CheapShow - Ep 175: Choose Your Own Misadventure
Episode Date: April 24, 2020If you would like to listen to a funny, odd economy comedy podcast... Turn to Page 69. If you would like to carry on living in silent ignorance... Turn to Page 13! That's right, this week on CheapShow... we take a quick dive into the world of "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. Allowing children to escape into a story where they control the outcome, Paul and Eli reminisce about their own memories of the books and look back at the UK "Fighting Fantasy" stories too. In order to see how Eli would fair, Paul casts him into an online CYOA adventure of his own... ...And a there's a Tales from the Shop Floor about poop too. Which is nice! And if you like us, why not support us: www.patreon.com/cheapshow Share & Enjoy. Photos/Videos for this episode can be seen at https://www.thecheapshow.co.uk/ep-175-choose-your-own-misadventure If you want to get involved, email us at thecheapshow@gmail.com And if you have to, follow us on Twitter @thecheapshowpod or @paulgannonshow & @elisnoid If you like what you hear, please spread the word! Like, Review, Share, Comment... LOVE US! AWARDS: Vote Now @projectcheapsk8 www.tinyurl.com/cca2020vote MERCH Www.cheapmag.shop www.tinyurl.com/rbcheapshow Paul is writing a book! Want to help make it happen? https://unbound.com/books/ghosts/
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, it's another week in a remote episode of Cheap Show.
I'm Paul Gannon.
And I'm Eli Silverman. Hi, remotely.
Hi, everyone. How are things with you, Eli? Are things groovy?
No, no. Groovy?
Why?
Because...
You've got to put a smile on, haven't you?
In tough times, you've got to come together and you've got to put on a smile,
put on a smile.
Paul,
I've been having an idea about that to cheer everyone up.
Yeah.
You know,
people are doing a lot of sponsored stuff
to support the NHS
and things like that.
Yeah.
Hear me out.
Yeah.
When you say hear me out,
I worry.
Go on.
Thwop it.
A thwoppage marathon,
basically. That's it, you know. I see how many times I can... Go, go, go.. A thwoppage marathon, basically.
That's it, you know.
I see how many times I can thwop it, you know.
I'll thwop it all over the flat.
And people sponsor per thwop, you know.
Per thwop.
Now, we need to really think about what constitutes a thwop.
It's when you get your whole junk out and you thwop it onto something.
Yeah, but thwop it, does it have to make a sound?
That's the sound it makes.
Yeah, but what I'm saying is you couldn't do it on a pillow, for example.
You can't thwop it on a pillow.
Pillow, that's something else.
That's soft nusslage now we're into.
That's a lovely soft nusslage.
I mean, I'll do that as well. True. I'll go thwop in the
kitchen, come in the bedroom,
soft nusslage. But what about a dog's
head? What about a dog's
head? Can you thwop it on a dog's
head?
Anyway, welcome to
Cheap Show. Welcome to Cheap Show, everybody.
I hate you and your fucking noodle posse.
People love noodles.
It's just a fact of Cheap Show
you're going to have to learn to fucking accept.
Cheap Show Cheap Show
It's the price of shite
Paul Gannon
Eli Silverman. Welcome to Cheat Show. And a go and a nuzzle.
So yes, here we are. How are you? Ladies and gentlemen, the Economy Comedy Podcast, where
me and Eli go for the bargain bins, the charity shops, the pound lands and beyond of Great
Britain and bring the treasure that we find amongst the trash to your ears.
Ah.
Ah, lovely.
I'm just trying to think what I've got to hand here, Paul.
Have you got a source report, mate?
We're desperate.
You're desperate for a source report?
I need a source report here.
All right.
Do-do-do, do-do-do, do-do-do.
Salsa picante.
Oh, that's very fancy. Well, that just means hot sauce report hit. All right. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. Salsa picante. Oh, that's very fancy.
Well, that just means hot sauce in Spanish.
No, well, I know, but it's nice that we're bilingual.
I had bought some salsa picante tamazula.
Ooh, baby.
And I tried it.
It's got one of those little...
You know the way Tabasco has a very narrow...
Spout. A narrow spout?
A narrow spout, so you can control the droppage.
A thin shaft.
Yes.
So you can sort of just really control how many drops on there.
I'm not thinking about a bottleneck, am I?
Yeah.
Do you know what I'm thinking?
You're thinking about me dribbling out the end of my cock.
Yeah.
Right. Tamazula. I love thinking? You're thinking about me dribbling out the end of my cock. Yeah. Right.
Tamazula.
I love the name.
Thwop drip.
It was a very nice sauce.
What, the thwop drip?
No.
Also, I've got a Mexican buffalo style sauce there, which I haven't tasted.
I tasted the Tamazula.
So, it's a Mexican take on a butterfly.
Buffalo.
Yeah.
Buffalo, which we covered last week, actually,
which was the source invented for chicken wings in Buffalo, New York.
Yes.
But it's gone all over the world.
Because I ate some yesterday, actually.
I've got some Turkish Chipotle.
Right. What makes it turkish
it was from turkey it was manufactured in turkey oh okay so it's fundamentally the same thing it's
just from a turkish company yes but right i don't want no more no come on come on i don't want
anymore no i'm done it's not like the source of The source report is not over until the fat lady sings, okay?
Right?
Yeah.
So I don't hear the fat lady.
Do you hear the fat lady?
I do not hear the fat lady singing, nor do I see one nearby.
Well, the source report will finish then, right?
Unless the fat lady chirps up, yeah?
Right.
Oh, who's this?
Oh, who's this new character walking in? Oh, no this Oh it's Who's this new character
Walking in
Oh no
Oh
Oh
I have
So
Right
That's the end of the
Source report Paul
Well that means
Bye
Bye
Bye
She's off now
Don't call her fat
That must mean the
Segment's over
Don't call her the
Fat lady to her face
Say call her the Nice lady to her face.
Say, call her the nice lady.
I didn't.
Right.
Oh, no.
This woman spells it P-H-A-T.
So, you know, it's more like cool.
Yeah.
It's like the fat lady.
Yeah.
It's like that.
It's a spin on it.
Okay.
Well, the source report was curtailed.
But, you know, at least it was for the right reason.
It was for the right reasons.
So, do you want to know what we're doing on the show today mr silverman i'd like some kind of guidance because uh you know i've got to know what to uh what to say and stuff like that prepare for yeah right well here's what's coming up on the
show today at 10 we speak to the queen on her birthday and say,
what do you want for your birthday?
No, we don't.
We're not speaking to the queen.
At 10.30, we get down and dirty with Madonna live in the studio.
She'll be releasing her latest hot track and dropping it on our show.
Yeah.
At 12, dogs.
You're such a dick.
You're always dogs,
innit?
But at 11,
but 11 before 12,
we insert.
What?
You insert what?
A dog.
Insert a dog
up Madonna's
fudge.
No.
My idea was going to be
called Thwop or Cop
where it's like you have to touch your penis
and one of them's a man and one of them's a policeman.
And you have to tell from the...
From the helmet.
Good, good, good Paul.
Very good.
You know what, sometimes I look at the comments
on the reviews on iTunes
or the comments on Twitter
Who say
A hilarious podcast
All about
Cocks and spunk
And poos
And I go
We've got to be more than that
I know
But we're not
Oh well
So no
Actually coming up
On the show today
We are doing
A Tales from the Shop floor
We're not going to
Do some of those in a while.
And it's time we dove into the bag, the mail bag, and got one out.
Absolutely.
Well, and you've got one selected, have you, for us?
I do have one selected.
And then in a kind of take on Ganon's Golden Games,
we're going to be discussing Choose Your Own Adventure stories
and talking about them somewhat today.
Maybe even playing a little one. about i'm up for that i've got lots of stamina points and i've got excellent
magic bollocks rattle the magic bollocks explain well roll a d20 yeah what did you get oh you mean
you want me to roll an imaginary one well i, I can't see you, so yeah.
All right, I'm going to roll one.
Here we go.
It's in my hand.
Rolling it.
Seven.
Right, I'll look that up.
Hang on.
I'll just get the old book out.
The old Dungeon Master book.
That's it.
I've got to go to the magic bollocks table.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Seven.
Magic items.
Go, Nads.
Yeah.
Seven.
Seven are old, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
You haven't managed to get the threshold magic level
for the bollocks to be activated.
So have I been defeated by the bollocks?
