In short
East London drag culture and “local characters,” then Irish rural life (turf cutting, fires, bogs) and ends with Mark’s experiences as a tour guide (Jack the Ripper/ghost tours) plus a vet visit for his overweight cat.
Guests
Maxie Cox and Dennis Lane (hosts). Mark (main speaker) shares personal stories; no other named guests appear.
Guest backgrounds
Mark is a freelance creative/tour guide in London; he’s also involved in drag/community events. Maxie and Dennis are co-hosts discussing drag legends and internet habits.
Key claims
Barbz (East London drag figure) retired after a big send-off; drag work is harder now due to fewer opportunities and saturation. Townsfolk nicknames (e.g., “Mick the Fiddler”) reflect community acceptance rather than punishment. Mark’s Instagram feed now shows fires/security-camera clips; he describes childhood fire-lighting and turf-bog labor as formative.
Notable examples
Barbz performing in a bin; Sharon Legrand singing “Handbags and the Gladrags” with audience “handbags.” Michael Tierney, a distinctive “town ambassador” with no teeth. Jack the Ripper tour for children in Whitechapel (rats, heat, explicit script). Ghost tour in St James’s Park with a nosebleed incident. Cat “Miso” weighed 6.95kg at the vet.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOExploring the Drag Scene
0:18 to 0:45
Discussion about the East London drag scene and the impact of drag queens.
“So you were scrolling on Marketplace, and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for.”
Exploring the Drag Scene
1:53 to 2:55
Discussion about the East London drag scene and the impact of drag queens.
“You used to have some sort of this is the episode by the way.”
Barbz's Retirement and Reflection
2:55 to 6:01
Reflecting on Barbz's drag career and the challenges faced in the drag community.
“There's got to be some queens there now who are going to really hate you for saying that, I'd say.”
Nostalgia for Drag Performances
6:01 to 7:27
Nostalgic reflections on past drag performances and changes in the industry.
“there was so many I'd say there was 20 numbers There was 20 numbers It was 3 hours long Fucking hell There was 20 numbers Everyone did kind of Their star number as well Bit of Celine Dion in there No?”
The Evolution of Handbag Culture
7:27 to 11:45
Discussion about the significance of handbags in drag culture and personal anecdotes.
“And it's they're always picking up the handbag.”
The Instagram Effect on Drag
11:45 to 14:00
Exploring how social media shapes perceptions and opportunities in drag.
“so what made you move in a handbag you usually get inspired by so this is your handbag era where did this come from?”
Instagram Feeds and Their Influence
14:00 to 17:38
Explore how social media algorithms shape our interests and content exposure.
“I've seen them do you know where I saw them?”
Childhood Fire Experiences
17:38 to 22:05
Share amusing and nostalgic memories of childhood fires and bonfires.
“This would be up where there wouldn't have been houses built When the housing estate wasn't finished Out of the back?”
Turf Cutting and Rural Life
22:05 to 26:54
Discuss the traditional practice of turf cutting and its significance in rural Ireland.
“No, I love the smell of turf Did you buy this stuff in a shop?”
Local Characters and Community Stories
26:54 to 28:00
Recount stories about eccentric local characters and their impact on the community.
“if you met them, we were talking about this earlier, they look 2 ,000 years old and they're 32.”
Show all 24 chapters
Mick the Fiddler: A Colorful Character
28:00 to 29:20
Explore the eccentric personality of Mick the Fiddler and his role in the community.
“He's not walking through the town quietly.”
Life Without Teeth
29:20 to 30:40
A humorous discussion on living with no teeth and the quirks of local characters.
“I suppose it was accepted not really accepted.”
Jeremiah Lucy: The Funeral Attendee
30:40 to 32:51
Stories about the peculiar character Jeremiah Lucy and his funeral antics.
“And he'd come down in his black funeral suit.”
The Quirks of Town Names
33:05 to 34:45
A light-hearted exploration of amusing town nicknames and their origins.
“Can we just talk about people from towns there for a while?”
The Fiddler and Other Local Characters
34:45 to 36:25
Discussion on the quirks of local characters and their infamous reputations.
“But you'd have the bumblebee and the badger or whatever and they'd be hilarious and like, you know, Johnny Worms or whatever and all this kind of stuff, right?”
Tour Guiding: A Misadventure
36:25 to 42:01
A funny recount of an awkward experience while guiding a Jack the Ripper tour.
“And the twins would be trouble, like, you wouldn't want to cross the twins.”
Navigating Audience Reactions
42:01 to 43:31
Learn how to handle diverse audience reactions during performances.
“You have to like get your authority in or they'll take the piss out of you for the whole time.”
Ghost Tours and Unexpected Events
43:31 to 45:39
Discover the challenges and surprises of conducting ghost tours.
“There's rats crawling in the fucking walls of every building.”
Encountering a Ghostly Presence
45:39 to 48:27
Hear a chilling tale of a ghost sighting in a college house.
“I'm so scared you have to cross this bridge in the middle of St.”
Cat Care Adventures
48:27 to 50:30
Explore the humorous trials of taking a cat to the vet.
“and he's polluted and he just goes there's a girl in your wardrobe and I was just like oh no she's back yep happened a few times what was her name?”
Vet Visits and Weight Management
50:30 to 52:41
Learn about the importance of managing pet weight and the vet experience.
“But I went in and I had I actually didn't tell you any of this.”
The Cycle of Clothing Trade
52:41 to 55:44
Understand the cycle of trading and recycling clothes.
“We were hoping to get him under 7 kgs I think the last time.”
Upcoming Events and Special Announcements
56:01 to 56:46
Learn about the speed dating event and the upcoming bonus episode.
“But like the shop is so close to the bin you can nearly see the fucking loop that we're all in.”
Previewing the Bonus Episode
56:47 to 57:29
A sneak peek into the content of the bonus episode and engagement with listeners.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:02That's the sound of zero sugar, 200 milligrams of caffeine, and the power to burn body fat. Storm, energy for life. Storm Energy Blend helps boost metabolism, which in combination with exercise and a healthy diet helps burn fat. This product alone does not produce weight loss. Individual results may vary.
