Jenny Tian: From TikTok to Taskmaster, and the Power of Stand-Up

Hey, Screen Rats, Couch Potatoes.

We're back with a normal episode this week.

No talking to myself like I did last time.

It was a bit weird, wasn't it?

But I enjoyed it.

It was good fun putting that one out.

I didn't have a lot of time the week before last, so I had to sort of, you know, improvise.

But we are back with a great guest this week.

It's Jenny Tian.

She is an Australian stand-up comedian, and she's also big on TikTok.

She puts out these POV videos that get a lot of traction.

They're very funny and very insightful.

Now, I was lucky enough to bump into her in Edinburgh.

I went to an Australian sort of, like a showcase for Australian comedians, basically, which was hosted by Daniel Muggleton, a friend of the podcast.

Now, I watched quite a few comedians there, and for some reason, I just felt like I wanted to speak to Jenny.

I had no idea who she was, really.

I didn't know about the TikTok thing.

Not a clue.

I just liked her comedy.

I thought she'd be a great person to get on the podcast.

So luckily for me, she agreed, and the next day, we sat down at a picnic bench outside Gilded Balloon, and we had this little chat.

I think it's a really nice one, and she was so complimentary.

She gave me such, like, I don't know, I was feeling a little bit funny that day, because I'd just done a recording with someone who was on next week's episode, and I was just feeling a bit like, am I good at this?

Can I do this?

And she was so sweet, like, it's off mic.

I didn't put it on because that's just too, you know.

But she did say to me, she went, you know, you're a really good podcaster, and I was like, I am?

And it really gave me confidence.

And she just made me feel really, really great about that.

Because I wasn't sure on that day if I was doing a good job, or not, to be honest with you.

But anyway, we had a great chat.

I really liked her.

She's brilliant.

She's got a new podcast out herself.

It's called Peanut Butter Jenny Time.

And a few episodes I've already dropped.

She's a perfect host on there.

And it's very funny.

Jenny also has another podcast called The Parasocial Social Club, which she co-hosts with Kevin Jin.

And we touch upon that just ever slightly during this episode.

Now, what am I going to talk about this week just before we get to our guest?

Well, I'm going to have a little chat about not scams, per se.

I'm not saying that these companies are evil or whatever, but there is so much playground nonsense that comes home with my children.

Now, about a year ago, I first heard the words air up.

Now, some of you probably know what an air up is.

It is a water bottle that costs about 40 quid.

And you get these little pods that are supposed to sort of trick your mind into thinking that the water tastes of different things like Coca-Cola, peach, whatever.

Now, I thought this was a bad idea because it teaches kids to basically not drink water, something I don't do enough of myself, so massive hypocrite.

But, you know, I just didn't think it was a good idea.

And also it's a money pit, right?

You're just going to buy these pods that contain some kind of vapors.

And now we're like, are you buying smells?

What's that all about?

It's like when they brought out these little chocolate things about 10 years ago that people would sniff the chocolate to trick their brain into eating chocolate, and then they wouldn't eat so much and they could lose weight.

But this is just like a kid fad and it's in the playground.

It's another one of these kind of roadblocks like in Minecraft, whatever the thing is.

My kid gets hassled because he plays games on an iPad and doesn't have like a proper old fashioned, you know, console like a Wii or a PlayStation or whatever.

And I say to him like, but you're using like a 500 pounds iPad.

I mean, I didn't have access to that as a kid, but anyway, we don't want to get into that, you know.

But it is just like, how could you diss someone for playing games on an iPad?

That's ridiculous.

Anyway, I mean, to me, it still looks like a magic trick every time I see it.

But anyway, let's get back to this air up thing.

So these water bottles, they're 40 quid.

You have to buy the pods, blah, blah, blah.

They run out way sooner than I thought.

They don't really work.

That's what I'm saying.

And I am saying on here, you won't be sponsoring this podcast either, guys.

You're on my list.

What we've got Disney, UPS, Holiday Inn Express.

These are people I will not be taking money from.

I mean, you're not offering, but I'm just saying if it ever comes to that.

It goes along with some other things as well, right?

So not only do these things cost a fortune and you have to buy the pods all the time, but they also get moldy.

There's black mold inside after just a few weeks.

And we were told the reason for this is the design.

They know about it.

You have to buy this extra brush that costs five quid.

Little tip, go to who has to buy some metal straws because they come with the same cleaner, two quid.

But the point is we've now got rid of like plastic straws, right?

And we've got metal straws.

We've got rid of, you know, and we have to get this cleaner for the metal straw.

We're just buying more things for the thing.

And the thing is also in paper and plastic, by the way.

So not only do these replacement straws come in a plastic packet, which is ridiculous.

It doesn't make any sense.

Why are you making us drink out of metal straws and stupid paper things and paper forks when there's still pound shops full of plastic tat, plastic tat everywhere?

You have to get rid of it all.

You can't just take away my fucking forks.

Do you know what I mean?

It's driving me mad.

Anyway, it sounds like I'm bitching.

I am a little bit.

But anyway, the point being, these little fads are bullshit, right?

This air up is the latest version.

There's so much stuff.

If your kid watches TV in the morning, like on channel five and you watch Milkshake, there's all this garbage, just this plastic, plastic shit that is just landfill.

It is rubbish.

It is rubbish.

Stop buying it.

I can't believe I got suckered into this.

It wasn't technically my money.

I think my mom sent some money for the kids.

So we sort of did it with that.

But anyway, the point is, I feel like I actually went against my own beliefs on this one and I've made a huge, huge error.

Beep, beep.

Well, I hope Jenny's not a fan of air up.

So I might have ruined one of her revenue streams there.

Anyway, let's go and listen now to me talking to Jenny Tian live at the Edinburgh Fringe.

I mean, I say live, it was six weeks ago.

Walter, Walter, my kingdom for an air up.

Welcome to Television Times, a new podcast with your host, me, Steve Otis Gunn.

We'll be discussing television in all its glorious forms.

From my childhood, your childhood, the last 10 years, even what's on right now.

So join me as I talk to people you do know and people you don't about what scared them, what inspired them, and what made them laugh and cry here on Television Times.

How are you doing?

How are you?

Yeah, I'm good.

I'm good.

Nice, nice, nice.

I'm sitting out here.

I'm a little bit frazzled because I just met...

Who's your comedy hero?

Probably someone I met.

Maybe like Ali Wong or something.