No, the bollocks weren't.
They were just a magic thing.
You've got to, you know,
get them going
and you did it.
Oh, so like you've got to like
build up the magic
in the bollocks.
Well, it says...
And then you can release the magic.
It says it.
It says it.
Let me get this straight.
Yeah.
I have to massage
my blue magic balls
until I can release the magic.
Yes.
By rolling a d20.
But you didn't...
And 10 and over... 10 and over.
10 and over. I'll tell you what would
have happened. The magic
would have come out of the bollocks.
Right out.
All the way out the end.
Alright, well, there we go.
We've made some
light of the idea of playing a
roleplay game. Well done, Mr. Tillman.
Thank you. Well done. Okay.
Yeah, that's two minutes of content.
How much longer? That is two minutes.
No, that's it. We're going to move on.
Well, it's time for the show where we delve into the
Cheap Show Mailbag and we pull out
one of your letters and read it out.
Oh, okay.
To be fair, there is quite a lot
of tales from the shop floors I've got to get round to,
of different types and styles, some scat-based, some spunk-based, some sick-based,
some just wry observations.
Okay, well, what type are we having today?
Scat.
Okay, good.
It's been a while, so I thought we'd dive right in.
Yeah, go on, hit me with the scat
Right, well, if anyone would like to send
An email to us for anything
Not just to tell us from the shop floor
Please get in touch
Thecheapshowatgmail.com
Oh, and before I forget
We've had two entries already
Which is great for the Eurovision Song Contest
Okay, but just cover this
Cover again what the Eurovision
Song Contest is We, but just cover this, cover again what the Eurovision Eurovision Song Contest
is. We're going to do
our own Eurovision Song Contest
knock-off, where basically people can send us
an audio track of about a minute,
a minute and a half of a song that
they've written, and then me, you,
Ash, maybe Biffo, will judge it
just like Eurovision,
like N'il Poi, or
Santé, Santé, or whatever it is, I don't know.
Sante Sante.
And then there's a winner, and that winner will win a prize,
I don't know, probably.
Could they perhaps win that weird picture of me and you?
Yeah, that's a good idea.
We'll sign it, and we'll fill it full of our own man fluid.
No, we won't.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop talking about spunk. I'm sick of spunk. No, he won't. Stop. Stop.
Stop talking about spunk.
I'm sick of spunk.
Well, anyway.
So we've had a few questions about length and things like that.
Yeah, again, ideally a minute and a minute and a half because we get a fair few.
I want to get through loads of them.
And also, I don't want to listen to hours of music.
No, no. Also, the other thing I wanted to point out was some people have been asking, can I do
covers of popular hits? And I'm just going to go
no, because one,
that means it's not your song, and two, it means it might
kick off copyright things if I host
it on YouTube, etc. Just like the real
Eurovision Song Contest, Paul,
we want original songs only.
We want original compositions,
stuff that
you've made yourself
We don't want your version of
Nights in Black Satin
Or whatever it's called
With funny lyrics
What's that song?
Nights in Black Satin
Who is it by?
Moody Blues
Proctal Harm
The Moody Blues
Proctal Harm Proctal Harm. Proctal Harm? The Moody Blues.
Proctal Harm.
Proctal Harm.
Proctal Harm, yeah.
By Proctal Harm.
Now, Paul, you said... Was I right?
No, I just told you who it was.
Moody Blues.
Moody Blues.
Now, what was their most famous song, arguably?
Well, that one.
Go Now.
Black Saturn?
Go Now.
What?
Go Now? Go... Yeah. All right that one. Go now. Black Saturn. Go now. What? Go now?
Yeah.
All right, bye.
No.
Paul, I've had some questions.
You said that with the Eurovision Song Contest,
we've had a lot of questions about length.
Yeah.
Oh, he's gone.
Paul well Paul
lonely
he's gone go now I said and he's gone he's done a fake walkout I know you're there right I think
just calls for
let's think
who's the least popular character I've ever done
that Paul really hates, Inchman
he could come back couldn't he
do you want to come in
yeah just what's that what's that Do you want to come in? Yeah, just...
What's that?
What's that?
What?
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
What?
What?
What?
Hello?
Paul?
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
You back, are you?
Hello? No. What the fuck, man? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? You're back, are you? Hello?
No.
What the fuck, man?
Hello?
Can you stop mucking around?
I had something very serious to say.
All right, go on.
What is it?
We had, you said, with the Eurovision contest, we've had, Eurovision contest, we've had a
lot of questions about...
Yes.
You said we've had a lot of questions about length.
Yeah.
Is this right?
Well, a few questions about how long they want it and some people... How long they want it? It? Well, a few questions about how long they want it.
How long they want it?
It was questions about length,
and it's how long they want it.
Well, let me tell you something, Paul.
Let me tell you something.
Let me tell you.
Yeah.
I've had a lot of questions about length.
Yeah?
Yeah.
And I know exactly how long they want it.
Because they never get it.
No.
I know how long they want it.
Because you're Inchman.
Yes.
Here he is. Hello! Oh, fuck. it. No. I know how long they want it. Because you're Inchman. Yes. Here he is.
Hello!
Oh, fuck.
Right.
Hello.
I've been conned.
Right.
Who wanted an inch?
You?
I think Paul does, Mr. Inchman.
Ask him.
Hello, Mr. Paul.
Hello.
Do you want an inch?
Why is Inchman like Basil Brush?
I don't know what you're talking about. Hello, Mr. Paul.
Mr. Paul, do you want an inch?
Why not give me an inch?
All right.
Ready?
Just the one inch.
Eli, just one inch, please.
Okay, I'll tell him.
One inch?
Mr. Inch Man.
Yeah.
All right.
You want an inch?
Yeah.
We do want an inch, Mr. Inch Man,
but could you just do the one inch
because we've got to get on with the show
Alright
If you're sure
Inch
That's it
Yeah
No you know what
You are right
It is one of your least popular characters
With me
Quite considerably
Well he's gone now
Don't say it when he's in the room
The depth
Of which the character can go
Is puddle based
He can go
Is pud The depth to which the character can go is is puddle based he can go it is part the depth
to which the character can go is puddle based yes there's nothing wrong with that statement at all
yeah the depth to which that character can go is puddle based the puddle based depth yeah
no nothing based depth yeah yeah so when you say
as deep as the ocean you'd say ocean ocean ocean depth but based it's based it's ocean based oh
like it's lake lake depth this is petri dish based length yeah there you go you see the opportunities
are endless paul i think we should actually start the recording again because uh oh please we're gonna do tales from the shop floor where you send in your emails about
tales from the shop floor maybe you work in a charity shop or a shop or any kind of business
and you've had quite the incident or a series of incidents leading to a firing. Yes.
What's been your favourite story so far?
It's very hard to pick a favourite,
Paul, but
like we've covered before, I like it
when it's old people, perhaps getting nude,
and there's also, I do like
a bit of scat. I'm looking forward to this.
Well, let's find out what today's
email's all about.
I'm opening the email inbox and pulling out our email.
Here's an email from Larry or Lummox60N.
Okay, hello.
Well, I'm going to wait until he says...
If he says hello, we'll see if he says...
He does say hello chaps at the start.
Chaps?
Chaps.
What is he, some kind of posh cunt?
Nothing wrong with chaps, I say chaps sometimes
Do you?
Yes
You know when I say chaps?
When you're a grizzly bellend or something
Is it that?
No, it's when I'm in a cowboy costume store
And they ask me what I want
I say chaps
Absolutely excellent work Eli
Absolutely brilliant
They say, ah Mr Silver Absolutely excellent work, Eli. Absolutely brilliant.
They say, ah, Mr. Silverman, nice to see you back again.
How can I help you?
And I say, chaps.
And then they say, all right, do you want the Christine Aguilera model?
And I say, yes. And then you get your flaky, withered, dead rose-looking bell end out.
And then you get your flaky withered dead rose looking bell end out.
Flaky withered dead rose looking.
Yeah.
Wow.
Poetry.
Poetry sometimes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Brilliant.
The poetry of filth.
So are you ready for today's story? Yeah.
It's a bit of a long one, but we'll crack on. So hello chaps, having listened to
so many of your shows and being underwhelmed
by the tales I've heard.
Ooh.
Ooh, you think he is?
He's frowned down. Maybe this one won't live up.
He's frowned down the gauntlet.
