Early Work with Rhys James

Early Work returns with 5 episodes recorded during the pandemic for a series that never was. Hugh Dennis, Sophie Duker, Tom Odell, Lucy Beaumont, Steen Raskopolous. All coming soon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christmas is a magical time of year, which is why our Christmas episode is with certified childhood member of the Bradford magic circle, Nick Mohammed, here to talk us through some of the tricks of his youth. These include starting every word with R, dazzling at 50th birthday parties and a choice gag about a cheese grater. We also hear the outline and one song from a previously hilariously titled musical and a recipe that came with its own sound effect instructions. Plus Rhys reads a poem Nick has no qualms about calling “absolute nonsense.” Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

When Solange wrote A Seat At The Table, Catherine Bohart related to it, because she was picturing the grown-ups table. Precocious x 1 billion, bard-chat and petition based revenge is how Catherine spent her youth when she wasn’t busy dominating debate club. It’s all very impressive, but the early work is baffling, cryptic madness, frankly. A lot better than Rhys’s though which elicits screams of incredulity from Bohart. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Katy Wix had a very weird red nose day one year as a child and this is your chance to hear about it. Honestly, it's wild. She didn't just swing by the EW Zoom for that though, she also brought poems in a plethora of styles, from the jaunty to the dark to the sexually naive. Plus some choice criticism for Rhys's poetry which it's hard to believe hasn't already been said, and complete ambivalence at Rhys's unfathomable accuracy in his guess of what she was like at school. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Fizzing creative genius Sara Pascoe proves it was sort of always like this, as she pops into Early Work mansions to discuss a childhood of Doing Things™, like setting up a bullying line and making everyone sing in assembly or remixing Oliver Twist with her sister. Work-wise we get into some very surprising parody songs, a hard-drive of dread-inducing poetry with some dramatic endings and quintuple word meanings, before closing out with a rewrite of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme tune to be about Hamlet. Yeah - Sara raps it. Hoooo boy! Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Hi Early Work fans! Radio X are releasing Season 2 of a podcast we think you’ll enjoy. That’s A First! is hosted by comedians Maisie Adam and Tom Lucy and in each episode they’re joined by a guest who reveals some interesting firsts from their life… and then gets ripped to shreds. In series 1 we heard about the first time Romesh Ranganathan soiled himself just before he was due to go in stage and series 2 promises to be just as revealing with guests such as Joel Dommett, Kiri Pritchard McLean and Chris Kamara!   This is a quick taster from Maisie & Tom. If you like it, search ‘That’s a First!’  and subscribe on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts.

Riskiest comic in the biz Jordan Brookes swings by to chat being an obnoxious prankster at school, embracing his stagecoach family roots, and tales passed down from generation to generation to find their way onto this podcast. Spooky ghost stories (and boy are they spooky), some poems (and boy are there some fo them) and a funny joke (ok). Plus there's a wooden head in his grandad's house and you won't understand much more about that from listening. Lots to unpack, plus an extremely deep poem opening line from Reej himself. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

The only person evert to cast Rhys off the back of an audition, David Baddiel zooms into Early Work with the hefty anecdote collection you’d expect. School revues that turn you cool and inspire the writing process for one of the most famous songs in British history, plagiarising famous poets and getting away with it, misinterpreting flirtatious guitar lessons for an actual interest in learning the guitar. All the hallmarks of a teenager who had practically no choice but to turn to comedy. Not to mention the pretentious deep poetry with countless quotable lines to scribble onto your pencil case. Plus - an actual recording of a song(!) And Rhys reads a poem that breathes furious energy into David who doesn’t hesitate to tell Rhys what he thinks of it. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Some players dedicate their entire careers to just one club. John Terry, Ledley King, Paolo Maldini. But some Playaz (see 'Don't Hate The Playaz' [ITV2]) spread themselves across 8, 9, even 10 clubs - that goes with the Playa territory. This playa, Amelia Dimoldenberg, was in every club you can imagine existing, and if you can't imagine it existing, she founded it. With precious sights set on being Vogue editor, Amelia dedicated her youth to making Vogue necklaces, reviewing Vogue articles and destroying her Vogue rivals. This is all while thriving in magazine club and newspaper club too. Her favourite band? S Club 7. We didn't get onto biscuit bars,but we didn't have to - it was left off her famous 'List Of My Favourite Things' because it goes without saying. Unlike warm cozy beds. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

