You're watching Chewing the Cud. We've missed Kinsman and like Benue Room.
I nearly came in my short shorts. Oh hello, welcome to Chewing the Cud.
What is it you've got on your top?
Well, you know where. We're going to be speaking to Jordan later. Last time we saw him he was a bit into D and D. I thought i'd wear this.
For him, right, Not that kind of dungeon.
No, no dungeons and dragons, nothing salacious or saucy. I don't do that sort of thing because I'm a good boy, because no one will deal with you. What have you got for us today, Mike.
Well, today I have a story about a mouse, well actually several and then we're going to be speaking to Jordan Charles about his latest project in Spotlight.
We even have a game to play in our Game of the Week. But on screen now you will see our social media contact it Foe. Just look for at the cud TV.
And as names of people who have dropped a lig all on the bottom of the screen. We go over to Granddad and the Shovis.
We're going to start off with a bit of a grim subject. Have you ever had homophobic abuse? Shouted at you in the street. Did you got scouse then street?
I have. Yes, It's horrible, isn't it. It's not pleasant, it's not fun, it's not delightful.
No, Well, there's been a bit of abuse that's happened with a celebrity from Hollyoaks.
Okay, using the word celebrity loosely there.
A little bit. But they were out with one of their colleagues from this show who they work on the same show together. They've become really really good friends. It's Kieran Richardson, who plays Stee Hay and his best friend Georgi Porter I think I'm pronouncing that proptly, who played Theresa McQueen, And they were chatting on a podcast recently and telling this story basically about when they were trying to get a taxi and yeah, just suddenly got people
hurling abuse at them. And even if you're the most bravest or the well built person, it takes you aback. It takes you right back to school when you're getting bullied and everything like that, and it does shock you. And then another point you got a bit brave and tried to shout back at them. They backed off and then started again. You know how those situations are. We've
all experienced it and it's absolutely horrible. But his friend, Georgie, she was reflecting on it and she gave them hell and she actually, because we live in a modern age, recorded them clever girl. She said, that's my best friend. And anyone who starts with my best friend, I'm like, I'm having you. I don't know what she sounds like, but I'm going with this voice. People knew who it was, so I don't so I think that they actually got fired from work, yes, but it was just a massive
shock that that kind of thing still happens. You wouldn't want it to happen to anyone, especially not Kieran, who is the best man in the world. Ah yeah, I thought, that's really kind and good ally shit and yeah, it is crazy that that stuff still happens in the world, but it does. And yeah, good for standing up for yourself.
Yeah, I think I think we need more people standing up for each other as well. So I know I've witnessed people early homophobic abuse and I have gone, I'm gonna put myself in danger, and you do get that moment and you've just got to go, no, go, for it exactly. They do back down as soon as you start giving it back to them.
Yeah, but these are just scared in the end, It's true. Moving on to something a little bit more.
He had his nipples out in that picture. He did have his nipples out of that picture. I had a friend who was in Hollyoaks once. He was only in it for like three episodes as a policeman. All right.
Yeah. He did a very good song afterwards called whatever Happened to Eddie? Check it out on YouTube. Shay Watsonello? How do you do?
I was in Hollyoaks once?
Were you so back in?
I'm going to say I was about to say how old it was then? Back when I was in school in Chester. It was when they filmed Hollyoaks in Chester. Actually actually was in Chester, and they've Chess has Got the Rose, which is like two roses shops like shops.
And I was out there eating a Sayer's sassage roll, which was my age as well, because I'll says anymore in a sausage roll, and the camera panned past me, and then six weeks later I got clip around there from your mother going saw you and Hollyoaks go to school.
At you in your sausage role. I was a fag. It had three anyway, moving on to something a little bit more cheery.
Okay, Hot Stopper is coming back.
Yay, we're all big fans. Yeah yeah, so season three is coming. It's not going to be until October, but because we're all good fans and we were excited about it, people are already speculating about what's going to happen and who might be in it. Now there is speculation that there is certain people are going to be cast in the show, and there's been a series of images circling around showing Jonathan Bailey of Bridgeton.
Nice.
