Worst Foot Forward

Pop on your collar and leash and join us for some walkies as we talk to stand-up comic, professional dog walker and former zookeeper Ryan Dalton about the world's worst pets. We discover that the White House has also been quite the menagerie over the years, which are the most impractical animals to keep and why parrots are inarguable dickheads. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde  @MrRyanJDalton @Pingosaurus Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

Listener beware, you're in for a scare as this week's podcast is crammed full of ghouls and ghastly apparitions. And that's just the hosts. Alongside Irish writer Susan E. Connolly, Barry and Ben attempt to bust the World's Worst Ghost. Their journey takes them to Asia to find eyeballs in arseholes, to Ireland to find daughters in bricked-up rooms, and to Theatre-Land to find butterflies in a pantomime dame's skirts! Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @susanconnolly Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

Pack your bags, pop on a gaudy Hawaiian shirt and don't forget your toothbrush: we're off on holiday.  Joined by glamorous guest Ashraf Ejjbeir, star of Ru Paul's Drag Race UK, we head off on a whistlestop tour of the globe with stops in Peru, Japan, diseased cruise ships and the ends of the earth in search of the world's worst vacation. Follow us on Twitter: @mufseen @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde  Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

It's about bloody time! Old friend of the podcast Pliny The Elder goes solo! We devote our bonus monthly episode to the man who gave us the myth about mice fearing elephants, who mastered the art of simultaneously reading and writing (clue: use two servants) and who died while getting a little too close to Mt Vesuvius.  Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde  Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

*During Pride Month, join the podcast in supporting Black Pride UK. by clicking the link and donating* This week is Pride Week in the UK! So on the show we are going to rain(bow) on your parade in the company of LGBT rights activist and podcaster Mufseen Miah, as we take part in the World's Worst Pride. We learn about the hanky code and the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom from Barry, Mufseen teaches us about the history of the Pride Movement and the story of the Stonewall Uprising, and Ben takes us to the bottom of the planet to the most remote Pride celebration. Follow us on Twitter: @mufseen @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde  Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

CHAAAAAAAARGE! Very much in keeping with the spirit of the times, this week we're charging headlong into battle with very little strategy or plan, joined by musician, comedian, journalist and official biographer of Terry Pratchett, Marc Burrows. There's pretty much every variety of military misadventure including drunken penal battalions, invading deserted islands, attacking your own troops from behind and one very angry pine martin. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @20thcenturymarc Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

**Please join the podcast in supporting organisations working for justice and equality for black people. Spurred by the death of George Floyd and too many others, and in solidarity with the waves of protest around the world, we have donated this month's Patreon income to the following three, but there are many others which need your help: The Community Justice Exchange - National Bail Fund Network (USA), The NAACP Legal Defence Fund (USA), and Black Pride UK. This week we are joined by Sif Boynton, our friendly neighbourhood Dane and long-time Patreon donor to the show. With her incipient law degree, Sif helps Ben and Barry investigate the World's Worst Law, with serious discussions on Burqas and racism, and sillier chats about salmon and suing God. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde  Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootFo

On your marks...get set...GO! We're off to the races this week, along with brilliantly funny stand-up comedian, actor and writer Bethany Black as we discover new heights of human incompetence and brazen cheating.   It turns out that the turn of the 20th century was a highpoint for incredibly stupid motor car races, terribly organised Olympic marathons and cheating of the most audacious scope.  This is a proper vintage episode full of misadventure, injury, wrong-headed endeavour and excellent stories. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @BeffernieBlack Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

Welcome to this month's bonus glace cherry atop a teetering pile of horse manure.  Since we're all currently living a monastic lifestyle we thought it would appropriate to be inspired by regular character on the show St.Simon Stylites and talk about some of the most fascinatingly odd loners in history.  There's tales of hoarded riches, strange ciphers and ornamental hermits.  Come enter our grotto... Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

God, the episode titles really don't really treat our guests very well, do they!? Dr Lucy Rogers is an absolutely world class science communicator, an inventor with a sense of fun and a whole lot to say to us on the topic of the World's Worst Science Communicator. She shares stories of fat trains and thin stations, Barry dives down ferret-holes in search of the evolutionary tree of fairies, and Ben takes aim at a big hitter: Alexander Graham Bell, hater of sign language. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @DrLucyRogers Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can now donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support Ben’s baby and Barry’s crippling trivia addiction: https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

Your podcast needs YOU! This week we're joined by the creative whirlwind Madison Coby: actor, graphic designer and illustrator to discuss all the things that can go wrong on a simple piece of A3 paper. We dive into the worlds of fashion, film-making and wartime propaganda to discuss words and images that should never have been put together on paper. Are you podcast body ready...? Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @madison_coby Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Check out Madison's incredible designs here: https://www.madisoncoby.co.uk/ Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