What could a self-proclaimed uncreative boarding school attendee like Ivo Graham have to offer the Early Work archive? Well, very on brand tales of finally putting himself out there creatively and getting roundly humiliated, of course. Ivo reads some short stories about monsters killing his friends, a book that's dangerously thrilling, a storm which turns out to be largely about Gary Neville, and a very innocent, 9 year old's view of what adults get up to in pubs - and how they get home. Plus, after some chat about their lockdown poker game, Rhys reads a poem about poker he wrote almost 15 years ago to prove just how long this habit has been going on. Oh god. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Performance levels go up a notch as accidental graduate of RADA and soon to be Hollywood superstar, O.T. Fagbenle, Skypes into Early Work from, you guessed it, Tanzania. From Frank Sinatra style songs for his girlfriend to a one-man-show based on a real exchange with a homeless lady and a barbershop in San Francisco (with professionally trained accents obv), all the way to a teenage poem called Larry’s Fall. Plus, maybe Rhys’s worst poem yet - and the scoring isn’t sugarcoated just because these two have never met before. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Early Work is back for a new series, and the work is even EARLIER than before. We kick off with our first American guest, the inimitable comedian and poet Catherine Cohen, who kindly Skyped into the podcast from a porn set at 9am. One of the most equipped Early Work guests of all time as she brings a hench 60 page word document full of angsty teenage poetry, which is not so much 'up Rhys's street' as 'living in Rhys's loft'. There’s also a song written in the bath she was convinced would be chart-topping, a perfect voice for British advertising and the results of what happens if you put your entire body of early work through an algorithm that writes your next poem for you. Plus, Rhys shares a plagiarised poetry idea and one of the most excruciating heartbreak stories he can muster. We're back. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Hello podcast listener, Early Work Series 2 is coming Monday 19th October. If you haven't already subscribed then do so now so you don't miss out on forthcoming episodes with the likes of Catherine Cohen, OT Fagbenle, Ivo Graham and more. Whilst you're here make sure to follow Rhys on Instagram and Twitter - @rhysjamesy

The final episode of series one! Emily Dean brings letters from a spaceman to his 'leave him on read' wife, a fake memoir with no chance of a sequel, tales of performing grudge plays, learning the hard facts too young and perhaps the best named character yet. Plus she has the confidence to guess what Rhys was like at school. Can she out guess the master guesser? Make sure to subscribe as we'll be back with more Early Work before you know it.

It’s transatlantic guest time! Amy Hoggart is live from New York to tell us all about her frankly ridiculous childhood. Pretending to win public speaking contests, dressing up as a big egg, demanding to play men, accidentally exposing herself, and for the second episode in a row, watching her own school burn down. That’s all before we get into the work: a novel about a young genius pianist who travels in style, a play trying to pull your own cousin and a poem about The Lord just to impress the greatest authority of all. What a ride! Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com Follow Amy on Twitter @Amy_hoggart Follow Amy on Instagram @amyhoggart

Project man Danny Wallace pops into the Early Work Zoom to discuss his childhood pranks showing off his knowledge of the legal system, his Gaelic poetry illustrations and finally some billboard-worthy deep and thought-provoking poems. All the hot topics covered: Race, where you come from. All of them. Not to mention the stark, brutalist poetry he wrote about his deceased, awkwardly named cat. Rhys then plucks up the courage to read professional columnist Danny Wallace his own student column from his own student magazine. Most importantly of all, Danny reveals some HUGE news: a podcast exclusive, and a podcast first. What a long way we’ve come. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