Yeah, nice. So these series of images show him dressed very similar to a character in the graphic novels called Jack Maddox. In fact, one of those pictures shows him with a book that is written by Jack Maddox, the character. There's been no official or unofficial casting news, but the pictures were taken down rather sharpish, so it's a bit suggestive. And he's a clear ally of the show and of the culture and stuff. Well not an ally, he actually
one of us. Well, I'm very very much looking forward to it and I'm sure in the many months until October there's going to be much much more speculation as we all get overly excited about its return. Now you are looking for a little bit more news is less about show biz. It's more about something that's very very important and also very very funny. So, in a desperate attempt to stay relevant, this muppet has been returning. Do you remember Liz Truss.
Oh, a lot of serving premise that short is short.
Yes, not only satisfied with being a worst prime minister in history, which is some going after Boris, she's come back sponsoring a bill. I'm going to read this out these please. Oh it's so awful. She's sponsoring a bill called the Health and Equalities Act, and she's well, she says it would define sex in law as biological and end the and this is the quote absurd and dangerous situation where biological males self defining as females can access girls and women's toilets and so on, as well as
sports competitions. Yeah she can. So here's the funny bit. Though she has been frustrated in this, and it's very very funny how she's been frustrating. It never got heard this bill because of something called filibustering.
That's my favorite thing of procrastination on an epic scale.
It so what they did, basically, Parliament was debating another act beforehand, or another subject beforehand, called animal welfare, and they just delayed her Bonker's bill several nps. Actually, it has to be said both Tory and Labor just kept the debate going so she couldn't talk. And they did this by talking about the names of ferrets. Yep. So the MPs in question are Maria Eagle, Sarah Champion, Selaine Saxby, and Samantha Dixon. All hats off to you, ladies. Champion,
this is how the conversation actually went. I've watched it. It's not in real time. It's a lot exact quotes, but this is how it went. Champion said, I'm interested that my right honorable friend is keenly mentioning ferrets at every opportunity that she can in this debate. So let me just put it on record that my brother had a ferret called Oscar. Then chips in, my honorable friend now has that on record. I do not really know what else to say about that, except that I'm sure
Oscar brought her brother a great joy. Has the right Honorable Member of North Devon ever owned a ferret? And if so, what was its name? We go on Saxby then chips in. This is an excellent intervention. I will come to ferrets, but unfortunately I have not had the pleasure of having one at home myself. Then they move off ferrets unfortunately and their nomenclature. They then go on into Coronation Street. Dixon chips up, it's my honorable friend.
Is my honorable friend? Aware of a recent Coronation Street storyline on precisely this issue, not Erretz the animal welfare. It involved an indomitable Evelyn, who's of course played by Maureen Lipmann, and cover the issues around puppy farming. It was a strong and educational storyline. Yeah, it's nice to see that there are some MPs who are not lying, incompetent and im moral scum with no agenda other than
their own self aggrandizement. I don't know who I'm referring to their trusts, but yes, sadly, philibustering works both ways. And there was another bill being discussed in March that was going to ban conversion therapy and they did the same thing the other way around, so it never really got heard. So the ferrets are very very funny. But it'd be good if Parliament just got on with the job and stopped horrible bills going ever through and stopped
pretty sensible bills from actually being heard. And that's the show biz's that.
I can't really say anything funny on this one other than Liz trusted.
Well stick around. Is it's Mike in the Buzz. You're watching during the card with mist and Mike. Now, let's see what he didn't put into his private browsing as it's Mike and the Buzz.
Have you ever been to Australia?
No?
No, okay, because when you're going to Australia, I have big sign of saying you can't bring anything like fruits or vegetables or anything. It's very very strict on their border control. Do you know why that is?
Because it's a completely different environment and you don't want to introduce foreign things because they have a problem with ants.
They do very aggressive ant problem, very aggressive ants, ants, very ass and the reason is because for things like this, Right, there's an island in Antarctica. Right, two hundred years ago someone introduced a mouse that was predic. Now they have over a million mice on this island in Antarctica, just outside of Antarctica. Them because of global warming, these mice have been prolific, rampant mice, rampant mice, right, so much that now the mice are eating birds because they've got
no other food left. So these mice have gone rampant eating birds. Oh how hot like birds are, big seagulls and stuff. Mice ganging up and attacking them. Cute little fairy. Oh look how cute the little mouse is killer teeth right, over a million on the island, right. So they thought of how they're going to get rid of these mice and kill them off. They're going to use helicopters.