It's just like I've just met Ali Wong, what's just happened to me because I've just met my comedy hero.

Who's your comedy hero?

It's a guy called...

He had a sketch show in the 90s.

It was like my favorite show in the world.

I was in the audience for it back then.

And he's just sat there and did a thing with me.

So I'm a little bit like...

Was he nice?

So nice.

Oh, that's so cool.

He answered every one of my questions.

I was very nervous before that one.

I'm nervous anyway.

But yeah, that's massive.

So I saw your stand up yesterday.

Yes.

So yesterday, it was yesterday.

It's merging.

Yeah.

You didn't do a second show.

You just did the one yesterday.

Yeah, I did them both.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Even though Dan Marks was...

Yeah, even though Dan was like, oh, I promise it will be...

It was not different.

Did people go back in?

I did think about it.

No, no one, no one did.

Because I asked them, because I was like, because if they are different people, I'm just going to do the same material.

But no, they were...

Yeah, no, they were different.

I feel like it's almost a prejudice at this point, but I just prefer Australian comedians now.

I don't know what it is.

Yeah, even two hours.

I just tune into it.

And it's very linked to British comedy in a way, isn't it?

More than so American.

Yeah, 100%.

You know, you just drop the C word every other minute and Americans don't.

Yeah.

I mean, I feel like, I mean, partially I think it's because where, like, only the kind of the people that are, they believe in themselves or have gotten to a certain level in their career are going to go to something like Edinburgh or travel to, like, internationally.

Like, there are plenty of bad Australian comedians as well.

You just haven't seen them.

How long have you been doing stand-up?

Almost seven years now, although there was a pandemic that cut that.

Yes.

Yeah, I'm Sydney.

What area of Sydney are you in?

I live in Burwood, which, for people who don't know what Burwood is, it's where there's a massive Chinese population, which means I get great food.

Oh, do you know what?

When I was there, one of the crew was Chinese, and he showed me the secret food mall in Sydney, where there were no whiteies, and it was fucking great.

And there was a secret door to it, too.

And so you get all the good food.

Australia, for me, comes to Asian food generally, and I do incorporate everything in our Singapore time, even Japanese, Korean, Melbourne, Sydney.

Some of the best I've ever had.

It's really good food.

Yeah, we've got massive immigrant populations.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So that means that they bring, literally, their authentic cuisines.

And it's really affordable as well.

It's so awesome.

It's like 12 pounds of plated noodles.

And then it's like a version that's made to be a lot more palatable as well.

So yeah, it's different when it's like, you know that it's authentically Chinese or Thai or whatever it is.

I've spent some time.

You have Chinese family or?

Yeah, yeah, my parents are Chinese, yeah.

Have you been back there and stuff like that?

Yeah, I have.

Yeah, the food is another level, yes.

I've spent some time in China and it's very, very different to what I would call a UK Chinese takeaway is not even, what even is that?

Well, it's Hong Kongese anyway for a start, but it's not actually like in any way authentic.

And when you go, I'm mostly vegetarian, I eat fish, but China is a tricky place for me.

Oh yeah, that's hard.

And the descriptions are quite literal.

And it's like, I don't fancy that, really.

It's like pig blood food and you're like, oh, okay.

When we were in Beijing, we would go out every night and my friends would just be like sucking on chicken feet.

And I'd be like, have you got anything for me?

And I'd go to those places where you get the noodles and the tofu and they put it in the basket and then they just put it in the broth.

Yeah, what's it called?

Malatang.

Malatang, all right.

See, I know that from Singapore.

I know that from Yong Tao Fu in Singapore.

But I'd never really asked if the soup was vegetarian.

And I didn't want to know.

I had to sort of just put it out of my head.

Because otherwise, I'm not going to fucking eat it.

You're not going to be able to eat it.

No, no, I'm not going to piece out a McDonald's.

Yeah.

Ignorance is bliss.

So you are what I would call my first ever TikTok star.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, you've done your research.

Oh, I do some research.

I've been watching your clips overnight.

Was it a series that I did?

Oh, Crutch Daym.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a TikTok series that, because TikTok funded it, so it has to be exclusive on TikTok.

But yeah, oh, did you watch that?

Yeah, I watched it.

I watched like three episodes of it, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, wow, that's impressive.

They're very short, one minute or something.

It's true, they are one minute, yeah.

But because I made it so long ago now that I'm shocked that anyone still finds it and watches it, yeah.

Because I only came across you yesterday and out of everyone there, I just, I need to talk to her.

Oh, thanks.

So yeah, and I like all your clips, some very funny clips.

I watched so many of them that I can't distinguish one now.

Is it one that you've done that you're, what's the one that went very viral, like 1.7 million or something?

Oh, I think, like literally, like I make it and then I don't think about it.

It's like a standup set, you know, you just like to do it and then you don't think about it again.

But I think the one that I had like within the sort of monthish that went viral was one about like monolids, like about how difficult it is to apply makeup when, and I don't know whether you know about this thing.

No, but I watched it when you were doing the, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, but it's like the majority of people have what's called like double eyelids.

So you have like a crease in your eye, but when you have monolids, you have an extra kind of crease that folds over your eye, which means that it's more difficult to apply certain types of makeup.

And then I just did a little thing about how difficult it is for me.

And then it just, I don't know, it blew up and got a few million.

Yeah.

That's amazing.

But I mean, with TikTok in general, I find like, you know, I watch things and then I don't remember anything either.

So I don't blame you for not being able to remember anything.

But you seem to have joined up the exact right time when you posted just before the pandemic.

Yeah.

Like, I mean, even at that stage, like, it always, I think, feels like you're joining at the wrong time or that you're too late or that you're behind the wave.

Because even at that stage, when I joined, it was mainly known for, like, dancing and, like, lip syncing and, like, cool skateboard tricks.

And food, yeah.

And then it was at that stage still kind of...

A lot of comedians were making fun of it for being like, oh, this is the app for, you know, like, pen files because there's all these kids on it.

Oh, we're too good for this.

So...

And then forever, for who was joining, it was kind of like, you know, people would give them a bit of shit.

So, but like, I mean, I was at that stage, I think I was about four years into stand up and I had no management, no agent, no one knew who I was.

I was like, I'm not going to be able to make a career in this if no one knows who I am.

No one's going to come to my show.

So I got to do something.

And then I posted a little bit and then I posted, because I didn't even know how to really edit on the app properly.

So I just filmed myself doing one of my jokes to the camera.