We're reaping what we sow this week on WFF as actor, improviser, comedian and producer Joseph Cullen, whose family are of Cornish farming stock, is with us to talk about the World's Worst Farmer. We talk odd animals, dynamite, gong-farming and the man who taught the world about 'do nothing' farming. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @joseph_cullen90 Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

We’re not really meant to bring groups of tourists wandering around London in these locked-down times, so Ben and Barry lead a virtual walking tour of the capital of the UK. This was live-streamed on Sunday 26th April 2020, and made use of Google Street View. There was a scavenger hunt if you want to have some fun at home, and you can follow along with the whole thing using the tour at this link: https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/builder#play/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyEQsSBFRvdXIYgIDg6KXr9wkM/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyJwsSBFRvdXIYgIDg6KXr9wkMCxIJUGxhY2VtYXJrGICA4Jj94b0JDA Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

Is this a podcast? I hadn't noticed. It's time, folks. It's a topic we've had on the radar for a while and finally we settle down on the sofa to watch the World's Worst Rom-Com. Alongside writer and actress Sadie Clark and our special guest judge Dani Charlton, we debate your Four Weddings, your Loves Actually, your Ten Things and so much more. There are star turns from Rob Reiner's mother, Matthew Goode's bad Irish accent, a magical crab and a herd of orphans. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @SadieLeylaClark @dani_charlton Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

This week you find us brandishing our rubber chickens, whoopee cushions and banana skins in the company of one of the finest joke writers and most wonderfully absurd performers on the UK circuit: John-Luke Roberts. We’re on the hunt for the world’s worst joke, whether it’s painful damp squibs or punchlines that could end civilisation as we know it.  I say, I say, I say… Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @jlukeroberts Watch Ben this week on NextUp Comedy on Wednesday and Friday here: https://www.twitch.tv/nextupcomedy Watch Barry's National eTheatr on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQSVtjpUQfES378Mnb1GtYQ Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com  

Roll for initiative! Grab your dice, your pencils, character sheets and assorted costume pieces as we gather around the gaming table for a Dungeons And Dragons-heavy episode all about the World’s Worst Spell. We are joined by Tom, Mason and Andrew, some of the gang from Derps and Dragons (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMln1ldUBG9eeUfhpXT70_g) who lay out why Harry Potter would be swept aside by any competent D&D player. Ben delves inside Icelandic coin-purses, while Barry has a spell to counteract the greatest evil of all: Donald Trump. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @thekeymaker185 Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the show during this whole pandemic thing… https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

Man the barricades and try not to fall over the edge as you're doing it.  Desperate times call for desperate measures and we've drafted in ace political comedian Joe Wells to help us find the freedom fighters and revolutionaries who we shouldn't be turning to in these turbulent times.  Ben brings a classic of the "God talked to me and told me to rain down fire" genre, Barry unleashes centuries of Irish history all over the shop and Joe tells us about a very complicated woman indeed. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @joewellscomic Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can now donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the podcast, especially during these tricky - and very unemployed - times ahead: https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com  

It's that time of the month again, your extra dose of Worst Foot Forward in our bonus episode paid for by our kind supporters on Patreon. This month, with half of the world locked away from Covid-19 and trying to think of things to do, Barry takes us on a quick tour of the history and trivia behind various indoor games you can play in your own locked-down home! Learn about the soothsaying past of Solitaire, what the French call Blind Man's Buff and wonder at the beautiful trophy awarded at the Hide-And-Seek World Championships. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde  Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can now donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support us in these unemployed, pandemic-stricken times: https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

There are some strings attached to this week's episode - our first recorded during full-blown lockdown - but we're keeping our spirits up with some helpful hands up our bums. That's what happens when we go looking for the World's Worst Puppet alongside puppeteer on both stage and screen, Mikey Brett. Who just so happens to be Barry's husband. There are excursions to the Muppet Theatre, Sesame Street and prehistoric Chile, as well as ventriloquism on the radio and creepy dolls in Scotland. Enjoy, and we hope you're all staying safe in these mad times. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @mbrettuk Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can now donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support the podcast, especially during these tricky - and very unemployed - times ahead: https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward Worst Foot Forward is part of Podnose: www.podnose.com

Well now...this has been quite the week, hasn't it.  Ben stubbed his toe on a bed frame late on Friday night and it all seems to have got even worse from there. Like the world and his wife we've been busying reorganising, panicking, bellowing at the heavens and making the odd inappropriate joke about all this coronavirus shenanigans.  We aim to be back with a new episode for you next week, but in the meantime, here's some clips from the vault inspired by viruses and self-isolation.  You can hear us talking about an unsung World War 2 hero with Mike Stuchberry, tinfoil hats with Jim Campbell, weird allergies with Katie Pritchard, a British mission to steal tea from China with Laura Lexx and the science of dog farts with Sarah Jones. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde   Visit www.worstfootforwardpodcast.com for all previous episodes and you can now donate to us on Patreon if you’d like to support Ben’s baby and Barry’s crippling trivia addiction: https://www.patreon.com/WorstFootForward