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Origin Story w/ David McIntosh JrOrigin Story w/ David McIntosh Jr

Rufus Rice: Posh, Privileged & Accidentally Viral

Rufus Rice is a comedian, podcaster, musician and viral TikTok creator known for his posh-boy persona, chaotic storytelling, sharp class commentary and cult online catchphrases like “Hello shaggers.” In this episode of Origin Story, Rufus Rice sits down with David McIntosh Jr at Spotify HQ for a hilarious and surprisingly revealing conversation about class, private school, boarding school, TikTok fame, comedy, music, going viral, social mobility, the “posh” hierarchy, Scottish schemes, Patreon, the manosphere, Big John, Maltesers, and why he refuses to take sync claps seriously. From growing up in Singapore and going to boarding school, to dropping out of university and building a career through TikTok, Rufus explains how he accidentally became one of the UK’s most recognisable young comedy creators while refusing to pretend he has a traumatic origin story. This is a chaotic, funny and brutally honest conversation about privilege, class, ambition, internet fame and what happens when a posh TikToker gets interrogated by a poor Scottish podcaster. Follow David McIntosh Jr: Instagram: @davidmcintoshjr Follow Rufus Rice: Instagram/TikTok: @rufusrice Sponsored by Neutonic - the nootropic drink designed for focus, energy and getting stuff done. Use code DAVID at checkout.

Rufus RiceguestDavid McIntosh Jrhost
May 2, 20261h 1mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 0:03

    Intro

    1. RR

      [claps]

  2. 0:03 – 1:45

    Sync claps are pointless: kicking off with editing pet peeves and tone-setting banter

    1. RR

      I think sync claps are so stupid. Should we start off like that?

    2. DJ

      Yeah.

    3. RR

      Why? Why do you need to do that? You can sync it up to any bit of the audio. It's easy to, it's easy to make it line up.

    4. DJ

      Yeah.

    5. RR

      But if-

    6. DJ

      Don't undermine my editor, you know?

    7. RR

      If I just went, "Woo," that, then you could just do that. But everyone insists on doing a sync clap for no reason. It always infuriates me. We even do it on our show, and I know it, I know you don't have to do it, and we do it every single time.

    8. DJ

      Why don't we rebrand it now? Instead of doing a sync-

    9. RR

      But, but, but you don't... That's what I'm saying, is we don't need to rebrand it, 'cause it's not necessary at all, because any editor could easily line an audio and video up just from chat.

    10. DJ

      Rufus Rice, everyone.

    11. RR

      Hi, guys. I'm not that... I, I'm, I'm at peace with the world, I promise you. I'm like-

    12. DJ

      [laughs]

    13. RR

      ... I'm not taking my anger out on the sync clap. Thanks for having me. All right.

    14. DJ

      Thanks for coming on, man. This show usually f- uh, interviews people that have faced real adversity.

    15. RR

      Yeah.

    16. DJ

      Real adversity.

    17. RR

      I have to invent problems-

    18. DJ

      Yeah

    19. RR

      ... to, um, overcome, like-

    20. DJ

      Can we invent one right now?

    21. RR

      Sure. Yeah. Uh, well, today I almost shit myself on the train. Is that a problem? Because I didn't, so it's not really a problem, is it? [laughs]

    22. DJ

      [laughs] It's maybe a problem that you didn't-

    23. RR

      [laughs]

    24. DJ

      ... but you know you could've.

    25. RR

      That story boils down to I needed a poo.

    26. DJ

      [laughs]

    27. RR

      Which I think happens to a lot of people all the time. So... No, I'm very, I'm very lucky. I had a very nice upbringing. Nobody knows anyt- people will watch this and be like, "This is just a random guy who went to a nice school." So I should explain who I am. But I'm like a c- st- I'm a comedian, podcaster, TikToker. You've seen the, you've seen the type. If you're over 35, you'll be like, "I don't u- understand what that is." And if you're under 35, you'll be like, "I know exactly the kind of guy you are. I see people like you all the time. They're a dime a dozen." Um,

  3. 1:45 – 5:11

    ‘Posh night out’ explained: pub culture, inside jokes, and class stereotypes

    1. RR

      but yeah, I'm a vaguely successful comedian, TikTok legend of the game. Um, and, uh, yeah, I had a... I attribute a lot of my success to my relatively easy upbringing, I would say. Yeah. Would you feel uncomfortable... If I took you on a posh night out, would you be, feel uncomfortable?

    2. DJ

      What does a posh night out look like?

    3. RR

      Right. So we'll str- we're straight-

    4. DJ

      Are you using cutlery?

    5. RR

      [laughs]

    6. DJ

      [laughs]

    7. RR

      We're straight down the Sloaney Pony for seven, seven jars of the local nasty. And because I'm vaguely posh and went to a nice school-

    8. DJ

      Sloaney Pony?

    9. RR

      Yeah, it's a pub. Um, it's not, we're not like, you know, bumming a horse.

    10. DJ

      [laughs]

    11. RR

      I know, I know there are stereotypes about this sort of thing. We're not sort of committing crimes on animals yet. Although, you know, my dad did once hit a mouse with a didgeridoo, but that was by the time-

    12. DJ

      [laughs]

    13. RR

      [laughs] I don't, I don't think that's really relevant to this.