And then that blew up and it kind of went viral.

And then I was like, oh, wow, there's something in this.

And then I kind of just kept doing it.

And then our second lockdown started in Sydney.

Yes.

It was very long, wasn't it?

It was, we went through three all together.

I think we similar, but not as long as yours, I think.

Yeah.

Melbourne had the longest.

And thank goodness I don't live there.

You weren't allowed to go interstate or anything, were you?

No, it was like literally like hard border closures.

It was really, really like strict in Australia.

Like people were trying to like, cause they would have dates for when the borders would close.

So some people that wanted to be with their families would try to drive over and make it over into the border and then just get stopped and then turn back.

It was really brutal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's weird, isn't it?

Cause it's still like, I mean, I don't want to bring it up, but like it's still here.

Like there's people with it now.

We don't really even talk about it.

I've got a thing in my bag, like a copper thing for touching buttons.

And I use the hand sanitizer and I've got kids and I was like, why are you touching the button on the crosswalk thing?

Don't do that.

And someone coughed and I was like, I need to murder them.

Yesterday I sat and I had a pie and mash, a vegetarian pie and mash in assembly.

I was sitting here and a woman there was coughing the whole time.

Oh no.

And I was like, I'm still like, all right.

But like, I wasn't like, two years ago, Yeah.

I know, what are you doing?

Because so many people can't, you just forget it.

And it's probably around those people in the audiences, right?

Oh yeah, we're in tight spaces, with heaps of people in the room, but we're all just like, oh, no, it doesn't exist anymore.

I went to see a comedian yesterday, and the one right in front of center middle, in front of his mic, had a cold load of tissue.

And I was like, don't sit in there, you're gonna give it to him.

Exactly, yeah, yeah.

Did you see the spit coming out?

Yeah, yeah, I had the exact same thing where someone sneezes and I'm like, oh, get away from me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I still do.

I'm really trying not to think about it.

The least it comes up now is in food preparation.

I couldn't understand, I had a whole routine about like, touching an ATM, getting cash out, buying a sandwich, and just eating it as the most insane concept that you could think of.

We all used to do it.

Yeah.

Now, like, I still can't quite do that, but the one thing I did in COVID is the absolute change was I was a cash kind of person.

Yeah, true.

It was something to do with knowing how much I was spending and never really having a lot of money.

So it was like, you know, I don't want to just like tap, tap, tap and you know how banks work.

You never know when it's coming out.

Exactly.

But with the Apple Pay thing and that will believe that with the phone kind of payment systems that we have and Monzo and all of that, I couldn't go back now.

Yeah, no, it's too convenient.

And also like the hygiene standards post COVID are another level like, like I've probably washed my hands with soap and everything and then I was washing them before but now it's like, no, you do your full like, and then you get in between all the little cracks and everything.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And someone hands you coins, it's like, what are you doing?

Why are you giving me those little parcels of debt?

Yeah, get away from me.

I've seen people, I know what they do with their hands.

It's gross, yeah.

I can't handle it.

I mean, at least your notes, well, ours are too.

Yours were the first plasticized notes, I think.

Oh, were they?

Yeah, they were plasticized with something that was metabolically, whatever, that allowed viruses not to attach to the notes.

You had that years ago.

Australia was the first country to issue a full series of polymer banknotes completed between 1992 and 1996.

Whoa.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Oh, I didn't know that.

I knew Americans, they have cash, which are like, yeah, yeah, it's like paper.

I'm just like, you can just tear this.

This is your money.

And then you can just like rip it apart.

And then it's gone.

Like, I don't understand why.

Have you been to India?

No, what do they have?

Well, they got rupees.

But of course, a lot of them, like when I first went to India, I had, I said, I'll probably need what?

Three, 400 quid for this, like a couple of weeks.

I did not.

I needed like 80 quid.

Basically, I went to the airport and I handed my pounds in, in cash.

And they just said, I did not pull a gun on you.

Yeah.

And then some of them are just like these wafer thin, like it looks like it should be in a museum, like one rupee note.

Oh my goodness.

And it's all like torn and.

Oh wow, you're gonna be really fragile with it.

You're like, how do I even stack this?

And just touching that, I'm like, yeah.

Like the amount of money and the amount of dirt on the notes was quite something.

I mean, just get used to it.

And over there, I was just like, I'll have the fruit off that guy's dog shit in there, but I'll be fine, you know.

Over here, it's completely different.

It's like, you know, dirty table in a cafe.

And you're like, excuse me, what is this?

Guys, could somebody come here?

I know you're busy, but could you fucking stop being British about it and clean the fucking table?

I love that you're also so polite about it.

Like if it was somewhere like China, you're just like, wait up, what have you done?

This is unacceptable.

I had this really weird experience in China, in Nanning.

And it was a very, it's a very modern city, obviously, everything really normal.

And then I was sitting outside having a beer with my wife and this guy next to me ordered a fish, some kind of fish dish.

And this guy got this big black fish.

I don't know what it was.

It was wiggling about and he just beat it half to death in the gutter.

Took it back and started cooking it.

And then I went to my missus, I need to piss, so I'm just gonna go up to the hotel room.

And I went out to the hotel room, went through the door, felt like webs sort of thing.

I thought nothing of it.

And then when we came back that night, she just said to me, the worst words you can hear, get on the bed now.

I was like, what the fuck?

And I've been all over the world.

I've seen a big spider, I'll show you, you've got scary ones, but not that big.

This thing was like...

Oh my goodness.

Most of it in a plate, right?

Oh no, I know I'm from Australia, but spiders still freak me out.

Yeah, in a city, in China, not like Thailand in the middle of nowhere.

In a city, this thing was on my wall.

So I had to go down to reception and say, could you like come up and get the thing?

So they sent a maintenance guy.

And I was like, it was a guy, sorry guys.

And he came up and I was like, what's he going to do?

I have no idea.

He took his shoe off.

And then he sort of scooped it up, threw it in the toilet.

And they went, all right, good night.

I feel like it's very normal.

Yeah.

I mean, my parents are kind of like the same thing.

It's just like no fear.

It's just like, oh yeah, this thing, whack, that's it.

Do like that.

It's a Western temperament where I just saw a bunch of weaklings, I guess, against things like that.

I mean, I've got better with spiders.

I mean, it's funny because my kids think I'm great if I put like a glass on and put it out the window or wash or a bean.

Oh yeah, that's so nice and humane as well for you to do that, yeah.

