Speaker A
Posh isn't fashionable at the moment. No, it's not. We're not having a good time at it.
Max Fosh discusses posh culture, his YouTube rise, comedy, and future on The Romesh Ranganathan Show.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
Generated from the transcript and can be wrong — check the timestamp.
Key Takeaways
- Posh culture is less fashionable now, impacting how posh individuals are perceived.
- Max Fosh successfully leveraged his posh background to create viral content but diversified to grow.
- Comedy and content creation often involve addressing and balancing personal identity.
- YouTube offers creators a platform to shape their narrative and build an audience before stand-up.
- Max has a promising creative future despite challenges in maintaining originality and integrity.
What the video covers
- Max Fosh talks about the decline of posh culture's popularity and his personal experience with it.
- He shares how his YouTube career began with street interviews and posh-related content.
- Max reflects on balancing his posh identity with broader content to avoid being typecast.
- The conversation covers the challenges of addressing personal identity in comedy and content creation.
- Max discusses his creative journey, including his transition from radio to viral YouTube videos.
- He mentions notable stunts like running for London Mayor and becoming the richest man briefly.
- The interview touches on his work on TV shows like 'Would You Rather' on Amazon Prime.
- Romesh and Max compare their creative and financial trajectories in the entertainment industry.
- They discuss the origins of the 'traveling with parent' format and credit other comedians.
- The episode ends with lighthearted talk about pasta and gift-giving on the show.
Chapters
- 00:00Posh Culture and Its Decline
- 02:48Early YouTube Career and Posh Interviews
- 06:13Traveling with Parents Format and Influences
- 09:47Max's Creative Journey and Radio Background
- 17:11Notable Stunts and Viral Moments
- 23:35Comedy, Identity, and Audience Engagement
- 29:44TV Work and Future Prospects
- 37:14Lighthearted Talk and Gift Segment
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Like posh white guys. I'm not saying you've got it hard, by the way, before anybody comes at me. But being posh and white is not as good as it used to be, is it? That's a fair comment, isn't it?
Speaker A
Yeah, I think it's fair to say it's not as good as it used to be.
Speaker A
It used to be [expletive] great. It used to be, [laughter] isn't it?
Speaker A
The best. It used to be absolutely... You must think about your ancestors that you lucky [expletive]. Well, there was a period of time, wasn't there? Because like if it was, you know, the World War era,
Speaker A
the young posh guys were always the officers. They were the first ones out of the trenches. That's a really bad time.
Speaker A
And they were like 19. Then it got really good for a really long time.
Speaker A
And I like, you know, as you say, please, I don't want to pick out, it's still really good. [laughter] It's still... It's still... It's objectively still great.
Speaker A
Yeah. But it was better. Yeah. I mean, if you say that, then I'm... I support it.
Speaker A
Well, no, because I'll get... I can't say it anymore because if I say that, I get called like a sellout, Uncle Tom, coconut.
Speaker A
Do you know what I mean? So, it's not actually easy for me to say it either.
Speaker A
Hello, I'm Max Foch and I'm going to be on the Romesh Ranganathan show.
Speaker A
[music] Romesh Ranganathan. [music] Oh, shut up, Romesh. Um, okay. Max Foch. Hi. Thank you for coming on to the podcast.
Speaker A
I'm going to do your intro now. Please do. Um, any issues, let me know.
Speaker A
Yeah. My guest today is a YouTuber and comedian. Yeah. I mean, the branding's... Yeah. Okay, that's fine. Yeah, that's fine. After presenting a community radio show and creating his own content as a university student, he first launched his YouTube
Speaker A
channel in 2017. Yeah. Okay. Since then, he has amassed over 5 million followers and over 1.5 billion views.
Speaker A
Yeah. He was a man behind the welcome to Luton sign at Gatwick airport, ran to be London Mayor in 2021, and for 7 minutes became the richest man in the world.
Speaker A
All good doing it job. Great. Now he's in the new show Would You Rather, not just ChatGPT? We read the Tatler article. Would You Rather, decide to survive on Amazon Prime? It's a wonderful, fearless, and truly debonair gent Max Foch. Everybody,
Speaker A
[applause] how conscious were you of like you, how old are you? 31. I'm 31.
Speaker A
31. So, when you were coming up, yeah, were you... was that something you were aware of? Did you think about that at all?
Speaker A
Yeah. I mean, I... when I started making content, I was doing like street interviews, lights out. This is like in like 2017, 2018 and I did a video where I went to the Royal Agricultural University Siren.
Speaker A
Yeah. Which is arguably one of the poshest places in the UK and interviewed their students and they were all quite pissed and like it was kind of like posh on posh violence. I was like doing takedowns and stuff like that and I
Speaker A
posted that video and it just flew. [snorts] Yeah. And then because a lot of the comments were calling me posh, I was... I understand that. So how do you kind of get ahead of it? But then after a period of time, I
Speaker A
wanted to make sure that it wasn't just the only adjective that was being used to describe me.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um, but by being the person who was kind of like holding up the mirror to the absurdity of poshness and posh people, it kind of got me as like, oh, oh, he's all right. And weirdly, the posh people
Speaker A
that I interviewed, they loved it. It was like this weird kind of like Stockholm syndrome be like, oh, I will say the most outrageous and out-of-pocket thing for you right now because I want to be
Speaker A
involved in the video. And I was like, why are you... why are you doing that, guys?
Speaker A
Um, so at the beginning I was very, very conscious of it, but then after about two or three years I was like I need to... I need to have something else to say.
Speaker A
It's a weird thing because like when you say, for example, when you're starting as a stand-up you kind of want to address the thing that everybody's thinking about you, right? So that's why so many comedians are like I know what you're
Speaker A
thinking. Blah [clears throat] blah blah's let themselves go whatever. So for you it's that thing and it's the same thing for me being an Asian comic actually and not so much now once you get a bit of profile that sort of
Speaker A
becomes less of an issue but it's a thing of addressing your point of difference I guess. Do you know what I mean? And then what happens is you walk in that line of it being all you talk about versus not acknowledging
Speaker A
it at all. And that's quite a difficult thing to trade, isn't it? I think... I think what the beauty of YouTube is that you have the opportunity to completely ultimately the story is what people are coming for.