    14. DJ

      Is that a euphemism?

    15. RR

      Uh, no, he did... It's, it's not like-

    16. DJ

      Didgeridoos? Your dad Rolf Harris?

    17. RR

      Yeah. [laughs]

    18. DJ

      [laughs]

    19. RR

      I had a didgeridoo, and he found a, he found a rat in our house, and he thought, "Well, what's the best way to get rid of this?" So he just smacked it with the didgeridoo.

    20. DJ

      That's a problem that you've just invented.

    21. RR

      In, in, in incredible... What, having one mouse in your house over a period of 12 years is a problem.

    22. DJ

      Yeah, and using your favorite musical instrument to beat it.

    23. RR

      It's not my favorite. It's not even in my top five. I don't think a didgeridoo... Ridiculous instrument, by the way. You try getting sound out of a bit of wood. It's impossible. It's a, it's a stupid instrument. Sorry, Abor- any Aboriginals watching. I don't understand it. It's up there with the rain stick and the triangle for me. Um, but anyway, posh night out. We're going down the Sloaney Pony. We're having, we're having seven double vodka lime sodas probably, and there'll be people that I know, 'cause all the people who went to posh schools and universities, like, know each other. Like, I vaguely know them. So maybe I'll have a few bits of, uh, inside joke banter that you won't really get, but that's okay. And then, like, we'll... You know, you make fun of the poor for a bit. You have to. Um, there are genuinely people at my school... When we did poverty, when we studied geography at school and we did poverty, there are people who, who don't understand like, "Oh, if you're poor, why don't you just, like, get a sick job?" [laughs]

    24. DJ

      [laughs]

    25. RR

      There are pe- there were people like that who were like-

    26. DJ

      Why don't you have aspirations?

    27. RR

      Yeah, it's just like, "Oh, mate," like, "If I was poor, like I'd just... I, I feel like I'd just move to like a richer... I'd just move to like a rich area and like, you know, get a new job."

    28. DJ

      [laughs]

    29. RR

      People say stuff like that. People, like genuinely, they used to say, "I feel like if my country was sort of in the middle of a, of a civil war, like, I'd probably just, like, move. Like, I'd probably just go to like, you know, Southeast Asia or something, take a couple of gap years." [laughs]

    30. DJ

      [laughs] Dude, dude, I grew up so poor, the pigeons used to throw me food. [laughs]

  4. 5:11 – 5:52

    Defining ‘posh’: minority status jokes and the hierarchy of British class

    1. RR

      ... posh, posh people are a minority, right? Only 7% of the UK is posh.

    2. DJ

      Yeah. My diversity hire.

    3. RR

      8% of the UK is Indian, so in a sense, I'm one of the big minorities out there. Like, you know, I'm... This is a real niche area here.

    4. DJ

      There will be a GoFundMe link at the end of this episode.

    5. RR

      Yeah, you can donate. You could come put 20 quid through my letterbox, and maybe... [laughs]

    6. DJ

      [laughs]

    7. RR

      And I'll send you a photo of me down the pub with a round of drinks, so you can know exactly where your money's going. Um, but, um, within posh, there's also sub-levels of posh.

    8. DJ

      Yeah. Give me the hierarchy.

    9. RR

      Um, the royal family is always the top level. That's... You can't be posher than actually being the king.

  5. 5:52 – 10:46

    David’s Queen Zoom call: etiquette, ‘gauche’ flexing, and royal weirdness

    1. DJ

      Do you wanna hear a flex?

    2. RR

      Go on.

    3. DJ

      I Zoom called the queen.

    4. RR

      Yeah?

    5. DJ

      In 2020. Like, not even bullshitting.

    6. RR

      Was this like a... Was it like a birthday party, or was it like a work thing, or...?

    7. DJ

      Y- yeah, it was a anniversary of the company, so the company I worked for That I won't mention-

    8. RR

      Mm

    9. DJ

      ... for obvious reasons. Uh-

    10. RR

      It's Coutts, isn't it?

    11. DJ

      N- uh, no, actually.

    12. RR

      It's not?

    13. DJ

      No, it's not.

    14. RR

      Okay.

    15. DJ

      It's not Coutts. However, they had, uh, Buckingham Palace had been a client for however many hundreds of years.

    16. RR

      Yeah.

    17. DJ

      And it was to, like, hallmark an anniversary, so they put the Scottish poor kid on screen.

    18. RR

      Is she good on... Is she good chat, like?

    19. DJ

      She is good res.

    20. RR

      Do you think?

    21. DJ

      Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, she has charisma.

    22. RR

      Right.

    23. DJ

      She, uh-

    24. RR

      'Cause I, I-

    25. DJ

      S-

    26. RR

      I'm just thinking about how painful it would be to get my, uh, grandpa to send an email.

    27. DJ

      Mm.

    28. RR

      And I can't imagine, like, a 92-year-old woman on a Zoom would really know what's going on.

    29. DJ

      Well, funnily enough, I had to do a rehearsal with the Queen's private secretary a week before, and the private secretary [laughs] , not even joking, was a guy, a bloke in his 40s, black hair, spectacles, uh, would mimic the voice and the persona of the Queen.

    30. RR

      [laughs]

  6. 10:46 – 13:26

    Haircuts, school friends, and the ‘landed gentry’ clarification

    1. DJ

      You may have a bald head, but you're still Britney Spears.