Well, I do try and do that, but I killed an earwig the other day and they were all appalled.

Oh, what's an earwig?

You know the ones that allegedly go in your ear and never come out with it?

And they went, why are you doing that?

And I went, oh yeah, I don't know.

Oh, if I was there, I'd be like, good.

Oh, that's terrifying.

Oh my goodness.

Are they here, like all around Britain?

I don't know, I've never heard of them before.

Earwig, let me look up, maybe you have a different word.

I don't want to educate you about a terrifying thing.

Apparently they burrow into your ear canal.

That's so gross.

And they can't come out.

What?

So then how do you get rid of it?

Oh my God, that's so gross.

I don't know why it's called an earwig because it's not a wig for your ear.

They're generally nocturnal and seek out dark cracks and crevices to rest during the day.

Mainly vegetarians, but we'll eat carrion and other insects.

I have no idea, right?

I think it's something to do with them only going in like one direction, not the other way.

I don't think they can turn around.

Oh, they're like emus and kangaroos, but like gross.

Although earwigs do like dark places, they're normally attracted to light and they very rarely go in people's ears.

It's a bit of an old wives tale, a bit of a myth, but still, a little idea, right?

True, emus and kangaroos can't tell that.

Yeah, that's why they're on our coat of arms.

It's because they don't go backwards.

Really?

Because I've seen a kangaroo sort of turn on its tail.

Like I've seen that kind of move.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they can, but they have to use the tail.

They can't like walk backwards the way we can.

Yeah, yeah, I love kangaroos.

I went to Australia the first time.

When I came back to England, the first thing I did was buy a sort of book on, on like, like a real zoological kind of book on kangaroos.

And I was like, I'm gonna become, I'm gonna become like a fucking professor of kangaroos and I'm gonna go over there and I'm gonna help baby kangaroos.

And that was my plan.

Yeah.

Of course I never do it.

This was my plan to go back because I went to, what's that place called?

Is it Alma Park in Brisbane?

Maybe, something like that.

And I went into an enclosure.

And at first it's kind of nice.

They sort of come towards you.

Yeah.

And then this, and they look like the pink panther or something, you know.

But then you see the muscles, like on the older ones, and they come up to you in a six foot tall.

And he's after the food.

And I'm like, fucking, this guy is gonna take me out.

Yeah, it's scary.

And when they run towards you, like on the mass.

Yeah, yeah.

It's actually not funny anymore.

Yeah, no, it's terrifying.

Like, cause you think, you're like, oh, kangaroos.

And you think of like, you're the ones in like the zoo enclosures that are like kind of cute and like wallabies as well.

But kangaroos are like, they're hind legs and they're forearms and they're muscles.

They're like bulging out.

They're like the rock.

Yeah, yeah, it's scary, right?

And then like, you better give them that food cause if not, they will chase you.

Oh, they'll chase you?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then they claw.

They're actually really scary.

Like there's a really famous Australian film called Wake and Fry.

And it's like a horror movie with kangaroos, which sounds hilarious.

And it is a very funny concept, if it were to be a comedy.

But it's one of Australia's most famous, scariest films and it just depicts kangaroos.

Like they're in the dark and then they've got the eyes that like are like glowing and they're white and then they just like come after you.

It's so scary.

Do people have a fear?

Maybe if people have a fear of that there then.

I mean, mostly, most people like live in like the cities and like the suburbs and stuff.

Like, I mean, we know, like, you know, don't mess around, you know, in the outback with them and stuff.

Because they can really come at you.

But yeah, just generally in the zoo enclosures and stuff, they're fine, they're really cute.

It's funny, I never thought of them as a sort of demonic, you know, creature, but that's interesting.

Because for me, like, I love Australia.

I know what I love about Australian films.

This is about television, but I'll talk about the films just briefly.

Okay, we're going to talk about a couple of films.

That's not the end of the world.

This is about television, but we're going to talk about a couple of films because it's Australia based, this combo.

Okay, let's go with it.

I love all that kind of, it's sad, because I don't live there.

I guess it doesn't affect me, but like the Wolf Creek type movies and things like that were terrible, or usually when, I like it, and I don't know why I like it.

I like the survival aspect.

Usually it's a woman being harassed by some piece of shit.

Classic, yeah.

But I like to watch it, because I know she's going to get one over on him.

Yeah, yeah.

These are like female survival.

I think they're like, you know, empowerment feminist movies.

I do think they are.

But it always starts with like some fuckers spots her at the gas station, and follows her to some remote place.

You know, you think, yeah, this is going to be good.

Or the best, like my favorite Australian movie is actually Hounds of Love.

Oh, I don't know that one.

It's based on a true story about this girl or two girls that were taken after school in some place, not in a very big city or anything, in Australia.

And they were kept for a really long time.

They survived.

Oh, that's amazing.

What a miracle, yeah.

They were at the winter, but it's so, the relief you feel at the end of that movie when she escapes and she just wanders out into the light.

She's like literally over the road from her parents the whole time or something.

Oh, that's so, oh, that's so sweet.

And there's Stephen Curry, he's a funny comedian guy, you know, and he's playing like the liberal guy who-

Wow, that's amazing.

I know, it's something.

Yeah, what rock?

It made me feel funny, so I got a little tibble.

Have you seen on Picnic at Hanging Rock?

I haven't, but I mean to, it's a mini-series, yeah?

Oh, it's a mini-series, but it was originally like an Australian film about, you know, these girls basically in high school, and then they go on an excursion.

And also, I watched this in high school.

I don't know what they were trying to teach us here, but they go on, it's an all-girls school, they go on an excursion, and then they get like, the way they depict the rocks is almost as if they're alive.

There's like a humanistic aspect to it.

Anyway, so they get lost in these rocks, and then the rest of the film is them trying to find them, and then they never find them.

They never find them, spoiler.

Yeah, really?

Yeah, and then it's a true story.

It's based on true story.

And then they still have never found or covered the bodies.

I think I read something about this and I didn't like the idea of it.

It's a period piece, is it?

Yeah, and it's just creepy.

Like, it's kind of like, not necessarily like a jumpscare horror film, but it's just the whole thing has like an eerie vibe to it.

So I guess it's a fiction if they never knew.

Yeah, it's a bit like, yeah, they exaggerate the events.

With George Clooney and they never came back and just made the whole thing up.

Obviously, how would they know?

Exactly, like a fictitious reimagining.

George Clooney film is The Perfect Storm from the year 2000.