Yeah, so if this doesn't measure up.
Yeah, we'll be the judge of that.
Chaps. Yeah, we'll be the fucking judge of that.
Chaps. Larry. Johnny.
Chaps.
Johnny Chaps. I've got a chap dick
from when it's been rubbing. Yeah, we know we've
made that gag.
No, we haven't. Move on now. No, we haven't.
Yes, we have. I've chafed. That was the whole
point of me... I've chafing.
The point is, your penis is damaged goods, so let's just move on.
Gossip chafe.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
So he thought it would be time to throw down his own tale to us, so here we go.
Okay.
Now, I work for a local authority that ought to remain nameless, but hey, it's the most
northerly local authority in the UK.
In the UK?
Okay, so that includes Scotland, so it must be the Outer Hebrides.
Oh, yeah, he lives on an island where he's king of ducks.
Does he?
In many...
No, that was just me saying that for no reason.
He's the king of ducks.
I didn't know they had a king.
Yeah, well, they do now.
What's he called?
We have to appoint one, and it's him.
Is he called...
King of ducks.
Larry, king of ducks. Is there no quack in there? So Larry, appoint one, and it's him. Is he called... King of Ducks. Larry King of Ducks.
Is there no quack in there?
So, Larry Big Quacker King of Ducks, or something like that.
Oh, it's...
Officially speaking, it's Larry King of Ducks.
The third?
Quack oops.
Okay.
Good.
So...
Sorry.
Yeah.
Good.
No, good, Paul.
Yeah.
Right, let's just crack on.
All right. So, in the many roles good, Paul. Yeah. Right, let's just crack on. All right.
In the many roles I've worked in over the years,
I've had to deal with a fair few incidences of human doo-doo,
including the strange case of the phantom shitter
who chose to repeatedly shit outside the wall of a local graveyard.
Yeah, it might have been a dog.
Nobody ever caught them in their act of defecation, desecration.
After all, probably a dog, though, isn't it? Why why you can tell immediately whether it's a dog poo or human poo
or at least if you've got several examples can you tell the difference yeah if you were given
a dog's turd and a man's turd do you think you could tell the difference easily what would be
the giveaway one would be shaped and colored and smell like a dog's turd, Paul. And the other... Do you mean like it's...
You're saying it's got its own amplitude?
Yeah. I remember being on... Amplitude.
I remember being...
Amplitude.
Yes. I remember being on
LSD and
we were walking around
and my friend stepped in some dog shit
and the smell was overwhelming
and it felt like
i felt like for an instant i felt like i was transported inside a dog's stomach oh kids don't
use drugs very vivid well anyway i don't think i i don't think i could taste the difference
probably not mate oh also sorry i know this is out of left field paul but crisps yeah right
oh fucking hell round here yeah we can get all sorts of foreign crisps yeah and you get a lot
of lays right which as we know our walkers walkers are lays. My flatmate bought a packet of Lay's green onion flavour.
Yeah? Right.
What colour do you think the pack was?
Blues Brothers? No.
What? White.
Blue... What?
Blues Brothers?
Because don't they sing green onions?
Oh, it's glass onion. What's that song?
Oh, fuck.
Green Onions? Oh, it's Glass Onion. What's that song? Oh, fuck. Green Onions.
Green Onions.
Is it by the Blues Brothers?
Yeah.
No, it's not by the Blues Brothers.
It's just by them.
It's not by them, is it?
It is.
They did it originally.
It's the biggest hit.
They didn't do it originally, did they, Paul?
Yeah, they did.
I saw it in a film, so they did it first.
Now, Paul, what colour do you think these Green Onion flavour leis, i.e. walkers, were?
White.
Green.
And do you know what shade of green it was?
Light.
The exact same shade of green that is used on their salt and vinegar product in this country.
Oof.
Just thought I'd say that.
I'm just noticing stuff, you know?
I'm just noticing stuff about this all the time.
I mean, I know we've had this discussion already,
and I know you've drawn attention to it before we started recording,
but Eli, I don't care.
You don't care?
I just don't care.
I want to move on.
All right.
All right.
So what?
Anyway.
So, so far, Larry, with his, like,
could-have-been-a-dog shit outside the graveyard,
it's not exactly, you know, it's not lighting my fire, you know?
All right, well, let's crack on.
I want to see some scat in action.
I want scat in a place it shouldn't be.
All right, well, let's crack on.
I want scat maybe in his ear.
Let's crack on, then.
I'd like a story where someone slowly places the end of a poo into his earlobe.
Right, lovely. Into his ear hole. Shove it up his ear his earlobe. Right, lovely.
Into his ear hole.
Shove it up his ear hole.
Go on.
Right, here we go.
Once you've got all that out of your system.
Got it out of my system.
So shit outside a wall graveyard might have been a dog.
Nobody ever caught them.
But as far as I'm aware, dogs don't actually wipe their own arses
and leave a neat little fold of andrex over the steaming brown poo.
Ah!
There you go. Yeah, there'srex over the steaming brown poo. Ah! There you go.
Yeah, there's the mash in the bangers and mash.
Yeah.
There's the smoking gun.
Yeah, if it's just mash.
And do you know what?
When I see that, when I see occasionally a human shit with some toilet paper by it,
it turns my stomach, Paul.
It really does.
Just the presence of poo-poo paper somehow makes
the whole thing grosser. Do you know what I mean?
It does, you're right. I don't know why.
Yeah.
Come on!
However, the tailing question actually took place
a few years
ago on a golf course
in my town. A lovely nine-hole
affair, sighted on a rocky outcrop which
it shares with another graveyard and was at the time the local high school what was the path was
what yeah now the golf course can i have that again it was like a rocky outcrop can i have that
fucking sentence again please it's a lovely nine hole affair sighted on a rocky outcrop which it
shares a golf course
where was he
I mean first he's in
a cemetery
and then there's a
golf course
but that's what it's
saying isn't it
there's a golf course
in his town
nine holes
on a rocky outcrop
which it shares
with another graveyard
and was at the time
another local high school
with two graveyards
in
the graveyard was
the local high school
do you know what I mean
I don't know what he's going on about Larry I don't know what he's going on about, Larry.
I don't know what he's going on about.
Oh, this letter's not going well, is it?
Oh, no, wait there.
And also near this area was a public toilet.
The course had a path around it,
which is well used by dog walkers, joggers and tourists.
It was a beautiful morning of calm weather.
The sun was shining.
The school was opening for its first day back after
Christmas hogman-y, and myself and a couple
of colleagues had been tasked with emptying their
little bin... emptying the little bin...
the little bin... the litter bins...
Don't start this, don't! Please don't start.
With emptying the little, little
bins... for the
day. We jumped out of our vehicle
and proceeded to empty a cluster of bins
at the viewpoint, overlooking a portion
of the golf course. There were joggers on the
go and dog walkers, everyone out
cleansing their souls after a fortnight
of festive revelry. Buses
were bringing a throng of miserable children to the school
along the road, which also overlooks
the golf course. And there, down
on the path, we could see what we thought
was a couple walking alongside us.
Where do you think
it's going
at this midway point?
Sex.
You think it's going
to be a dirty one?
There's going to be
some coprophilic sex,
There's going to be
two people
rocking in the graveyard
with schools of bus kids.
No,
I reckon...
Learning valuable
new lessons.
Two coprophiles
all getting naked
and smearing each other
with their shit
on a gravestone.
All right, well, let's find out.
So the couple walking towards us, nothing really looked special to note, we thought.
But as we threw the contents of the bins into the back of the truck,
the male in this couple stops and steps off the path towards the wall
between the course and the quite steep cliffs
beyond no matter we collectively thought he's maybe just going to take in the view maybe he
got a new camera for christmas until he removed his trousers maybe he's got shorts on underneath
those jeans maybe setting off for a jog he folds his jeans and drapes them neatly over the top of What is going on up there?
He must have had to have gone.
Like, there was no other recourse.
Still, if you have to go, you don't take your trousers off.
That seems to me, it seems almost fetishistic,
like he's getting a kick out of it.
Do you know what I mean?
The way the meticulous...
I don't know, maybe.
The meticulous draping of the jeans.
Like, ah, the little ritual, you know, ah.
Right, maybe Eli, right?
Yeah.
He thought, I have to have a shit right now.
I need a shit right here.
He doesn't think anyone can see him,
but at the same time he's thinking,
I don't want a shit on my jeans.