0:15Denis:This episode is brought to you by Facebook. So you were scrolling on Marketplace, and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for. You sent a message, and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew. Well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for. From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook. Don't forget to buy your ticket to gay speed dating in conjunction with my friend of Doherty in? Ministry of Sound in London on the 31st of July.
0:55Denis:It's going to be loads of amazingly good-looking people there. You're going to have your pick, but also if you don't want to get involved, you just want to have a laugh and meet us, the ticket is still worth your price. Yes, there'll be comedy, there'll be songs, there'll be community members and loads of free bits. Yeah, there's an insanely good goodie bag. Welcome to this week's episode of Your Internet Boyfriends. Hello, Maxie Cox. Hello, Dennis Lane. This week we're talking about the bog, handbags and people with no teeth in the 90s. And I'll be telling Dennis all about drag legend. Barbs.
1:27This show is part of the Headstuff Podcast Network.
1:32Denis:Jesus, he's a big man. He's a big man. There's more pictures you didn't see. Oh, will you give it a break? continental spread. I am telling you there's been a complete and utter imbalance since all these twinks came on board. You've lost the run of yourself. You used to have some sort of this is the episode by the way. I know, I'm trying to post a picture of Declan Kelly. You used to have some sort of decorum about you. But ever since that young boy Declan came on board He's a devil. We had a little night out. I know. Last week, two weeks ago. Hello to the listeners. How are you all getting on?
2:20I'm still alive. We had a lovely night out. Myself and Declan Kelly, we went to a drag show in East London for Barbz. Do you know about Barbz? No. Barbz balls?
2:34Denis:Barbz has been mentioned, but I've... Barbz. I don't think I've met Barbz, right? For anyone who doesn't know, please go and look up B-A-R-B-S, Barbz. the drag queen. She is a figure on the East London drag scene. She's kind of the centre of it all. She's just excellent. There's got to be some queens there now who are going to really hate you for saying that, I'd say. Everyone loves her. She's just great. I think everyone just she's just she's very funny. She's very likeable. She's just yeah, she's something. But she's retired. so she had her leave and do oh that's great yeah it's very rare someone kind of consciously stops performing and makes an announcement and fucks off Elton John's done that like 20 times ah non-stop yeah he does that but then he goes in a bit of a shopping spree and he has to come back back but no she's done and she kind of oh maybe this is all a bit dark but she's kind of like i need to get my shit together i need to get my life together and being a performer is really hard and you kind of just roll along year after year doing gigs and hoping it just kind of moves on to the next thing and she's like actually this is not sustainable that's a good healthy way to do it do you know now we will never do that i'm fucking dragging pulling begging and just you're not doing too much begging no mark to be honest but like up and down yeah very famous today could be in a bin next week it could be in a bin next week she actually got into a bin quite symbolic she performed in a bin she sat into a bin she's very good did I show you the videos no I'll send them to you she's great but isn't that interesting she's kind of said I need to get my life together and she's going to leave London There's a lot of people who should do that at the start of their careers Give it up Yeah They should be told give it up Give it up I think we all kind of drag along and then fade off and then I don't know just one day you're like oh I haven't actually performed now for a few years Yeah But she went out on a big high everyone was there hundreds of people there was so much love It was in like a huge big community hall.
5:10And we all sat on the floor. It was so nice. And then she brought the who's who of that crowd. There was a moment, what was it, 2018? 2017 she started, I think, like 10 years ago. And there was a crowd there of drag performers. The big dogs. The big, big dogs. And they all came out at the same time. And it was just the perfect moment when you could work full time as a drag queen. you could get booked you could do two brunches on a Saturday you could do a Saturday night gig another brunch on the Sunday you could do a bingo on the Wednesday and you could do a quiz on a Thursday and a club night on a Friday they were working five nights a week full time big money and that's not the case anymore so it was a very funny like look back at how it used to be it's tough now was there a few numbers?
6:03there was so many I'd say there was 20 numbers There was 20 numbers It was 3 hours long Fucking hell There was 20 numbers Everyone did kind of Their star number as well
6:14Denis:Bit of Celine Dion in there No? No Britney? No ABBA? No you're on the wrong track Madonna? No you're on the wrong track Oh there was a Madonna Did Margot Marshall do a Madonna? There was a Sky So Sharon Legrand and Barb sang Skyfall That's a great one that was a lovely one and then Sharon Legrand that's another person if you don't know you should look her up she likes to sing she's something else she is probably my favourite person if I could book a drag queen to perform fucking great Mark thanks again every week meet you if I could work with anyone who would it be? If you said I can only watch a drag performer do one number for the rest of my life, it's Sharon Legrand.
7:11Denis:You are such a suck up. No, she doesn't give a shit. You said at the start of this. What? That Barb's is number one the best. Barb's is gone. Barb's is out. She's finished. And now we're on to Sharon Legrand. Sharon Legrand. She sings Handbags and the Gladrags by, who's that by? Stereophonics. Is it? Rod Stewart. did they do a merge a merge look that up did they do a duet is it is it small faces or something am I thinking that up am I making that up Rod Stewart stereophonics was it always a duo oh yeah team for the office was it no I'm sure it must have been Rod Stewart but she sings the handbags and the gladrags but she sings every lyric handbags I can't describe the joy that I've seen every single lyric is handbags handbag handbag handbag it's the funniest it's so stupid and I've seen it I've seen it 50 times and then she gets everyone to hold up handbags are very funny I have my handbag here is this what you've got a handbag this is not intentional actually segue but she gets everyone to hold up their handbags very funny to see handbags a drag queen with a handbag it might be my funny because they're on the move she's on the move they have business to do she's on the stage yeah the handbag it's so funny it's like she doesn't trust anyone doesn't want to put it down she has the handbag did I tell you I was in I shouldn't say it go on I was in a club right someone had the handbag on someone had the handbag
9:03Denis:it's not easy just on the one arm oh lord the whole time the whole time yeah where were they you know what i mean down on the ground down sliding around with the handbag on because you don't trust anyone as was there a zip on the handbag yeah surely very funny that is so funny make me laugh that would take me out of it a little bit to be honest if i felt the handbag slipping. Do you know? And it's they're always picking up the handbag. You'd have to cross it over like you'd have to have like a cross strap one. No, it's funnier if it falls and you have to there's something so funny about a drag queen walking with a little handbag.