Didn't they think a cat might be a good IDEA very.
Hungry cat, very million mice.
Well they get one from Warner Brothers with the looney chews, and imagine and really cat, yes, to get rid of these hundreds of these million mice.
And you know what, they using helicopters that are dropping rat poison all over the islands.
What's the rat poison going to do to the birds?
Going to kill the mice?
It's still poison if one of the.
Birds look then dead. This is the plan because they've decided that they need to make sure that there's no mice alive because if even one remains, they're going to have this problem again.
So they're just basically going to nuke it from all bit like their aliens.
Yes, with rat poison, but I don't think that's gonna work because they're.
Mice, not rats. Well yeah, Roland the Ravager.
Yes, it's one of those things that's a warning about global warming because up until like five ten years ago, there weren't that many mice.
They were kind of I was going to say fantastic. It was a bit chili chili. I would have thought little little creature like that wouldn't survive very long.
They do, okay, but there's not many of them. It's not a lot of food. So now it's warmed up a bit, they can breed more and rap food to an out in birds.
That's actually quite like animals. For animals, they're gonna eat each other. It's the circle of life.
It moves us all.
I'm not going to think so we'd have to pay royalties, but we thankful. Yeah, there's something about that that just seems a little bit disjointed and natural to me.
It's the mice eating the birds that doesn't.
Yeah, it's a bit weird because we've.
Also hitchcocks and the birds been expected. But moving on. Do you have a middle name now? No, missed Moonscape.
No. Some people say ickles, mister gules. Okay, I have no idea why. But there's a lot of different people called me mysticals over the years. But no, no middle name.
This is not a bit odd enough. I don't need enough. Where they calling you ball bagging, you just misheard.
Back to homophobic abuse being shouted at me in the street. They're just calling the name, oh, ball bag.
Abusive.
You don't enjoy it.
It's a woman called Rihanna all right who has changed her middle name based on something she loves. Okay, so she is now called Rihanna Marleybourne, as in after the station in London.
Oh, I thought you meant the fags.
So there she is, all right. She's changed her name legally. The reason why is because she's worked in the railways in London for twenty years and it's her favorite station.
So much.
It's not a big station, this is Derek quote, it's not a big station, but it has a big soul.
So I thought people who had trained spotters are massive nerds.
She's not a trainspotter exactly. It's about the station itself exactly.
That's that's that's higher on the nerds.
She considers it her home away from home, right, And she said, unlike other train stations in London, it has a warm and personal touch.
Well, who am I to judge if it makes her happy. She's not harming anyone. Is she bonkers?
But you know, yeah, she was going to change her first name till her daughter said no, Mom, just no.
What was she going to change her first name too?
She's going to lose her actual first name and change it to the name of the station.
Let's just change it all Agat became Mary Lebon. Every Labon, Mary Lebon, Simon Labon, Yeah, but Mary yeah, Simon Lobon, Yeah, Mary Lebon's.
A lot of people that don't getting the reference of Simon Labon.
Well, I don't think she's harming anyone, and she should fill her boots and live happily as whoever and however she wants to be.
Yes, And if you want to share your inner stories with us. Why not do so at the TV on social media and that brings is nicely to us story of the week. You're quite proud of your weight loss at.
The moment on the journey, I'm getting there. Yeah, it's beginning to shift.
Yeah, you came in this morning and told me you lost four quid or something. Well, it's this gentleman from Vietnam who has lost something a little bit more. He went into the doctor with cramps, very not well right, and the x ray nom went, oh it wasthing a bit way there, more than a dicky tummy. We need to have an investigate. So they've they've cut him open and pulled out a live thirty centimeter eel m from his inners.
How the hell did that get in?
Well? This the man couldn't explain it, So how's that happened? He's like, I don't know, mate, obviously, m I don't know, mate, not sure right, And that's went There's only one way it could have gone up there? Well, no up there, because if he had gone down there, he had chewed and bitten and they had gone through asking it to be dead. So it's gone up inside him.
He could he could have had a very vigorous blow job and then it had fallen off.
He could have sneezed. It's like open and yeah, And they don't know how quickly it got in there, but they know that that's the way that he got in.