So he takes them completely off,
away from the whole process,
and then does his business.
Yeah, but why does he have to?
I mean, everyone can...
Well, that's the greater question what what would what would cause you to have to shit in that situation
if i'm out with a lovely lady apparently walking in a lovely path and all of a sudden you you
decide to shit but why because i've been on several whiskeys and beers last night and it's
turned into yellow hurty water with uh with fizz pellets and it's turned into yellow hurti water with with fizz pellets
and it's extremely urgent
but then if it was that urgent
I wouldn't bother to take my trousers fully
off. I would just get some
squit room and
get going. Yeah, give yourself
some wide berth between the fabric and the
accident waiting to happen.
All I'm saying Paul is to me not having between the fabric and the accident waiting to happen. All I'm saying, Paul, is to me,
not having heard the consistency of the
shit, you see, if it is a real squirt...
Well, I think we're going to get into it.
If it's a real watery squirt, then, you know,
it led some credence to
the theory that he was
caught short.
But if it's a big... I tell you what, that credence
isn't clear water, is it? No, it's
poo water.
But if it's a big... I tell you what, that credence isn't clear water, is it?
No, it's poo water.
No, but if it's a lovely, solid, you know, chestnut brown...
Walnutty finish.
Yeah, if it's got a walnutty finish, then it's definitely a perversion.
Okay, but I'm interested.
Larry, you've piqued my interest.
Let's continue.
So here we go. Naked from the waist down
and shat, we stood in fascinated
silence as he crimped off what
must have been a fair load
because it was not a quick event.
We're all seeing this, right?
I asked my colleagues. Yeah.
And then he began to
pull on his trousers,
having unfolded them,
and give them a bit of a shake,
except he only got them about halfway on before evidently his bowels decided
they had a little more to give.
This time, though, there was more urgency.
They were not neatly folded and placed over the wall,
instead being ungraciously laid on the ground,
a good distance away from what we could only assume might be the semi-liquid
poo of fetid odour.
Well, what seems, Paul, just a little
interjection, what seems to have happened
is the old
hardened plug of shit
which is the first one that goes and then
after you've broken the seal
you know, we've all been there
it goes full liquid.
I mean, I've had it in one movement.
I've had it all laid out on the tray there.
It's gone from solid, semi-solid,
and then the last stage is pure fizzy brown hurt water.
Okay.
No, continue, please.
It wasn't long, mercifully,
before he was all done and pulled his truths back on. No wiping continue please. It wasn't long, mercifully, before he was all done
and pulled his truths back on.
No wiping took place.
Now, you'll remember I mentioned the public toilets.
Well, all of this took place not 150 metres from them.
150 metres.
I'd love to say we'd done the right thing
in taking the culprit to task over his open-air dumping,
but in truth, first day back after Hogmaney, none of us
could be arsed, and we all piled into the
vehicle, pissing ourselves laughing at what
we'd just seen and drove away. Anyway,
thought you'd enjoy that. Lots of love to you both.
Keep up the good work. Larry.
Thanks, Larry. You know, it was
an entertaining story, but could I say
your bravado at the beginning
of the letter was unfounded,
man. Come on. His hubris kind of your bravado at the beginning of the letter was unfounded man come on
his hubris kind of took the edge
off the story
it would have been a much more effective story
if he hadn't said it's going to be the Tales from the Shop Floor
scat story to end them all
which it honestly isn't
you really have to bring your A game
Lady Rabbit Plops you know what I mean
that was a good one
or about that guy who gets a lung
full of liquid shit when that tanker
bursts. Oh, that's good as well, yeah.
It went straight in his mouth.
Yeah.
But thank you very much, Larry, nonetheless.
Thank you for sending that in.
Anyone else with any other stories, listen,
it doesn't have to be about poo.
And maybe it's your first time
listening to Cheap Show today and you're thinking, is this the standard of stories you get have to be about poo. And maybe it's your first time listening to Cheap Show today
and you're thinking, is this the standard of storage you get?
Disgusting poo.
And I'd like to say categorically no.
Sometimes it is sperm or, in some special cases,
it is necrotic leg hole fucking.
So bear that in mind when you write your next letter to us.
You write your next letter to us.
Well, I guess it's time for what you could say is Ganon's Golden Games.
Yeah, go on.
Just get it out of your system now and then I can move on because otherwise I'm just going to be interrupted by your feckless stupidity.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go on. Go games yeah ganon's golden games god you sound so lonely
so what we're doing today is
is it a different version of ganon's golden games
kind of because we're often
looking at a board game
and because it's hard to obviously do board games
I don't know over the internet
between us I thought
what we'd have to do instead is play something we can do remotely.
And we can't really do that with a lot of the board games I've got here, unless you happen to have the exact same board game with the exact same question card or the exact same whatever.
Yes.
So with that in mind, I thought we'd look at a genre of gaming today.
And I don't know if it's really a genre. I mean, I don't know,
but we're going to try today a choose-your-own-adventure story.
That's definitely a genre of game,
I'd say, Paul.
Now, I had a few of those books as a kid,
and I tell you what,
the first one I remember is vividly,
and this came to me a couple of days ago,
which is why I thought we'd do it
for the segment today,
but I remember being really ill
way back when,
when I must have been about eight or nine.
It might have been flu. It might have been
chickenpox. In fact, it was chickenpox.
And shredded wheat were doing a
promotion. Oh, it was for Back to the Future,
so it was 85. So I was 85. So how old
would I have been? Five, six. So I would have been seven,
right? Seven chickenpox in
bed, shredded wheat. How many chickenpox
in bed?
Seven chickenpox in bed seven chicken pox in bed
was that worth
the interruption Eli
it wasn't worth
the interruption
no it wasn't
right you're seven
you got chicken pox
you're in bed
are you scratching
and
are they all itchy
yes I was scratching
scratchy scratchy
I had to have bats
in that pink liquid stuff
oh I love that
you know what I mean
what's it called?
Looks like Pepto-Bismol, but it's like for irritation and skin.
When I had them, I had this shower curtain superhero cape that my mother had made for me.
Yeah.
And she put all the lotion on my scabby, what are they called?
Pox.
Cock.
Pox. And. Pox.
And then I'd run around in a circle,
one of my earliest memories, to dry it off.
Well, that says a lot.
I would run around to dry it off.
Oh, good.
I'd be completely nude, covered in chicken pox.
The point is, not about your...
And I had a superhero cape on, mate.
Running around, round and round,
drying off the lotion.
I'm drying off the lotion on my puss.
You would have literally
looked like Nat Nerd from the Garbage Pail Kids
movie then, by that logic. Yeah, probably did.
So, what of it? Nothing.
So you're in bed. You're in bed.
Absolutely nothing. You're in bed with the puss.
This isn't the point. We're already taking too long to get to the point.
The point is, is that I was in bed
and I like shredded wheat, and shredded wheat
were doing the promotion work inside each... Why is that i was in bed and i like shredded wheat and doing the promotion work inside
each why is that funny just the the fact that you're in bed the state of you in bed liking
shredded wheat anyway the promotion for back to the future was a choose your own adventure booklet
inside so you open the pack up inside there's a little booklet that was kind of sealed like a sachet.
A sachet? Yes. And you tear it
open and inside was a section of
Back to the Future, but transformed
into a Choose Your Own Adventure. So it'd be like, Marty
sees a guy in a tree with binoculars.
Should he shout, Oi? Or should
he let him be? And then you'd go to page
three or seven. Do you know what, mate?
As you're saying this, I'm starting to get a little memory
hard on. I'm starting to
remember. Of
what? This.
What you're talking about. I think I remember it.
So you actually remember the promotion and these
little, there's like four in a series
and each one was a different part of the book. So like
Escaping the Terrorists and
Race to the Clock Tower
was the last one. I definitely recall that, Paul.
And can I just say, I used to love Choose Your Own Adventure.
My first experience of it was with Fighting Fantasy, Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy series.
Yeah, they're the kind of famous ones, aren't they?
The ones, like, the kind of the torchbearers for the genre.
Well, they're famous in this country.
But from what I remember is there were two main types.
There were the British ones, which were the fighting fantasy,
the Steve Jackson ones.
And then you had the American ones,
which were actually called Choose Your Own Adventure.
That was the name of the actual series.
Well, let me have a little regard of the Wikipedia page.
Okay.
