John Robins - The Darkness of Robins

[olliebean]

Just watched this and loved it, I think largely because he seems to be me turned up to 11. Anyway, thought it was worth a heads-up - it's available at https://iview.abc.net.au/show/john-robins-the-darkness-of-robins/video/ZW1785A001S00 until January 15th. I think you need to be in Australia to watch it online, but you can download it from anywhere with youtube-dl.

[godber]

Also watched and really enjoyed, didn't think it would live up to the hype but it's a beautifully painful study of love lost. There were a few bits that felt like filler and the Billy section was previously on the radio show, but the main arc was ace and I had a lump in my throat at the end. Would like to see Sara Pascoe's show now, though not sure if it was ever recorded.

Final grumble, can't believe Darkness ended up on Aussie TV before the beeb! I queued up to see the recording but missed the cut - first come, first served - so have been itching to see it.

[billyandthecloneasaurus]

Saw it in Northampton, I really enjoyed it.  I was getting a bit jaded with emotional "event" stand-up shows (FACKIN' DEAD DAD SHOWS as Brendon Burns rather eloquently put it whilst commentating on the Wrestling in Edinburgh in 2015), but after internally going UHHHOH when I realised what it was gonna be about, I was very pleasantly surprised. 

His stuff with Ellis James worth a listen?

[vainsharpdad]

https://twitter.com/sarapascoe/status/1075342998060310528?s=21

Her show is filmed in March.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I was a little disappointed by it unfortunately, the first section is great and the third is really strong, but the bit in the middle about the friend of a friend and the trip to Ikea was a bit bland, the latter had a good ending but it took too long to get there. It's a shame it's not more consistent, or I'd really have loved it.

[olliebean]

I related quite strongly to the Ikea bit, but I can see how it might not land if you don't.

[Muel 2]

This is probably really cheeky but I'd really like to see this and I'm having no success downloading it.  If anyone could be so kind as to PM with me with a file I would reward you by saying "thanks".

[Small Man Big Horse]

I got it via Reddit's Notapanelshow subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/notapanelshow/comments/a6wx6l/john_robins_the_darkness_of_robins/

[Muel 2]

Fantastic.  Thanks!

[McFlymo]

thanks for the link! I enjoyed this, quite a very lot!

[Travis B]

Pretty good I thought, thanks for the link SMBH.

His stuff with Ellis James worth a listen?

I've been listening to this for a while and it is patchy. It can be funny, but too often they regress to student 'bantz', shouting "LEGEND' and "yes please' whenever something appeals to them. Another pain, does Robins have to mention he went to Oxford constantly? He went to Oxford Brookes which I didn't think was part of Oxford University so it's a bit of a stretch to claim so. On balance it's ok, but occasionally irritating.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Pretty good I thought, thanks for the link SMBH.

I've been listening to this for a while and it is patchy. It can be funny, but too often they regress to student 'bantz', shouting "LEGEND' and "yes please' whenever something appeals to them. Another pain, does Robins have to mention he went to Oxford constantly? He went to Oxford Brookes which I didn't think was part of Oxford University so it's a bit of a stretch to claim so. On balance it's ok, but occasionally irritating.

Yeah, Oxford Brookes is the old Poly and that's weak for him to do unless it's tongue in cheek. I mean I could do the same thing as I went to university in Cambridge, but it was the incredibly rubbish Anglia Polytechnic University, which for some reason has changed it's name to Anglia Ruskin University because who wouldn't want to go to an establishment of higher education named after a paedophile?

[Wayman C. McCreery]

The podcast with Elis James has its peaks and troughs, and it's definitely in a trough at the moment. At its best though it can be as good as Adam and Joe's 6 Music shows used to be, but right now I think they could do with having a break and ditching half the features. It's fallen into a similar trap as A&J did in their later days by over relying on listener input. Still makes me laugh a lot though.

I saw The Darkness of Robins twice. The first time was his first full runthrough from notes at Machynlleth and it was remarkable - it felt so raw and real, and I genuinely feared for him. 12 months later I saw the full tour show and - naturally - it'd become a much more polished and less intense affair. Still really, really good, but it didn't quite deliver the theatre that that first work-in-progress did.

Anyway, if you like this one then his two shows on Bandcamp are excellent: https://johnrobins.bandcamp.com

[Stone Cold Steve Austin]

He didn't go to Oxford Brookes, that's a thing Elis does to wind him up. Did a big relisten to all the podcasts which I finished this week, it's definitely had better days but it's rebounded from that 2017 low where they wore themselves out doing all those weeks on drivetime

[godber]

https://twitter.com/sarapascoe/status/1075342998060310528?s=21

Her show is filmed in March.

Lads, Lads, Lads now on iPlayer https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004grz

[rasta-spouse]

Didn't have much fun with Lads, Lads, Lads. Her Live at BBC on NF is much better (and has more on Robins than LLL if you like that sort of thing).

[vainsharpdad]

Too long and lacked structure, I thought. I prefer Robins' vulnerability, I think.

[godber]

I can't believe the BBC version is the same show that ran in Edinburgh. The reviews at the time suggest there was loads more about their relationship and was very raw and at times brutal. Felt like the recording has kept the central tenant of the breakup but morphed into a much broader routine. Would love to know what someone who's seen both thinks. 

[vainsharpdad]

Similarly, I think a lot was cut from Robins' show

[vainsharpdad]

Now on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/watch/81254245