Becauld he just have a dream. It happened whilst he's unconscious, and he just had a very very noise stream about a big It had.
To a bit of water, because heels are of course water based creatures. So what they've worked out is that it will have entered through his bum, worked its way around is colon, right, and because of where it was that it then had to nibble through his colon to get into his part of his abdomen.
That they out. How did he not feel that.
Very slack ass?
All?
I can say it must have been a very slack He doesn't know it wasn't sure it happened, how like I think what's happened is has fallen on it?
Right?
Did that happened or I fell on it? I wouldn't know a thing about that kind of scenario. Is that a liabel did you fall a light bulb?
No?
No that personal idea?
No?
What did you fall on?
No? No? No, I'm getting no, no, no.
No, I'm not waking live eels up. My mom didn't say you were not here again. That's mm hm hamster, I just know it's it's no like.
You must have known. There's no way he could not have known exactly.
That's why the dots are going. You didn't notice it, thirty that's not a clinch.
That's an experience, like it can't happen in the middle of the night and you sleep all the way through it.
That because you'd have to have been in water. Yeah, so it had to have been like waist deep in water.
This is why you should wear your little swimming bottoms, your little budgy, your budgy little swimming bottom.
I think he has got quite a large swimming bottom.
He definitely has a large He didn't before. He definitely has now. I slippery.
Well, well, yeah, I should watch out for those elephants in the zoo. Anybody that's not watched that episode of the show missed once watched an elephant fist someone else.
Another elephant, not just someone but oh no that mm that The eel can't consent, can it? It went up?
So I think it can can eels go backwards, ill reversing, ill reversing.
I don't know. Well, I suppose if he enjoyed it, had an eel of a time, a whale of a time. Surely no hell of us, oh cold. Some jokes are wasted on people.
And some people don't make jokes at all. But that's all from the buzz this week. I don't start kicking.
Thank you by.
You're welcome stick around coming up next to we've got a game to play in our Game of.
The week, welcome back, and yes you are watching Chewing the Cut, and we're going to play the Gobby Game Show.
And this one is for a very own gobshite Mike, Off you.
Go, Giggler.
Day of the week. So are you ready to sing along in the Gobby Game Show?
Mike? Well, okay, give me your first tune. We'll see if I can get it.
A la.
Oh oh oh, could you do it again? Please? I think I nearly had it then. Oh, I.
Think I think that might be the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
I can't remember the name of the song. Oh. There are a lot of people who I used to hang out with in rock clubs in the nineties wanting to punch me in the face right now. Oh here, I can't remember the name of the song, but it is red Hot Chili Peppers right hat, Oh, under the bridge, Under the bridge, I'm an idiot. On oh, hang on, this is the last bit again? Oh Oasis wonderwall. Yay? Do I get a prize for this? No? I should win something?
H yeah, go on ah I heard.
Well, oh please more of the dramatic rendering. I want to see the performance was more than a song. You do just look like you are groping the invisible man and he's having a lovely time. Uh hm hmmm, that that's what you look like. Mm hmmmm killing me softly? Which version of it? I'm not too sure, but killing me softly? No, you know, man, you'd be lucky to be too sexy for Birmingham. I am right, said friend, I'm too sexy. You're good at this. Actually, I don't
think it's me who should be winning the prizes. It's you. You should be. You should be winning points for successfully communicating. I haven't got a clue, then, then that's all I got. It basically sounded a little bit like a seal complaining of constipation. What far of your own? No, I haven't got a clue on that one. I'm sorry, no idea. What are you doing to the Invisible Man? Now? Is it a lottle? Oh?
Oh yeah, I was never going to get that. Sorry, I don't know that war.
I thought this is very very very much my era. That's tub thumping. Oh god, who was the band? It was like something project or something. There's a load of people being very very political and making a wonderful pop song to do it. Say that again, Hubba bubba, I know what it is like, chumber wamba. What are you doing to the invisible man now? Mm hmmm mm hmmmm.
Mm hm hm hmmm.
That that that's that's what you're doing. H another song? Please?
What move?
I I'm sorry I did not recognize that. But apparently the gallery have a guess, and the galleries guesses. The bird is the word. I did not know. I had no idea. It was songs knowing there's a diners or locker diners or go there's more. There's tons of dinosaur. That would be the theme to Jurassic Park.
