Well 4 years to be exact! It feels quick. In May 2013, I sat on my bed in my first tiny bedroom in England and recorded the first interview with Graham Linehan. And here we are today, 200 episodes. Thanks, if you are one of the people who downloaded or recommended or donated to the show in that time. I would love to say we would still be making it if you didn’t listen but the truth is probably a lot further away from that. Most podcasts die in the first year. Ours has lived on and flourished because you guys listening and the constant, never ending emails demanding more episodes! The abusive emails you have sent me have been the wood for the fire. The positive messages have been the spark. What’s the point of fire wood without something to ignite it. I hope you will keep listening to and sharing the podcast. We have, as hard as this is to believe, a lot more guests still to come on the show. And that makes me excited in healthy way.
I want to give a shoutout to our longtime sponsor Currencyfair. Their support has been incredibly helpful in getting us to this milestone. I think a nice way of thanking them might be to signup now and let them know the Irishman Abroad sent you. Just an idea.
The hardest period we ever had in making the podcast was the time I donated the kidney to my brother. It feels amazing now to look back on it and know that that is part of the journey of our podcast. My brother is doing great, I get pissed a lot easier now (saving me time and money) and my standup show about it is about to go on a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I sometimes feel weird telling people to come to my standup when they are fans of the podcast because the two things are quite different. Like if you went to a restaurant and the owner came around to your table and said, “If you like the food, you’ll love my singing.” But the thing is, the podcast and the standup aren’t as different as steak and karaoke. I believe, if you like the podcast you’ll love the standup – it’s a lot funnier and it’s really what I’ve been working on my whole life. I’m not threatening you but if you don’t come to see that standup…look, I’m just saying it would be in your interest to come to the show in Edinburgh (August), Vicar Street (January) or Leicester Square (January).
In the meantime, I’ll keep making the podcast and later in the year I’m going to give you something else. Something that’s new and hopefully even better.
Here’s to another 200.
Jar.