An actual poet on Early Work for the first time! Charly Cox Skypes in for another lockdown special, becoming the second guest to bring fan fiction. This time it's about George Sampson, his sisters phone number, his home address, and then the fiction starts. Charly and Rhys open up about their shared need for internet friends and forum admin status as children, song lyric ghost writing for friends and still writing poems well into their 20s (although only one of them has ever been paid for it). Not to mention an angry open-letter-poem to Zac Efron. With all these celebrities it's a wonder this podcast hasn't got an official #Spon yet. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Inventor of the fake cockney accent singer-songwriter genre Isy Suttie Zooms into Early Work with a smorgasbord of youthful angst, unrequited love and radio plays about hat shops. The first guest to play live songs on the show, one of which was only meant to be heard by Tim and Dan, so this really is an exclusive. Not to mention egotistical band names, lyrics Bob Dylan would be proud of and poetry so deep you could drown in it. Plus Rhys shares a poem really biting off the GCSE anthology and reminisces about making anti-capitalist art as a 15 year old. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Glenn Moore! Once newsreader and maybe someday if live events return, back to being a comedian. Glenn has always had great jokes comics have been jealous of, but just wait until Tarantino, James Cameron, Spielberg, Scorsese and, yeah, why not, Richard Curtis, hear his adolescent story telling. Extremely visual, extraordinarily cinematic (in that a lot of it is scenes from existing films) and wildly unpredictable. With such mind-blowing twists in every tale, Glenn was clearly a talent, it’s a wonder he was writing these stories on holiday under duress from his parents. Expect guns, explosions, gore and untimely gags. Plus, Rhys shares some very twee ‘wit’ poems specifically to anger Glenn and it works. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Lockdown. Doc Brown. The only guest to have an Early Work section on his wikipedia. How do you go from samosa dealing in your youth to playing a drug dealer in the Inbetweeners? From beatboxing in school talent shows to Jump Off champion and features on David Brent tracks? The extraordinary career of Ben Bailey Smith is no accident. He put in the work early doors, with raps about Mr Sheen, Neighbours and Rosa Parks. Not to mention the bizarre quantity of drawings of elephants in an A Team sketch book that no doubt played a huge part in his current work. Plus, Rhys plucks up the courage to read a rap slagging off rap to a rapper. The good thing about the quarantine episodes recorded remotely is no one can punch you. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

World's most interesting man, anecdote champion of the universe and low-hairlined Australian-raised Hong Kongese British citizen Dan Schreiber bowls into the Early Work Zoom sessions. A quarantine special. A lockdown exclusive. Story upon story of his parents hugely successful hairdressing and karaoke careers, Dan's own teenage bands, cult like schools and potentially libellous teacher insights. Then comes the early work. A musical about a student who was expelled just days before the performance. This is what it's all about. Early Work 3.0. Early Work-a-billion. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Non-driving son-of-a-chemistry-teacher Mark Watson is the most precocious guest so far. He wrote novels age 5 and had his own newspaper by 7, frequently publishing adverts for things you'd never anticipate a child being interested in (anyone need roofing?). The typical Watson modesty we've come to adore has been there since day one as even is his own written fantasies he's performing only quite well in international cricket fixtures and getting overwhelmed to the point of losing consciousness during time travel. He's also got an eye for a sudden ending and we're all hoping his definitely real Canadian childhood girlfriend gets in touch, flies to england, then does the podcast and goes home the end. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Rhys's Norwegian mother Kerry BOSHliman steps into Early Work quarantine to give us a selection of her life before she developed her no-nonsense nature. A peek into the nonsense days. Drama schools called EGYPT where she made safe sex videos. Long letters to Philip Seymour Hoffman in the pre-twitter era. Rhys clearly pretending to know who Hanif Kureishi is as she reads a short story about him. The Early Work is deep, poetic and beautiful, which is not great news for the Teen Horniness category. Plus, some of the most detailed analysis of Rhys's Early Work so far. Bosh. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