So Choose Your Own Adventure or the Secret Path books
are a series of children's game books
where each story is written from a second-person point of view,
with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist
and making choices that determine the main character's actions and plot outcome.
The series was based upon a concept created by Edward Packard
and originally published by Constance Capple
and are a Montgomery Vermont Crossroads Press.
What a stupidly long fucking name.
Okay, yeah, and they're the
original ones. These are the Choose Your Own Adventure
brand ones, are they? Yeah.
And this was in 1976.
They were published by Bantam Books
later, and became
popular in the 80s and 90s, selling more than
250 million copies
between 79 and 98.
There's a lot of books.
And Random House bought it,
but allowed the Choose Your Own Adventure trademark to lapse,
and the series was relaunched by Chooseco,
which now owns the trademark.
Ah.
But they don't reissue the titles.
That's interesting, isn't it?
Yeah.
According to Packard, the core idea for the series
emerged from a bedtime story he told to his daughters
revolving around a character named Pete and his adventures.
I had a character named Pete, and I usually had him encountering all sorts of different adventures on an isolated island.
But that night, I was running out of ideas for things for Peter to do.
So I just asked them, what should I do?
And his two daughters came up with different paths for the story to take,
and Packard thought how to end the different endings for the paths.
What really struck me was the natural enthusiasm they had for the idea.
And I thought, hmm, I could write this down.
And his first book was called Sugarcane Island in 70,
based on a manuscript called that.
And it sold 8,000 copies as an independent publisher.
In 1970?
Yeah.
Then obviously it took off and all these kind of things.
So that's in a nutshell.
Fighting Fantasy is another link actually on here.
Let me have a look at that.
Series of role-playing and game books
created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston.
The first volume in the series was published in 1982 by Puffin.
The series distinguished itself by mixing
choose-your-own-adventure-style storytelling
with a dice-based role-playing element.
Oh, is that the difference?
That's right, yeah.
But the whole dice-based is based on them trusting you to play fair,
basically, which was the whole problem with it.
Right.
So if it's like, roll a six, defeat the goblin,
you just go, roll a six.
Yeah, basically.
There was a whole system where you had stamina points and stuff,
and if you lost all of your stamina points, you died sort of thing.
And I was so into it that i actually did follow all of the rules to begin with that's right you said you mapped out a
cave and when you mapped it out you found it was it was impossibly built deftap dungeon yeah which
was i think the most enjoyable one because it was just so um it was like a bottle episode or just one environment, the dungeon, you know.
So it was very simple.
Yeah.
And it focused in terms of it, pure almost,
pure just dungeon play.
And yeah, I got that into it that I wanted to map it
because I couldn't solve it.
I'd like to have a look at it these days.
Well, the genre is still popular.
It says mobile platforms, they were going to release, what did they, were planning to release a look at it these days well the genre is still popular it says in mobile platforms
um they were going to release uh what did they were planning to release a new series of handheld
games based on final fantasy fighting fantasy for the nintendo ds and psp the first of these the
warlock of firetop mountain was released on the ds in the us in november of 2009 but it came out
on the iphone and ipod in 2010. As of 2011,
Amazon Kindle had an edition of
Firetop Mountain, so you can play
those games. I guess you can obviously play them easily on a
Kindle. Yeah, very easily.
And this version's on the Android
as well, so you can get Blood of the
Zombies, House of Hell, Forest of Doom,
Island of the Lizard King, and Starship
Traveller. I remember all of those. They apparently have
been released on Android.
There was also one which was a post-apocalyptic
sort of Mad Max-style Road Warrior sort of thing.
Yeah.
That was a good one.
And funnily enough, the end of this article does talk about
how it got folded into the Dungeons & Dragons
satanic panic thing as well.
Yeah, of course it did.
He had another series where it was slightly more advanced,
sort of equivalent to Dungeons and...
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.
So he had the fighting fantasy...
Were these the wizard books?
Yes.
Because he introduced a whole system of magic,
which he cheated on as well, you know.
But it was a whole other...
And I guess that was...
Spells and stuff.
You could cast spells, basically.
Spell casting.
A.
A.
N.
N.
A. A. L. N. A.
A.
L.
L.
Oh, God.
Do you know what?
When we first started working together, I used to think, God, these tiresome jokes about
bum sex that you make all the time.
Will he ever stop doing that?
No, he never stopped. and now i'm like no
i enjoy him i'm like a hostage to sex is fun i i actually have sex is fun i found that joke you
just made funny you miss them don't you you miss my cheeky little look now um so i used to play
those and i have you heard of fist yeah no seriously am i aware FIST Was also developed by Jackson
And it's similar to Fighting Fantasy
But what's different is
It stands
FIST is F-I-S-T
Stands for
Fantasy Interactive Scenarios
By Telephone
And were a series of
Single player telephone based
Role play games
In the UK
In 1988
Weird
So people
Apparently had to
Go on adventures on the phone or something yeah i
remember those i remember those as well so it was a radio drama and yeah and the outcome you could
decide with a touch-tone phone yeah oh wow we used to that must have cost a fucking bomb we had this
early cable system and there were these games you could play interactive games on it, like roulette or, you know,
card games, casino card games.
And they had little filmed bits, which would show the live crew PA
or whatever, you know, a video.
It would go to the video where you won or the video where you lost.
But they'd filmed it all.
It was on the telly.
Weird.
Weird.
So it was all, like, pre-recorded outcomes based on your decisions.
They played one of those endings.
Well, that's kind of like how Laserdisc worked,
like things like Dragon's Lair.
Remember Dragon's Lair?
Yes.
All of that.
It was like that.
All of that stuff.
It wasn't a game so much as a
what happens next kind of thing, isn't it?
Yeah, all of those old sort of experimental almost
or early takes on interactive sort of video
are really interesting now, you know,
because it's all just been superseded, hasn't it? Well, you know you can buy
those, like, replica
arcade cabinets that are about, I don't know,
12 inches high, made of wood, they look really nice
and you can get Centipede or
Pac-Man or whatever. They're fine, but I don't
care. Until I heard recently they want to bring out a
Dragon's Lair one, and I was like, yeah,
I'd really like a mini Dragon's Lair
arcade cabinet thing. That would be yeah i'd really like a mini dragons lair arcade cabinet thing
so that would be something i'd really really really want dragons lair is the animated don
bluth uh game yeah yeah hard as nails and designed to suck as many coins out of you as possible yeah
but it's not actually a game really it's just a sort of a well you're selecting clips isn't it
isn't it well these days they'd call them like quick time events but effectively it was watch a bit of animation at a crucial point to make a decision up left down fight
to move on to the next animated sequence yeah i remember going to an arcade in westwood hoe
and uh seeing dragon's lair for the first time and i was blown away so you know me but i had a
few goats on it and it you know i couldn't get past the first you know
i couldn't do anything i just died immediately straight away yeah because it's fucking hard
yeah the other thing one of those games where i think you get more fun out of watching it someone
else play it than you playing it yourself definitely um but that's why it was such a good
coin eater wasn't it because people would see someone who'd been you'd spent 50 quid and could
do the first two levels and you'd watch them and then when they finished you'd get on it wouldn't you because
you think that doesn't look that hard or whatever try and beat it based on that yeah um it's the
equivalent of like the old lady who sat sits across from a fruit machine some guys playing
just to wait until he leaves so she can jump on it and maybe win his jackpot but it's foolish
so anyway that's foolish all of that's foolish. There is an article by Cracked, right, which goes on about, and the title of the article
is The Seven Most Fucked Up Real Choose Your Own Adventure Books.
Would you like to hear some of it?
Yeah, yeah.
Love it.
Love it.
Go on.
So one title, again, this is part of the Choose Your Own Adventure.
This one's by Edward Packard.
You are a shark who devours an alternate universe version of itself.
So the story opens with our hero hiking alone in the remote mountains of Nepal,
an endeavour which, based on the illustrations,
he is elected to tackle in a short-sleeved shirt and loafers.
Somehow you manage to make it to an ancient temple.
Then suddenly you lose consciousness and feel like your life is slowly slipping away.
And that's all on the first page, by the way.
The rest of the book consists of you inhabiting the bodies of various animals
until the temple decides you've learnt your lesson
and removes the curse that it placed on you
because you were arrogant enough to tackle the Himalayas in business casual.
And then you turn into a shark.
