''Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast'' (or ''RHLSTP'' ()) and ''Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast'' are two related

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

s, created and hosted by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

comedian

Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the leadin ...

. Hosted on

The British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering British comedies. BCG publishes guides to TV and radio situation comedy, sketch shows, comedy dramas, satire, variety and panel games. The web ...

, the podcasts are interviews with notable guests, usually fellow comedians. The original

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

podcast ran from 2011 to 2013, and took place most days for the duration of the Fringe, focusing on interviews with performers at the festival. They also contain short

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

segments from Fringe performers. The ''Leicester Square Theatre Podcast'', recorded at

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, began in 2012 and follows a similar format, with higher profile guests. It runs for a shorter series than the Edinburgh Fringe version, with weekly recordings. Both podcasts are performed in front of a paying audience, but released for free download and streaming. Series One and Two of the ''Leicester Square Theatre Podcast'' were released solely in audio format, with the exception of Stewart Lee's episode, which was initially released as a DVD Extra for ''

Fist of Fun A fist is the shape of a hand when the fingers are bent inward against the palm and held there tightly. To make or clench a fist is to fold the fingers tightly into the center of the palm and then to clamp the thumb over the middle phalanges; i ...

'', Series Two. From Series Three onwards all episodes of the show were released in both audio and video format – initially as a paid download, then free on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Series Seven was the first to be financed by a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign in order to cover the costs of production. Since Series Seventeen, Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast has been recorded on tour at different venues and, as such, has been referred to only by the acronym title of ''RHLSTP''. After only one episode of Series Nineteen was recorded, the remainder of the series was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Herring continued to conduct interviews and provide new content via

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

during the lockdowns. In March 2022 he started releasing the RHLSTP Book Club podcast on Fridays, usually recorded remotely, where he chatted with authors about one of their books.

Episode guide

Edinburgh Fringe Podcast

Leicester Square Theatre Podcast

RHLSTP Book Club

Reception

The Leicester Square Theatre Podcast has won the Internet Award at the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2018

Chortle Awards The Chortle Awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK. A panel of reviewers draw up a shortlist, which is presented for public vote at the Chortle webs ...

, and was the only non-

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

programme to be nominated for the comedy award at the 2013

Sony Radio Awards The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

. The show won a bronze award in the category, becoming the first internet-only award winner in this section.

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

Jonny Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Radiohead, and has composed numerous film scores. He has been named one of the greatest guitarists by numer ...

has also heralded the ''Leicester Square Theatre Podcast'' citing it as one of his cultural highlights in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. In Herring's interview with

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

, Fry revealed that he had attempted to commit suicide. The story was reported across various newspapers and international news networks including the BBC and Sky News. His interview with

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and media personality. He established himself as a stand-up comedian and radio host before becoming a film actor. After beginning his career as a comedian and la ...

also came to some press attention several months after its release, the press focusing on Brand discussing pleasuring a man in a public toilet for his 2002 TV show '' RE:Brand''.

Theme

"Try Again" by Pest was used as the theme from the first episode until the end of series 20. From series 21 onwards this was replaced by a theme performed and specifically composed for the show by Scant Regard, the solo project of musician Will Crewdson.

References

External links

*
RHLSTP! (RHLSTP!) reference resource
* {{Lee and Herring Comedy podcasts Interview podcasts Audio podcasts 2011 podcast debuts 2012 podcast debuts British podcasts