    2. RR

      Yes. Yeah. Terrible. That is a bottom five trim of all time.

    3. DJ

      [laughs]

    4. RR

      It's the, the Britney Spears shaved head. That's a... That is... She needs a refund from the barber for that.

    5. DJ

      Oh. With the lighting in here I look like, like her mid-haircut.

    6. RR

      Sorry?

    7. DJ

      I look like Britney Spears mid-haircut. [laughs]

    8. RR

      [laughs] They've just done the front half of yours. [laughs]

    9. DJ

      Uh, I'm trying to rock a mullet, but it just looks like a normal haircut that's been blown back. [laughs]

    10. RR

      Yeah. It's like your haircut's got... It's drifted a bit from its- [laughs]

    11. DJ

      [laughs]

    12. RR

      ... from its position.

    13. DJ

      Yeah.

    14. RR

      Yeah, yeah. It's on a conveyor belt backwards.

    15. DJ

      [laughs]

    16. RR

      We've got a mate like that.

    17. DJ

      Oh, yeah.

    18. RR

      Minge his name is. 'Cause his name's Monty Hinge. And his haircut's literally on a conveyor belt.

    19. DJ

      Mm.

    20. RR

      So he has the worst hairline of anyone I've ever seen.

    21. DJ

      Worse than mine?

    22. RR

      It's way worse, mate. His, his al- It's almost in the back half of his skull.

    23. DJ

      [laughs]

    24. RR

      [laughs] Which seems impossible, but he's also really long down the back. So it literally looks like you, you dropped his hair on the top of his head and a conveyor belt's just brought it back and around.

    25. DJ

      What are you rocking? Have you got some luscious locks?

    26. RR

      Um-

    27. DJ

      Oh, you, you are sorted.

    28. RR

      I, it-

    29. DJ

      Do you wanna be my donor?

    30. RR

      I don't think... Is that how it works?

  7. 13:26 – 14:40

    Family entrepreneurship and ‘influencer mum’: how content became a business

    1. DJ

      So your, your parents are first generation-

    2. RR

      Yeah, like-

    3. DJ

      ... social mobile?

    4. RR

      Yeah

    5. DJ

      They must be so disappointed in you. Like, they've set up all of the foundations for you to have a great life and career-

    6. RR

      Mm

    7. DJ

      ... and then you chose TikTok comedy

    8. RR

      They, they get it. They get it though, sort of

    9. DJ

      How... What quantifies-

    10. RR

      My mum was the original influencer in our family

    11. DJ

      Oh. Porn star?

    12. RR

      'Cause, 'cause she became a food journalist

    13. DJ

      Oh, okay

    14. RR

      Which is close. Yeah, yeah. It's food porn

    15. DJ

      Food porn

    16. RR

      She was making food porn for, like, middle-aged women.

    17. DJ

      [laughs]

    18. RR

      They're like, "This, these lentils are so healthy." That's the sort of stuff they were making. And, um, I think my mum got 20K followers or something before I posted anything.

    19. DJ

      Really?

    20. RR

      Yeah. Well, she, she was-

    21. DJ

      Showing off her beef

    22. RR

      ... showing off various meats, veggies.

    23. DJ

      [laughs] The tone, the tone shift for veggies.

    24. RR

      Just all-

    25. DJ

      That's so silly

    26. RR

      ... all sorts of scran, really. Um, so my mum is totally on board with all of this stuff

    27. DJ

      Mm

    28. RR

      And my parents are the original, the OG entrepreneurs, starting their own business. So they were just thrilled that I started my own one, 'cause I had to. 'Cause when TikTok took off, I just had to start, um, my own business. So they love that sort of stuff

  8. 14:40 – 18:02

    From banker dreams to comedy formats: finance work experience and ‘news report’ skits

    1. DJ

      Tell me about the origin story. Singapore

    2. RR

      Mm

    3. DJ

      Private school-

    4. RR

      It-

    5. DJ

      ... boarding school

    6. RR

      ... that is bull by the bite. We can chuck all my childhood in the bin 'cause it has no relevance to my career. Because m- throughout my entire childhood, I just wanted to be an investment banker anyway. 'Cause I watched The Wolf of Wall Street when I was 13, and it changed my life, you know. Like most young boys, I was like, "I, I wanna get slops from Margot Robbie in that Ferrari. I want that to be me." Uh, 'cause I thought that was realistic goal. Um, did some work experience. Unfortunately, it was work experience at Deutsche Bank in 2019. You worked in finance. You probably know how bad of a year they had. They lost... Well, if any- anyone at home, they lost five billion euros. Uh, they got caught, uh, money laundering. They laid off 40,000 employees, I think, and they got caught doing some dodgy stuff with the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Jeffrey Epstein. So-

    7. DJ

      Rufus Rice reporting for financial news. Now for the weather.

    8. RR

      Yeah, yeah, yeah. [laughs]

    9. DJ

      [laughs]

    10. RR

      Um-

    11. DJ

      Dude, I would love if you presented, like, the Financial Times or something like that [laughs]

    12. RR

      Well, that's... How, how I started out, I imagined my TikTok skits being, would be like a segment of the news. So I used to do this, this thing. I don't really do this format loads anymore, but I had this, like, sort of shagger character who would introduce himself and then say, "Back to you in the studio," at the end, right? Um, because I imagined it being a sort of news segment where it was like the Muff Report.

