Off Menu (comedy podcast featuring James Acaster and Ed Gamble)

[Utter Shit]

Anyone listen to this podcast? I'm not particularly a foodie so held off on it for ages (there may have been an earlier thread but I couldn't find it), but I've got into it recently and it's great fun. Acaster and Gamble invite a weekly guest to choose their perfect meal, it's a simple setup but the pair of them are very likeable and get plenty of good stuff out of their guests. I'd recommend the Victoria Coren, Richard Osman and Scroobius Pip episodes, but to be honest there hasn't been a single one yet that I didn't enjoy. That Selassie bloke from Bake Off was great too.

[lankyguy95]

Podcast formats are now annoying me more than panel shows.

[DrGreggles]

I'll probably get around to it eventually (as I like James and Ed), but the guests seem to mostly be the ones who are on every other bloody podcast at the moment and that is what's stopping me diving in sooner.

[Sin Agog]

Podcast formats are now annoying me more than panel shows.

I massively love Peacock & Gamble, and Acaster's a good sort, but I've avoided this for that reason- it sounded more cynical than that Drunk Women On Acid Solve Crimes On Acid podcast.

[Twed]

I'd recommend the Victoria Coren, Richard Osman and Scroobius Pip episodes

You've just singled out the three very worst episodes IMO. Each of those people are at their most irritating in this podcast.

[Utter Shit]

Haha fair dos, I thought they were great! But then to be honest I don't think any of those three could annoy me, they're all so fundamentally decent and amiable.

There are a few I haven't bothered listening to yet because I don't know or don't like the guest - Tom Kerridge, Desiree Burch, Rose McGowan, Lolly Adefope, Jack McBrayer...any of them worth hearing?

[Utter Shit]

I massively love Peacock & Gamble, and Acaster's a good sort, but I've avoided this for that reason- it sounded more cynical than that Drunk Women On Acid Solve Crimes On Acid podcast.

That was my reason for not bothering with it too, but it's really good.

[DrGreggles]

Haha fair dos, I thought they were great! But then to be honest I don't think any of those three could annoy me, they're all so fundamentally decent and amiable.

There are a few I haven't bothered listening to yet because I don't know or don't like the guest - Tom Kerridge, Desiree Burch, Rose McGowan, Lolly Adefope, Jack McBrayer...any of them worth hearing?

Good guest potentially. Seems pretty sharp and funny.

[Sin Agog]

That was my reason for not bothering with it too, but it's really good.

OK, your last podcast steer was a good one, so I'll try it.  I did see a couple of episodes of their youtube series where Acaster eats stuff Gamble can't because his body isn't manly enough to produce insulin. Is that a totally separate thing?

[Twed]

There are a few I haven't bothered listening to yet because I don't know or don't like the guest - Tom Kerridge, Desiree Burch, Rose McGowan, Lolly Adefope, Jack McBrayer...any of them worth hearing?

I think all of these are better than the ones you mentioned, but I am overly sensitive to the three people you like.

Most episodes are good. One thing I found disappointing was hearing LA slowly seducing James. Towards the end it felt like he mentioned LA every episode (and now he's getting his teeth fixed and... we're going to lose James Acaster).

[Twed]

I really liked the episode w-POPPODOMS OR BREAD? POPPADOMS OR BREAD CAB?

[Utter Shit]

OK, your last podcast steer was a good one, so I'll try it.  I did see a couple of episodes of their youtube series where Acaster eats stuff Gamble can't because his body isn't manly enough to produce insulin. Is that a totally separate thing?

Different thing as far as I know. What was the other podcast?

[robotam]

I kind of like it. It's too rigid or something. Episodes all end up being very similar.
I prefer when they have people they are friends with on. Otherwise it becomes an interview podcast where they ask the same questions each week.

I think they need to expand (or do some episodes that break from) the format. That way they could get people they have good chemistry with as repeat guests.

[up_the_hampipe]

Food is such a boring topic of conversation that people seem so fascinated with. I like Gamble and Acaster, but I could not give a shitting bloody fuck what Victoria Coren's ideal starter is.

Something must be done about podcasts. The internet is going to collapse under the weight of all these things.

[BeardFaceMan]

This isnt one of those awful podcasts that has people eating into a microphone for an hour is it?

[Twed]

There is no actual food in the podcast.

[letsgobrian]

This isnt one of those awful podcasts that has people eating into a microphone for an hour is it?

No. A genie (Acaster) asks the guest to pick a fantasy meal from various categories. Ed Gamble is also there, but not pretending to be a genie. No food is actually eaten.

[nugget]

I've listened to three so far. I liked the Rose McGowan and Tom Kerridge ones. The Victoria Coren Mitchell one was alright but I lost some respect for her due to her extremely bland taste in food.

[Jerzy Bondov]

I think all of these are better than the ones you mentioned, but I am overly sensitive to the three people you like.

Most episodes are good. One thing I found disappointing was hearing LA slowly seducing James. Towards the end it felt like he mentioned LA every episode (and now he's getting his teeth fixed and... we're going to lose James Acaster).

I thought by LA you meant Lolly Adefope. Didn't remember that happening

[rasta-spouse]

It's too rigid or something. Episodes all end up being very similar.