All right, they fall in love?
Yeah? Why was was it? Was it Anita Dobson, He's no, no, it was it was Oh WePlay shower. Isn't it Leticia Dean? Anyone can fall in love? Well? Then is it not Leticia? It was it? Then soon it's gonna come. Have another song, please, Mike? Right right album? Mike, are you trying to wrap? I am rapping.
About the point?
Mm hmmm.
What I can tell I can tell it it's I can tell that it's a rap. The chicken and bacon caesar salad, baby Baby got back. That sounded nothing like it. And as Mike has a mental breakdown in the corner over there, I think it's about time we moved on to speak to Jordan Charles about his most recent project, Welcome Back to Cheering the Cud. Now I've had him before, so he wanted to welcome him back as it's Jordan Charles in Spotlight.
Welcome back, Thank you, Thank you for having me. I've actually been here the whole time. They have not let me lose. Please, I'm so hungry.
Everybody knows we snack. Well. Last time you were with us, you were telling us about this new musical. Yes, want did you tell us a bit more about that?
Yeah?
So I have been for about eleven years. I've been writing this musical a. Yeah, it's a bilingual Afro fantasy musical, So it's got words and songs in English and Europa, which is a West African language, and there's also an entire Euroba obviously culture and religion and mythology and that religion and the Urishas, which is what they call gods.
You can find them in Nigeria, but also in Brazil and in the Caribbean and kind of you know, all the places that you know, our people have kind of ended up over the time, and so I wanted to create this show to kind of explore that in a
fun way. And how do you explore that with some magic? Yeah, So our story is about a young man who's born disabled, and it's set in a fictional country in pre colonial West Africa, and so the people of their village when he's born disabled, they actually discard him from the village out he's cursed. But at some point he receives the powers of Aya, who's the godess of wind and storms and weather, and so he's able to fly and control
the weather. And so the show's about him kind of having these new powers and deciding how to use them and how to respond to the way he's been treated and you know, how to move forward. There's some big old songs in then.
So that's a bit like a fairy tale.
That it's very fairy turn inspired. It's very kind of Hero's journey inspired, you know, like it's yeah, it's kind of that. I've always been obsessed with fairy tales and legends and mythology and comic books superheroes. So it kind of draws from all of those things but hopefully brings it in a new way. So hopefully it has a real kind of familiarity to people in a way, but also kind of feels new and exciting cool.
And so let me say, it's a musical. What kind of music is it? Are we expecting like high big Beyonce? Oh, he expect like phantom?
Or we I would say, it's I mean, it's so the whole thing as well as kind of mixing the two languages, were also mixing the two musical styles, and so it kind of has kind of really big musical theater moments and elements, but also kind of really like joyful or deep and intense music kind of drawn from from West Africa, you know, for artists like Fella and you know, the beautiful choral music and especially the drum rhythms.
We have an amazing, amazing producer and m D. Bobby Zion, and he's actually worked with a bunch of different musicians, including drummers from Nigeria, to really get the rhythms and the sounds, you know, really right. So it's a it's a it's a party. It goes some places. But yeah, at the sharing last week, everyone was just dancing and having an incredible time.
So you're collaborating with drummers and you mentioned puppets last week as well. Yeah about the pub. Everybody loves.
Everybody loves. But I'm glad you got that in there, which actually you have to say it if we say the word better, so thank you.
Yeah.
Yeah. So how how collaborative has this process been?
That that has been really the main thing that this
most recent time has been about. So we've received some incredible money from the Arts Council to do our R and D. And actually kind of originally when I was kind of putting together the process to make that happen, I really thought it was going to be about me writing and taking time away, but actually it's become about the collaboration and essentially kind of you know, like building the team and you know, the people who are going to cheerlead this thing as it as it as it
hopefully grows. And so yeah, we've got incredible artists. I mentioned Bobby Zion, our music producer. We have an incredible set designer, Natalia Letienek who's been working where that's just created this incredible like lunar solar piece, and we've got caroling on the puppets. We've also been collaborating with aerial artists to kind of show the flying elements of this and the so yeah, yeah, Tamsen and Joe and Zaki
Musa worked with us. So it's been a whole it's been a whole team effort and kind of having all of that housed here in the mill and kind of yeah, cout in this beautiful place full of artists has been.