    13. DJ

      [laughs]

    14. RR

      I know that's, that's dumb, but you know. You watch enough Inbetweeners, you start to think this stuff's funny. And, um, so I'd be like, you know, Hello shaggers. I'd have a punny nickname. Machine Cum Kelly, for example

    15. DJ

      Mm

    16. RR

      Or, uh, you know.

    17. DJ

      [laughs] I know.

    18. RR

      I had a few, I have a f- few others as well. And then I'd do this, like, little report or whatever

    19. DJ

      I think given that reputational trust and the BBC has changed, I think that would bring it back

    20. RR

      I think the news... It's always bad news, but there's never any bad news on the Muff Report.

    21. DJ

      [laughs]

    22. RR

      It's, it's just all around good-

    23. DJ

      [laughs]

    24. RR

      It's just all around good vibes, I think. It's, it would be uplifting for the nation.

    25. DJ

      [laughs]

    26. RR

      But I think TV is so unpopular now.

    27. DJ

      Mm

    28. RR

      There's no point in me trying to audition to, for a BBC News gig

    29. DJ

      Audition? [laughs] Like it's The X Factor. [laughs]

    30. RR

      Yeah, they do auditions. [laughs] Like, I think if you, if you lobby them hard enough, they'll let you on the news, right?

  9. 18:02 – 21:56

    Boarding school reality: ‘orphanage’ vibes, wanting independence, and school politics

    1. DJ

      Yeah. Tell me about boarding school. The only reason I want to know is because if you were to tell me when I was 11 that my friend was going to school but had to live there-

    2. RR

      Mm-hmm

    3. DJ

      ... I'd have presumed he was in an orphanage

    4. RR

      Right. It's, yeah, it's like an orphanage. A lot of the kids there, it actually feels like an orphanage 'cause their parents actually don't love them So, like a lot of my roommates-

    5. DJ

      [laughs]

    6. RR

      ... over the, over the years are sort of... There were a lot of rich Indians whose dads were massive businessmen. Maybe billi- billionaires, some of them, um, who were like, "Well, you're sort of interfering with my life. I've had some kids now, but you guys are all just getting in my way, really, so I'll ship you off to boarding school. And when you come back at 18, you're gonna go straight into the company." So that's, um, a lot of people had that sort of life, bit of a weird relationship with their parents. Um, it wasn't like that for me. I was thrilled to go. I couldn't wait to... I, I, I begged my parents to let me go to boarding school.

    7. DJ

      Why?

    8. RR

      Because, like, when you're, like, 13, who wants to live with their parents? I'm a teenager. Like, my parents are lame, you know? I like them now, but at the time I'd... You know, it's starting to piss me off, all this sort of stuff. They, they used to make me do chores and stuff, and I was like, "Ah, I'd"-

    9. DJ

      You were calling modern slavery.

    10. RR

      I, I, I th- I felt like my life was destined for greater pastures, you know?

    11. DJ

      Can you say that again but shed a tear? C- I wanna make a trailer.

    12. RR

      I... Can you-

    13. DJ

      [laughs]

    14. RR

      Can you cry on command? I tried to film a skit once where, um, I had to cry, but I, I c- I couldn't even squeeze out a tear, so I... In the end, I had to put pepper in my eyes. [laughs]

    15. DJ

      I-

    16. RR

      It really hurts. [laughs]

    17. DJ

      Yeah. For, for me, it's easier because I had faced adversity growing up, so I just tap into my childhood trauma-

    18. RR

      Yeah

    19. DJ

      ... and relive it.

    20. RR

      Is... Do you think it's possible to live on a council estate and have no childhood trauma? Or i-i- do you eventually... Someone gets caught up with the stabists or, you know. Does eventually something go wrong? Is it a rite of passage in the estate?

    21. DJ

      I think you only realize you have trauma once you obtain life dysmorphia and you leave the council estate.

    22. RR

      Okay. Well-

    23. DJ

      And then-

    24. RR

      ... you're gonna have to explain what life dysmorphia... That sounds like something out of, like, a Marvel film for me.

    25. DJ

      [laughs] Like a, like a superpower?

    26. RR

      Y- Well, it's like, um, something, something that the baddies are trying to steal from a, from a, from HQ, you know?

    27. DJ

      It's like body dysmorphia but around your life. So if you grow up in a council estate and you've never left-

    28. RR

      Mm

    29. DJ

      ... the area, you just think your n- life is normal. You think it's normal to go hungry or for s-

    30. RR

      See, that's funny because I know loads of people who, who deliberately fast for, [laughs] for health benefits. They, they starve themselves 'cause they think it's good for you.

  10. 21:56 – 24:41

    Veggie Wednesdays scandal: student council propaganda and forced apology

    1. RR

      Our, our school was quite a, uh... They, they fancied themselves a woke school. Forward-thinking.

    2. DJ

      Progressive.