I agree, it's a little bit boring. I prefer Fostekew's Hoovering or the News Roast pod with Prowse and Rubenstein which has a similar three course meal idea but the conversations are so much better, they also had Rose McGowan as a guest and it was ten times as interesting as the Off Menu one. These things are best when the pod concept is used as a springboard to learn more about the guest. Prowse and Rubenstein aren't funny, but they can converse and interact well.

Also I don't think Acaster and Gamble bring out the best in each other. They're a bit condescending to their guests (the Lou Sanders ep) and can come across as snickering sixth-formers. Acaster's got a really weird and awkward vibe when he isn't doing stand-up. And other than his English-teacher-watching-Shakespeare laugh I don't understand the point of the porcelain (it's the only word that came to mind) Gamble. I feel the pod needs someone resembling a human to root it.

One thing I really liked was Grace Dent's appearance, I think she spent at least five minutes calling stand-up comics losers which was surprising in its harshness. I hope they get Charles Campion on and make constant Family Guy references that go over his head. That would be really funny. Can you imagine it?

[The Roofdog]

I've listened to three so far. I liked the Rose McGowan and Tom Kerridge ones. The Victoria Coren Mitchell one was alright but I lost some respect for her due to her extremely bland taste in food.

The Coren-Mitchell episode is great precisely because I expected her to be a food wanker like her dickhead brother but she's the exact opposite, to the extent where Acaster can't hide his disgust at her choices.

[Twed]

That's what specifically annoyed me, it was like The Ironic Review, she was so fucking proud of her plain tastes.

[Old Gold Tooth]

It's pretty shit, especially considering it's comedy pedigree. The whole thing feels a bit like an engineered profile boost than anything either Gamble or Acaster had a burning urge to make.

And all the talk of GREAT restaurants, no really SUPERB restaurants in London and L.A. often makes it seem as though it's hosted by a pair of Barry Homeowners.

[Hat FM]

i seem to remember enjoying the joel dommett ep. Thought it go a bit stale, if you excuse the pun, at times.

[Twed]

James Acaster in a more personal setting is a bad thing in general, IMO. On stage he's a wizard of in-control weirdness, and you should never look behind the curtain to discover that he's your idiotic mate with slightly arrested development.

[rasta-spouse]

James Acaster in a more personal setting is a bad thing in general, IMO. On stage he's a wizard of in-control weirdness, and you should never look behind the curtain to discover that he's your idiotic mate with slightly arrested development.

Whenever I read an article about Bible John now I picture him with Acaster's face. For me that's the cumulative effect of his tv work. 

[ASFTSN]

Listened to a load of these recently and have decided that when they're with a comedian/friend they can take the piss out of then it's bloody great, otherwise it's a bit dry and dull (but that's probably because I don't care about food that much).

Best ones for me:

Romesh Ranganathan and his increasing disgust at his own deep fried tastes.
Joe Lycett because of James' mounting obsession with the Krispy Kreme 'glaze curtain'.
Greg Davies for being generally a funny bastard and his 'demi-clock' of dishes.
Joe Thomas for how the two of them steadily take the piss out him.

[non capisco]

I binged the lot of these over lockdown and really enjoyed them, despite the realisation that there's no way I could afford to eat out at expensive restaurants with anything approaching the frequency of these two highly paid Mock The Week motherfuckers or most of their guests. I found there was just something wholesome and likeable about the podcast that was helping me through the early horrors of the pandemic peak when we were all mentally preparing ourselves for our own deaths. I enjoyed listening to the descriptions of food as I tucked in to my One Stop Egg Mayonnaise sandwich and Grab Bag of Picked Onion Monster Munch. James Acaster's exaggerated rage at people's poor dessert choices was something I never stopped finding funny even when I was obsessing over the possibility of experiencing my gasping last breath in a week's time. The only episode I didn't especially enjoy was Mike 'The Streets' Skinner who came across as a weird aggressive bell end with a fraction of the intellect he thinks he has. The very latest one with Romesh Ranganathan is an all-timer, his mounting self disgust when they point out at the end all his choices were deep fried really got me. It's become my second favourite podcast after Chart Music, I think. I know there's not a lot to it, it's a very limited format and you will hear James' boring Diet Coke anecdote again and again but I can't deny I've developed an excessive degree of fondness for it as an aural comfort blanket this year.

[paruses]

Listened to my first one of these today and enjoyed. Started with Grace Dent and found it interesting to hear her talk about the food critic lifestyle albeit superficially. I really wanted her to say Charles Campion looks like Peter Griffin when she was being circumspect about who had gout and was a fatty fatty.

Have been through the list and treated it like RHLSTP picking out names I know and have some confidence in. Will go back and fill in gaps after.

Has anyone listened to the Lolly Adefope one (apols for spelling. Am tired and bad at spelling names in general)?

[non capisco]

Halfway through the latest episode with Louis Theroux as the guest and it's made me laugh a ton. The whole riff about

Spoiler alert

fairground goldfish dying of broken hearts

[close]

in particular. Louis in winningly Buxton podcast style goofy mood.