Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things

Why is it the ruder the waiter, the more it gets Daniel Foxx excited? The laconic comedian is here to explain the beauty of surly service, the simple serenity brought by a scented candle, and you’ll experience some of the worst ASMR in podcast history.  Russell also relates the time Louis Theroux gyrated aggressively at him. That’s worth the admission fee alone.  Daniel’s latest tour ‘How Lovely’ is about to hit UK theatres, so to get yourself a whole evening of this very funny comic please check out where the tour is near you and book tickets - you can find it all HERE. Also there are still a handful of tickets left for Russell’s brand new tour show ‘Don’t Tell The Algorithm’. There are shows across the whole UK in 2026: You can book tickets at https://www.russell-howard.co.uk And we said in the show we’d link in the show notes to the comedian/chef George Egg’s cookbook, which can be found HERE, and very good it is too. That’s it for today, thanks for popping in, hope you’ve enjoyed the tea and biscuits. Thank you for taking off your shoes at the door and putting on the ceremonial slippers, shin-pads and fez. You looked radiant.  Until next time. Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Superb comedian Bridget Christie is here. She’s won the Edinburgh Award, she’s been nominated for oodles of comedy prizes, she’s written and performed in two series of her own show ‘The Change’ for Channel 4 and now she sits down with us to reveal her Five Brilliant Things.  It’s as thoughtful and funny as you would imagine from a comic as good as Bridget, including why empathy is disappearing, why we underestimate water and driving a motorbike through London at night. Zoom zoom.  Bridget has written a brand new full length show, and as anyone who’s seen her before can tell you it will be thought-provoking, fascinating and definitely very funny. It’s called ‘Jacket Potato Pizza’ (full explanation on the Patreon show as to why it’s called that). It’s touring the UK across 2026 and you can find out the dates and book tickets by going here.  You can also watch both series of Bridget’s series ‘The Change’ on the Channel 4 player.  There’s a whole second show’s worth of Bridget on our Patreon which also means you get the main show without adverts and everything a day early; Check out our Patreon offering at this link: patreon.com/RussellHoward   Also there are still a handful of tickets left for Russell’s brand new tour show ‘Don’t Tell The Algorithm’. There are shows across the whole UK in 2026: You can book tickets at https://www.russell-howard.co.uk I think it’s appropriate to say Happy New Year. Whatever you wish for over the next twelve months I hope it comes to you, but in appropriate amounts. If you want custard but end up drowning in a surfeit of custard that would be a tragedy (albeit a deliciously ironic and vanilla-y one).  Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From our December shows, here's a little taster of each episode so you can get a flavour of the things we got up to with our wonderful guests: Doctor/Writer Adam Kay Taskmaster star and stand-up Ania Magliano Stand-up comedy legend Ross Noble and one of the most fascinating people in Britain, Rory Sutherland. If you hear anything you like, circle back and enjoy the whole episode - they are all there waiting for you to listen. Happy New Year! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marketing expert and thinker-outside-the-box, Rory Sutherland is here with his Five Brilliant Things and they all begin with the letter C: Consumerism, Contradictions, Cars, Commuter Towns, Cornbread and the Commonwealth.  You’ll notice that’s more than five things, which typifies this episode. The ideas and conversation flowing out of Rory and Russell was abundant and it’s one of the most densely packed interesting shows we’ve made in ages.  If you are sparked off by the way Rory thinks then you can get a real schooling in unconventional thinking by enrolling on Rory’s Masters Course. It’s a distance learning course with Rory himself that teaches you new ways to approach problems and think in a creative and unexpected fashion. Follow this link to find out more and enrol.  Also there are still a handful of tickets left for Russell’s brand new tour show ‘Don’t Tell The Algorithm’. There are shows across the whole UK in 2026: You can book tickets at https://www.russell-howard.co.uk Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Christmas! This week Russell looks back over all of the shows from 2025 and picks his favourite moments from 52 x 5 Brilliant Things (So…quick bit of maths…that’s…260 Brilliant Things). We’ll be back in a week with a brand new show and loads of super-exciting guests in the new year.  On our Patreon show something a bit special this week - Russell and Dan sit down and talk about how they made the TV show Good News. For anyone who enjoyed that show, it’s a real treat and an insight into what went on behind the scenes… ⁠patreon.com/RussellHoward⁠   Also there are still a handful of tickets left for Russell’s brand new tour show ‘Don’t Tell The Algorithm’. There are shows across the whole UK in 2026: You can book tickets at https://www.russell-howard.co.uk Thank you for listening, you lovely lot. X Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices