#PreciousLittle Podophiles

I know by blogs are usually my thoughts on social networking and the internet, but if you follow me on twitter you will notice I write the hashtag #PreciousLittle quite a lot, so I thought I would explain for those of you not yet involved (and to those of you who are, I'm just going to say what I like about it all).

As many of you know I got really into comedy last year, and first saw Michael Legge at Latitude festival, but I was too shy to say hello, even though he did shout in my face at random (as part of a sketch). I then agreed on twitter to say hello when I saw him in Edinburgh and meet his footlump (long story, see his blog). So Sarah (@misswiz) and I did just that. There were beers flowing and a few more hellos and shows during the fringe festival.

So you can imagine how pleased I was to hear that Michael (@michaellegge) and James Hingley (@BillPoddy) were going to do a podcast together. They didn't really have a name for it at first but eventually aptly settled on what they talk about - Precious Little. I don't really know how to describe it, they do so quite well on the Itunes description, "Just a load of talking really". Michael likes to say "Cunt" quite a lot and talk about what he has been up to (including things which have infuriated him and he has blogged about) this is usually very funny. James is the more serious one of the pair, but is in his element when Michael makes him annoyed or angry and he has certainly come out of his shell thanks to #InterviewJames (I will explain that more later). As a duo they wonderfully bounce off each other and amazingly entertain, even though there is no script or structure to it.

Then came the interaction... I had sent Michael a message to say I enjoyed the first podcast, I received a reply saying sorry for mentioning me quite a lot in the second one. I was worried. In podcast 2 Michael decided he wanted people to join in and no matter where they were listening, if he called someone a cunt, we had to then shout out "...... is a cunt!". The one person he thought would do this ridiculous request was... yes, you guessed it, me. They then shouted "Come on Nicola Woolhouse shout it!" every time Michael called someone a cunt in that podcast (and a little in future ones). So from then on I decided to tweet when I listened to Precious Little so that Michael could see that I was indeed participating, yes, he was right about me, I am daft enough to do it in the name of comedy. This initially (understandably) irritated some of my followers, but gradually a few of us decided to listen to it at the same time and tweet along. Michael and James were pleased about this and named us the Podophiles.

Although James is lovely (and has a great voice) he was rather quiet in comparison to Michael, as most people would be. So Michael, who is crap at interviewing used interviews in magazines to #InterviewJames, this part of the podcast got even better when the listeners and podophiles started asking the questions. Many podophiles have also send jingles, stories and poems in (including @Misswiz @AndyMcH @mister_wavey @IanReentrant @lornalily and many many more). The group of podophiles has grown rather large and we now have regular #ListeningParties (where we all listen and tweet at the same time). The tweets don't make much sense unless you are listening to the podcast but do have a look, search #PreciousLittle.

Since then there have been other regular slots on the podcast such as Cunt of the Weep and Tommy's Tedious Tweets (you will have to listen to find out what they are). It is my favourite podcasts, not only are Michael and James both naturally very funny, but there is a sense of community between the podophiles. I know it sounds weird, but we all enjoy it and feel involved. Recently I had the (probably not good) idea of playing a drinking game whilst listening to the podcast, every time Michael said cunt I would drink a shot, and if they discussed (not just mentioned) Doctor Who, I would drink a glass full of booze. Sarah (@h2osarah) agreed to play with me the first time I did this. We got very drunk in just over an hour. Luckily I have only managed to do this one other time yesterday (Saturday), as the podcast usually comes out on a Sunday, and I can't be drinking on a Sunday when I start work at 8am Monday. There were quite a few of us playing last night, which was great fun. The listening parties are international with podophiles in Australia, America and the UK. I was actually quite miffed when I missed a listening party because I was out and had to listen alone, it is not the same anymore.

Now I look forward to the possibility of a live podcast at the Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Using twitter many of us podophiles already chatted to each other, but there are new people who have begun to say hello and join in, we often tweet each other between podcasts and some of us have agreed to meet in Edinburgh. Yet again social networking, podcasts and the internet has allowed us to truly social network.

Do join in and subscribe to Precious Little podcast on Itunes.