Speaker A
Yeah. I worked very, very hard to make sure that wasn't the only thing I talked about. And as you said, I didn't really do stand-up for like two or three years until I started making videos. I'd already built up the audience. Um, but
Speaker A
yeah, you're right. Ultimately, it was something that I had at the beginning. So, everyone would just say it was just the only thing that was being commented and then from then it was just kind of like let's just
Speaker A
move away from that. Yeah, we've had... Yeah, we know. Now, I'm a massive fan. I think you are going to be... you're already massive but I think you've got an amazing future ahead of you. It's great to talk about how
Speaker A
well, you know, that's... it's very kind of you to say, Max, but you know we're in very different positions. Your best years are ahead of you whereas what I'm... I'm on a decline now and it's... it's just...
Speaker A
do you think you've reached the top of the roller coaster? I think creatively, yeah. I think definitely in terms of my integrity and the quality of what I'm producing I think it's just halting the decline. I'm increasingly out of
Speaker A
touch monetarily. I think you're still... because you monetarily I'm smashing it. Listen, it's [expletive] going great.
Speaker A
I genuinely... I saw the size of a Winnebago when we did a TV show together and I was like, "Wow." I genuinely don't think I could make it more if I had a printer. But [laughter] but creatively, you know, I'm bereft.
Speaker A
Whereas you, I feel like you've got your most exciting stuff ahead of you, which is really... it's really cool to talk. I genuinely think your future's going to be amazing. I mean, you say that, but the two things that you read out for
Speaker A
references to like, you know, what was in the intro, which is therefore like what people seem to know me from are two things I did four and five years ago now.
Speaker A
Sure. But people still say to me you went traveling with your mother and that happened in 2015. [laughter] Did you start the traveling with parent format?
Speaker A
Very contentious topic actually. Um, because Jack Whitehall will say it's him, one of the good guys. I think there's a couple of other comics that have done it. So I don't and Adam actually I think Adam Buckton might have been the
Speaker A
original to film with his dad. So I think we have to give credit, we have to give the flowers to Adam Buckton always.
Speaker A
Um, and if you don't he'll come for you in his podcast. He's incredibly militant about things like that. Um now, uh, is it true you like pasta?
Speaker A
Love pasta. F is that your favorite carb? Yes, [laughter] my favorite carb. Uh oh actually no. Uh yes, it's my favorite carb.
Speaker A
All right. What were you about to... I was going to say chips, right? But that's just wrong. That's an inaccurate state.
Speaker A
Well, no, it wouldn't be wrong if that was your favorite. Nobody can tell you that's wrong. They can disagree with you.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um, well, that's really great to hear because you've got... you a gift. Have you got me pasta?
Speaker A
No. [laughter] Nothing. But it's pasta related. You... Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Your initial reactions made me slightly well because on this show you do the gift bit and like when I've been listening 50% of them I've sat
Speaker A
there and be l
Speaker A
cooking tools one of the good ideas yeah so that's a that's a that's a spaghetti The pasta thing of me do that is right that okay that's I think they've attempted to make I think this is orieti or this is
Speaker A
oriceti is it something and this is meant to be ravioli is this an ravioli ashtray so no that is no that is a spoon rest good yeah and this Pac-Man lemon squeezer did you call me Pac-Man no I said this
Speaker A
right okay I was going to say I know we know each other but That is right on the edges of acceptable. [laughter] [laughter] [snorts] [laughter and gasps] Right. I [laughter] also I'm only going to get saved if people are watching this on video
Speaker A
[laughter] because cuz I please go back and change the video. Just if anybody's just listening, [laughter] the the the the oriceti thing looks like a Pac-Man [laughter] and so do I. According to Max Wash, you make me feel comfortable put in a
Speaker A
nice chair. [laughter] But this is great. Thank you so much. Also works as a backer.
Speaker A
No, really good. Thank you so much. I do love pasta. You can keep that or leave it or whatever.
Speaker A
No, no. I I love this. How much cooking do you actually do? I do quite a lot.
Speaker A
I'm a I'm a um box meal kind of guy. I know. I'm trying to say it without saying one of the brands. Um you can say a brand gusto guy.
Speaker A
Yeah. Okay. Right. You know, but now they I hope don't What's wrong? Free marketing, isn't it?
Speaker A
Oh, I see. Yeah. But listen, if it makes you feeling better, my mom talked about little for 50 minutes on this podcast.
Speaker A
[laughter] Yeah. And they've sent us [ __ ] all. Yeah. Um so yeah, I like I do like my cooking. Um and I get like ready boxes that you make at home. You still feel like you're doing home cooking, but this is boring.
Speaker A
Yeah. And you can rest It's not boring. You can rest a spoon on my rest spoon on my on my That's exciting. Ravioli.
Speaker A
Yeah. Can we just talk a little bit about how you first made your name?
Speaker A
Because one of the things that I think is exciting about you is you've moved the you've moved the needle a little bit, I think, in terms of the way you've come up and the way that you've made your name is by doing stuff that's
Speaker A
genuinely different. And that quite rarely happens. So So can you just tell us a little bit about how that will happen? Yeah. So, I I kind of started doing like student interviews on nights out and I kind of I wasn't particularly
Speaker A
new and then I moved to London and wasn't really sure what I was going to do. And when did the when did the pomegranate that thing happen?
Speaker A
That happened in 2022. That was an old video that had been out for years and years.