9:48Denis:There's a bit of a shuffle. I can't describe it. And she was wearing glasses. That's funny. Drag queens wearing things that are like not big costumes is very funny to me okay sorry i got excited so wait you've got a handbag i bought a handbag isn't that nice is that a handbag now well i don't know it's a little side piece it's a bit bigger it's nearly a bum bag is it but it's a side piece instead of a front would you fit much into that now you'd be surprised when i show it's in it What's in it? I haven't thought about this now. There's not much in it. Oh, lovely little zipping noise. I have my keys.
10:30Yeah. I have my sunglasses.
10:33Denis:Very nice. I have... Is there a little crumbs at the end of it? Crumbs. No. Is there an old chewing gum down there? I have my lip balm. Oh, yeah. Great. I have chewing gum. These were gifted. Gifted? Sponsored? oh yeah what are they called i got they're called extra plus chill watermelon flavor lovely and they came free with my asos vest delivery why is that i don't know do you think the guy packing it just lost his chewing gum sometimes that happens when you buy things online and they put sweets and things in the bag yeah i got a note in one and it was like please help please help me yeah I think that was a free gift anyway that's the handbag but I'm delighted with this now because I've been going out and about and I find if you are in the club or if you're in the bushes yeah you've nowhere to put the pockets can't be trusted but you can put it around the arm but you can put this over one shoulder and then it's or on a branch yeah throw it up on a branch and then it's fairly secure yeah so what made you move in a handbag you usually get inspired by so this is your handbag era where did this come from?
11:52I had a small handbag like a side little piece and it was a clutch it was too narrow in the strap and it was cutting into me but this is a bit thicker in the strap and I'm really thrilled
12:06Denis:Well thanks for coming on today Mark it's been a pleasure having you Why is that funny? And where are they on sale now? you'll be selling them. That's brilliant. Yeah. Anyway. Why is that funny? It just is. My interview. It just felt like you visited me on a TV show in the morning when you're off six. But Barb's best of luck. Go for it Barb's. Big comeback on the way. That'll be the documentary. I don't know. I think she's done. She's gone living in like the countryside. She's gonna fuck off. Yeah, do it. Imagine how easy your life would be if you didn't have to keep trying to live in london do any of this live in like out somewhere else nice and calm you wouldn't have to work all the time and you wouldn't have all these things happening yeah and you wouldn't have to be would life be as interesting though i think she's had a very interesting life yeah she's ready for a break but it was it was a little glimpse of it was kind of a bit sad as well because it was like it was like a little look back at the peak of the the drag You don't know anything about this, but it's over.
13:16Denis:Yeah, no, I mean, I understand the sentiment of it since you've been speaking on it for the last while. No, I don't mean today. The last 20 minutes. I don't mean today. I just mean that the opportunities aren't there anymore. They're not there. Which probably has a degree to do with the culture, I guess. It's the culture. It's the saturation. I think the gimmick, the novelty. Everyone has, I don't know. I don't know. there's I think I don't know not to discourage anyone but we need you need to be really like on it unique to like be taken seriously can I bring us off on a little trail please god yeah so we were talking about our Instagram feeds yeah at one point I remember when we met first actually you showed me your Instagram feed right and it was a lot of absolutely no term in my head to properly describe what was on your Instagram feed right like i can't it's just an absolute minefield for me to walk through yeah yeah but i think to the best of my knowledge it was men and they were men with like almost like really really pumped up chests okay whatever that is yeah what's that i don't mean like i don't mean physically possible i mean like physically exaggerated yeah yeah yeah the bubbly ones the bubbly ones yeah yeah that was your Instagram feed I've seen them in real life have you?
14:41Denis:do you know what I'm talking about? I've seen them do you know where I saw them? what? I paraded them and they looked fake at the pool in Soho House in Mexico in Mexico? very specific they come down from LA to Mexico loads of money yeah it's like It's like a cartoon drawing of a muscle. Yeah, yeah. But these wouldn't be real, though, what was on your feed. Oh, you think they're... Deck, do you know the thing I'm so mad about? Animations? No, it's not like AI, but it's like... Well, it is AI, I suppose. But it's like no one could possibly ever have this chest. They do? Okay. Go to LA. I don't know.
15:33Denis:I think this was different. They're full of everything. But do you know what my Instagram feed is doing to me? It's tricking me. They've changed it in the last while. So before, right, as a good Christian boy, right, if something popped up on my Instagram feed, I would say, absolutely not. Get away from me, right? And I'd say, show me some cat videos or someone like untogging a drain or something, right? That's what I want. But now what it does is, it'll show me like a nice little tabby cat. Yeah. And then it'll be like, oh, do you like a tabby cat? I'm like, yeah. And then the next one will be like, oh, do you like us putting out this fire?
16:05Denis:I'm like, yes, I do. And then the next one would be, do you like this art? A woman. Yeah, it hides them all now. Instead of putting them up on the main feed. Like, look at my feed now, it's all cats. And then if you go in, one or two, art. Up it pops. And you have a look. You have, well, she's a human. You can tell I don't like it. You can press the button, I don't like this. That'd be a bit too far now. You wouldn't want to. Yeah, upset her. You wouldn't want to be doing that. So what are you, what comes up on your Insta feed these days? Actually There's a lot of Airplanes Oh yeah Dropping Pink stuff Onto forests Did you see the fires in Killarney?
16:45Yeah That's bad isn't it? Desperate Yeah Killarney Arthur's Seat In Edinburgh Was on fire Do you know what that is?
16:55Denis:Yeah I do yeah I've been on it And So I get a lot of that I get a lot of I also get I don't know why fires are coming up I get a lot of like people's security cameras so they've left their house very sad and the camera keeps rolling yeah and why am I watching this the fire like there's no one there there's no one what and the house burns down the fire but then the camera cuts off ah Mark why is that coming god almighty but it's kind of addictive to watch so like I wonder how long it's going to take forest fires and houses burning down that's what's on my feed what am I meant to do with this sorry you want something funny no I just big willies big willies oh there's willies come up oh now we're rolling oh I now we're rolling yeah I do love fire I was addicted to fire when I was younger were you oh yeah proper addicted yeah yeah I couldn't stop lighting fires everywhere what did you eat home well what like a fireplace whatever we had a fireplace yeah I wouldn't be left near that I'd be trying to burn stuff inside there sticks, turf everything everything turf when we get it but mostly coal briquettes yeah briquettes loads of briquettes go out to the shop and get loads of briquettes but no I used to be addicted to lighting fires everywhere where?