There is a genre, a trope of like rocks being scary.

Yeah.

I've heard about this before and it was a thing that came up in like 60s and 70s, people who grew up then.

There's all these like weird 70s children's TV shows with a rock with eyes or something like that.

Oh, interesting.

And then even in the latest season of...

And I know I'm kind of getting to TV now, but White Lotus season two.

The way they depict like the rocks and then the waves and the ocean and all of that is like...

It's like it's alive.

It's like a character in itself, which is really cool.

Oh my gosh.

It is so good.

I saw Mike White and Jennifer Coolidge speak about it at Vivid Sydney.

And it's so fascinating because he was like kind of not thinking that it would go anywhere because he's tried and he's made so much stuff and it's kind of only gotten a season or, you know, things have been rejected.

And I'm like, oh my gosh, even at that level, you get rejected.

Like, what the hell?

And then he did White Lotus.

And then they're thinking it would only be like one season, basically.

And then it got renewed.

And then he still, the reason, and this is a spoiler.

So if you haven't seen season two of-

This is a spoiler, full of spoilers.

If we start talking about something and you haven't, you just skip past it.

Yeah, skip past this part if you have not seen season two of White Lotus.

But the reason why Jennifer Coolidge gets killed off at the very end of season two is because he didn't think that they would give him a third season.

So he was like, all right, I'm going to make a big bang at the very end of it and kill off Tanya, the actor I kind of love the most.

And that's why he did it.

I'm like, oh my gosh, that's incredible that he didn't think that he was going to get a third season after all of that buzz.

And there is this third season going to be set in Thailand, I've read.

Yeah, I'm so excited.

I know, I am.

It's something about-

it's kind of sexy.

It's a sexy show, but it's also fucking dark.

Yeah.

The interconnections between the tourists and the personality, you don't know where it's going.

It's not quite a whodunit.

Everything's a whodunit now.

Everything's a whodunit.

Afterparty, whodunit.

Maybe a show that isn't a whodunit right now.

Exactly.

I mean, they're all whodunits, essentially.

Yeah, Nines Out.

Yeah, everything.

And even things you don't think of.

It's like, oh, something has happened, we've got to find out who the baddie is.

Yeah, exactly.

Even in comedy shows.

Yeah, exactly.

And it's funny as well.

It's this combination of so many genres that I'm like, you know, when I watched the first season, I was surprised that it was as popular and mainstream as it was because I was like, this is really ground breaking and creative.

Oh yeah.

Do you think television is dead?

No, absolutely not.

We're in like the golden age of, I mean, I know there's a riot strike at the moment, but I feel like we're at the golden age of television at the moment.

Like, I mean, all these HBO shows, a succession, like everyone's watching that White Lotus.

All these things on HBO, all these things on Netflix and the streaming services.

A lot of Netflix stuff is rubbish, though, isn't it?

There's a lot of rubbish Netflix stuff.

Yes, you do have to wade through it, but there is stuff that's-

There's one thing that's not in English and you'll be fine.

Yeah, like Squid Game, yeah.

Well, a lot of Koreans, although they're starting to churn out some rubbish as well, there's a lot of great Korean TV shows and Australian TV shows.

French, not saying I was ahead of it, but I remember being on tour in 2018, 19, and I was mostly watching Korean movies, Japanese movies and TV, and Danish.

I think that's where I was sort of-

Because it was all so good, and everything else just sort of powered by them.

Yeah, Korean cinema in particular, and I'm glad they kind of got recognized for Parasite because they take-

They, like their thrillers are like, it's another level.

It just blows everything that we've got out of the water.

And then their K-dramas as well is like another level too.

They've just figured out entertainment to such an incredible degree.

They take it so seriously.

Yeah, the only thing I would say about Korean movies, although it's not about movies, is that I find I can be watching it for 40 minutes and a woman is not in it yet.

And the guys are all just shouting at each other and slapping it.

Someone down the line gets a slap, someone else gets a slap.

But if it's a police drama, there's just guys literally just have quite a sausage fest.

Yeah, yeah, I don't think they know about the Bechshil test.

It's a Western thing, yeah.

Is it you that, who was bringing up, because your podcast is actually called The Parasocial Social Club.

Oh, wow, you really done your research, yeah.

And I don't think I knew what parasocial was until this week.

No way.

And I talked to the guy I was talking to before about me having that relationship with him, knowing all about his life and him knowing fuck all about mine.

It's a very interesting concept.

So tell me about your podcast while we're on that.

Yeah, well, basically, I mean, parasocial I think is more of a term that's used now among millennials and Gen Z, because we in particular are on the internet so much.

Yeah, we're on the internet so much.

So then you kind of end up following, like I grew up with like YouTube and stuff.

So then you follow Jenna Marbles or for me, it was like Natalie Tran on the community channel.

And then you feel like, because you see so much of them, you know them.

So a lot of, you know, how in the past people might be like, well, Leonardo DiCaprio is so cool.

We've got these other people that are like on the internet.

And then we get to see their families and their mums and their lives.

So then we feel like we really get to know them.

And now, like, you know, being on like TikTok and everything and having that same sort of thing happen to me as well, and then starting a podcast, it is really a thing where it's like, well, here's the Parasocial Social Club where, you know, you know everything about us.

We're literally going to share everything about ourselves, our lives.

But we know, we have no idea who you are.

But you're not showing them your real life.

You're not like walking around your house showing them where you live.

Yeah, there's like got to be like boundaries and stuff.

And I've discussed this with a few other like content creator, like where are your boundaries?

And for a lot of people, it's kind of like families, partners.

They'll never involve their partners in that sort of stuff.

But like for me, like I'm, you know, filming a vlog today and letting people know that I'm in Edinburgh.

So, you know, like I'll let people in on like little bits and aspects of my life.

So yeah, I feel like everyone's kind of at this stage.

There's not a lot of regulation around like social media and how obsessed and addicted people can become to it.

Like a lot of content creators I know, we're like, don't shit where you eat.

We don't watch a lot of, we're not online that much.

We try to avoid being online.

Because we know it's so bad for your brain and it's so easy to get lost and trapped down that rabbit hole.

So many people don't realize and there's not a lot of education around how addictive it is and how you can get stuck in like an echo chamber.

And then you think that the rest of the world thinks the way that you do as well.

And then when you hear those opposing opinions, you don't meet it with empathy or understanding.

You just go to your baseline emotions of, no, they're wrong.

