Baines plus One

Loren O'Brien reveals her biggest lie was diagnosing herself with the wholly imagined condition of a “black spot” on the brain as an excuse for avoiding work - a lie that wasn't without its consequences.

Loren redeems herself by providing a studio demonstration to answer the old philosophical riddle of, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

Plus Ones, News and Poetry also feature.

@lorenobrienLO

@Samanthabaines

In the studio with Sam today was improvisation comedian and performer Anna Caro promoting the 2nd annual Shoreditch Improv’ Festival.

Anna told us all about the art of improvisational comedy and her unlikely meeting with Shia LaBeouf in Australia and its subsequent broadcast on the giant screen outside the Sydney Opera House.

We had our usual poetry, news and quick fire rounds and our new Plus One game.

More details about the Shoreditch Impov’ Festival here.

@cityimpro

@samanthabaines

Melbourne born comedian Sarah Bennetto dropped into the studio this week. A quick blast of Bronski Beat had Sarah confessing her favourite musical genre to be "Danceable Misery" whislt Sam declared hers to be "Drunk Dancing Sloshed and Losing Control" .

Sarah was the guinea pig for our new "Plus One' section. Among Sarah's proposed "Plus Ones" were Arnold Schwarzenegger, a vampire and Joan Collins... Sarah goes on to reveal the smell of Joan.

@samanthabaines

@sarahbennetto

Jayde Adams, reveals the long trajectory from perpetual 9th place pre-teen freestyle disco dancer to award winning Comedian.

We hear about Jayde’s Edinburgh show ’31’ and the challenges of perfecting a performance.

There’s the usual weird news headlines and epic poetry performances from both Jayde & Sam.

You can find out more about Jayde’s schedule at www.jaydeadams.co.uk

Journalist and comedian Viv Groskop gets political and throws out the idea that perhaps Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are in fact fictional characters.

Viv also reveals her secret desire to emulate the career of Jane McDonald and become a professional cruise-ship crooner – in spite of her poor vocal abilities.

Sam and Viv take on the news headlines but as a professional journalist Viv wasn’t entirely impressed - concluding that Big Data isn’t always as big as it pretends or life hacks all they are cracked up to be.

@samanthabaines

@vivgroskop

Lewis Reeves stand-up comedian and star of E4 sci-fi comedy Crazyhead in which he plays the loveable fool Jake was Sam's gurest in the studio on this week.

Tips were exchanged for getting ahead of the Christmas present buying and wrapping and Lewis explained how his bum was banned from London Underground.

Twitter posed the question “Why did you betray Alex?” A reference to Lewis’s contribution to the FIFA computer game as Gareth Walker – a role that led to Lewis becoming a social media target.

@lewisreeves1

@samanthabaines

@hoxtonradio

Decked out in her sparkly, sequinned, sea-creature jacket, up-and-coming comedian Lauren Pattison provided a gastronomic insight into the quality and virtues of the fish and chip shops of the north east of England.

Sam and Lauren talked about the process of building up a routine from fifteen minutes to a full hour and finding comedic inspiration from the faux-pas of promoters.

There was our usual poetry slot – Sam rhymed on the subject of fatty five pound notes and Lauren improvised on the theme of things in her head. Lauren also told us about her first published poem about the pain suffered by the beheading of Jelly Babies.

Find Lauren on Twitter @laurenpattison or on Instagram @lauren_pattison.

@samanthabaines

Kate Phillips, gorgeous star of The Crown, Wolf Hall, War & Peace and Peaky Blinders, joins Sam on this week's show. Conversation flowed from on set mishaps to appropriate chocolate storage techniques, Kate’s sporting achievements to the shape of Tudor sewing needles.

Kate wrote a fantastic poem, which Samantha followed with a few verses on the recent Toblerone re-szing scandal. The show ended with Sam and Kate giving away some important spoilers about The Crown and where the Netflix series is headed next!

@samanthabaines

@katejphillips

Eating healthy and the benefits of salt on chocolate ice cream were among the topics of conversation when Sam met comedian and presenter Alistair Williams on this week's show. There was also a question of whether or not Mother Theresa was a vegetarian.

The headlines brought us the idea of dwelling in London’s latest phallus shaped skyscraper and a dodgy Halloween outfit.

Catch up with Alistair on instagram where he resides as @thehealthycomic or you can find out more at www.catfacetalent.com/profile/alistair-williams/

@samanthabaines

@thehealthycomic

Sam’s guest this week was comedian and actress Ellie Taylor, who arrived in the studio made-up with a lipstick homage to the final BBC Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown and showing off her ultra-flexible thumbs.

We talked Podcasts and Radio, self-promotion and the challenges of being a funny woman… “talent plus hard work plus opportunity = you’re ready” was Ellie’s formula for success.

The news headlines brought up a tattooing tragedy and Sam revealed the story of her own tattoo… a tale of overcoming anxiety in a Thai Bar.

Catch up with Ellie’s show “Infidelliety” as it tours the country more details at http://socomedy.co.uk/artist/ellie-taylor/

Or follow her blog at http://www.ellietaylorcomedy.com/category/blog/

@Samanthabaines

@EllieJaneTaylor