Worst Foot Forward

Curtain up! This week's guest is Archie Maddocks, a stand-up comedian as well as a multi-nominated playwright - his work has been shortlisted for both the highly prestigious Bruntwood Prize and Alfred Fagon Award in 2017. We train both barrels on word-wranglers and script-screwer-uppers as we take on some of the World's Worst Playwrights. Ben gets personal, Barry talks unstageable stage directions and Archie takes down no less than a Nobel Prize winner. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @ArchieMaddocks

We laid out the green carpet and welcoming the Lizard Queen of British Burlesque Lolo Brow to dish the dirt on the worst burlesque of all time. She's a woman who takes her job very seriously and reveals the challenges, skills, secrets and invention behind becoming a top class performer. Don't worry though, we've also got our usual helping of disaster, including a watery New Orleans show that shocked audiences in the 1940s, the story of the first ever striptease, some truly astonishing chastity pants and all the questions you ever wanted to ask about an elephant's trunk but were too afraid to ask. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @lolobrow

Izzy wizzy, let's get busy with a whole heap of magic and mystery. Ben and Barry are joined by Morgan & West, Time Travelling Magicians, who saw us in half, catch our bullets and pull rabbits from our nether regions in search of the World's Worst Magic Trick. Among the weird and wonderful sights we behold are an Ancient Egyptian who could separate a goose from its head, a wartime prestidigitator of dubious repute and a whole London cab-full of doves. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @MorganandWest @morganmagic @westmagic

As the storm clouds of climate change begin to whirl around us we thought it was time we talked to an expert who could help us point the finger at the worst environmentalists of all time. We uncovered hapless inventors, murderers with good(ish) intentions and extremely poor doings involving anyone called Nigel. Our guest and guide through these choppy waters is Amelia Womack, the Deputy Leader of the UK Green Party. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @Amelia_Womack

Goooooooaaaaaalllllllll! For those of you expecting a podcast about the world's worst takers of industrial action - sorry, this one is about football strikers. Joining us is the host of The Football Question podcast, Ben Mepsted, to help us find some of the most backwards forwards ever (and indeed, never) to find the net. As always there are some fun facts - what man has played international football in four decades, why Fabrizio Ravanelli makes an excellent masturbation aid, and what IS the best anagram of David Ginola? And there are some genuinely crazy stories including the tale of George Weah's "cousin", the best Brazilian never to play football and one man's mission to destroy Micronesia. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @Mepstedb

Get some ice cool ear muffs ready for this episode as your ears are going to be burning by the end of it! Barry and Ben interview sketch comedy's Mr.Nice Guy Richard Soames about the worst word human beings have ever spoken. It should go without saying that we really give the explicit rating a good working over on this one as we explore all the best curse words in English, Russian, German, Icelandic and Italian. Don't worry though, it's not all profanity - we also take up arms against the worst neologisms of the 21st century, suggest a future for Conor McGregor in the theatre and uncover a shocking truth about the end of World War 2. Follow us on Twitter: @worstfoot @bazmcstay @benvandervelde @RichardSoames