Hello there, Stuart Goldsmith here. This is the Comedians Comedian podcast,

and with James Acaster's

Heckler's Welcome hitting over 400 cinema screens this weekend. We are looking back at his

2024 appearance on the show. Originally released in two parts, we go in depth into the creation of this show,

including the moment that led to James taking a break from stand-up, what it was

like touring the show, and whether or not James still hates hecklers. If you're an insider,

we'll also be releasing the Patreon exclusive Q&A that took place a few years ago. You can

join from only £3 a month at patreon.com.com. So here, without further ado, is James Acaster from 2024.

Hello. Hello, Stu. Hey, man. I feel like this is this. I'm not used to doing all

with the video stuff, so I kind of get my head in my pants about, like, would we normally

be sitting this

close in a conversation well all this sort of stuff isn't it it's like you get used to it as it

goes on but like um like initially like being an open spot and doing podcasts and just

something like having a normal chat and then going into your podcast chat and notice and

the shift and then with videos it's's a bit. I always find the moment when, um, uh, the thing that I, the thing that I hope I'm not doing is when you're at a gig, an open mic or kind of, you know, first five years, he kind of a gig. And you check, it's in a pub. It's like a mirth control control type gig and then you talk to some bloke who's doing this sound and he goes yeah yeah I'll introduce you and he goes oh ladies and jeanj it's the most phenomenal gear shift into that thing and then I've done that myself but like a kid's party so I was like can you make an announcement and suddenly you go uh hi everybody and you do a version Which is... I'm going to start saying you're a genie. That's what you want to do. Just say you're a genie on the podcast and then that's easy. What... Why, why, uh, does that help? Does the, is the genie distinct from you, distinct from performing you? Like like how many ewes have you got yeah yeah

i don't know like i'm i've been with the podcast i thought and ed always brings it up and makes

fun to me for it but i thought well we'll probably do 10 episodes and that'll be it because

no one's going to listen to this or you know whatever um so it was just i think at the beginning

it's what do we think is funny or what do you think it's yeah so i was like i want to say i'm a genie

and the other two were like don't say i say you're a genie with the and then when we did the first

intro i could have the first intro before the first guest arrived and I said it was a genie

and it, I think he had even says in the intro, something like, well, I guess we are running with that then if you're going to, or whatever as all, we'll see if James remains a genie for the whole thing. So it wasn't really, just something I thought was funny. Could you stop being a genie? Adieu in the podcast. Yeah. I would run of the potential future life of the podcast, which is about to embark on a massive sold-out tour. As you continue, you and Ed both continue to live this life where you're off, you travel anywhere in the world that are offered the finest of everything, as befits your genie staining. Thank you. But are you, like, could you, like, what are the kind of the parameters of the podcast? Do you feel it would break a magical thing? Are you inclined to go, I can't be a genie anymore? Would they accept it? Would they accept it? Because they accept you? Or is it that weird uncharted territory of like, maybe I'd break the magic thing?

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