18:15Denis:so at the back up a field but you were in an urban setting I was in a country enough urban setting there's a lot of fields and forests and stuff around us so I was out all the time so I just go out with a lot of lighters I buy in the pound shop go out to the pound shop aged 10 go in and buy a packet of at the time I don't know 20 lighters and they'd sell it to you no bother at all right head away up then and maybe get some felt and start burning that because it makes a cool kind of doop doop doop noise when it drips have you ever seen that yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah and that drip onto the skin I would on the odd time yeah the odd time you get a horrible burn but yeah you do that do you do bonfires yeah we do bonfires yeah we do some pretty good bonfires out in the green We do these massive bonfires We're about 120 foot tall And then we put effigies of politicians on top Oh no, sorry That's not you That's someone else Sorry, sorry No, we'd put We'd have a good old bonfire Out in the front?
19:15Denis:This would be up where there wouldn't have been houses built When the housing estate wasn't finished Out of the back? Yeah, we'd burn a lot of stuff up there But the fire in the house One fire? One fire in the house, yeah. You know, that's very, like, there'll be listeners here, urban listeners, don't understand that that's still very, very common. Like, extremely common. To have a fire in a house? Yeah. It's like living in a cave. But, like, it's very, very common. Yeah, you can't put them into houses, no, I don't think. You can, yeah, but you have to put a door on it. You have to make it. Oh, right, yeah, yeah.
19:58A stove, like enclosed.
20:00Denis:But you can't just have the Bernie one going up the, going up the, out the fucking, the hole, like in the ceiling. And then an old crow would get into it and you'd have to get a man to come and get rid of the crow. Yeah. It is actually insane, you think about it. Insane. We, one thing that would, what you couldn't do with my mother is identify anything that you liked. That would be a real target to have it removed from the house. So we used to always say we used to love the Christmas fire, but she got rid of it because she said it was dirty. Would you have no fire every day? No fire every day.
20:28Denis:No, no, just at Christmas. What, the heat? Yeah, we'd have the heat. The oil. The oil. The man from the oil would come in and he'd fill the oil. You'd have that every day? We'd have it, well, I mean, we'd have it for about 15 minutes when my dad would let us put on the heating. You'd have no fire at night? No fire at night, no. She'd have the thing running all day long? Oh yeah, straight in from school. Just a big hole in the ozone layer above your house in Ennis. It was my job for a while, take out the ashes. Take out the ashes? Where would you put them? Throw him out in a pile Outside in the ground Throw him out And then you bring him down to the fields Did he burn rubbish?
21:06No
21:07Denis:He definitely did I'd say it's a light wheelie bin in the cops' house We can do nothing now with the Europe When we joined Europe There's no more of that Straightening all our bananas There's no more of that after the lads in Europe Oh yeah, you'd have to You couldn't sit down without the fire No I couldn't It just wouldn't But did you have heating like We had yeah But the fire would heat the radiators Oh the back boiler The back boiler Yeah yeah It starts banging And going Bang bang bang Things start exploding And you have to press a button Yeah yeah To send the heat out down the house I don't know if that button did fucking anything to be honest Like it wasn't A huge step from Like a hundred years ago Just heat Heat not pot water That's all you're doing really isn't it With the fire Yeah Handmade Do you ever try and cook stuff inside the fire?
21:58Denis:No You get absolutely murdered We tried to cook marshmallows inside the fire once My mother lost the plot It wouldn't be nice But did you have turf? No, I love the smell of turf Did you buy this stuff in a shop? Yeah, yeah Did you go and dig it? Oh gotcha Are you even allowed to do that? Europe You're not allowed to do that, right? Aren't like peat bogs protected? They are a protected habitat now And you go fucking munching them Was there one close to? Should we live in the bog? Your life is going out Getting buckets from the well As we mentioned in the last episode And then getting bits of turf for the fire We went to the bog every summer Went to the Sorry Did you ever go on the The bog train?
22:42No there was no trains Oh okay That's very Industrial The Midlands It's in Athlone yeah Because my The Cox's are from Roscommon They all worked in the bog They all worked in the bog Everyone worked in the bog Bordenamona Oh The bog board And Everyone worked in the bog Because they had the big Power station It's like You know you get a glimpse Of like You go to like A small Rural thing Out in the middle of America And they make a movie And it's like This town Was Fueled by The The coal mines Or something It was like
23:18Denis:And now there's a lot of cracks In the ground And no one can live there But the whole Huge parts of the country were employed on the bogs and in the power stations and now the bogs are kind of finished and you're not they're not really doing that anymore. Sounding a bit right wing there Mark. Well, Europe. Europe. But they're trying to do find out what to do with the bogs now. They have a bog train on Athlone I was on it. What, as a tourist? Yeah, you get in the bog train. Where does it go? Just around the bog. The flattest. There's no It's like the overground. You go around on the bog train Yeah And then you see the bog from a train And then you get off There's nowhere to go No, it wasn't the best, I have to say Yeah I think I cut turf, though Cut some With a what?
24:06Denis:What do they call it? A schlong A schlong shovel Schlong? What's it called? I have no fucking idea The shovel No, there was a machine Your whole family's working And what is it? We all had to go They cut the turf and if people don't know what we're talking about is it a schlong? a schlong you dig the wet ground out of the ground the dirt and you leave it on top of the ground and then it dries out and then you come along one by one turn every single bit by hand miles and miles of this stuff one by one turn it and leave it there and then you come back another day and you put it into little piles.
24:53Yeah. Little, and then you leave it another week and then it's just about ready to bring it home. Pours rain.
25:03Destroyed. And then you have to start again.
25:05Denis:It's, it is, it's probably the best smell when it's burning that I think of. Oh, lovely. Out of anything. Did you have a big stove, a big country stove? No. We had an open fire for a long time. What does that mean? Like open fire. An open, fireplace. No door. Yeah, that's what we had too. Like a gate. No, just open. In the middle of the city room. Just like an open fire. Yeah, but like you have a fucking gate up, like a little gate so like a child won't run into it, right? You drag in the gate when the children visit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There wasn't a permanent gate. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, that went on.