    3. RR

      Progressive. Building the leaders of tomorrow. So to say, they did not produce students like that really, but that's, that was their idea. That's what it was founded on. Um, so the biggest argument that raged at this school was that every other week on Wednesdays, they would have Veggie Wednesdays, where it's just vegetarian food. Because I think, as we all know, meat farming, if that's a phrase, which it isn't, um, is very resource intensive and bad for the planet, right? So as a gesture, once a week, once every two weeks, we wouldn't eat, we... There wouldn't be any meat at, served at school. And the gym bros hated this. "'Cause how am I gonna get my gains in," right? Genuinely, this was a thing. Um-

    4. DJ

      This is not a bit. This is real.

    5. RR

      This all happened, and I went... I was a member of the student council, so I had to do the propaganda for Veggie Wednesdays because the head of schools, the head of school was in favor of it, and he s- c- came to the student council and he goes, "You have to promote this stuff in assembly and try and, like, get into, [laughs] get into-

    6. DJ

      [laughs]

    7. RR

      "... get into the mind of the students that this is a good idea, because we're getting some backlash on this and we don't like it." So I went in there and I d- I messed up on stage.

    8. DJ

      On stage?

    9. RR

      Yeah, 'cause it's in an assembly-

    10. DJ

      Oh, okay

    11. RR

      ... in front of everybody.

    12. DJ

      You weren't doing a performance?

    13. RR

      No, it wasn't like a school play. Uh, this was... I was doing the notices and I was talking about Veggie Wednesday. And I, and I said like, "Look, we know that nobody really likes this. We're trying to make, improve it for everybody." But that's not how it came out. Basically, I roasted it, 'cause I wasn't in favor of this. I roasted it in front of everybody, and I got dragged in by the head of school, and he goes, "Next assembly you have to write an apology and, and go and read it out in front of everybody." And I was like, "An apology to, to wh- to who?" And he's like, "Vegetarians, vegetarian food."

    14. DJ

      [laughs]

    15. RR

      So I had to go up there at assembly and go, "I apologize to all the vegetarians out there." [laughs]

    16. DJ

      [laughs]

    17. RR

      It's so ridiculous now you look back at it. Imagine you doing that at your school.

    18. DJ

      Oh.

    19. RR

      I had to go and apologize to, to vegetarians and vegans in front of everybody.

    20. DJ

      [laughs]

    21. RR

      And I could see everyone in the crowd going like, "Oh, this is so ridiculous." Yeah, so that's, that's what my school was like. It wasn't like a strict- ... school. The craziest thing that happened, nobody was throwing a chair at a teacher

    22. DJ

      Mm

    23. RR

      Craziest thing that happened was this guy got three days suspension for making a diss track on another student. It was, it was a bit like High School Musical [laughs] or something.

  11. 24:41 – 25:53

    Food, facilities, and post-school pivot: luxury cafeteria to broken-leg gap year

    1. DJ

      What were the catering facilities like? At my school there was like a white unhygienic van outside the school, and it would serve like what we have in Scotland, uh, s- square sausage. It's like this delicacy that we have. There's just [laughs] delicacy that we have. Um-

    2. RR

      I can imagine it, yeah

    3. DJ

      ... and 35 pence energy drinks, and that was the entire menu, and that would be our school lunch.

    4. RR

      What, school they served that?

    5. DJ

      At school.

    6. RR

      We had like a tandoori oven.

    7. DJ

      [laughs]

    8. RR

      They, they, they were making, they were making naans in front of you.

    9. DJ

      You had a Ninja Bullet for the smoothies?

    10. RR

      Ma- ma- of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We had a Ninja Bullet. We had... Yeah, there was a full-

    11. DJ

      NutriBullet, that sort of-

    12. RR

      There was a full artisan bakery-

    13. DJ

      [laughs]

    14. RR

      ... for break time. It was pro- it was producing like focaccias.

    15. DJ

      [laughs]

    16. RR

      Just focaccias out the wazoo. Ciabattas, focaccias, rolls. Anything you, anything you want. Well, see there, there was like a-

    17. DJ

      [laughs]

    18. RR

      It was sort of a Subway, but not really. So you could get a sub and then, yeah, yeah, there was a, there was a genuine tandoor oven in there as well. The Indian counter, the, the great, yeah. So fresh naan. I probably ate butter chicken every day for four years, which isn't that good for you I don't think, but whatever.

  12. 25:53 – 29:04

    Accidentally viral: first breakout video, leaving uni, and the ‘just keep posting’ rule

    1. DJ

      After boarding school, did you go to university? Did you study?

    2. RR

      Yeah. So I spent a very unfortunate, uh, gap year with a broken leg in a flat share in Wembley, uh, attempting to go to music college. But it was COVID, so you couldn't go, and you t- you try doing a live performance over Zoom. Like it's not good, right? [laughs] You c- you can't do it. You can't drum on FaceTime.

    3. DJ

      [laughs]

    4. RR

      You can't. Um-

    5. DJ

      You can strum, but you can't drum.

