It finally happened. One innocent snack chat. One unfortunate Freudian slip. And suddenly Rob has offered the nation a Choc Dick.

In Episode 72 of The Variety Show, Tom and Rob return for another round of nostalgic nonsense, snack-based investigations and passionate rants that spiral wildly out of control. There’s a new season taste test format, a deep dive into modern Lego ruining childhoods, questionable chocolate scoring systems, a Journey Through Middle-Earth fitness challenge, and a snack so good it accidentally gets renamed forever.

Expect:

🍫 A legendary Choc Dip slip-up

🧱 A furious Lego rant

🏃 FitQuest step challenges and VR workouts

🎶 Retro chart nonsense from the year 2000

🎄 Christmas aftermath chaos

😏 And far too many things being dipped into sacks

It’s chaotic. It’s nostalgic. It’s filthy. And it’s absolutely on brand.

Listen now and find out why Choc Dip will never be called Choc Dip again.

#TheVarietyShow #Podcast #ComedyPodcast #SnackTest #Nostalgia

FitQuest

You can join FitQuest for free (and minimal data) here: https://fitquest.support-me.co.uk.

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WARNING - We tested out a walkabout recorder rather than the Lavaliers. I know it's not as bad as I think but I still want you to know, this isn't the normal quality!! We are working on it, I promise!

For the final episode of the year, Tom and Rob leave the studio behind and take a festive wander through two familiar towns to answer one important question: which one actually feels like Christmas?

Armed with nostalgia, sharp opinions, and a suspicious number of LED complaints, the boys walk through Hemel Hempstead and St Albans, judging Christmas lights, trees, town centres, and the general festive “vibe” — while discovering that colour appears to be illegal in modern Christmas decorating.

Along the way there are disappointing trees, baffling design choices, Instagram-bait decorations, knitted postbox toppers, and one genuinely Christmassy saviour hidden away in the Maltings. There’s also a gloriously retro detour into 90s Nokia ringtone culture, as Rob attempts to identify classic Christmas songs recreated using a vintage Nokia composer emulator.

Add Liebkuchen taste-testing, childhood memories, mild outrage, and the slow realisation that it’s far too late at night for Christmas lights to still be on — and you’ve got the perfect cosy, chaotic send-off for 2025.

Merry Christmas from The Variety Show, and we’ll see you in 2026 🎄

#WalkingHomeForChristmas

#ChristmasPodcast

#UKNostalgia

#Channel84

#FestiveChaos

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WARNING - MR BLOBBY CONTENT IN 'WAS IT BEST LEFT IN THE 90s'.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and also the most unhinged. Episode 70 marks our annual UK Christmas Adverts & Snack Ratings Spectacular, where Tom and Rob take on 18 adverts and 18 festive treats in a marathon of ho-ho-ho’s, ho-ho’s, and the occasional definitive no-no-no.

This year’s lineup includes everything from robot cars in San Francisco, the eternal question of whether Titanic is a Christmas film, Benedict Cucumber-Snatch’s Grinch legacy, Asda’s “Very Merry Grinchmas,” and the kind of baffling advert casting choices that can only happen in December. Keira Knightley? Joe Wilkinson? Cheese counters? Sure.

Alongside the ads, the table is absolutely covered in snacks: Skittles drinks, spicy crisps, imported German Liebkuchen Rounds that may have spiritually changed one of the hosts, and enough sugar to put the Reindeer Union out of business. Expect passion, confusion, festive arguments, emotional breakdowns over bakery products, and a lot of surprisingly deep food analysis.

If you love Christmas adverts, hate Christmas adverts, or simply like listening to two grown men slowly lose structural integrity across 90+ minutes… this is your episode.

Listen now on:

🍏 Apple Podcasts

🎵 Spotify

📱 Goodpods

🔗 https://pod.link/Channel84

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#Christmas2025 #Adverts #Xmas #Christmas #Xmas2025

Tom and Rob dive head-first into one of the most unhinged pieces of children’s television ever created: Totty. What starts as a simple retro deep-dive quickly becomes an existential crisis featuring flaming dolls, cursed grandparents, satanic umbrellas, and a child staring lovingly into open flame. Yes, really.

Before that, Tom shares his upcoming San Francisco trip, an exploding schedule, and the legendary “goat joke” that nearly cancelled the show in under 90 seconds. Then: a nostalgia quiz of 80s and 90s theme tunes — from Banana Man to Fraggle Rock — complete with VHS-quality audio and the return of Bertha’s questionable accents.

The middle of the episode melts into absolute advertising chaos:

– Walkers’ “delicioussss” mouth-sounds terror

– The unnervingly AI-generated Coca-Cola Christmas advert

– The truly cursed Mo & Mia boiler mouse PSA

– McDonald’s disastrous voice-note delivery ad

– Tom & Rob both record their own voice-note versions, and yes, they are worse.

Later, the boys ask: Has the death of terrestrial TV secretly killed our Christmas spirit? A surprisingly wholesome (and sad) reflection about festive adverts, Argos catalogues, and why no one gets the magic anymore.

Finally: The 90s song that time should have left behind — Bus Stop’s remix of Kung Fu Fighting — and the shocking confession that Tom once bought it on CD from Woolworths.

It’s chaos. It’s nostalgia. It’s horrifying dolls. It’s Episode 69.

Tottie:

https://youtu.be/Jya3iE4Zm8E?si=PVzoh8ot_wg7KwAe

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Tom and Rob return for a very 68-ish episode of The Variety Show, adding chaos, cocoa and cancelled confectionery in equal measure.