Speaker A
So, this is you like going up to a I was on a night out and a woman had a a glass uh and she had a uh a grapefruit in her glass and I was like, "Oh, is that a pomegranate?" She was like, "No,
Speaker A
no, darling. Try again. and give it another go. I was like, "Oh, it's a a grapefruit." And I just had a throw away throwaway line of, "I don't know my fruits." Yes.
Speaker A
And we were we we had this this video that was already up on the YouTube channel and Tik Tok had just come was was was thriving.
Speaker A
We cut down all of my old stuff and we're just throwing things on there with with no creative integrity whatsoever.
Speaker A
And I remember my editor showed me that clip and I was like I there's no joke in that at all but let's just do it. Let's put it up. And very slowly initially after like a day it was doing fine. And
Speaker A
then the queer community found it and they're like I don't know my fruits. They were making it as a as a as a sound underneath kind of queer Tik Tok which then caused it to really kind of explode and then it just became a sound
Speaker A
that you have on Tik Tok. There's no there's no rationale or or meaning behind why it did well, but it it was just it was everywhere. Um and so sometimes I'll be at the pub and someone would be like, "Do it.
Speaker A
Do [laughter] it." Basically, do the roar. And I would go, "I don't know my fruits." [screaming] [laughter] Um I mean that's I mean you'll probably get this as well. You you very much become you're that guy that did X.
Speaker A
Yeah. And so it was the you're the I don't know my fruits guy. Then I did stuff that I was slightly more proud of which I became known as that guy for where I wrote welcome to Luton next to Gatwick
Speaker A
airport. Yeah. So I rented a field from a farmer that was right next to the uh the the runway got massive 100 me tarp all in sign just welcome to Luton as people landed. They thought they were landing at the wrong
Speaker A
airport very briefly. Yeah. And that just went bananas. It made the news. It was the most viewed news story in the BBC for two days. just like above all everything else. I the the I guess the nation was gripped by whimsy which was
Speaker A
uh which was nice to see. Yeah. Um Jeremy Vine uh sometimes I was almost going to say Jeremy Carr. Didn't want to get those two mixed up. Um Jeremy Vine, he's obviously got that Channel 5 show where he kind of debates things and that
Speaker A
that whole his whole job is just debate and just to be kind of different opinions. And he was trying to say, "Oh, this could be really dangerous." You know, people could get really unwell if they they suddenly think that their
Speaker A
plane is landing at the wrong place and they could get very unwell and the entire panel whose job it is to argue just went, "Oh, shut up. [laughter] No, it's fine. It's a bit of fun." Yeah.
Speaker A
It's a bit of fun. So, yeah. And so, since from then, it's just been a case of um putting the way I describe to people is like finding loopholes in life and exploiting them in silly ways. cuz you tried the traditional routes, didn't
Speaker A
you, into broad broadcast? I tried to get a radio job. Yeah. Yeah. And what happened?
Speaker A
Well, I did four years of hospital community radio up in Newcastle. Yeah. And you won an award.
Speaker A
I won best newcomer, right? [clears throat] Uh at the HBA awards, a ceremony in Bolton big time. Um and I'd had a couple of demos for BBC Northeast and Metro Northeast. And looking back now, obviously I didn't get the job because
Speaker A
Welcome back to Beam in Newcastle. We got Max here. Hello. Good to see you. Of course I didn't get a John. What did you think of that accent?
Speaker A
It was pretty good. Yeah. Okay, great. Pretty good. I once had a Jordy taxi driver who gave me a free cab because he couldn't believe my name was Max a million. He was like, "Max, what's that?" I was
Speaker A
like, "Max a million." He's like, "No way." [laughter] Like like Max and a million. I was like, "Yeah." He's like, "This one's on me, man." I [laughter] was like, "Great.
Speaker A
Thank you so much." Probably my uncle. Yeah. Yeah. Probably was. I think he thought my name was Max hyphen a million. Anyway, um so tried the traditional route. Didn't get a job in radio and then that's when I started making stuff online. I even I
Speaker A
I filmed a video where I printed my CV on the roof of my car and parked it outside Radio One. Yeah.
Speaker A
To try and get a job. Um didn't work. No. Um, so, so were you, so did you, how deliberate was it? Because I think you've described having like several moments where you just went viral, right? There were like you've had
Speaker A
different steps where suddenly the followers blew up. Yeah. So, what like what was was the was the what was the first one of those?
Speaker A
The first one of those was when I snuck into London Fashion Week pretending to be a model called Maximus Bucharest from Bucharest. And I I did this with my my two mates, Zach and Jay, and we dressed me up in really stupid clothing, went to
Speaker A
Primark, and I got my mother's like carpet and wrapped it around and safety pinned it. We went to where all the fashion shows were happening in London.
Speaker A
And we had two friends of ours that had cameras with the flash bulbs on them.
Speaker A
And as I got out of the taxi, my friends would trigger the flash and just shout my name, Maximus. Maximus, over here, over here. which caused the 30 paparazzi that were waiting for genuine models just to go who's that which then we then
Speaker A
leveraged that to get into shows after parties and we just made and when everyone anyone asked me any questions I pretend I didn't really speak any English and you got loads of access doing that and I got loads of access to it
Speaker A
and when that was happening did you think we're on to some this is going to be massive no right no I mean to the absurdity I think it was the absurdity I was holding as my clutch handbag, Jamie Vard's
Speaker A
autobiography, my story. So, like I had I had like plastic packaging tape from Amazon around my neck, Jamie Vart's book in my hand and fashion people coming to be like, I love your style. It's amazing.
Speaker A
Who's your who's your stylist? And I just go, I'm sorry, I don't understand. And just walk off. So, like I I thought that might do well. And this was in 2019. and we posted the video and it got
Speaker A
you know and when you did that were you trying to because obviously when I when you see that it looks like you're making a statement about [laughter] a a valid statement about the ridiculousness of fashion. Right. Was that what you were thinking?