25:43People kept themselves busy. That had gone on all summer long.
25:46Denis:But it's a good job to do. like go out and do the turf the back broke yeah the back absolutely broke off and then you'd have sandwiches brown on sandwiches went on all summer long and then you'd have to throw it all into a bucket into a trailer and then you'd have to drive it home and then you'd have to throw it all into the shed you'd handle each individual piece of fuel seven times did you get paid when you were working there? by who? no this is just oh was she a robin the turf I forgot no you paid you buy it I didn't I'd say you didn't buy all of it you do buy it do you there's a man there's an industry but he'd go and cut yourself no he'd cut us and lay it out alright Grant you just have to come and get it and you could pay more then for him to do it to save it yeah or you could do it yourself he'd give you an extra great old times he'd give you an extra piece then fucking hell the work your man would just look like a he'd look like human turf burnt to a not a bit of sun cream.
26:50Denis:There was no SPF back then? No. There's some lads in Ireland and honestly, if you met them, we were talking about this earlier, they look 2 ,000 years old and they're 32. Correct. They are, like you see old videos of people in Ireland and you're like, jeez, what age is he? And then he'll be called in for his dinner by his mother and you're going like, he looks like a dinosaur. He's still in school. What was the name of the fellow who used to wander around your town? Oh, Michael Tierney. Michael Tierney. You showed me a video of him. Michael Tierney did the papers. What does that mean? He used to deliver the papers to all the houses and the shops.
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27:26And he was... There's stuff on YouTube, if you look him up. He was... Now, I don't want to misspeak because I don't know his identity. But if he was around today, he might be flying the flag.
27:44Denis:Well, for an interesting thing, describe what he was wearing because he could have been wandering he would like if he got off a bus in Dalson people wouldn't even look at him he was in the west of Ireland in the 80s wearing dresses and pearl necklaces and big hats and handbags and he was clobbering around the town and everyone loved him yeah there was kind of no no one cared he was I don't know a character what would you call him I don't know I don't want to there's outdated words that would be used that we won't say for a man that would wear women's clothes but it wasn't always women's clothes it would be like maybe just a nice necklace or a hat yeah eccentric character colourful but like of the community I think but I don't know is that confirmed so we won't but it's almost like some sort of early version of not actually not early because it was already happening at that stage in the UK but like of drag or something oh yeah Do you know, because like, it is a bit of a song and dance.
28:47Denis:He's not walking through the town quietly. Oh my God, he has a handbag. Yeah, yeah. Full time, handbag here. And he'd be waving and cooey. He was like performing, walking through the town. And then he'd go in to everyone and get the news. And he'd bring the news from shop to shop. And he'd be screaming and laughing. Yeah. He was kind of a performer. Yeah. He was like a, he was like a, I don't know, a town's fucking, I don't know, ambassador or something. A town ambassador? Do you know what I mean? Yeah. And everyone loved him. and he'd have like sparkly jewels and rings and mad. I know. It was just kind of accepted.
29:22Denis:I suppose it was accepted not really accepted. It was like it was accepted as like the most bizarre person in town. You know what I mean? Yeah but there was no hate. There was no No no no. Hostility. I think everyone kind of just loved the crack the novelty. Yeah. Yeah look him up. There's a video. Maybe I'll post the video. He's talking to his big hat and he said it came from Spain. Came all the way from Spain. Imagine that. in the 80s he bought in a pawn shop down the road stop he did he bought Lynch yeah I'd love to have met him I remember him but I was very small and then he I think he must have died before I was like grown up but he was around the town very distinctive laugh and can you do it?
30:00no so he had no teeth and yeah it was great
30:05Denis:Jesus that was another thing as well back before people could people could get on very well in Ireland with no teeth at all like no teeth none what were they eating like soup and butter and stuff look at all the checkups you've had like there was no no but I mean like as in at some point a person just might decide I'm not going to have any teeth yeah like that's how do you get on though if you had a couple you'd learn how to use them yeah like you open tins with them and stuff but like there was a good few people that you met as a young who just didn't have any teeth yeah and then they managed they're fine yeah they were happy do you know do you know where are they though do you know sometimes you hear these stories you know he's a gas character and then you find out he lived in the forest do you know I know like and had no water the amount of bachelors he knows where to get the water from the well yeah granny's well the amount of bachelors not long ago living in houses with no no just like one tap like no running hot water yeah very common like out out in the wild out in the wild I knew a few of them they used to come down from the mountains for funerals yeah yeah there's one there's one lad of what a name this is Jeremiah Lucy isn't that an unbelievable name the Lucy's Jeremiah Lucy had come down yeah like I'd say if a person from London spoke to Jeremiah Lucy they'd they'd ask him what language he's speaking like.
31:41Denis:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he'd come down in his black funeral suit. You know that material that they had in Ireland as well that was like made from coal or something, you know? It's not fully black. Yeah, but it's... It's a light black. Yeah, but it's made from... Is it made of asbestos or something? Is that what the suit is? I don't know. But Jeremiah Lewis would come down in his full asbestos suit. Yeah. Down for the funeral. Eat all around him. Every sandwich would be... He'd stand next to the sandwiches eating them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wouldn't even know the person that was dead. They'd give him a few to take on.
32:09Denis:Lot of sandwiches And then Cute Could shit himself Is that at some point Ah He could Mark This You're telling me You haven't been to a funeral Where someone has Suspectingly shit themselves Now take a break Cut that out Hello If you're listening on Spotify If you wouldn't mind To hit the button there To give us a five Traditional home security Only alerts you After a break in And that's too late SimpliSafe is changing that Stop This is SimpliSafe Police are on the way. We don't just alert. We stop crime before it starts. SimpliSafe. Plan starting around a dollar a day. Save 50 % on your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com slash Spotify or with promo code Spotify.