First up, the boys attempt to ruin famous films by adding just one word — from Schindler’s Shopping List to Lord of the Ringtone and A Clockwork Terry’s Orange, nothing is sacred. Listener submissions from Simon (Who Takes the Socks Off), Adam (Lightly Used) and James (Super A to Z) keep the game going right to the credits.

Then it’s Millennials vs Gen Z as Tom’s daughter Kay reads out baffling new slang — “cap”, “delulu”, “peak”, “riz” and “sigma” — while the dads try to decode what any of it means. Expect pure generational meltdown.

Things only escalate when they discover Club Bars, Penguins, and Wagon Wheels are no longer legally classed as chocolate. Cue furious nostalgia, a tangent on why Disney keeps remaking everything, and a plea for originality before the cocoa runs dry.

Finally, it’s a five-way Taste Test:

• Vanilla Latte Oreos ☕
• Golden Wonder Chippies (Gravy Flavour) 🍟
• Gingerbread Digestives (Festive Edition)
• Maltesers Mini Reindeers (Gingerbread Flavour) 🦌
• Kit Kat Chunky Rolo Edition 🍫

Which snacks rise to the occasion and which get cancelled completely?

Plus, Was It Best Left in the 90s? returns with Fat Les’ “Vindaloo” — should it stay in ’98 or make a comeback?

It’s over-caffeinated, over-opinionated and over an hour of British nostalgia mayhem.

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#SchindlersShoppingList

#ClubBarsArentChocolate

#MillennialsVsGenZ

#WheresTheGingerbread

#BringBackVindaloo

It’s Rob’s birthday and everything’s gone gloriously off the rails! Tom and Rob celebrate with Star Trek Micro Machines, Lego flowers and a brand-new charity art challenge for The Samaritans. But before the cake’s even cut, the boys are furious at Fall Out Boy’s remake of The Muppet Christmas Carol classic “It Feels Like Christmas” — and they don’t hold back.

A full-on nostalgia explosion follows: the great Aldi vs Angel Delight taste test (and a shock winner), a “Do You Remember?” duel featuring Dawn French’s Murder Most Horrid and 90s toy legend the Barcode Battler, plus a look back at Hip Hop eJay and the weird DJ gadgets of the past.

Finally, “Was It Best Left in the 90s?” asks whether girl group Vanilla’s No Way No Way should have stayed in the bargain bin. Expect laughter, chaos, nostalgia, and more birthday-fueled nonsense than your ears can legally handle.

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We are part of the Studio:Channel84 network and are featured on their site https://channel84.co.uk.

Finally, why not e-mail us:

TJ tj@channel84.co.uk

Rob rob@channel84.co.uk

Both Hosts podcasts@channel84.co.uk

Music

Intro created by the amazing Ryan at Geeky Brummie

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Tom and Rob are back — and things get deliciously chaotic! 🍫🎶

In this episode, the boys tackle their Song Challenge: Tom drops a 90s tribute, Rob beams up a Star Trek Drum & Bass anthem, and we even get two surprise eJay tracks — one of which took just five minutes to make!

Then it’s time to Spice Up Your Life as they revisit Spice World: The Movie. Expect nostalgia, questionable plot analysis, and a quiz that’ll test your 90s pop knowledge.

Finally, it’s a Taste Test marathon featuring:

🥚 Gumi Yum egg — could it outshine Kinder?

🍕 Pizza crisps — genius or disaster?

🍗 Walkers Masala Chicken & Teriyaki crisps

🍫 Aero Double Choc Brownie Drops

🍊 Club Orange Layered drink

It’s one part retro rave, one part snack explosion, and all parts Variety Show chaos.

🎧 Stream it now on your favourite platform — links below!

Links:

🍏 Apple Podcasts

🎵 Spotify

📱 Goodpods

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Facebook you can find us with Studio:Channel84.

We are part of the Studio:Channel84 network and are featured on their site https://channel84.co.uk.

Finally, why not e-mail us:

TJ tj@channel84.co.uk

Rob rob@channel84.co.uk

Both Hosts podcasts@channel84.co.uk

Music

Intro created by the amazing Ryan at Geeky Brummie

https://geekybrummie.com

🎙️ Tom and Rob are back with toddler chaos, salty snacks, and a music game that nearly breaks Rob’s brain.

👶 Toddler Trouble: Nursery drop-offs are a battlefield, with floppy kids, sticker charts, and endless soft play bribes.

🎶 Song Contest Update: Rob finally gets his music software working, while Tom wonders if his own tune is doomed to stay unpolished forever.

🍬 Japanese Taste Test: From crystal bottle treats to candy hamburgers and the world’s saltiest dried plums (which lead to spitting, gagging, and regret), the boys try it all.

🎵 The Big Music Game: Inspired by Richard Osman’s House of Games, Rob must guess the exact second when lyrics kick in across 10 tracks from his favourite bands. Will he nail it, or just embarrass himself? (Spoiler: it’s messy.)

📼 Back to the 90s: Visa Electron vs Solo cards, collecting phone cards, and a rewatch of the Spice World (1997) trailer. The nostalgia is strong, the jokes are questionable, and the memories are peak playground era.

🎬 Outro: A shoutout to Spice World 1997, which Tom and Rob will be watching (and tearing apart) for the next episode!

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Instagram / Threads - _VarietyShowPod

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Facebook you can find us with Studio:Channel84.

We are part of the Studio:Channel84 network and are featured on their site https://channel84.co.uk.

Finally, why not e-mail us:

TJ tj@channel84.co.uk

Rob rob@channel84.co.uk

Both Hosts podcasts@channel84.co.uk

Music

Intro created by the amazing Ryan at Geeky Brummie

https://geekybrummie.com