    6. RR

      Exactly. And, um, so that was terrible. So I, I packed, I packed the music college stuff in and I went to real university. Then when I was there I was like, "I've... This is so boring. I don't wanna do this." And I'd already had terrible work experience, so I was like, "I don't wanna do a corporate job." And I went to my parents and I said, "Look, I don't like this." And they were like, "We'll support you in whatever you do, but you have to show us that you're really committed to it." So I s- I just started... Like, I was doing music, I was playing open mics, I was going around g- uh, local gigs and stuff. I was putting it online, and I also started making comedy stuff 'cause I was just, you know, I was just, uh, why not? I'll... I hate to use this phrase, I'll throw the hot dog down the hallway and I'll see if it makes contact with anything. So I was just putting anything and everything out there. And within a month, um, I, I had a video that did well. It was me reviewing the night after my 20th birthday in which every single one of my friends, man, woman, all of them, uh, pulled except me. Um, and I woke up in the morning and I needed a shit and I didn't have any toilet paper. I had to wipe my ass with, with A4. [laughs]

    7. DJ

      [laughs]

    8. RR

      Um, so I, I made a video about that, and that got, what, 100,000 views or something, and I thought, "Well, I'm in here." And I just never stopped posting. That's the main, that's the main thing. Just don't stop posting. You, you'll easily make it.

    9. DJ

      At what point did your life like materially change where you were like, "Oh, I can do this for a job. I can make money doing this. I can be self-sufficient enough doing this"?

    10. RR

      Um, well, I... After two years of uni, I was making enough money where, like it was like, it wasn't loads of money, but it was a job kind of amount of money. A reasonable amount of money. And I thought, "I'll take a year out of uni, and I can come back after a year. If I fail, I can come back. Depends how this year goes." So I just took a year out, and I just did it full time, and then I never stopped, and I dropped out of uni eventually. But I did have to have a slightly awkward meeting with my very old director of studies, and I thought, "Am I gonna have to explain to this guy and show him my videos so that he approves my leave?"

    11. DJ

      [laughs]

    12. RR

      'Cause this guy's like 80 years old. Starting off, "What is TikTok?" You've got a lot of work of, in front of you there. I mean, this guy can barely read off a whiteboard.

    13. DJ

      [laughs]

    14. RR

      And then secondly, am I gonna have to show him these videos? That's embarrassing. He's not gonna like this stuff. But he didn't. He approved it straight away, so it was fine. I took basically no risks. Um...

  13. 29:04 – 32:43

    Fame at a manageable level: audience demographics, Brighton, and music vs comedy

    1. DJ

      I think about the, the reach and exposure that you had instantly, 'cause I came across your stuff years and years ago-

    2. RR

      Mm

    3. DJ

      ... and at its first instance, was it worth trading your anonymity out in the street for the, the virality? I can imagine there was a point where you didn't have the material components to offset being well known. Like you'd go down Oxford Street and people would want selfies, or you couldn't go to a café without someone recognizing you.

    4. RR

      I'm at a nice level I think.

    5. DJ

      Yeah?

    6. RR

      Like if you were Kanye, your life would be terrible 'cause you just get con-

    7. DJ

      Surely loads of people recognize you out in London.

    8. RR

      Yeah, but it's not like I'm a celebrity. I just get recognized every now and again, and most of the interactions are very nice. Um, so it happens every now and again, and it's a nice little ego boost. It doesn't get to the point where it interrupts my activities. I'm still a completely normal person, especially in Brighton, 'cause there's a lot of, um, sort of alternative, shall we say. The, the blue hair mafia are not my fans, and there's a lot of them in Brighton. You know, the sort of, uh, the, the, the, the, the lesbian, masculine lesbian dragoons unit, the bombardiers, uh, the muff divers. You know, they, they are not watching my stuff.

    9. DJ

      Yeah. Just the other battalions in the British Army are.

    10. RR

      Yeah. My demographic is very concentrated in people who are exactly like me, with the same haircut, and who wear the same clothes, and have the same accent, and went sort of to the same school, just with less talent. Like, but I feel like a lot of people get that, that their audience are a reflection of themselves. ... uh, just not, um, funny or, or whatever. Yeah.

    11. DJ

      Is the goal still to be a musician?

    12. RR

      Yeah, I'd much... I'd pack this in immediately if I could sustain it full time. Problem is, when you release music, nobody gives a shit about it. That's the main problem. Whereas if you make comedy and somebody laughs, they'll like it.

    13. DJ

      Mm.

    14. RR

      But when you release music, people have to... Every time you hear a song for the first time, you think it's shit, even if it's one of the best songs ever. You have to warm up to music. That's how, that's how it works. You can't just... It's not like immediately someone becomes your favorite artist after one listen, but someone can be- become your favorite TikToker after two TikToks, 'cause if it's so funny.

    15. DJ

      Yeah. Laughing is so biological-

    16. RR

      Mm

    17. DJ

      ... and it's so binary. You either laugh or you don't.

    18. RR

      That is an excellent analysis from you there.

    19. DJ

      Yeah.

    20. RR

      Yeah, yeah.

    21. DJ

      Yeah. When I interviewed Jimmy Carr, he said that, uh, he's like a drug dealer, but the audience already have the drugs on them, and by telling a joke, they take it, and those drugs are like dopamine, uh, dopamine, not adrenaline, dopamine, endorphins.

    22. RR

      I've... I find it so funny how different he is on podcast to his stand-up.

    23. DJ

      Oh, yeah. He's like a, um, a modern messiah. He's, like, so well educated-

    24. RR

      Yeah

    25. DJ

      ... so highbrow. Uh-

    26. RR

      And then he goes on stage, and he goes like, "You're a fat cunt."

    27. DJ

      Yeah. [laughs]

    28. RR

      [laughs] It's just so, so funny. Yeah. But yeah, that guy knows almost everything, I would say. He knows too much stuff, that guy.

