Richard Herring interviewed his old podcast sparring partner Andrew Collins for his latest series of Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcasts. Andrew McHaffie witnessed the historic Frost/Nixon type event and reports here. It's out now - link below.
Back in the old days, not all comedians had podcasts like they do today. At the forefront of British comedy podcasting were Ricky Gervais, Adam & Joe and Collings & Herrin.
Collings & Herrin (pictured) was the first podcast I ever listened to. Andrew Collins was the respectable music and film journalist always trying rein in comedian Richard Herring who was at his most extreme in these shows. I looked forward to their weekly chats; a mixture of their experiences from the previous week, topical chat from the newspapers, and terrible, awful, funny filth.
As time went on, their jokey acrimony became all too real and Andrew eventually pulled out of the podcasting world altogether, while Richard went on to start other podcasts, including his most successful one, RHLSTP (rhlstp). Now, on series 11, Andrew has finally been invited and has agreed to appear. “It will clear the air and stop people asking for it.” he said on Twitter.
I made my way to the venue at a leisurely stroll in the 30 degree heat, deciding against the packed rush hour buses in an unsuccessful attempt to keep my sweating under control. What effect would this heat have on the already potentially awkward show? Luckily for everyone, the air conditioning was working fine.
After being introduced as being best known for appearing in all the episodes of “I Love The 1980s”, Andrew came on to a huge round of applause which took some time to die down. He was in a spiky and playful mood. He refused to be goaded by Richard about his poor selling book about Friends Reunited and started going on the offensive himself. Richard was on the back foot for much of the podcast as Andrew started to get his revenge.
But it was all in good fun, and there wasn't any real unpleasantness. It didn't take them long to get their old chemistry back, and soon we had the most astonishing answer to Richard's emergency question about The Human Centipede that elicited a few gasps from the audience and from Richard himself.
The highlight of the evening was Andrew's unpaid but genuine endorsement of Frog Tape. You may not know what it is, but by the end of the show, we all knew about it in great detail, and why Andrew prefers it to its main competitor, Gorilla Tape.
The show ended with an applause-inducing onstage hug. But I haven't answered the question that all Collings & Herrin fans want to know. Will they be returning as a double act any time soon?
There is only one way to find out. And that is to wait until the podcast comes out next month.
RHLSTP with Andrew Collins is out now. Watch it on youtube here.