And then you just kind of divide yourself from people.

You've got to expose yourself to the opposition, as I like to think it.

I went to see Jeff Moorcock, who is known as a slightly right wing comedian.

He's not right wing.

He's pretty tame.

He's a Democrat if he was American, you know.

And I went to see his show and I knew, well, I think, unless they're all like me and they're inquisitive, I think everyone in there was a conservative, the entire audience.

And he leans that way.

And I like to hear what he has to say.

And a lot of it is funny.

A lot of it is right.

And it's nice to hear your own side get lambasted.

But I was sitting there at the beginning going, I bet everyone in here voted Brexit.

They're not my people.

Maybe they're not as scary as I think.

Maybe they're just, you know, they've been indoctrinated in some other way.

Maybe their beliefs is right.

Maybe I'm wrong.

So I like to put myself in those situations.

The last thing I want is to go and watch someone that's going to tell me exactly how I feel and agree with everything I think.

That's the worst.

Yeah, exactly.

Exactly, yeah.

That's really awesome that you do that.

And I feel like that type of thinking and mentality should be encouraged among a lot of other people.

Because at the end of the day, we kind of think of these people as big groups of people.

But if you actually meet them individually and understand their perspectives, you can kind of see where they're coming from.

I met someone who was, I worked, what do you call it, at a place where we needed to basically check that people were vaccinated.

It was like a requirement to be vaccinated.

And there was someone that wasn't.

And I think it's so easy to judge and go, oh, well, Auntie Vaxa shunned them for whatever reason.

And then I spoke to her further and then found out that actually she was afraid of the vaccination because she had gotten the HPV vaccine a few years earlier when it was still kind of just being released and she wanted to be vaccinated.

And then she got horrendous side effects.

So her legs started getting bloated and there were a lot of blood clots in it.

And then she's still kind of recovering from a lot of the impacts of that.

So it really severely impacted her life permanently.

And that's why she was afraid of another vaccine.

She's actually had a personal reaction to a previous vaccine.

So I think all around we could do with more empathy.

It is tricky.

I came up here in 2020.

There was a very strange window over here after the first lockdown, where they opened everything up and Rishi Sunak, his prime minister now, was the chancellor.

That guy, the tiny man.

He's probably here.

He had this thing called Eat Out to Help Out.

So everything was subsidized by the government.

So if you went to a restaurant, even McDonald's, and you bought a meal, it was half price.

And they paid half, you paid half.

It's a wonderful time to be alive, I'll be honest.

Everything went back to the price it fucking should be, especially up here.

And I came up here, and I stayed in an Ibis, get this, in August 2020, the fringe was canceled.

But I came up anyway, because I thought, let's just go up there for three days after the first lockdown.

And my wife did the same, I think.

Yeah, she came here too.

We took turns in taking like a little three day staycation.

Anyway, but it was like, I think it was 25 pounds a night.

Oh wow, okay.

Nothing was kind of open because of COVID, but it was when they were just first opening.

It just opened tentatively with like tables outside.

It was that sort of period.

I don't know what I'm getting at, actually.

But when I came up here, I...

Oh, it's because, yeah, you were saying like, it's good to see other people's perspectives.

I came up here and I remember going into a Tesco or a Sainsbury's to buy a meal deal or something because it was all open.

And there was this guy in there without a mask.

And I was wearing a mask, a homemade mask made out of a pair of fucking socks or whatever, which I knew was doing nothing.

And I know that.

The double think of me wearing it, knowing it's doing nothing, this guy not bothering being a cunt.

So I was like, fuck that guy.

And I was looking at him like, what makes you so special motherfucker?

And then I was looking as he got the lanyard to say he doesn't need to.

And I really did judge him harshly.

And now three years later, I'm thinking, I don't know that guy's story.

Maybe he wasn't just some obnoxious twat who just thought he was better than everyone else.

Maybe he wasn't even an antivirus.

Maybe he had a breathing disorder or whatever.

But I was one of those.

I was like, why haven't you got your mask on?

Meanwhile, there's probably a bunch of people that would judge you for having like a sock on your face and be like, well, that's not the proper type of mask.

You can't have the material mask.

You want to have the despicable one.

What are you doing?

You're giving us a great, you never know people's story.

And I've never had COVID.

I have honestly never had COVID.

That's a miracle.

I'm one of the weird ones.

You're a fringe, so touch wood.

Well, I've probably got it now.

TikTok at the end of the day is an entertainment platform.

People go there to be entertained.

And so people take these snippets from TV shows and then put them in.

And when it's stuff that's really well written or beautifully shot, people go, oh, whoa, what is that?

What is that show?

I want to watch it.

So I've actually discovered a lot of film and TV from TikTok.

That's true, me too.

There's a springboard, isn't it, from all those social media, from Twitter, I've even, like I got to see Frankie Ball the other day.

The first time Twitter worked for me.

Yeah, yeah, first time it worked, because he went, I've got a show on, an extra show.

And I went, well, I'll never get a ticket.

Yeah, exactly, yeah.

I was like, what?

That was easy.

Yeah, it's awesome.

It's never worked before for me.

I almost left Twitter like everyone else, but I thought, I don't know what that thread is, to be honest with you.

Oh, yeah, I think it got a huge uptick initially of people joining, and now it's kind of dropped off, because people are like, what do we do with this?

I don't even, am I supposed to post on there?

And I mean, when I've got a podcast episode out, I've got my personal Insta, the one for the podcast, same on Twitter, my own Facebook for friends on there that aren't on anything else.

I've got to do another one.

You do six and just, someone's going to pick up their phone and go, oh, Steve, fuck.

Stop bombarding us with this nonsense.

Well, you know, I feel like, you know, my opinion on that is that we're always way more self-conscious about the amount that we post than people actually realize and see.

A lot of those people, especially like if they're different ages, genders, like, you know, Instagram is like kind of more millennial, you know, TikTok is Gen Z, Facebook is kind of more like Gen X and like River and stuff.

So like different people have their different favorite platforms.

Comedians are all on Instagram.

And then, yeah, so there's no shame in posting everywhere.

You got to do what you got to do.

There's a question I have for you actually, because just to what you were talking about, do you sort of not edit what you do on stage, but do you do bits on stage knowing that that could be chopped up into a TikTok bit in the future?

I think it's kind of dangerous thinking in that sort of way, like trying to cater to TikTok, because I think at the end of the day, it's stand-up and the craft is stand-up comedy and that you should try and make the best.