    29. DJ

      Too much stuff.

    30. RR

      Yeah.

  14. 32:43 – 34:51

    Stand-up without the grind: touring to fans, skipping open mics, and industry access

    1. DJ

      How do they feel towards your stand-up and your content as, like, a new wave of what it means to be a stand-up comedian? It's all TikTok-

    2. RR

      Yeah

    3. DJ

      ... driven, reel driven, that then convert to live performances opposed to the inverse.

    4. RR

      I don't really consider myself a stand-up comedian because I think a stand-up comedian is the sort of person who grinds it out on the circuit, and they go, and they do 20 minutes in Shropshire to a general comedy audience.

    5. DJ

      Mm.

    6. RR

      I don't go and do that. I'm not going out and, like, dropping a tight five at Top Secret Comedy Club, right? I'm not about that 'cause I don't wanna fail in front of randoms. That's not what I'm about. I, so I'm going on tour this year, right? But everyone who buys a ticket will be- already be a fan of me, so I, I don't need to prove anything-

    7. DJ

      [laughs]

    8. RR

      ... to anybody there. And I know exactly that it's... I know it's gonna go well 'cause I know exactly the kind of humor those people like 'cause I've already been making it for four years.

    9. DJ

      Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    10. RR

      So I c- it's basically I can just do my actual jokes and do that.

    11. DJ

      You've filtered out the people that won't like your stuff-

    12. RR

      Exactly

    13. DJ

      ... by coming on there.

    14. RR

      It's a, it's a self-filtering process, whereas I, I'm not, like, gonna slog it out on the circuit, like a, like a real stand-up would.

    15. DJ

      Yeah.

    16. RR

      I'm gonna take the easy route. So I don't consider myself a stand-up in that way, although I w- will be doing, you know, live comedy. It's not really, like... You know, I'm not... I, I feel like stand-up's really awkward, and you, you go out there, and you don't really know what to expect, and the audience don't know you, and it's, like, kind of... Also, also, like, I've, I've seen a lot of bad stand-up, um, over the years.

    17. DJ

      Dude, I've been part of that. I, I used to do some open mics in Glasgow, and, like, I'd find myself on a Wednesday evening doing five minutes in a Afro-Caribbean restaurant in the corner without a microphone or lights.

    18. RR

      Yeah. I look at that, and I'm like, "Why the fuck would I do that?" [laughs]

    19. DJ

      Yeah. Character building, dude.

    20. RR

      So I skipped, I skipped that whole thing. I was like, "I know it's character building, and it's probably a good experience. I'm not doing it. I don't care. I don't..." [laughs] I... If, if I can sell... If I can just sell a tour, I'll just do that. I'm not... I don't have to, you know, go to Lincoln for £20.

  15. 34:51 – 41:30

    Risk, ‘nepotism’ accusations, and the Singapore HIV-massage service requirement

    1. DJ

      Have you benefited from any sort of nepotism in the content and comedy world?

    2. RR

      People accuse me of this all the time because I have an ac- a posh accent, but it's not like my parents have any connections in this world whatsoever.

    3. DJ

      Yeah, you can't inherit followers.

    4. RR

      Yeah. Like, what do my... My dad has, what, 12 Facebook friends maybe. [laughs]

    5. DJ

      [laughs] Your mom's got 20,000.

    6. RR

      My mom's got 20,000, but they're all, uh, middle-aged women with an interest in healthy eating, so I'm not sure that helped me at all. I, I, yeah, I, I, I, I benefited, I benefited in the sense that, like, at no point was I really struggling to make ends meet, and I was like, "Well, maybe I'll have to quit doing this and go back to uni." But-

    7. DJ

      So you had a greater risk appetite.

    8. RR

      Yes. That is... I mean, that's an essen- that is such a... [laughs]

    9. DJ

      [laughs]

    10. RR

      That's, that is such a financial way of putting it, but yeah, I had a higher propensity for risk.

    11. DJ

      [laughs]

    12. RR

      Yeah. I had a lo- lower risk adversity than anybody else.

    13. DJ

      Yeah, yeah.

    14. RR

      Um, but-

    15. DJ

      Whereas I'd, I'd have, like, a more diversified employment portfolio.

    16. RR

      Yeah, exactly. You actually worked in some real jobs. But I, once, once I-

    17. DJ

      I got paid by the hour.

    18. RR

      I've, I've done that. You know, I put in a shift.

    19. DJ

      Where?

    20. RR

      I've got calluses on my hands, mate.

    21. DJ

      [laughs]

    22. RR

      Where my rings rub against my palm. Um, oh, I made cocktails for, like, nine months.

    23. DJ

      [laughs] Aw. Aw.

    24. RR

      I know. It is tough life. But we-

    25. DJ

      Did you not massage HIV patients for-

    26. RR

      Yeah, that was-

    27. DJ

      ... a few months?

    28. RR

      So I massaged HIV patients at school. That wasn't a job.

    29. DJ

      [laughs]

    30. RR

      That wasn't a job. That was a school requirement in order to graduate. That, I did... I was doing that for free.

  16. 41:30 – 50:21

    Manosphere, guilty-pleasure fandom, and the podcast’s explicit digressions

    1. DJ

      I, I wanted to ask you, have you watched the Louis Theroux manosphere documentary, and what are your takes on it?