British comedy acting royalty Mathew Horne remembers nothing from his childhood... except his first funny character, his love of human geography, a choreographed dance for the football lads and earning his dad's approval immediately. Thankfully Rhys is on hand to analyse his early work's deeper meanings further than the "good lad" feedback from his teachers. Poems about pies, hair, football and bins. A menu Heston Blumenthal would be envious of. And finally some fair feedback for Rhys's pretentious attempt at something lyrical. Good lads. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Shankings, arson, asthma. A mixed bag at school for Jayde Adams. So it’s no wonder she turned to writing. First of all, a novel longer than The Hobbit that she just up and deleted one day, failing to predict the inception of Early Work podcast where it would’ve been finally put to use. Then undeleted poetry about flu jabs, pets she’s allergic to one that inadvertently invents John Lewis christmas adverts. Plus, Rhys reads a super horny poem from his salad days and someone receives the first 15/15 score in Early Work history. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Joel’s got weird knees. He’s also got weird habits, like inventing a new kind of walking, getting absolutely punk’d by the Wombles, making Stephen Mulhern uncomfortable and writing plays with his mum. Enlisting the acting talents of Rhys to help bring it to life, Joel brings to Early Work mansions his prize-winning murder mystery set it an old people’s home and Rhys responds with some Linkin Park inspired poetry about ‘time’. Drivel. Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Precocious Pleb Tom Rosenthal has been making #content for decades. Fans of his adolescent youtube channel will be familiar with Pimp My Toaster, long time followers will be well aware of his scouse accent in public speaking contests. Here, he ups the ante with an Early Work first: some Actual Recordings™ of things. Those things just so happen to be raps. Raps about cricket, sure, but also a diss track in an attempt to quash some beef at his middle-class school in Reading. Inspired by all this Rhys brings out a rap of his own, recorded on garageband age 19, parodying a Biggie Smalls classic. Listen through your hands. 24 hours to reply. Follow Tom on Twitter @rosentweets Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Walking back-catalogue Nick Helm enters Early Work mansions with a supercomputer of content. Whether you're stuck in a well, your heads in an oven or you've just got your eyes closed, everything's dark in Nick's world, and what an honour it is to delve into. Plus, Rhys reads a poem he wrote on halloween about a girl he'd had an argument with. Boy oh boy. Follow Nick on Twitter @thenickhelm Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

'School comedian' Tom Lucy is so precocious he's already started wearing gym clothes before his midlife crisis. He started stand-up when he was just 16 and labelled his childhood band "defenders of rock" age 10. This sort of confidence is exactly what you'd expect from someone who considers themselves 100% American. Tom's baffling, propaganda-laden song lyrics can only be rivalled by Rhys's hideous attempt at a Fire in The Booth style rap, grinding the podcast to a halt due to 'creative differences.' Follow Tom on Twitter @tomlucy Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy Email your Early Work to earlyworkpodcast@gmail.com

Undisputed comedy champion John Kearns brings his blend of wistful, considered genius to the Early Work theatre - and you better believe Blair's in the audience. War scripts, a novella set in a zoo, a thousand titles for books that'll never exist; John always believed in buying the billboard before you've created the product. Plus, Rhys reads a poem about a street that can talk. Christ. Sorry. Follow John on Twitter @johnsfurcoat Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy

Fresh from every panel show, comedian Maisie Adam cross-country jogs into the Early Work playground to prove that for her, it's not just about art, it's about business. It always has been. She's been charging for love poems since she way 10 years old and even with inflation the value for money is exceptional. To level the playing field, Rhys reads a poem you should be paid to sit through, and Maisie doesn't hold back in her reaction to it. Follow Maisie on Twitter @MaisieAdam Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy

Big shot "female actor" and the podcast's second Taskmaster loser, Lolly Adefope, slides into the Early Work ball-pool with some red hot teenage fan fiction, before showing some unwarranted support for Rhys's poetic plagiarism. It's a confident, unapologetic performance, but what else would expect from the coolest, smartest, funniest girl in school? Follow Lolly on Twitter @lollyadefope Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy

Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner and Taskmaster not-winner Rose Matafeo is the first to step up to the podium and deliver her incredibly versatile early work, before being quite forgiving of Rhys's tragic offering. Things start edgy and end up spooky, so consider this a trigger warning. Follow Rose on Twitter @rose_matafeo Follow Early Work on Twitter @EarlyWorkPod Rhys is on tour - all dates on his website. Or you can follow him @rhysjamesy

Early Work with Rhys James, episode 1 coming 13th January.