were amazing. And then when you're older, you can listen to them and be like, actually, some of these really do still sound good. And some of them were so bad. But to me at the time, it all was amazing. Which is, like, interesting as well.

A (18:28)

Yeah. Cause you could probably be a bit more objective about it. When there's a distance of time in between.

B (18:34)

Yeah, yeah. Production wise, I'm like, some of these really were hitting it out of the park, and some of them. It does not sound good, actually.

A (18:43)

What was your top song yesterday when you were like, 19 years old again.

B (18:48)

Yesterday, I was listening to a lot of LCD sound system, which was really nice. And I've been listening to it for today as well. What else was I listening to? Do you know Vulfpeck? Do you know that band?

A (18:58)

It does ring a bell.

B (19:00)

They're like a jazzy. I don't know, like, I don't even know what genre they are. It's like experimental, jazzy, whatever. It's really good. That is actually really good music. And they had some, like, bigger songs, which I wasn't listening to those, but I was listening to some. An album of theirs that came out when I was like a freshman in college or so I was really enjoying myself as well. Say Oh, I was listening to this band called Typhoon. All kind of like indie rock stuff and then some like, more strange stuff, but stuff that still sounds amazing to me to this day.

A (19:31)

Nice LCD sound system. Definitely do. They're.

B (19:34)

Yeah, they're so good.

A (19:36)

Still sounds incredible.

B (19:37)

I mean, that's what I'm saying. I'm like, that it is really good and sounds like. I don't know. I was having the thing of being like. It sounds quite current as well.

A (19:45)

Yeah, it's interesting that, isn't it? I think bands like that, they nailed it to the point where it just works across every decade. It doesn't feel old at any point.

B (19:53)

I know. I think that they might be having some type of, like, residency in New York or something. And I was like, I should get tickets to that because it'd be awesome to see them live.

A (20:02)

That would be great. I just missed them at a festival a couple of years ago. Yeah, I was gutted about it.

B (20:08)

Yeah.

A (20:08)

What was. Who was it? Was it Wolf Pack?

B (20:11)

It's Vulfpack. So it's V, U, L, F, P, E, C, K. And honestly, I highly recommend. I feel that there's probably many listeners who know them. I wonder if they just didn't quite make it outside of the US but you should listen to them. It's really good. They have these two songs. One is called Back Pocket and one is called Wait for the Moment. And those two, I feel like, are popular enough that if you heard them, you would probably know.

A (20:32)

Okay.

B (20:33)

Through like, Osmosis or like, also maybe they were in, like, commercials or something at some point. Yeah.

A (20:38)

All right, cool. Well, I'm going to put some wolf pack on.

B (20:42)

Yeah. As you should.

A (20:43)

And turn in. I think this has been a pleasure. Nice to catch up. Sophia.

B (20:48)

It's been amazing. I'll. I'll talk to you soon. Good night, Matt.

A (20:51)

Good night, Sophia.

B (21:10)

Sam.

A (22:00)

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