Speaker A
No. We just thought it'd be a fun thing to do. There was no there was no thought process like that at all. So I had I had that was my first one. Then a couple of years of nothing happening. But
Speaker A
meanwhile I'm I'm making 30 videos a year. So just constantly just buying a lottery ticket. Then probably had the welcome to Luton stuff, then the London Mayor stuff. Um, and subsequently through there, there's always been a few of these big then the richest man video
Speaker A
that happened where I set up a a genuine company on Company's House called Unlimited Money Limited. I uh I issued the maximum number of shares you can, which is 10 billion shares, all genuinely legally.
Speaker A
And uh I owned all those shares. I went out into the street and I found a woman called Hope and I sold one share to her for 50 quid. And I sent off all of that information to a valuations advisor
Speaker A
saying, "Could you argue that I am technically worth 500 billion quid?" And this guy went, "Yeah, but that is fraud." [laughter] And I was like, "Yeah." [snorts] And I I thought it was a bit of fun. HMRC did
Speaker A
not. Um, and I actually was I then I hosted the Fintech Finance Awards and HMRC had a table and I remember just the beginning of it I just just wanted to chat to them be like how much trouble
Speaker A
did I get into? Like were you was there meetings about this and they were like no no we just we thought but but you were the richest man in the world for is it seven minutes?
Speaker A
Seven minutes because that was the period of time that I I completed I I submitted all the information about the shares and the ones I owed. called up my lawyer [clears throat] and then he said, "Shut that down right now." [laughter]
Speaker A
So that was the 7minute period of time in which I was the richest. Were you not scared when your lawyer said that?
Speaker A
No. My people have got great history of doing dodgy bits with money. So, you know, I knew some people. I knew the right You're not going to prison.
Speaker A
Of course not. If I am, it's basically like one of those all-inclusive ones. Yeah. They'd be carrying you through like C3PO.
Speaker A
Yeah. just singing your name, banging the drums, one of the Scandinavian prisons where they just kind of servants I imagine was like the caviar today. So there were like there's been these big like setpiece moments that have happened over
Speaker A
the course of I mean doing it now for seven or eight years and so that has been like a learning process every single time cuz [snorts] you you I know you hate the word prank. You see you call it
Speaker A
loopholes, don't you? I I just try. They are ostensibly pranks, but prank, you know, immediately has connotation of them someone being a victim or punching down.
Speaker A
Yeah. I do think it's interesting that because you sort of you look at and I don't know how across other people that do the sort of thing that you do, you are, but you you should be annoy, you
Speaker A
know, you should be annoying because essentially what you're doing is you're doing stunts, right? And and often we see like influencers and people like that, they will do stuff where they're just kind of being a bit of a prick to
Speaker A
people and then that goes viral because somebody's like the the butt of the joke or whatever and that's something you don't want to do. Is that just a is that just a personal rule? Is that what why is that?
Speaker A
How has that come about? Because I think it's worked to your advantage. But it means that you it's less easy to have a shock tactic from or to to to shock in your videos.
Speaker A
Yeah. I I I I I I used to say when people say, "Oh, what kind of videos of videos make?" I I used to say, "I I do stunts." Which then people thought I was just throwing myself off buildings,
Speaker A
which which would then I'd have to pull that back, like, "No, no, no, no. I don't do my No, I do do all my own stunts, but not those kinds of stunts." Um, so it is a real it's a real
Speaker A
conscious conversation about like the shock factor is difficult, but that's why I've learned a lot over YouTube about like titling. I know that we talk about like clickbait is so important. So the richest man in the world video was I
Speaker A
became the richest man in the world for 7 minutes. If the title was I became the richest man in the world, it's immediately unbelievable for anybody reading it. You're like obviously I know you're not.
Speaker A
So there's no inherent question. There's no information gap there. Whereas I became the richest man in the world for 7 minutes.
Speaker A
There's intrigue. There's suddenly becomes intrigue. So when I'm coming up with the stunts and the ideas, it's it is all about what is that title? So, you're thinking when you're doing it, you're thinking, how hooky can I make
Speaker A
this? How hooky can you make it? And then once they're in, you kind of have a bit of time to tell the story how you want to, but ultimately it does need to be I like the the welcome to Luton was I tricked
Speaker A
an entire country. Like, how do you do like and that's not necessarily true, but it was on the news and so that technically is right. We have a there's there's a I work with an amazing team talking about stories, some brilliant
Speaker A
writers, and we're constantly talking about what the payoff is. And there is a conversation that we have um which uh one of my great friends Ed who's a fantastic writer and director he came up with what he he he talked to me which
Speaker A
was the flying car which is if you go to an episode of an episode if you go to a showing of chitty bang bang the theater show and at the end the car doesn't fly.
Speaker A
You're just kind of leaving like what what's the point of that? So you need I'm I'm a big fan of the child catcher though so it wouldn't have bothered me.
Speaker A
Right. Okay. So, as long as he [clears throat] catches a child at the end, some guy going, "Oh, hello children." [laughter] Then you That's what draws me in. I don't care about the car.
Speaker A
No, you don't care about the car. That car can stay right on the floor. I don't care.
Speaker A
Yeah, I don't give a [ __ ] As long as that little weirdos there.
Speaker A
How many kids you got this time? Oh, good. More. What we should do, Max, is get you to title this episode.
Speaker A
Oh, that's a great shout. So, when it goes out that basically I'm putting responsibility on you instead of me.
Speaker A
Yeah, Johnny. I'm doing your job. Fing the Pac-Man. A fo is racist. That would bang.
Speaker A
Yeah, that would, wouldn't it? Do it. Um, I secretly Are you against it? Of course you are. [laughter] We're not really the But it's pretty hookie. It's pretty hookie.
Speaker A
Racism is hookie. There's no getting around it. Listen, [laughter] it attracts a certain crowd, but it attracts a crowd.