You started this process eleven years ago? What started everything off?
Eleven years ago? So I actually started writing the show as my dissertation at university, and so then it was just pure imagination, right, like I was just yeah, you know, like actually how to make this happen wasn't in my head at all, and so I wrote this mad show where people were flying and gods were appearing and there was magic, no limited and that no limitations at all, and now they're a limitations. There are limitations.
Is there anything that you would from that original idea or your early thoughts on it that you wish you could have done, but from developing it, going ah, that's not going to work.
Do you know we're making this show is actually an exercise in not doing that, actually, because I think the the impulse is absolutely there to kind of be like, Okay, well that was you know, the dream of the twenty one year old and that's not going to happen now.
And I think actually, and I've been quite ready to do that, and other people who've come to the project have kind of said to me, you know, an incredible business partner, Cynthia, you know, she was one of the first people to say like, no, we're not you know, but we can do it smaller, we can do She said no, no, no, like, yeah, maybe we might do it smaller on the way to where we're hopefully going to but you know, yeah, other people have come up to the project have been like you no, we also
see you know, the big thing. So it feels, you know, very very big and very far away and quite possible, but.
Why why not? Why not try?
And you know you mentioned previously about you embracing your blackness and queerness. How queer is the show?
I think this this current version of the show. So I'm currently doing some one person sharings of the show. So it's very inspired by like the oral tradition of of of African kind of storytelling and and you know, kind of mythology and passing down of history. So it's kind of very very inspired by that, but it's also me in kind of my you know, kind of cabaret performance persona. So I think these tellings of it are are kind of like, yeah, some of the most kind
of queer versions of it. And so yeah, we did did the first one last week at the Mill, which was incredible, and then we do and then we've got another one in London at the Phoenix Arts Club, and yeah, it's just been an incredible, incredible time to kind of tell this story with my lens of as I called it, gain nonsense.
I mean, in your reference, doing it as a trial isn't a mill. And we were very lucky we actually got to go and see, and we've got a little bit clip of that net.
Then let me take you to a time long long ago and a place far far away, to a land where God still walk the earth and magic still exists.
From ouside.
This is a world care But thankfully he is not alone.
Every one, just one so much.
His best friend Dara and his mother live right there with.
Him, O, my family, every person.
I know, what an incredible performance that was.
Thank you.
Definitely tell it's a passion project for you.
It really is, it really really is, and it's been you know, I've been we talked about it on the last show. I was on kind of doing this full time for about seven years, and so I've enjoyed all of those seven years. But doing this project has been yeah, and yeah, it's just felt right the whole time. It really feels kind of correct. It feels like, yeah, like a like a passion project. And so it's been hard work.
But what the worssons you took from these shows? Then how long do you have.
Because let me tell you, yeah, very much for myself mostly yeah, so much, so much.
I think I've really.
I've found you know, some really kind of like nuts and box stuff like just kind of finding out how to kind of get the most out of out of a day without kind of draining myself. But also just one of my friends, incredible drag Queen Astrosenica, said to me,
follow the fun. Follow the fun. And the times when this has been a bit confusing or a bit overwhelming, which like you know, definitely has been, I've just leant into that, and in doing that, I've been able to you know, fall back into rhythm and get, you know, to the place that I want to go. So yeah, I think that's been the biggest lesson.
And when you follow the fun, where's that going to take you? Next?
Hopefully to the top of a mountain, let's see, let's see, you know, next, to to just spending more time writing the show, to kind of like really just disappearing into this world and seeing what I can kind of create and imagine and just yeah, having some more fun.
Why can we see the show next?
We're going to take some time to kind of have a look at what we've done. So but I think the next thing that people can do is just kind of yet go and find the clips of the musical and just share as much as possible, so you can follow me at I Am Jordan Charles on Instagram. You can follow Obsidia Collective, which is a production company, also on Instagram orbsidy Collective dot com.
That's almost the end of the show. Remember to join us on our social media at the.
Cud TV on all the usual places.
Thank you for watching and thank you for coming.
Jordan, I'll be back anytime, mister potato head. So I'm coming back and we will see you all soon.
Bye.
That was good yahs on everybody.