Howzat? 4.5 / 6

Josh Widdicombe and Rob Beckett did what any sensible, incredibly rich, well-known comedian would have done during a global pandemic: they started a podcast.

When it launched, ‘Parenting Hell’ tapped into the rich seam of stir-crazy parents throughout the land and received plaudits for sharing the unholy burden of parenthood in uncertain times. That was in April, 2020 and it’s testament to the show’s success that it’s still going strong after four years. 

“Look!”, it seemed to say, “we’re just like you normal people”.

But has the juggernaut run out of steam?

Well, I suppose that depends on a) how tired you are, and b) can your ears continue to tolerate Josh Widdicombe’s laugh and Rob Beckett’s foghorn of a voice?

The format points of the show have held together strongly: inviting listeners’ kids to introduce the show (“naw, ain’t it cute that they can’t pronounce “Beckett”?); getting celebrities on to chat about their “parenting hell” (although most of the time, “hell” is defined by the lack of ability to go out for dinner, or looking like a bag of crap because of lack of sleep); and finishing with a flourish by doing a ‘small business shout-out’, promoting listeners’ businesses, born out of the pandemic-inspired economic slump. Nice touch. 

This episode, though, lacks any additional celebrity firepower and it falls on Beckett and Widdicombe to fill the celebrity-shaped void by rambling on about how hard they’re finding life at the moment: Widdicombe has a blood test and, to his “chagrin”, he is fretting about having to make his gig in Bristol that evening after he’s dropped the kids off at school (Oh the jeopardy!)

Beckett plays his piss-taking sidekick, as per.

The show remains a buoy in the ocean, providing comfort to parents everywhere who wish to navigate their way to the dry land of sanity. 

However, as time moves on, there is an argument that we no longer need their guidance from these two. Time will tell. 

PP