Well, all of the Choose Your Own Adventure books were great at creative deaths.
They were the jigsaw killers of children's books of the 80s and 90s.
But this book took it to another level,
with descriptions of your flesh being greedily devoured by killer whales lions and sharks in one ending you become a pig being
raised for its meat the book is careful to point out that you retain enough human awareness to know
of your eventual fate as stacks of blt weird the article says here dimly you remember pigs aren't
tended for their fleece like sheep,
nor for their milk like cows, nor for their eggs like hens.
They have only one purpose, one destiny.
You roll sorrowfully in the mud,
knowing that you are nothing more than pounds and pounds of ham and sausage and bacon.
That's bizarre.
That's dark, isn't it?
That's very bizarre.
Now, also, I just wanted to ask also i just wanted to ask settling i just
wanted to ask one thing paul um they used to because the choose your own adventure ones they
used to have tie-ins didn't they like indiana jones or or et or whatever probably yeah yeah
star wars likely yeah and the other thing i wanted to mention is weren't role-playing games on pcs
computer games the early ones were essentially just choose-your-own-adventure games,
weren't they?
Well, things like Hitchhiker's Guide, yeah,
where look around, what do you see?
You see a window, a door.
Go-to door.
Do not understand go-to door.
Fuck off, I hate this.
Right, yeah.
Anyway, perhaps the most unsettling story here
is of the shark and octopus storylines.
The octopus path ends when a shark
doesn't fall for your ink spewing trick
and it finds your body delicious.
Alternatively, while inhabiting
a shark's body, you can eat an octopus
who ineffectively tries to
use the ink to escape. So are you
eating yourself? Yes, you're eating yourself.
I'd like to play that one. I'd like a
copy of that one. That'd be great.
Space and Beyond, apparently ghost written by Stanley Kubrick.
What?
The book kicks off when you're born on a spaceship
travelling at 62 times the speed of light,
which causes you to grow into an 18-year-old
in three days and two hours.
But Paul, you wouldn't actually age in three days,
would you?
Only from an outside viewpoint.
For you, time would be going at the same rate.
Yeah.
Time would be normal for you. So yeah,
you would live those 18 years, but for someone else
it could be three seconds. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say.
There's no time to explore the implications
of hyper-aging, because you're immediately
booted off the ship to zoom around a planet
to planet, with 44 bizarre endings
that are a combination of 2001
and a bleak Matthew McConaughey rant.
You can fly your spaceship into a black hole
and live there with the black hole people,
or you can fly your ship at full speed
and merge with an undying void of space somehow.
Again, I'd love to have a copy of that as well.
That sounds amazing, doesn't it?
Some of the endings just give up on the story
and apparently life altogether.
But then there's the one,
the one that will haunt our nightmares
until our dying day.
We're talking, of course, about the planet
of old babies.
What?
The light island appears
as a haven for you,
and your space pod comes to
gently rest in the warm radiance.
You leave the space pod and are
greeted by a group of six creatures that change
age and features,
transforming from babies to old people.
It is more than you can understand. It is frightening. It is watching the past become
the present and the present turn into the future. It is a kaleidoscope of life endlessly repeating
the cycle of birth and death. You realise that it is beginning to happen to you. You look down at
your hands and they are small and pink. Baby's hands! Before your very eyes
they grow and change colour and texture.
The rush of time and experience
engulfs you. It is not unpleasant.
But you have no control over it.
Then, you are horrified to
see your wrinkled skin and dark liver spots
of old age appear across your hands.
Makes you think.
Is that it? Is he dead? He's gonna
die. We're all gonna die die i'd love to read these
i know they sound kind of right up your street fascinating it's very sort of it's in that era
when conspiracy theory and all ufology and all of that was at its sort of height and uh you know i
think it it penetrated uh the mainstream to an extent in that era okay all of that stuff the
14 stuff you know 40 and weirdness it must used Fortean stuff, you know, Fortean weirdness.
It used to be much more popular,
you know,
and then it,
yeah,
it led to the X-Files,
things like that,
you know,
that kind of fascination.
The acceptance of that kind of conspiracy thing
and like the mainstream,
I mean,
you could say it's gone all the way now
to becoming the popular fucking theory
half the time.
Yeah.
When you think of 5G masks
and stupid fucking idiot cunts.
Right.
So this book, Hyperspace,
begins with Professor Carl Zinker
moving into your neighbourhood
and passing out books on hyperspace to kids.
I've read this one.
This is the one I've read.
This is the one I've read.
I've read this one.
I had this one, yeah.
The professor calls you for help
after he tries to enter hyperspace.
It's like Rick and Morty.
It's just like Rick and Morty.
I guess it is, actually, when you look at it.
Yeah.
But instead, the hyperspace enters him.
If you alert the authorities, the universe is destroyed.
The right course of action is to run blindly into the strange old man's house
and prepare for wild adventures.
But the trippiest branch of the story,
you find out that your character is in a dream,
and in the dream of the bald, middle-aged coma patient dreaming about you.
So if he wakes up, you'll cease to exist.
Brilliant.
It was really good
and it's very like
the work of Philip K. Dick
as well, in a way.
So they are some pretty
fucking messed up stories
when you think about
the age ranges.
Did you have like a...
Yeah.
What was it?
What's the phrase
when you have like a kind of
crisis when you realise
you're placing the universe?
What's the phrase?
An existential...
Yeah.
Crisis.
Yeah.
What from reading that book?
Here you are, little Eli. Here's a lovely little choose-your-own-ad reading that book? Here little Eli,
here's a lovely little choose your own adventure book.
Four hours later. Mother,
what is the universe?
What is my place within it? You know, I was in
a cult. They had the children's
book for the cult that I had to study. Did they?
Yeah. Be Happy it was
called or something. Was it by Bobby McFerrin?
No.
It said, here is an apple.
The apple's good, isn't it? Be happy. And it's made
of all little
things that aren't really
things. These little atoms.
And so are you. You're made of those
as well. And at the base, all
of these little things really are nothing.
So you're made of nothing. You are nothing.
Wow. Be happy.
So, hang on.
It's saying because you are pointless, why don't you just fucking cheer up?
Well, more than pointless, you are actually literally just nothing.
Well, that's not true.
I am something.
A waveform in nothing.
No, but I am.
Are you?
Yes, I am.
No, I am something.
Are you?
I am something.
I can't be nothing.
But when you go down to the very microscopic level, Paul, it all just disappears.
It all just waves in a sea of nothingness, you and everything else.
That doesn't matter, does it?
That's by observation of a place we can't place ourselves in.
So why should I place myself in an existential nothingness void?
Because if you understand the true meaninglessness and nothingness
at the base of reality, then you're not bothered
by human desire and,
you know, unhappiness. But I am bothered
by human desire, so therefore
I exist. I've got desire.
Yeah? I want Chinese food.
Order it. You can still get takeout,
get Deliveroo app or something, or just eat.
Really? Yeah.
What if they're spitting it? Right, what a
great fucking...
This is exactly like the bullshit 5G shit.
Mate, to be fair, you don't know that people in the restaurants near you
haven't been putting their dick or tongue in your food for years.
Oh, I like it.
Dick dippage.
Dick dippage is extra.
Hello, I am Dick Dippage.
Hello, madam.
Hello, Dick.
I've got a few jokes for you.
Do you like that sandwich you're eating? That sandwich I'm eating? I put me dick. Hello, madam. Hello, Dick. I've got a few jokes for you. Do you like that sandwich you're eating?
That sandwich I'm eating?
I put me dick in it, sir.
Are they all?
Ah, I'm Mary Dick Splash.
No, no, we don't need any more characters for this.
We're fine.
We're fine.
Right, that was the worst character I've ever done.
No, Inch Lord still reigns supreme.
Look, don't say his name because he's so
enthusiastic.
He's not Candyman.
If you say it too loud, he'll come in from the atrium
and he'll give you another inch.
Or then I just won't say it.
In that case, he'll be like Macbeth to me.
I just won't say it. Never say Inchman's name.
Is he married, Inchman?
Yeah. Who to?
Centimeter Maid.
Yeah, Centimeter Maid. married inch man yeah who too there he is centimeter made ah yeah centimeter made
centimeter made an inch man while we're on the subject you know king kong's cum cave
king kong's cum cave yeah i thought of a few others yeah dracula's dribble dish. Right. I've got one.
Yeah?