Speaker A
Yeah, my YouTube brain was going like you're you're absolutely right. Of course, we shouldn't [laughter] name the episode that. But my YouTube bra was like, "No, that could work." But then I realized that not everyone's gonna if you just
Speaker A
not everyone's going to click on it. All right. So Max Bos is a racist.
Speaker A
That's a problem. That's That's a real problem. What What happened? Oh, well, actually, what happened was he held a lemon squeeze a bit like Pac-Man. [laughter] I mean, what do you normally You normally title it like We try and be hooky, don't we?
Speaker A
Yeah. We We sort of try. Not in a way that cancels the guest. normal.
Speaker A
No, we're quite kind. We don't normally we don't go going for like big clickbait. We we tend to go for like these are the three sort of like the pillars of the conversation. To be fair, I think you do a really great job with
Speaker A
like your short form stuff. You know exactly what you will have the the opening conversation is hookie, but the long form, you know, the long form stuff, but also that's a different that's a different viewing experience if someone's watching a
Speaker A
podcast and someone watching my videos. Sure. So if they click on it wanting something hookie and like oh a big stunt and then it's 45 minutes of us chatting they're like oh no that's that's not what I was expecting anyway.
Speaker A
I mean I don't want them to go away from this going I was hoping to be more racist.
Speaker A
Yeah. [laughter] You don't want to disappoint people in that way. You know what I mean?
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, one of the the other thing that you've avoided doing really well is I think a lot of people that do the sort of thing you do, they try and they get something goes really big and then they spend the rest of
Speaker A
their careers if you like trying to emulate the success of that thing. You don't get me wrong, I'm doing some of that.
Speaker A
Right. Okay. So, we've got a video actually is going on at the moment where 3 years ago I hired a private investigator to follow me for a month, right?
Speaker A
So, I was like interested to know what it would feel like. Um, and so that video did super well. We then got two private investigators to follow each other. That didn't go so well. They found out quite quickly and got quite
Speaker A
cross right? And so the increasing there is a victim there. There is a victim there. And but you know, I'm paying them. So sure.
Speaker A
Um, so we've done the final third iteration. We've got a video that's that's happening right now. We're on the 1st of January this year. I met with a private investigator who runs a company and I signed a piece of paper that said
Speaker A
I give him permission over the course of the next 365 days to follow me to gain as much information as he possibly can and then on the 31st of December this year we're meeting back in the same place and he will basically have a
Speaker A
dossier of everything about me that he's found out. So he's he's following me on random days. He's got he's got colleagues following me. I don't know when he's following me, who they are. So there could be someone in this room like
Speaker A
I don't know whether producer Johnny I mean how long has he been working with you?
Speaker A
Well a few a few months but and we don't he is sus. I mean it would be incredible long play for 90 minutes of sitting this but also it would be devastating for the podcast if it [laughter] turns out it
Speaker A
was just doing that for this cuz it's [ __ ] over. I would actually go keep I would actually pay you to keep investigating. [laughter] Keep going. So there's a little bit of redoing format. That sounds that sounds
Speaker A
terrifying. But are you are you Yeah. I mean Yeah. I would First of all, the thing I would say is you must be pretty confident. I you you must be cleaner than cleaner.
Speaker A
I mean ultimately I'm the one who decides what goes out on the channel. Sure. But even but I would say even if you don't put it out on the channel, you're still having to hear somebody go, you know, that thing that you thought
Speaker A
was a massive secret. I found out all the details. Well, I mean like the stuff that the guy found out in a month, he found out my home Wi-Fi password. Um, and I've no idea how he did it.
Speaker A
Well, I think not have it as password [laughter] be the first tip. Password one.
Speaker A
So, yeah, it could be a real eye opener. Be like, "Oh my god." Yeah.
Speaker A
You still have to have him say that stuff to you. Yes. And and then you live the rest of your life knowing that that could be accessible to somebody who was so inclined.
Speaker A
So inclined. Yeah. Who had enough time. And when you decided to do that, by the way, that sounds it sounds un incredible, right? And a lot of your ideas, I'm jealous when I hear that, you know, that to me sounds amazing. Like
Speaker A
such a great idea. Is your impetus for doing that because you enjoyed it last time because you're thinking that one did really well, so let's try and replicate that. Like a bit of both. It's definitely both. I know
Speaker A
that I know that there there's there's intrigue there. There is like people do want to know what happens. So I would be allowed to say, "No, I do have the integrity of the game. Um, but I am also
Speaker A
like I do think that that is a genuinely interesting concept as well. Um, so I think that they're not mutually exclusive one. They can feed into each other. Um, ultimately things that go viral. Um, I heard a great there's a
Speaker A
great YouTube called Mark Robber said this like how people say how do you make something go viral? Just elicit an emotional response.
Speaker A
Make them laugh, make them angry. Um, because the algorithm although it's some very spooky abstract thing is just people. these platforms want you to stay on their platform for as long as possible. So they see how long you watch
Speaker A
something for. They know kind of how satisfied you are by the clip. So if they know that you're satisfied, they'll they'll serve it to more people. So ultimately something goes viral because people either well have a have an
Speaker A
emotional reaction to it. Um but I I'm a big I've got to to you know talk about like the people who the world's crossing my one of my biggest inspirations is Danny Wallace, right? because he was kind of do well he
Speaker A
was doing exactly what I'm doing just before the internet well before YouTube like making his own country exactly that we've we've had that idea but like well Daniel Wallace did it so incredibly well and also that takes a long long time for
Speaker A
to to bed in I did think about trying to act but become like the someone to represent a country at the Olympics but then they've closed that loophole okay well that's a shame I'm sorry to hear down the IOC
Speaker A
yeah [ __ ] IOC um you um Do you know where you want to go? Like do you are you thinking you want to do this forever? Cuz a lot of people a lot of comics do TV in the hope that they'll
Speaker A
boost their profile enough that people come see them on tour. Yeah. Was that why you're doing what you're doing or you doing it just for the love of the game and the money?