32:54Denis:Outdoor deterrence requires a SimpliSafe Active Guard outdoor protection plan starting at$49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com slash licenses for alarm license information. Tennessee 2012. Star review and follow. Thank you very much. Can we just talk about people from towns there for a while? do you know what i found really funny about about like town names yeah do you know um i'm i might get cancelled for this but people would be like oh there's the i was talking i was actually talking about this beforehand coincidentally enough but you know they'd be like oh that's the bumblebee and the badger do you know that's the bumblebee and the badger there and the imagine being called the badger or the bumblebee and you're just like that's your name forever there's like called a bumblebee who worked in the mart and people are like why was he called a bumblebee and because Because he looks like a bumblebee.
33:38Denis:As in, like, you're so stupid for thinking anything other than him. I thought it might be because of how he talked. No, he just looked like a bumblebee. He had the build of a bumblebee. How would they talk in the mart? All right, come on, you're now, we'll be up there, and there'll be 40 horses inside here in a second. Yeah. Can you describe, can you tell the international listeners what is a mart? They don't know what we're talking about half the time. A mart is where you bring in your cattle and your bulls and your cows and all these things, and you bring them in, and then you buy and sell them.
34:11Denis:And it's just all gates and fences in the middle of a town. Yeah. The mart was right next to my primary school. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like the exact wall to wall. The heart of the community. So there'd be parents collecting kids like at three o 'clock or whatever. Yeah. And they'd be like, a bull's after escaping. Yeah, yeah. Keeping the kids a bull after running into a car or something, whatever, a lollipop of one after being killed or whatever. But you know then they'd have, in Ireland as well, right? Because, you know, we weren't free from problems in Ireland. But you'd have the bumblebee and the badger or whatever and they'd be hilarious and like, you know, Johnny Worms or whatever and all this kind of stuff, right?
34:52Denis:And that'd be hilarious. And then you'd have someone call like, you know, Mick the Fiddler or whatever. Yeah. And you'd go, oh, what is he called the Fiddler? Does he play violin? no no he doesn't he's just going around fiddling people and it's like oh that's great so instead of instead of putting him in jail we'll just give him a nickname he's a character he's a character oh he's a character he is yeah oh he's a character alright yeah oh no I can't don't say the names I've seen great ones I've really good ones we trade one and we won't say why they're called it go on give me one I can't give me one and I'll give you another one No it's too risky Why?
35:34No this is when I get killed The word goes out The word goes out Misinterpreted He's on a podcast talking about Talking about us?
35:43Denis:No There's a fella called Johnny Bongos Okay That's a great nickname What did he have? What? I can't tell you why he was called Johnny Bongos It would often be even the surname as well because there's there's an awful lot of surnames shared where I'm from like there's three or four surnames and everyone has the same but they're different families they have the same name so then they'd add on I can't I actually can't I wish I could tell oh come on give me more but they'd add on like an outrageous adjective to their name so they'd be like the Clancy's or whatever but they'd be the Clancy's like the what Clancy's?
36:26it could be a very controversial no I can't
36:28Denis:can you give me a word but a different surname no why like what like the wheelbarrow clancy's or the tight clancy's or I know the fat clancy what do they call it the fat clancy's is that what you mean they're not they're not move on maybe that's one for a a live event do you know then can I we have to stop recording these live shows why because I've nowhere to say things I don't want to be heard well you do we're in the bonus episodes but they're listening there too I know yeah there's loads of people listening there now thank god but wait go on do you know then as well in the town, you'd have the people called the twins.
37:02Denis:Oh, yeah. And the twins would be trouble, like, you wouldn't want to cross the twins. Yeah. They could be young twins that would beat the shit out of you, or they could be older twins that you wouldn't want to meet in the aisle of a supermarket, you know that kind of way? Men. Women. Yeah. Do you know they'd be a bit mad? Mark, will you please give me just one... No, no, no. I don't understand the thing, though. Next week. Can you give me an adjective without a surname? Would it be like the... Oh, no. Come on. I really can't. but I don't I don't get it at all like give me a word I can't no it would be like no just trade trade a word I actually can't because I'm going to say it's going to be too close no move on move on quick is it like that is it like the it'd be like the fiddlers or the the fiddler the fiddler dailies the cagey whatever the cagey dailies no everything you say is going to get fucking the cagey dailies recorded some fucker on Facebook be like, what are you talking about?
37:59Just cut it. They love it. The shit that I get, no. The shit that I get. Are we back? Or we're still back? What the fuck are we doing? Go on. Did I change my shirt? No. What did you know? I've been wearing the shirt for six months. Do need to give it a wash. I would like to announce I'm available for purchase. I have many jobs, some of which are steady, some of which are less steady. I have some openings. If anyone would like to fill. For what? I want work. Someone give me work. Give me a gig. So I've been gathering up because the freelance life, it's up and down. So I have some jobs That are steady And I have some jobs that come and go And so now I'm kind of gathering a few bits For the winter So I took on A job What?
39:08Denis:What are you talking about? I'm getting to the story I took on a job Kind of on a whim Thinking I'll give this a try Because you need a lot of pies going. Plates, fingers. You need a lot of fingers. A lot of spinning pies. A lot of spinning fingers as a freelance creative in 2026. So I start, I'm sowing the seeds for the winter and I said I'll take on this little trial job as a test. And it was a tour guiding job and I work for myself as a tour guide and I work for London with the local. They're very nice and I do loads of work with them and then this other company asked me to do a tour and I said I'll do it okay go and it was to do a Jack the Ripper walking tour which I have done because when you're a tour guide you just have to learn everything so I could do a tour of anything um and I said I'll just do it but I didn't really read the information on the booking and I turned up to the Jack the Ripper for anyone who doesn't know the story the two hour long in depth story of the murder of five at least five maybe more who knows people in East London and I turned up to do the tour to a group of children
40:58whose level of English was mid to okay. The pits? Mid to okay. Children who
41:11Denis:How are you going to get I wish I had to do it. But what are you going to say to them? you have to do it but they want it but wasn't he fairly bad horrific murder and no but like gruesome big murder like and there's a lot of sigh we do the tour to be fair some people will be horrified by this now because it's a controversial activity but I do the story as a way to like get people to learn about Victorian London and poverty and homelessness at the time and women's issues. And like, you do actually learn a lot about what it was like to live. But then at the same time, you do have to hear the detail of there's reproductive organs.