Godzilla's gory gash.
Oh.
No, but I think the rule should be the middle word has to refer to the actual spooge itself.
Okay.
So King Kong's come, a cave.
Yeah.
Dracula's dribble dish.
Godzilla's gooey gash.
No, the gash.
What's a gash?
Gunji.
It has to be... What do you mean a gash?
Gunji gash.
I'll show you a gash, mate.
No, but it's not meant to be a gash
because it's a cum cave or it's a dribble dish.
Yeah, but a gash is another entry point, isn't it?
A gash.
No, but I want something else.
Well, I'm giving you gash.
I'm giving you gash.
More like a container beginning with G.
What's a container thing beginning with G?
Grotto.
Grotto.
That's on the cave.
Cum cave.
Godzilla's.
Gooch grotto.
Gunge grotto.
Yes!
I like it when we workshop on all the material.
The mummy's man fat.
Mausoleum. The mummy's Fat Mausoleum.
Mausoleum!
The Mummy's Man Fat
Mausoleum. I'm on fire,
ladies and gentlemen. I'm on fire.
Let's just have a rundown of what we've got
so far. We've got King Kong's Cum Cave,
Dracula's Dribble Dish,
Godzilla's Guns Grotto,
and, yeah,
Mummy's Man Fat mausoleum.
Cut to Tony's art desk
where Tony's company
draw in posters
for all four of these things.
I know, yeah.
And with that,
we end that segment
on a massive anti-climax.
But before we go...
No, we're not ending this segment.
We're not ending this segment.
No, we're not.
We've got one more bit to do.
We were talking about Choose Your Own Adventure.
And we're going to end with one because I went online
and I went to this website where this guy had spent ages
listing a load of really good websites for Choose Your Own Adventure
online games that you can play for free that are educational.
And there were a few of them I really wanted to do,
but weirdly they were shut down because of the pandemic.
One was about surviving a nuclear apocalypse.
One was about being a virus
and how do you spread all over the world.
And then there was another one about finance or something,
but they're all not working due to being seen as insensitive.
So they decided to close the website down.
But I did find one and it's simple
and I want to play it with you.
The game's called, it's Castaway by HalfbakeSoftware.com.
Shall we just get going?
Do you remember Castaway with...
Was it Oliver Reed?
Apparently you don't fucking remember Castaway then, do you?
So let's just move on.
There was that film.
The one with Tom Hanks?
No.
This woman and a man are on an island.
We're going to play Castaway from this website.
It's a reasonably simple two-gen adventure,
so we're going to play it.
Are you ready, Eli?
I'm ready to play.
What do I need?
My D20?
Well, here we go.
You don't need a D20 because it's an American style,
not a British style,
so therefore it's reasonably simple.
Can I hold my D20?
Yes, by all means, hold your D20.
I've got a D7 as well.
I don't care. I don't care.
I don't care.
Come on, let's make it.
Here we go.
I say it like this.
I don't care.
Here we go.
Picture the scene you like.
Can you survive on a shipwrecked desert island?
On a shipwrecked?
The island itself is shipwrecked.
Can you survive shipwrecked on a desert island?
Okay, so bad sentence.
It's a bad sentence.
You are the only survivor from the wreck of a cruise ship
which sank without warning during a severe tropical storm.
You have managed to swim to shore.
I'm going to start getting into character.
I'm going to start getting into character.
You've managed to swim to shore
and you salvaged some items from the ship.
So you have one rescue flare,
one pistol. Oh, thank God. I've got a flare.
One pistol. That'll
come in handy. That has three bullets in.
Oh, I checked the bullets. I've got three bullets.
Right, here we go.
You scramble up onto the
beach of the island. There is no
sign of anyone.
To your left is a high hill.
To your right is a dense jungle.
Where do you go?
Could I go left to the hill?
Because I'm going to want to look and maybe find a river or see what's going on. I don't want to get lost in the jungle before I've got my bearings on the island.
So I like to go up to a high ground vantage point
to see if there's any rivers,
basically to check for the nearest source of fresh water, Paul.
You climb to the top of the hill.
It takes a while, but when you reach the top,
you can see the whole island spread out before you.
You can also see on a distant horizon a small ship.
It is heading away from you.
Do you A, fire the rescue flare to attract the
ship's attention or fire the pistol to attract the ship's attention how far away is it paul
it just says on the distant horizon well could you give flesh it out a bit give me something here
it's on the distant horizon well where's the horizon neither of those the flat line that
separates the sky from the fucking sea it's's on the distant horizon, which means it's probably
far out to that apex point, isn't it?
Thank you.
Just want to get all the details, Paul,
so I make the right decision here.
Okay?
So my two options are the flare
or the gun, that's it.
And the ship has got its back to me.
Is it wiggling its little behind?
It's heading away from you. It didn't say at any point it's got its back to me. Is it wiggling its little behind? It's heading away from you.
It didn't say at any point it's got its back to you,
like it's in a mood.
Just fucking...
Fire the flare, or fire the gun.
Oh, no, I don't want to...
I think the flare's going to be...
If it's...
No-one's going to see the flare.
Oh, look, there is no negative option here,
so unfortunately you do only have two. I will fire the gun. i would like to say that i'd rather have done neither all right
and just i've taken that down for the record it's been noted okay right fire the pistol to attract
the ship bang you fire the pistol yeah hoping the noise will attract the attention of the ship
unfortunately it doesn't do you fire rescue flare to get the ship's attention,
or give up trying to get the ship's attention? Ah, they've fucked me here, haven't they?
They've fucking cornered me. I don't want to waste my flare now. How would I know?
You want to give up trying to get the ship's attention? It's probably for the best, isn't it?
Right, here we go. Yeah, stupid. You give up trying to attract the attention of the ship
and come down from the hill. So what do you do next?
Go into the jungle or start swimming out to sea?
Why would I start swimming out to sea?
I don't know.
That's insane.
I'll go in the jungle.
You set off into the jungle.
It's hard to make progress, but you struggle on slowly.
Ahead, you can hear the sound of a large animal moving around.
Ooh.
Ah.
Ah. Do you go towards the animal noises
or move away from the animal noises?
I need to shoot it and then eat it.
Go towards it.
Sorry, everyone.
You advance towards the...
I'm on an island.
You what?
I'm on an island.
I've got to eat something, don't I?
Look, I know.
It's circumstances, mate, isn't it? They mean that you do different things. I've got to eat something, don't I? Look, I know it's circumstances, mate, innit?
They mean that you do different things.
I just want to make it clear to everyone.
I would not be...
Yeah, but you are given pretty kind of simple choices.
It's more complex if you were there in real life, isn't it?
I wouldn't be, yeah.
No, you'd be dead by now because you've cried all of your salty tears.
I'd be dead by night.
Yeah.
I'd be dead.
You would have got onto the beach and gone,
Ah, fatness.
No, I wouldn't.
You advance towards the noises.
Suddenly, a huge lizard emerges from the bushes.
It's bigger than you.
It looks like a Komodo dragon.
It looks at you hungrily.
It's bigger than me.
What should you do?
Most things are bigger than you.
Right.
Do you...
A. Pick up a large stick and hit the lizard.
B. Fire your pistol and scare the lizard away.
Or shoot the lizard with your pistol.
Well, I need food, but I don't know how good eating it is.
I know they've got manky mouths.
They've got nasty mouths.
You've got two bullets left and one flare.
I've seen footage of a bunch of Komodo dragons taking down a whole cow.
Your porn selection's really fucking weird.
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do- shoot the lizard in the head. I want to see the whites of its eyes. I'm shooting the lizard.
You fire at the lizard with your pistol.
Your shot hits him in the neck
and he starts bleeding, but he is not killed.
He's just more angry
and comes towards you.
Oh no!
Shoot him again.
Grab his head and stick the muscle right in his mouth
so there's no mistake.
Wait, hang on.
So here's the go.
Shoot the lizard again, turn away and run, or climb a tree and get out of the way.
No, mate.
It's either this lizard or me now.
You know what I mean?
It's fight or flight.
I want this lizard dead.
So this lizard and you is like Leonardo DiCaprio and that big bear.
Basically, yeah.
Even though you've got a massive advantage because you're armed and it's small.
Shoot the lizard. You're going to shoot it again?
It's not small. You're shooting the lizard again?
It's not small. It's bigger than me,
Paul. Oh, well. Most things
are bigger than you, as I've stated.
