Comedy / Live Podcast
Helen Bauer and Catherine Bohart take their ‘Trusty Hogs’ podcast on tour
Comedians, close friends, and self-confessed ‘worst agony aunts in the world’, Helen Bauer and Catherine Bohart are also the hosts of the award-nominated comedy podcast, Trusty Hogs.
Every week, the pair attempt to tackle listener dilemmas, with the help of a guest comic. To date, they have been joined by countless special guests including James Acaster, Fern Brady, Aisling Bea, David O’Doherty, Sindhu Vee, Phil Wang and Ed Gamble.
With over 130 episodes and counting, Trusty Hogs have cultivated a loyal following for their unique and chaotic brand of confessional comedy. And now they are taking it on the road, bringing their debut podcast tour to The Hen & Chicken Studio on July 10.
is needed now More than ever
How would you explain what Trusty Hogs is to, for example, your friend’s mum?
“We tell our friends’ mums that it’s profound radio for the masses. That it’s an important psychoanalysis of our culture and our generation and that she should really check it out, AND spend her generational wealth on our Patreon.”
You have very different comedy personas. What is it about the dynamic between you that works so well on a podcast?
“Our personas work so well together because we have each other to take turns being depressed with. Plus, switching between support giving roles means there’s a great balance between chaotic joy-driven problem solving and reasoned, calm and kindness-driven problem solving. It keeps the audience on their toes and occasionally offers genuinely useful amidst the otherwise frenetic back and forth.”
Catherine Bohart (left) and Helen Bauer (right) getting gossip at a previous live show with Brona C Titley – photo: Trusty Hogs
Your fans are well-known to be very engaged in what you do, and you champion them as well. If any, what impact has this supportive network made on your solo standup, or your feelings towards comedy in general?
“The support of fans has enabled us to be so much more willing to take risks and be more honest with our standup. We can be mad and share any thought and we know there will be supportive Hogs who will be in the crowd that get us and permit it. Maybe, it’s made us too brave, even…”
When you consider the intimacy of a podcast mic and studio, as opposed to a stage, how much easier is it to be confessional?
“Podcasting is an easy medium to forget there is an audience for, it’s hard to picture thousands of listeners when you’re effectively just chilling in a room with one of your closest friends. We sometimes even forget the mics are there, so it’s easy to share personal experiences (but harder for Andrew and Em, our producers, to edit them)…”
Catherine Bohart, Helen Bauer and producer, Andrew White – aka Trusty Hogs with a real life hog – photo: Trusty Hogs
For you, where is the line between sharing and oversharing?
“What do you mean? There’s a line?”
What excites you most about taking the podcast on tour for the first time?
“People who work in a box telling each other their secrets should definitely get any opportunity to get out on the road, get some fresh air, and maybe even notice things about other people. The tour is really a chance to stretch our legs and talk to anybody other than ourselves. Meeting so many lovely supportive fans and seeing that what we’re doing has a real-life audience of cool and nice people is another fun aspect, but we’re probably most excited by the road trip snack rotation!”
Trusty Hogs live with Jordan Gray – photo: Cheerful Earful
Trusty Hogs: Live! is at The Hen & Chicken Studio on July 10 at 8pm. Tickets are available at www.thecomedybox.co.uk.
Find out more at www.trustyhogs.com or follow @trustyhogs.
Main photo: Trusty Hogs
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