    2. RR

      I haven't seen it all the way through. Um, I th- I think it's probably good. B- and I know that's a, that's a freezing cold take because anything Louis Theroux does is generally interesting, uh, apart from when he did an interview with Craig David. I'm not sure if you've, if you listened to this.

    3. DJ

      No.

    4. RR

      Might be the most boring thing [laughs] I've, I've ever sat through. It's, it's just that Craig David is, is not, like, Mr. Banter. That's basically the only thing. Um, anyway, this manosphere thing...

    5. DJ

      A- are you part of it?

    6. RR

      No, because y- you have to... I feel like you have to live and breathe it. Like, I don't live a lifestyle where I'm, I'm... I genuinely think, like, looks maxing is cool. I don't go home and, like, mew in my mirror-

    7. DJ

      [laughs]

    8. RR

      ... every day. And, like, clearly I don't try and improve my physique 'cause my physique has been decidedly average for the last 23 years. Um, and we, we, we make- You know, edgy jokes on our podcast. But it's just a comedy podcast. We don't take those values into the real world and apply them to my own, own life. So, um, no, I'm not, I'm not part of it. But I do have a very manly audience, which I'm upset about. I'd mu- I'd prefer a much more diversified audience, 'cause women like to spend money, like a lot more. I would make so much more money if, if I was, like, a heartthrob. I was thinking one of these summers I need to get in shape and become, like, a sexy guy.

    9. DJ

      Yeah. You need to-

    10. RR

      You know, re- rebrand myself as, like a-

    11. DJ

      Ball and smash.

    12. RR

      Yeah. Rebrand myself as, like, a, a hot, hot, cool guy instead of, like, a sort of weird guy. 'Cause when girls say that they're attracted to me, it's always conditional.

    13. DJ

      Mm. And what are those conditions? Follow account?

    14. RR

      No, it's, it's always, like, "I'm weirdly attracted to this guy."

    15. DJ

      Mm.

    16. RR

      Or, like, "I'm attracted, I'm attracted to this guy and I can't tell anyone about it." And it's like, "Why?" [laughs]

    17. DJ

      [laughs] You're some people's guilty pleasure.

    18. RR

      Yes, exactly. Like, peop- people, fans of our show, it's a bit of a meme on our show that the fans of it don't tell their friends that they listen to it.

    19. DJ

      Mm.

    20. RR

      Like, everyone's listens in secret, in hiding, if you will. Um, which is, which is fine, but I'd much prefer that everyone just likes our show openly.

    21. DJ

      Yeah.

    22. RR

      Yeah.

    23. DJ

      Like pornography, everyone knows it's consumed, but no one discusses it.

    24. RR

      I discuss it. At least, well, at least twice a week. 'Cause we do two, two podcast episodes a week. It gets brought up every single time.

    25. DJ

      Pornography?

    26. RR

      Yeah, definitely.

    27. DJ

      Categories.

    28. RR

      Categories.

    29. DJ

      Watch history. What do you speak about?

    30. RR

      Well, you know, technique. Time, time of day, frequency.

  17. 50:21 – 1:01:09

    Class game, creator economics, Malteser lore, and Labour card closer

    1. DJ

      Yeah. I feel like I could be in Oliver Twist too. Uh, where was I gonna go for that? Oliver... Yeah. One of the, one of the things I wanna end on is a segment I've curated just for this podcast.

    2. RR

      I can't wait. This is gonna be great.

    3. DJ

      And it's, it's a big occasion. We're filming at Spotify HQ and with Rufus Rice.

    4. RR

      Mm.

    5. DJ

      So I've developed a game that I've never developed before just for you, and it's a kind of posh or not type game.

    6. RR

      Yeah.

    7. DJ

      Where you have to guess whether an area in Scotland is, like, a council estate or a sch- what we call a scheme, or somewhere that's posh.

    8. RR

      Yeah.

    9. DJ

      So I'm just gonna say the name, and you can make your assumption.

    10. RR

      Sure.

    11. DJ

      So Bearsden.

    12. RR

      Bearsden.

    13. DJ

      Posh or not?

    14. RR

      Sounds like a gay club, The Bearsden, doesn't it? Uh, l- let's go, let's throw it out. Let's go posh first up.

    15. DJ

      Agreed. Posh.

    16. RR

      Is it? But what is your idea of... Like, what is Bearsden like?

    17. DJ

      Oh, it's got, like, detached houses. People own their own homes. There's a well-to-do school there. W- a lot of the yummy mummies and corporate executives live there.

    18. RR

      Yeah. Right. So it's-

    19. DJ

      It's in proximity to a David Lloyd.

    20. RR

      Yeah.

    21. DJ

      Do you have that here?

    22. RR

      Yes. Yeah, I've... I'm not a member, but I've heard. I've heard great things. [laughs]

    23. DJ

      Drumchapel.

    24. RR

      No, that's gotta be... That's, like, the slums, right?

    25. DJ

      Correct.

    26. RR

      Yeah. Fe- felt right.

    27. DJ

      Crynna.

    28. RR

      Crynna. That's slum. I'm going slum again.

    29. DJ

      Posh.

    30. RR

      Ah, okay. But it's, it's all relative, isn't it? That's a relative ghetto.

Episode duration: 1:01:09

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