If it's a one-hour show, you should be making the best one-hour show you can.

If it's a five-minute show, you should be doing your best five or whatever it is.

So I kind of always think of it as just do the best stand-up set, because TikTok is TikTok and it's its own medium, so I never try to kind of do that.

Although my jokes, I kind of write shorter jokes.

I try to write longer bits, but I just tend to gravitate towards shorter jokes.

It does kind of incidentally fit the format a little bit more, but I'm still trying to push myself to write bits that are a little bit longer.

So yeah, I try to separate the two.

No, and I think if you do that, then that means that you're not thinking about the stand-up show that you're doing, and then you're limiting it, and then you might not be creating the best stand-up show that you possibly can, because you're thinking of social media in mind.

That's good for one-liner people and stuff like that.

Good for one-liners, yeah.

It wouldn't work for what I do, I can tell you, because whenever I go on stage, I've got like seven minutes of...

It's fucking weird.

But crowd work, if you do crowd work, that's great.

I don't really do crowd work.

I usually hone in on one guy in the front row, like everyone else does, and call him Tarquin and say he's agreeing with things he's not, but I mean, everyone does that.

I mean, you never know.

I mean, people are just like, oh, whoa, come in here and talk to someone.

I'm going to ask you some TV questions before we run out of time.

How are you for time, by the way?

I'm good, yeah.

There you go.

I love Australian TV.

I hope you're going to say some Australian things.

I'm going to ask some new questions.

Oh, this is one I haven't asked anyone.

Let's do a new one.

I wrote a bunch of new ones the other day.

Which TV character would you embody for 24 hours if you got the chance?

Oh, OK, I'll just go with my first instinct that came to mind.

And I guess it's because we were talking about White Lotus, but I really like Tanya from White Lotus because her outlook on the world is so delusional.

Childlike.

Yeah.

Everything's just, oh, they, you know, oh, they're looking at me.

You know, they're not going to kid of it.

Oh, they must think I'm so beautiful and pretty.

And I'm like, wow, to have that much joy in your life from looking at, you know, just everyday interactions and even negative experiences and thinking that it's amazing.

Like being so thick skinned.

Yeah, I'd love that.

Because I, you know, I perceive everything quite negatively and think cynically.

So, you know, to be like that and to own her outfits and to have her money and her lifestyle.

It would be nice to be that happy and innocent about things, wouldn't it?

Because I came up here on the first day, I was like, oh, I'm so happy to be here.

The food trucks and the stuff that's going on.

And I was pulling this case, it was very heavy, but I was having a great time.

It's the best place.

I love being here.

Day two, get out of my fucking way, tourist.

Yeah, exactly.

Why are you walking so slow?

And I was like, oh, Europeans, man.

They're always walking so slow.

He's like, oh look at you taking your time.

I've got a show to get.

To.

I do like the C word, Stu.

Yeah, I mean, when I used to go to Ireland, where some of my family from, they would literally greet me with that word.

Yeah, exactly, yeah.

It's normal, yeah, exactly.

The Americans are like, oh my god, I can't believe it.

Calm down, you're fucking leaping the word shit all the time.

Exactly, yeah, so sensitive.

Stop going on about swear words.

It's very uncouth.

Let's ask her a question instead.

What's a TV show that you would erase from history completely, like Men in Black?

No one remembers it existed.

And one you'd bring back from the dead.

OK, one that I would erase from history.

I can't think.

OK, so my my logic is it's either got to be like so bad or it's got to be something that's really affected the world in a horrible way.

Or hugely offensive.

Oh, yeah, like hugely offensive.

Oh, that's so hard because, yeah, with some of the offensive shows, it's kind of like, you know, I'll throw it out there and I'll mention it now.

Like things like, you know, what Chris Lilley's done.

I don't know if you know him.

I used to be a big fan of Chris Lilley.

I find this very difficult because Summer Heights High.

Yeah, it was probably the funniest TV show I've ever seen.

It was so funny.

I used to die when he was dancing as the teacher.

Yeah, it was so good.

And then now he's actually kind of had a second wave with Gen Z now because his clips are getting posted.

But it's like, you know, it was such a brilliant show.

But also it's like now we can we can look at it now and go, oh, OK, this is some of the stuff that we know was not OK at the time.

And we can like kind of like learn from it and go, OK, now where do we go in terms of comedy?

So I still feel like it's a good landmark in history.

And I don't I keep some on my side, but I get rid of angry boys.

I don't.

Is that the one where is that with Smouse where he blacked up?

Smouse, the New York rapper.

That might be before my time.

And he pretended to be an Asian mother with a gay son as well.

Oh, yeah, that sounds bad.

It's bad, man.

It's bad.

But it's it's so bad.

I remember disliking that and thinking that was like a step too far.

Chris, I don't like this.

Yeah, it's it's funny how bad it is.

Like, it's so funny just to hear you like, you did what?

That's wild.

Yeah.

I didn't fucking complain when he was Jonah.

I thought that was hilarious.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's not.

No, it's very not OK.

Yeah, I know.

Yeah, I don't know what to feel.

The thing.

OK, I know.

The show that I would get rid of, actually, is and purely because it's it's annoying is maybe the one he did called Jermay Private School Girl, because I went to an all girl school and then they were actually that everyone was like obsessed with it.

But I just thought it was annoying.

I thought he was so annoying in that role.

I didn't think it was very funny.

Like it was just so annoying.

Aspects of the show I found amusing.

I found it hilarious that they had an elevator in their own house.

Him flirting, like him as Jermay, but knowing it's him inside the disguise, flirting with the boy at the bus stop, I found very unnerving.

It's a bit weird.

And befriending the sort of poor African guy as the boyfriend because she wanted someone hovo.

Yeah.

That is, yeah, that's troublesome.

Yeah.

There are many, many problems.

I'm not going to like what he's doing next.

It's Jermazing, a podcast hosted by Jermae.

This is the funniest thing you've ever seen on television.

Oh, the funniest thing I've seen on TV.

Wait, give me a moment to think about this.

Just because it comes to mind recently, succession.

The part where Royman is about to do the rocket launch, and then it's like this really big deal, like it's a rocket that goes into space.

It's basically the equivalent of like SpaceX, you know?

Oh, well, and he's in charge of it, but then he cuts all these corners, and then he's like, ah, just make it go faster, ah, just hit the deadline, whatever, whatever, whatever.