Speaker A
Definitely the last part. Um I think it's just uh I see I think people are very binary and they're talking about like oh the internet is the you know social media is taking over TV. It implies that you know TV is going
Speaker A
to disappear. When like TV itself started they were the death of radio. It's not. They will learn to coexist.
Speaker A
Yeah. And so it's just about like if I can and what I do know is that a lot of like content creators they are very very like one note on just social media. And so I have tried with like doing comedy
Speaker A
for the last four or five years and learning the trade and doing the graft like trying to make myself as employable to as many different people as possible cuz I'm 31. I don't want to be, you know, entering the Mr. Universe
Speaker A
bodybuilding competition when I'm 45. No. Um, Robert Romesh versus. Anyway, carry on. Oh, actually, I've got a bone to pick with you.
Speaker A
Big bone to pick with you. You did a video with Oh, I think I know what you're about to say.
Speaker A
What? What do you think I'm about to say? You think we ripped you off, don't you?
Speaker A
I don't think you ripped me off. That's the gist of it. That is the gist.
Speaker A
Yeah. Go on. Um I don't think there was any skull duggery in terms of like coming like stealing creative ideas. Yeah. But we did a we were going to do a video with one of the POS, one of the filmonic
Speaker A
orchestras. Yeah. Coming to London or the uh the Royal where I became a professional triangle player, right? and we were gonna do it and then the orchestra said, "Oh, sorry. Um, we're just about to do this with with
Speaker A
Robin Romesh." Did you do a video about this? We did. I did eventually. I got a little bit of hate.
Speaker A
Did you? Well, a couple of comments from Max Foch fans going, "Why don't you come up with your own ideas?" So, what I want to know is what the [ __ ] have you been saying?
Speaker A
Did you sl Did you Did you Did I slag you off? I don't think you slagged us off.
Speaker A
Definitely not publicly. Right. Okay. There might have been. I think you said it privately to enough people Yeah. that it became a thing.
Speaker A
Enough people. But that's also [laughter] what's also interesting is that the timeline of the internet, it doesn't matter cuz it's basically whichever one someone has seen first.
Speaker A
I know. I know. I know. And also the other thing is it's if people want to see Max Fosch do this thing, they can watch Max Fosch do this thing. If they want to see Robin Romish do this thing cuz they like moreed
Speaker A
one-dimensional stuff, they can come to me and Rob. Do you know what I mean? So, but anyway, thanks for that. It was a Yeah, but the Robert Ro stuff we we like do look a lot and be like, could we
Speaker A
could we do that? Could we make that a little bit better? Yeah. Just a just a just a I think your mistake is saying a little bit better.
Speaker A
You know, I think you could be more ambitious if you put a bit of thought into it. I mean, cuz you done the bodybuilding stuff, right?
Speaker A
We did strongman, right? So, ultimately the humor from that comes from you in like tighty whies and oil.
Speaker A
Yeah. I mean, we we did like an episode of like we did a ballet episode once.
Speaker A
Yeah. And they got us into the training gear and then we came out of the dressing room and then the producers like this is gold. And I go, "We haven't done anything. What you're saying is gold is how we look in these outfits."
Speaker A
And then that's the joke. Yeah. Then that then you've got what you've got, right? You might you might as well just cut the episode right there and then cuz you're like, "They've got we've got it, guys. [laughter] We got the shot.
Speaker A
They look like twats." Yeah. They look hideous. I vomed. Yeah. I don't care about your plea. I just want to see you in a tutu.
Speaker A
[laughter] The impression I got is that you have a lawyer that travels with you everywhere and you got like a just like [laughter] a I'm glad that that's the uh a traveling lawyer. I was surprised that you didn't arrive at that.
Speaker A
He's called my dad, but that's um No, I do have a lawyer, but he is ultimately when we're thinking of an idea, if I think that it's on the edge of like, you know, naughtiness, I'll give him a call and he will then say,
Speaker A
"This is how much trouble we think you could get into." But we and then he'll always preface it. We don't think you should do this. Yeah. Okay. I know.
Speaker A
But he has to say he has to say that. Shush. Um, and so there's we we did a video where I um pretended to be a member of the Britwell family in America. So I called myself the Earl of Luton. I hired two massive
Speaker A
6'7 bodyguards. We went into a Fifth Avenue major department store and we had my producer go in before or a friend of mine saying, "Just to let you know, we've got a member of the Brick family is about to turn up. The Earl of Luton,
Speaker A
is there anything you can do to accommodate his stay?" This department store shut themselves. shut down an entire floor of the uh of the department store. They I when I arrived there was a line of personal shoppers like good to
Speaker A
see you sir. Nice to see you. Hi. All victims. All victims. Blood their faces. So it's all right.
Speaker A
So we do that. I go around and the idea was that I would buy lots of very expensive items and then go back in a couple of days and return the items. And the victim here is oh I'm so sorry. a
Speaker A
very bougie high department. No, I'm not rolling my eyes at that. I'm rolling my eyes at the idea that you've got to go and return all this [ __ ] Yeah. So, the idea was to return that sounds really unappealing as a
Speaker A
thing to have to do. So, the idea was to buy the stuff, keep the receipt, and then go back.
Speaker A
How much did you spend? $3,000, right? On four items of clothing. Okay. And did it One of them was from a very top designer called Greg Lauren, right? And I find out that he is just basically the the cousin of Ralph Lauren
Speaker A
[laughter] that just went, "I'm going to make clothes." Greg Lauren. Greg, I don't know your exact connection with Ralph Lauren, but please don't see me.
Speaker A
Greg. Greg. I mean, I love your stuff. Yeah. I [snorts] did look like a kind of Elizabeth and monk, but loved it.
