Podcast Corner: James Kavanagh’s parents steal the show on opening episode
James Kavanagh - What Did You Eat This Week Podcast. Picture: Bríd O'Donovan
You can take your pick of funniest moments from the inaugural episode of James Kavanagh’s new series, What Did You Eat This Week? A columnist in this newspaper's Weekend supplement with William Murray under their Currabinny brand, Kavanagh strikes out on his own to talk with celeb friends like Doireann Garrihy, Tara Kumar, Andrea Horan and, on the opening gambit, his parents.
The laughs begin early. Asked what dad Alan thought of the roast chicken dinner that mum Margaret made before recording that evening, he starts with a good answer - “I love anything your mother cooks" - but on marking it 9/10, both James and Margaret take quick umbrage at his docking it a point. “What’s wrong with it?” his wife prods.
Soon James is being scolded over a warped memory of working for his dad in property maintenance - “to rake gardens, clean gutters, fill skips, empty houses, so much that I didn’t make friends growing up”. “Is this a fantasy?” asks his mother.
“I probably done it once - and you never cleaned gutters James!” declares his father.
If it sounds tense, it’s anything but. James Kavanagh is hilarious and though his parents might claim otherwise, they revel on the mic, each starring in their own way - and just wait until you hear the story about James trying to direct traffic for his dad on an early morning at Stephen’s Green.
The three episodes stick to set questions, but Kavanagh’s rapport and friendship with his guests reels listeners in. Though, honestly, we would probably have listened to a full series just with his parents!
Cork’s Triskel Arts Centre has recently launched Triskel Backstage, a podcast promising to “delve into the wonderful world of the arts and will feature the voices of people who seamlessly make performances happen and bring the arts to life”.
With new episodes fortnightly, dance curator Ríonach Ní Néill, New Island Books’ Caoimhe Fox, and experimental filmmaker Maximilian Le Cain feature in the respective opening trio of shows, with other interesting names to come over the course of the series.