42:04There's horrific words you have to. And I'm like... Like what? No. Like vagina. Yeah. So you're like going through the two hour script in your mind like i have to cut that i can't say that should i say that should i reword that and the crowd are a mix of like boys who are laughing at me because i'm gay so that's happening because they all just fucking teenage boys who are so confident and they come up and they like start shaking your hand like i'm like shut up i'm not entertaining this sit down you have to get real mean with them at the start. Kick him. Punch him in the face.
42:48Denis:Punch him in the back. That's going on. You have to like get your authority in or they'll take the piss out of you for the whole time. Then you have girls who are more actually interested. Girls love that story for some reason because they learn a lot about it. Girls love true crime. They love true crime. They love true crime. So they've listened to the podcast and they fucking know everything and they're asking me questions. Actually Mark Yeah It didn't actually happen like that And I'm like well We don't know if any of this happened So just shut up I'm doing my best here Claudia And then you have Some people who are like On the verge of tears Because it's very traumatising And people often faint It's really No they don't They do all the time Why Because it's awful And it's two hours Walking around in the heat The heat Do you remember Do you remember that Do you remember the big heat It was in the middle of the heat And then you're in Whitechapel So every 10 minutes or so, I'm telling a story and they all shriek.
43:50Because there's a rat. Every corner. Can I just...
43:57Denis:Am I hallucinating?
44:02Denis:Because there's a rat. There's a rat every corner you turn. With a small knife. And you have teenage girls. The poor residents of Whitechapel. It's true. It's all over London. There's rats crawling in the fucking walls of every building. This place
44:17Denis:This has been a ride I can't And so When Did you do this during the day? I have another one next week 7 o 'clock So still a bit bright But I've I've done them before In the winter In like January In the pouring rain Would you ever bring around Like a plant Have me like You know Dress up as A murderer There is a fella Does that Okay Which I don't agree with You don't agree with what There was also a while I used to do a ghost tour spooky one and we used to have to walk I do this a long time we still have to you have to walk into St. James's Park in the middle of the night like at 9 o 'clock in the pitch dark and I have 20 people behind me thinking that I have authority and control that you'll bait up anyone that I'll help if something happens you'll be the first one gone and there'd be people in the park scumos well just maybe not well scum well no just yeah scum was and it's dark or then there might be like a duck or a swan something fucking scream there's a bridge I would you not recognise the call of a duck I can't see what do you think it is quack run for your lives I'm so scared you have to cross this bridge in the middle of St.
45:44James Park. There's only one bridge and a woman tried to kill her husband. Do you know the Warrens? Oh, for fuck's sake. Do you know the Warrens? Do you know... The Warrens? Do you know The Conjuring? Yeah. Do you know the clairvoyant Lorraine Warren? Do you know all that stuff? Yeah, yeah. She tried to kill her husband on the bridge because she got possessed by the woman.
46:02Denis:Oh, the lamp's gone behind this. She tried to kill her husband because she got possessed. You're saying that like that happened? That did happen. She got possessed? yeah because a woman was murdered there years ago and she came and and the the husband was there with her just for revenge no because her husband killed her so then she tried to get revenge oh jesus but it happened on the bridge okay can i just can i just wait yeah yeah go on no no go for but then you have to do the the tour guide bit because you have to make the little jokes so you tell all the story and then you say we're going to walk across the bridge and then you have to say Fellas Watch out for the missus She might Do you do that And then you have to walk onto the bridge But one time we walked onto the bridge And a girl fucking went She just lost it And she started having a nosebleed And then a swan or a goose I thought It was all going on A goose flew over Like have you ever seen a goose fly low It's fucking terrifying In the pitch dark and this girl is bleeding out of her face and there's still 40 minutes till the end of the tour.
47:16Denis:Did you get a good tip? They don't tip very well. They don't tip. The ghost people are not the best. Bit tight. You want an American City of London architectural history tour. Oh, that's where the big money is. They'll give you loads of money. There's the big money. Ghost people? Yeah. Not great sometimes. Yeah. And then they like to tell you stories about have I said this all before? No. I would have for a bit heard it. They like to tell you stories about the ghosts that they see. Have you ever seen a ghost? No. I have. You have? Yeah. Who? Saw a ghost. It used to be the ghost of a girl living in my college house.
47:58Oh.
48:00Denis:Everyone saw it. Terrifying. How was she? What? How was she? What do you mean? How did she look? Ghost girl. classic like Victorian Victorian yeah the whole they're always Victorian yeah I was wearing like a night dress thing what happened I don't know what happened to her but she was just haunting my house but one night so we've been talking with the ghost girl this isn't made up we're talking with the ghost girl one night everyone having a bit of a laugh and then my friend Tom got polluted drunk and he comes home and he opens up my wardrobe and my wardrobe was like this old built in probably where the boiler used to be kind of thing you know it was like an old enough house and he opens it up and he's destroyed and he just looks straight in the wardrobe and I can't see what's in the wardrobe because I'm in bed and he goes there's a girl in there fuck off and I was like what?
48:48Denis:and he's polluted and he just goes there's a girl in your wardrobe and I was just like oh no she's back yep happened a few times what was her name? I don't know Elaine I have no idea she'd die in the house I sure I don't know I didn't get a chance to ask her if she'd go away all the time so this has been a great Halloween episode I've really enjoyed it do you know what I was going to say there you're talking about geeks and stuff we've just we've all the time 10 minutes where I was you were mentioning there about all the animal noises and stuff do you know what the cat's doing these days just to lighten it up there so people aren't as scared do you know what the cat's doing the cat has stopped like howling and recording albums and songs at night now right because he used to be at that the whole time and like I said he's a big cat so he has a set of lungs in him, good set of pipes.
49:38Denis:But now what he does is, he's like an old mother going around the house talking to himself, doing jobs. So he'll go around, and it'll be like about six o 'clock in the morning, go... Yeah. And you're like... But it's so quiet, but it still manages to wake you up. Talking. Like he'll go in, and he'll go... And then he'll have a few biscuits, and then you'll hear him heading back up into the living room. And you're like, will you shut the fuck up. A few things to do there. Does he not need a friend? We're going to get him a friend. I'm not going to tell you what we're going to call him because I don't want anyone to steal my name, but it's brilliant and it's Irish and I can't wait.
