Podcast Corner: Final scene approaches for My Dad Wrote a Porno
My Dad Wrote a Porno presenters Alice, Jamie, and James.
Starting in autumn 2015, My Dad Wrote a Porno became a podcasting phenomenon very quickly. The premise was simple - well, relatively speaking: Jamie Morton read out part of his dad’s latest fictional efforts, and he and mates Alice Levine and James Cooper commented on it. In a way it sounds like quite a useful writers’ group - good feedback for his father - but in another way, it was instantly hilarious as they and listeners grappled with the laughable erotica ‘Belinda Blinked’ by Mornon’s dad, who went under the nom de plume Rocky Flintstone. The books follow Belinda Blumenthal as she tries to succeed in the 'sexy' world of the pots and pans industry.
The podcast has run for six seasons and some 80-plus episodes, and has been downloaded over 430m times, but is drawing to a close in the coming weeks. A two-parter aired its first half yesterday (Monday) and will conclude next Monday. The creators also promise a “very special exclusive interview with the Banksy of Erotica himself, Rocky Flintstone, on December 12.
What a run it’s been for Morton and pals, with live shows attended by some 180,000 people selling out in a flash - a world tour called in for two dates at Dublin’s Bord Gais Energy Theatre in May - and guests across the five years including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Elijah Wood, Emma Thompson, and Josh Groban, among many more. There was even a HBO comedy special - nobody has yet optioned Belinda the TV show just yet though.
The trio behind My Dad Wrote a Porno said: "This show has been the backbone of our lives for the past eight years. We've had new jobs, new homes, break ups, breakdowns and a truck load of Chilean Chardonnay. But the three of us, sitting around the kitchen table reading Rocky's bad dad porn has been a constant, a guaranteed belly laugh no matter what was going on elsewhere.
“We know it has been a comfort (and cause of nausea) to millions of listeners too, and it's been our privilege to be an escape to a different world. The community we have built together around the globe is something we couldn't be prouder of."
As the podcasting world settles around heavyweight names driving new shows - see Kim Kardashian narrating true crime podcast The System - the end of My Dad Wrote a Porno feels like a significant milestone in the still relatively nascent world of podcasts. A quaint idea that just so happened to be uproariously funny.