Speaker A
Anyway, so I bought all the stuff and as I left, one of the the people in the department store, they she recognized me and she messaged me. She's like, "I know it was you. I'm telling my boss. And
Speaker A
then I got a very very angry email. So I called my lawyer. I was like, "What do I do?" He said, "Look, at the moment, all you've done is gone into a department store. Yes, you pretend to be someone
Speaker A
else, but you have essentially bought $3,000 worth of clothes." And he said, "If you go and return it, then they could sue you for fraud." Okay.
Speaker A
And I was like, "Yeah, that's fair enough." So I just had to I had to swallow the So you kept it?
Speaker A
I kept it. You still got the stuff? Yeah. It's horrible. Sorry, Greg. Um, so yeah, it's uh it was it was pretty bad. Um, so that's where the my lawyer comes in. He goes, I would recommend that you do this now.
Speaker A
And is there anything that you wanted to do that you haven't been able to cuz your lawyer said don't do that you'd really want to do?
Speaker A
This is less the lawyer stuff, but I've always wanted to water ski behind a cruise ship.
Speaker A
Yeah. It's been done before. Has it? Yeah. Mythbuster. the the the Norwegian DJ Kigo did it.
Speaker A
That do you know what that is? Classic Ko. I if you and I know Kyo that is textbook Kyo and uh I thought that'd be quite fun. Um and I've been told I I pitched it to Virgin and their their marketing team
Speaker A
loved the idea. Their risk team hated it. Right. I get that. So then I said they said no.
Speaker A
Fair enough. So that's a video I don't think I'll ever do, but that's okay. I'm happy with that. Um and sort of for people of my generation because we are of different generations.
Speaker A
People might be surprised to hear um who sort of think that influencers and people on socials and YouTube and stuff like that are just sort of [ __ ] out this content. You actually have a team.
Speaker A
Yeah. You and I know a I think you've worked with a couple of people I know and you every week meet up.
Speaker A
Yeah. and you actually in the way that you put together a TV show work out what it is you're going to do and it's like it's actually an industry, right?
Speaker A
Yeah. Is it there are so I have four full-time members of staff, two producers, uh like head of content and editors and we we we meet once a week to discuss like ideas and the the formulation of the idea process comes
Speaker A
from like first it comes from visuals. It's like what is something that everybody knows that know they know the visual of and then from there it's like okay everyone knows what for example we had an idea about the pope mobile
Speaker A
everyone knows what the potential is using the you know what you've got in your mind okay what is the opposite thing what's the complete juxosition of that so we had an idea where I want Satan bike pretty good I was thinking registering
Speaker A
the popemo as an Uber [laughter] that's much better quite quite good. So then then I So right that's the title. I turned the Pope mobile into a registered taxi. I hand that over to my producer. She goes away after a week. She comes back then
Speaker A
next week the meeting next week. She says look I have found six Pope mobiles.
Speaker A
This is the history of the Pope mobile. Uh just if anyone is interested whenever the pope goes to a new country they basically commission one for that country.
Speaker A
Okay. So there's a fleet of Pope. There's a fleet of Pope in individual countries. um the one in Ireland in Dublin uh ironically considering that Ireland is a very Catholic country. It ended up in the hands of a man that um
Speaker A
ran stagdos and you could sit on the pot, go around Dublin and get shitfaced.
Speaker A
Um so that was what what happened to the Pope in Ireland. Um that sounds excellent.
Speaker A
Yeah. Unfortunately, it's now been taken over by a museum. Um I know, snooze. Um so we then went went away. I then contacted 15 owners of these Pope mobiles be like, "Hey, are you up for some japes?" And they all said no.
Speaker A
Yeah. So I think your mistake was using the word japes. Yeah, that was my problem. Some holy japes. [laughter] Um and from that point they were like, "Nah." So then we know, okay, we can't do that. So but yeah, there's a huge we
Speaker A
come up with hundreds and hundreds of ideas. Some are great, but just fit production wise just not possible. Some of them like we've got a title which is I technically became the king. That's a great title.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. But I don't know how to do it. Yeah. In a way that people feel satiated.
Speaker A
Yeah. Because what you don't want to do is I guess give them like a tantalizing thing and then you don't live up to that that then the car doesn't fly.
Speaker A
Yeah. Absolutely. The the child catcher doesn't catch no kids. He gets nobody. The cage the cage is empty.
Speaker A
Yeah. He's catching adults at this point. You're like no younger. Yeah. What a waste of lollipops.
Speaker A
Yeah. Exactly. Uh, right. We've got a question from my mom now. I love this bit of the show. I don't know what this is.
Speaker A
I'm just really excited because you've had to tell your mom we've got a YouTuber. What is that? No, he's he's he's all right. He's he's one of the good guys. So, I'm so excited to hear how she tries to be very enthusiastic
Speaker A
about what I do. Okay. I don't Yeah. Well, I've not heard it. So, let's see.
Speaker A
Well, here we go. Hello, Max. I am Romesh's mom here. How are you keeping?
Speaker A
I know you are big on YouTube. Pause. Brilliant. Production has said that's exactly what the production has said to your mom.
Speaker A
No, my mom knew that actually. He's big on YouTube. No, she's a massive fan of the Luton stump.
Speaker A
She's reading the So, how dare you? That's close to your home. Close to It's right 5 minutes from my house.
Speaker A
Yeah. So, she's gone. She's looking at the email right now. I heard you're big on YouTube. Please keep going.
Speaker A
Okay. Romesh only got a silver award. Uh, I started doing podcast with Romesh. People say I should start my own cooking show. Is there any chance you could give me some advice? It'll be helpful. Enjoy the podcast and the weather. See you
Speaker A
soon. Lots of love. Bye-bye. Okay, I've got some ideas actually. So, you've actually got instantly barely finished listening to the question.
Speaker A
So, it's it's a case of right. So a little bit like standup, people immediately have preconceptions of your mom and what she likes to cook. So the first josition you can have is her cooking like the mo the most like bland
Speaker A
British thing. Yeah. Um or getting your mom cooking in extreme places. I'd love to see her cooking up the side of a volcano.
