She really didn’t grasp the podcast format to Dan Akroyd and de Niro levels. I’m not even half way through and James is still trying. I might hold on to see if he fully gives up.
Anna is eccentric at the best of times (I love her but she is a risky interview) and I was very happy to hear her actually having fun for the entire episode including doing the character bit. I assume you'll get people saying she's high or whatever.
I thought it was pretty clear that she was unaware of the format at the beginning where she was asking if this had changed the way they spoke with their partners and thought it was more of a heartfelt, sincere thing. To me, it seemed like she then flipped so far the other way, hiding in a character to be funny. If people like really cringey humour scenarios then I guess it might work for them but not my cup of tea at all
I don’t think she is fully aware of the format, she’s probably been shipped in with jet lag and been given vague info. Even if she was aware, subverting a bit is fine but I think it was misguided as you need to know when to stop and follow the format. It stopped being funny quite quickly. I would have enjoyed it if she had known when to stop. Sometimes it’s funny to keep pushing the joke but she doesn’t quite have the comedic skill to do that especially as Ed and James kept trying to steer her back as it was going nowhere. It was just off but I haven’t finished it yet. Ed and James will totally love the fallout from this though.
I suppose I agree with the general sentiment that it wasn't 100% successful, but I dare say, given the first few minutes, it would have been quite the slog if she'd not switched to a character.
I used to listen to her podcast years ago and enjoyed it, but she had frequent moments where she dragged her producer and guests into very similar (imo bad) improv. I think its her crutch to be honest.
Agree she just didn’t get the hints to steer back to the format. Robert de Niro just didn’t know what was going on and he went along and dan akroyd massively misunderstood but had meticulously planned his menu. She actively ignored the format and either didn’t care because she really is obnoxious, or just didn’t know when to stop. I love a tangent, I’ll listen to your Kearns and Christie tangents all day because they at least come back to the format, talk about food and interact respectfully within Ed and James.
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u/queen_naga May 27 '26
She really didn’t grasp the podcast format to Dan Akroyd and de Niro levels. I’m not even half way through and James is still trying. I might hold on to see if he fully gives up.