50:19Denis:But I brought him to the vet. I think the vet might have been a member of the community. You would have loved him. Muscly man. Very good vet. But I went in and I had I actually didn't tell you any of this. I said I'll bring the cat to the vet right and so I bring him up and one of the issues we're having with him was that he was a bit on the rower side right he was eating a few too many Mars bars and so we needed to get him under 7 kgs that was the big like that is a huge cat we needed to get him under he was last time he went to the vet last year he was 7.2 or something eating all around him like he'd bait you up for your lunch money he was massive so I was like okay we worked on it and hopefully we got him down a little bit but i went in there now this cat um i am the stepdad of this cat right i am i am this cat's stepfather right um hopefully i'll have adoptive papers soon right but you know i i was not around when this cat first came into this world yeah right and um i uh went into this place and you know in in in ireland you'd bring him in and he'd go like they'd be like where's the dog and they just throw him up in the reception table and it's you know fucking just manhandle the fucking thing right you know especially in like a country vet or whatever yeah but over here like the vets treat them like they are people yeah yeah so we went in and like i had to check in miso yeah like it's checking miso and then you know who's waiting in the in the waiting room as well saffron who's that saffron the um cocker spaniel I was waiting there as well and so I sit down and then the woman goes to me she's like oh can I see Miso so I was like oh okay great like if you want to right I mean these are like really good temperament stuff so I was like okay and so I open up the thing and then I say oh you know here's Miso and she's like oh I have a tabby as well like a tabby bangle so nice and then she said oh you're he's a big guy right and she said he is and then she brought up his notes on the computer and in the middle of the waiting room goes he's 7.2 kg he's certainly a big fella fat shamed the cat inside in the waiting room right now he's like jesus christ and then i said aren't they a lovely temperament these type of cats and she goes not my fella and holds up her arm and it's got a lot of bite marks on it oh and i was like you shouldn't own the cat at all yeah right so i bring the cat in and I'm a bit nervous about the weight and I bring him in and this lovely Brazilian muscly man brings up the cat and the cat's on the table and he puts him into a little bucket to weigh him and he goes the cat is 6 point and turns around and kind of goes 6 point and I was like oh 6 point what?
53:14Denis:I think he's gone under 7 kg. I said sorry but what weight is he? We were hoping to get him under 7 kgs I think the last time. He goes he's 6.95 Still quite a pass. Oh Still rower Still very rower So the poor old cat Cat more Yeah he's I don't think he's really dropped anyway He's on the verge That could be just He hadn't had his lunch I'd say so If he needs breakfast He'd be back up there again The poor fella What's he eat? Everything Eating Breakfast rolls What's the schedule? The routine? The routine So I What time does he eat in the morning? So this is the thing He used to eat 4 o 'clock in the morning fuck and how who's getting up well he would have had like a an automatic feeder and stuff going off but what he'd do is at 10 to 4 scream he'd start roaring like he'd just go like constantly aren't they up here they yeah but only if they need to be so when i met him i said this isn't going to fucking track cat like yeah i'm going to bait you out of this so we had war I mentioned on the podcast before I'd wore there for about two weeks I was absolutely cracked Lisa went away to America for two weeks And I stayed home with the cat And bait him Bait him into submission The lamp's gone again Oh lord above Alright I must go to the rag bank after this Good night so Mark have you ever been to the rag bank Who's that Or to drop off the clothes Who's that Rag Bank That's a good drag name Is that what it is?
54:52Denis:Yeah the Rag Bank We drop off the clothes And you know These poor Poor fellas sometimes Do you ever see them? They've been siding the Rag Bank I know Pulling out the stuff I know Which is totally fine Totally fine Yeah Is there any chance You'd put it back in? Not safe Or all over the ground Put back in the stuff I This is very funny I live Go on Oh I shouldn't say Oh no go on We'll just make it up Well I live near The Fat Dailies
55:22One of those But it's for trade Do you know what that is It's a brand of like Trendy Kind of vintage Clothes
55:30Denis:Oh for fuck's sake And what They go off and sell them then for Well I don't know I don't know what they do With the money Is it I don't know actually Wait trade So you put in fancy clothes into it No it doesn't have to be fancy But they They style it like It's curated Like it's cool But there's a bucket There's like one of those bins Near Near My house And And it's like this cycle of you go to trade and you buy the clothes and then you come home and you wear them for a while and then you put them into the bookers and then they fucking sell them again. Isn't that good? That's great. It's good. It's better than going to the bin.
56:04Denis:Trade making a lot of money. But like the shop is so close to the bin you can nearly see the fucking loop that we're all in. The Mark T. Cox mannequin getting undressed. I'd see people walk out. Put in the bin and dress again. With my clothes. With your clothes. Yeah. might be for other reasons we leave it there so thanks very much happy is it August when is this coming out I don't know what it is I think it is we've got our speed dating tomorrow night do we we do we do our speed dating we do a special announcement I think we have a few tickets left so you better go get them please god come please god come Mark see you there thanks wait I was shitting shite oh yes our bonus episode this week we're going to do it you're not going to like it one bit but we're going to do it i just want to have a little like i'm not going to do it but you can do it a little dip into your dms just to see what's happening in there just to get a little color because we always talk about it okay but we never see what's happening just just like just a little day in the life okay all right see you in there bye-bye okay come on over for a bonus episode on headstuffplus.com where you can come on a second date with your internet boyfriends and hear all the dirt that we're not allowed to tell here to the general public.
57:25Denis:We have new episodes every Thursday. If you have a comment, question or story, send us a DM on Instagram or TikTok. Lovely.
57:37Denis:Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless bill? It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat emotional arc and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time. Fortunately, though, Mint's story is better. Every plan,$15 a month, even unlimited. That's it. Happy ending. Zero tears. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy.
58:06Denis:See terms.
From the publisher
Denis and Mark talk about the local Irish characters that once ruled their towns. Oh and Mark has a new handbag and he's absolutely thrilled about it.
We also chat:
Barbs' retirement
Michael Tierney
The Bumblebee
Mark’s ghost tour days
Nosebleeds and geese
Instagram Feeds
Burning rubbish
Cutting turf
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