I could have said a little kitty cat
and it'd still be the same issue you're facing.
Yeah. So are you going to shoot
the lizard again? I just want to make it clear, yeah?
I am shooting the lizard again.
Here we go.
Bang.
You shoot the lizard again.
This enrages him mightily.
He attacks and kills you.
Game over.
Couldn't give a shit.
Now my ghost is here.
I'll give you one more do-over.
Eli, I'll give you a do-over.
My ghost, do you know what my ghost is doing?
What?
Seeping, seeping into that lizard.
Your ghost is seeping into that lizard?
For what purpose?
To haunt its very mind and essence and control it forever.
So you're going to be living inside the brain of a kimono dragon as a ghost forever
on an island? Yeah, I'm
proxy lizard man ghost on an island.
Right, well, I've given you
a re... I've given you, you know,
a mulligan. I knew that was going to happen.
You could tell that they didn't want me to keep
attacking the lizard, didn't they? No.
Did they? No.
Do you want to turn away and run or climb a tree?
Climb a tree.
I think it could outpace me, probably, that lizard.
You climb up a tree to escape the lizard.
For about 15 minutes, it paces around the bottom of the tree, sniffing and roaring.
But then he gives up and shuffles away.
So you move into the jungle.
Off you trudge.
You continue through the jungle.
Soon you hear the sound of running water and you see a stream emerging from a cave.
Do you wade into the stream or go into the cave?
In the cave. You go into the cave.
It's very dark. There are two tunnels.
Left and right.
Which do you take? Left. Down the
left one. You continue into the cave.
You stumble and fall and your leg
touches something hard.
Do you pick it up and carry on or
leave it and carry on? Pick it up.
You pick up an object and carry on.
It turns out to be a compass.
Maybe it'll be useful later.
Meanwhile, the tunnel goes round in a circle
and you find yourself back at the mouth of the cave.
You begin to lose heart.
Do you A, shoot yourself,
B, go into the jungle,
or wade into the stream?
That's C is wade into the stream.
Yeah. Do you want to do that one?
Yeah. You wade into the stream. Unfortunately sea is wade into the stream? Yeah. Do you want to do that one? Yeah.
You wade into the stream.
Unfortunately, the water is running very fast
and you are swept off your feet and carried away.
Do you swim as hard as you can to reach the bank
or relax and let the water take you where it wants to go?
Oh, relax.
Let's just go.
Let's go.
Go with it, man.
You coast along the water
and eventually you are swept up into a little bay.
You find a rowing boat there.
You climb out of the water
and sail the boat out to sea.
Let's go out to sea.
Come on.
You steer your boat out to sea.
You know there's a shipping lane to the northwest.
So do you steer northwest using the compass?
Well, that was handy.
Or do you guess which is northwest
and try and steer in that direction?
Why wouldn't I use the compass if I had it? That's silly option i know i will you i will use the compass yes use the compass
to steer your boat to the northwest eventually you reach the shipping lanes and a boat of illegal
migrants pick you up and directly take you to the west coast of canada where you start a new
adventure you've saved yourself congratulations Congratulations. Eli Silverman, you've survived.
Yay! I did it.
That was quite fun, actually.
It was a bit of fun, and there's loads of other ones online that are more complicated or more intensive.
So, you know, a little bit of fun, wasn't it?
I like games.
And you know what?
That Cheap Show game that was in issue, was it 8 or 9?
8?
That event put together.
If you want a taste of an adventure game,
that's kind of like one, isn't it?
That's a brilliant example of...
It's a crossover sort of board game.
Choose your own invention type game
isn't it yeah story generator game
but it features
us and part time
host Ash
at a and also Biffo
isn't it all four of us are in it aren't they
aren't we and we're at a car boot
sale and you
play one of the characters and you have to get some
nice items yeah and if you're a Patreon person, you get those magazines for free.
But if you want to buy that particular issue, go to cheapmag.shop
and you can order a physical copy of all the Cheap Show magazines.
Well, there we go.
We had a lovely little walk into Choose Your Own Adventureland, Eli.
Wasn't that lovely?
Thanks very much for giving me another go.
I know I shouldn't have gone down the animal cruelty route there
and tried it on. But the lizard was giving me another go i know i shouldn't have gone down the animal cruelty route there and tried to tried it on the lizard was giving you know he's giving he was giving me the stink eye
and i've i wasn't gonna have it you know no mate you know if i hadn't killed him he's stalking me
isn't he stalking me for the rest of the adventure yeah i don't know he might just pop up he might
just pop up he might have popped up in the boat in the end like a classic stinger. You think you're safe and he goes, I got
remorse as soon as his neck started to bleed.
Yeah, well, the thing is
there's a bit in the chapter that you didn't get to
because you circumvented it where it says you see
the previous kimono dragon
bleeding out in front of its family and
its kids watch it die as it fails to support
food for it. No, I made that up.
Wow.
No.
All right, well, let's...
Do you know what, Mr Silverman?
Let's wrap this show up, shall we?
Yes, Mr Gannon.
Okay, let's wrap it up.
Let's wrap it up.
And the sands of time have once again...
I'll do it, I'll do it.
Built up around us.
And the sands of time have washed around us and scrubbed off the dirt of majesty
where filigrees of heavy water...
You're not doing much better than me, mate, at this point.
You're not doing much better.
Let's just move on.
The show's over.
It's over, over, over.
It's over. So, do you want to email Cheap Show? Why not?
Get in touch. Thecheapshow
at gmail.com.
If you want to send us an audio track for your
Envision 2020, that's the
same email address for that. Keep it 1 minute 30.
Try not to rip off another famous song.
Twitter,
at thecheapshowpod. I'm at PaulGallantShow
and Eli is Eli Snowy
D-L-I-S-N-O-I-D
and look
we have a great website
thecheapshow.co.uk
it's your one stop shop
for all Cheap Show stuff
if you want to get merch
go there
if you want to buy a physical copy
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go there
if you want to vote
for the Cheap Show
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you can
there's a link
on the front page
you can also follow the account for the awards
if you go to, on Twitter,
at Project Cheap Skate,
which is Project Cheap SK8.
And you can vote your
opinions of the show there.
Patreon.com forward slash Cheap Show
if you want to help keep this bloody podcast
going. We appreciate that. In these difficult
times, you don't have to
support us, but those who do, we richly and deeply appreciate it. We appreciate that. In these difficult times, you don't have to support us,
but those who do,
we richly and deeply appreciate it.
We really do.
And finally,
I'm trying to get a book made
through the company Unbound
about ghost hunting.
It's called Ain't Afraid No Ghost
and it's unbound.com forward slash books
forward slash ghosts
and you can help raise the funds
for me to get this book made.
And there are perks for those who do help.
Anything else, Eli?
Yeah.
What's your sound of House of Pickles?
Yeah, I'll just plug that.
I've got a music radio show on Soho Radio
every two weeks,
the House of Pickles sound show.
You can get it online as well on Mixcloud.
And it's full of pretentious shit that Eli plays.
What? Shut up.
You're into what?
This is a really good deep track from this band
that you've never heard of that I'm going to
play a rare B-side from. That's not
my attitude though, Paul, is it?
Every week it's the same. It's you and your
mate going, oh my god, I had to
cut that. Yeah, oh yeah. No, the original
band members left in 1963, so only
four of the original five remain.
But they've still got the sound.
It's all the same shit.
Just because you've got no, you know, taste in music,
just leave it, OK?
Back off.
I'd rather have no taste than an affected taste in music. Anyway, it's on the Soho Radio Music Channel,
House of Pickles sound show.
If you're into good music and perhaps a tidbit of information,
unpretentiously shared,
then tune into that.
All right?
Other than that, there's Digitizer every week with Mr. Biffo and Crazy Antics.
Support Digitizer on YouTube there.
And I think that is it for now.
Okay.
We love you all.
We hope you're having lots of fun and taking care of one another.
Scrubby, scrubby, nuzz, nuzz.
Yeah, we need to come up with a really spunky ending.
A real ooh of an ending
That makes people want to get out into the streets and cheer
No I just did Scrubby Scrubby Naz Naz
Do it again come on
You're the big ending
You're a big fat wobbly ending
Give us a big ending
Oooo Scrubby Scrubby Naz Naz
And that ladies and gentlemen
Will simply have to do
See you next week.
Bye.