And then they're like, all right, and then the rocket's about to launch, he's getting a live stream of it, and then he's watching it from the bathroom, and then the whole thing with no sound just explodes, and he's just looking at it, and then he just tucks away his phone, he kind of like, you know, washes his hands, and then he gets out of the bathroom, and I was pissing myself laughing.

I was like, it's so funny, and it's so awful, but yeah, I just lost it.

There's so many parts in succession.

And also, it's just brilliant writing in TV, which is that like, damn, I wish I could credit whoever said this, but basically when you're trying to write like an argument scene or whatever it is, you have to make sure that everyone in the scene is right.

So when you look at, you know, Shiv's point of view, Sarah Snow's point of view, in that scene to vote for the kind of more left wing party, you know, she's right, that, you know, this person would make a more positive societal impact to the world than this other super right wing dude who's going to, you know, prioritize like corporations and, you know, other types of things.

But then Roman is also right because that is the person who their dad would have picked.

And at the end of the day, don't you have the company's interests in mind?

Exactly, that's the Trump philosophy of just get a businessman in the White House.

Exactly, and they're the biggest business.

So, you know, of course, you know, that's what they should choose.

He's just being pragmatic about it.

And then when he's like, you know what we did tonight?

We made another good night of television, you know, that stuff just to comfort yourself, to make you think that you've done the right thing.

There's so many parallels in that season.

Like you say, that spaceship blowing up just reminds me of like all the, there was, when I was a kid, the shuttle blew up.

And it was exactly that.

It was like, they cut corners.

They shouldn't have launched.

They did and everyone died.

Yeah.

There's that.

There's the Dead Zone, a TV show from the 90s where this guy shakes, it's based on Stephen King, where he shakes the hand of a sort of senator and you can see the future and it's a nuclear war.

And he does everything to stop it.

And there's a parallel of that in that episode.

I mean, it's just so much, so much in there, so much in there.

It's so rich.

And then I'm just, it's genius.

It's honestly and then what I really appreciate about what they did was that it had a good ending.

It had a really good ending.

Finally, a show that ends well.

Exactly.

And don't come back, don't make a movie, no spin-offs.

I mean, Jessie, I mean, he did Peep Show for a long time as well.

Do you know about this Peep Show?

So a lot of Americans don't know.

It's kind of a sort of...

You do POV.

That was a POV comedy show.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The first one, and it was apparently very, very difficult.

But like the idea that he would make that probably one of the best British comedies of all time.

And then go and do Succession.

Yeah.

It's just so different.

It's amazing.

Yeah.

I was trying to track his career and it's like, he kind of has a real interest in like media and journalism and then that side of things as well.

So, yeah, I feel like Succession was an appropriate next step for someone that's interested in that world and it's fascinating how dramatic he made it considering he's so good at comedy and you'd think that that's kind of the only place he can play, but he just nailed so much of it.

Weirdly, he was the writer for the chat show of who was sitting there before.

Whoa, that's amazing.

Oh my gosh, what a small world.

I know, very small world.

Like when you said at the beginning, it's a golden age of TV.

A lot of people say that's sort of over now, and I wonder if the writers' strike will affect that a little bit.

Which people still say, like, heroes, great show, killed off by the writers.

Yeah, it was just like, hey, it was the first, like, hey, let's make a show that's international in theory, but is American.

Whereas now we actually have international television.

We don't need the Americans to, you know, show us what an Asian family might be talking about.

More from Queens, maybe.

That's great as well.

Do you watch that?

I haven't seen it, actually.

Yeah.

Very funny.

I've seen, like, little clips and stuff from it.

Very weird at times.

Yeah, OK.

Like, she goes through it and it gets very abstract, but there's something about Aquafina.

And then the last season, she's finished that show now.

That ends really well as well.

Best way a comedy show I've ever seen ends.

Oh, that's great.

I can't tell you why.

Yeah.

Because I don't think enough people have seen it.

But it's brilliant.

She's a force.

OK, I have to check it out.

But we should end by asking you if you've got anything to plug.

I just plug my socials and stuff.

So you can find me on underscore jennytian on Instagram at nomnomjennie on TikTok.

I'm releasing a YouTube special toward the end of this year.

It's got a picture of this.

You can check it out.

And I'm on Facebook as well, but I don't use it.

Thank you for doing this.

We'll put all those links at the bottom of the podcast.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

That was Jenny Tian.

I did not expect to go so heavily Australian with that one, talking about kangaroos and things like that.

I don't know why that happens.

Maybe it's just what happens when you have an Australian on the pod.

I really hope it wasn't boring for her, though.

Anyway, that was a great fun chat for me.

I really enjoyed that day.

I was on that picnic table for hours, interviewing person after person, and I had a really good time.

And it's great to hear the Edinburgh fringe going on in the background, isn't it?

Even though it's all over.

Well, let's get to our outro track for today.

Okay, the song I've picked for today is called The Man From 2269.

Now, this was a moniker that I picked for myself for a little while as well.

I used it instead of my own name for music.

I adopted it because I literally pulled the number out of the air because I'm born in 1969, right?

So I'm the man from 69, as kids find hilarious.

And I just put a couple of centuries on it.

So I thought, well, three centuries, come on, let's do the maths.

Yeah, I think the idea of it was basically that the man from 2269 would try, he was trying to use space and time to travel back to spend one last kind of period of time with the person that he loved.

And he couldn't quite make it, but if she looked up at the sky, like people look at stars, she might see a twinkle and that's him.

You know, that was the idea behind it.

I think the idea came from like, you know, when you're young and you're in love and you might be apart from the person you like, the idea is if you both look up and see the moon or some stars, you're both looking at the same thing.

So in some way you're interconnected.

It was that kind of idea.

The song itself, I think was written in 2005-ish, the beginnings of it, while I was on tour and it was recorded in Japan in 2006.

It's quite a big song.

It's one of my big ones.

I love it.

I love the arrangement of it.

I think it sounds pretty good.

Anyway, it's a personal song to me and I hope you like it because I really, really still do.

It's got that spaceman vibe that I was going for as well.

So this is The Man From 2269.

A very positive ending there with the It all works out in the end.

Now, that was the Mountain 2269 from my album We Are Animals, which I've mentioned before, will be remastered shortly.

Now, that's all for Television Times this week.

I hope you enjoyed that interview with Jenny, and we'll be back next week with Quite the Guest, one of my all-time comedy heroes.

Thanks for tuning in.

See you soon.