Speaker A
It's a good show. That's a good idea. Me too. Um, so either your mom, um, like there was I love there's a content creator called Tom Gilby does a lot of wine content and he reviewed Buzz Balls.
Speaker A
Great. It's complete opposite thing of what he's doing. So Shanti, thank you so much for your question. Um, really excited for our new cooking show. Um, I would recommend uh you cooking things that nobody thinks that you would either eat or know how to
Speaker A
cook. Um, doing a collab with Rate My Takeaway would bang. Big John. Get Big John and Shanti doing a Chinese takeaway.
Speaker A
Oh, yeah. This is great. This is what you want. These are great ideas. I've got an idea.
Speaker A
How about this? Right. Is like, you know, people talk about sort of, you know, people, ethnic minorities assimilating into British culture.
Speaker A
Yeah. My mom does, tell me what you think of this idea. My mom does a traditional English roast dinner, right? Somebody high up in reform eats that roast in perfect.
Speaker A
If they don't like it, she's deported. [laughter] Rubbish. And I know you're joking here.
Speaker A
That genuinely is a perfect video, right? [laughter] Because it has it has stakes for Shanti.
Speaker A
Number one, she could be off. Yeah. Um, number two, it's got a mark. We don't mind a punch up there.
Speaker A
And number three, genuine. I want to know what happens. I tricked Reformer into eating a South Asian woman's roast. Uh, roast dinner. There's your title, guys. That's gonna go viral.
Speaker A
Yeah, that's going to be the new I don't know my fruits. I can feel it.
Speaker A
You know how sometimes they get um dogs on this morning and someone says, "Oh, my dog's vegetarian." Yeah.
Speaker A
Um and then they just put two bowls of food in front of the dog and the dog obviously just goes for the meat. You basically kind of do the same with someone from reform. You put two roast dinners down. Yeah.
Speaker A
And you say, "One of these has been cooked by a proper English man and one has been cooked by a woman called Shanti." Yeah, you decide. And the the the twist, both of them be cooked by Shan. [laughter]
Speaker A
I love it. There you go. That is a great idea. Holy [ __ ] Max. Do it.
Speaker A
No wonder you're so good. Um, so what is your how many how many subs are you on now? 5 million.
Speaker A
5 million. And is that enough? No. No. No. So, do you do you have do you have an object? Do you have a goal?
Speaker A
The the the hadonic adaptation is crazy. like the goalposts get moved. So it is remarkable and I guess do you feel this within comedy as well when it comes to either like cuz the objection objective like version comedy is like size of room
Speaker A
right but now you're doing the O2 does it feel like do you feel like bigger more cuz Shane Gillis did 75,000 yeah the most ever by any comedian ever right in one room or something um I terrible vibe at that gig I'm sure just
Speaker A
because it's an open air Yeah. And listen, you know, Shane's attracted the fans he's attracted. Great comic, though.
Speaker A
Very good comic. Really good com. Like really good. Um I think I have a slightly weird not weird I I my relationship with numbers I guess with that sort of thing is I don't think um that the number of tickets you sell
Speaker A
is really a a mark of how good you are as a standup. Right. So So when I started doing standup, I wanted to be the best standup I could possibly be.
Speaker A
And I'm not as good as I want to be, right? I think I've definitely got better as the years have gone on, but I haven't done my I've said this before on this podcast. I haven't done my definitive show that when I come to
Speaker A
retire and somebody goes, "What what's what's your proud standup?" I haven't done that show yet. I've done shows that I think are good [gasps] but not great.
Speaker A
And so I think that like say for example, I sell out the O2, but that's not because I'm better at standup than somebody that isn't selling the O2 is selling out the O2. It means I've done more TV and there's so many
Speaker A
there's so many, you know, I host Ready. There's so many bits of circumstance and luck that have led to me doing that and so more people have heard of me and come to watch me. But that is not a a marker
Speaker A
of how good I am at the thing. [snorts] And I think for me personally, don't get me wrong, it's not I I'm very grateful that I get to sell rooms that size and it's amazing and it's an incredible experience and I will never
Speaker A
take it for granted. But for me, writing an amazing stand-up show is the thing. And and that's what I'm I'm aiming for, right? Is creating that incredible stand-up show, which I haven't done yet.
Speaker A
So for me, the goal is a personal one. Like I'll just know and I might not. I might not. I might come to the end of my career and I've never done it.
Speaker A
But I feel like I'll go, do you know what? I'm proud of that show. And that is not it's great that I've sold that I'm doing the O2. That is amazing, but that's not the thing that that's not
Speaker A
career defining for me. Does that make sense? Yeah. I mean, it's probably it's very similar with me, right? Like I have every metric and data under the sun. I can see by the minute how many people are watching an individual video, right?
Speaker A
Which is not good for anybody. Well, didn't you say because I remember you reading in an interview with you, you were saying it sort of has a it has mental health implications big. And has that been a problem for you?
Speaker A
Um, yes, at times like and still now I you will get into funks be like, "Oh, I'm not I'm it's not as big as it was." And so then it comes back to how good the video is. And I always think that
Speaker A
before we post a video, if I'm sat there watching it back and still really enjoying it, that's kind of my measure of success. But what I find interesting with YouTubes and content creators is that we still don't have in a lot of
Speaker A
ways the legitimacy that standups kind of do. And I will never say that I'm a standup because I don't I do comedy shows. Um, but therefore there is a definite I' I've felt and I I know the conversations have happened within the
Speaker A
comedy world about me doing the Hammersmith Apollo because I've come from it from a different angle and a different approach because because in theory should have done the club.
Speaker A
I've not done the working man's club. I've not done the store I'm you know I'm using a screen I'm doing and then this happened. So you know yes there's very parts of it that are very hack. So I
Speaker A
guess that's not hack. I don't think using a screen is is hack. I think I think what you're doing is and is you're you're comedy is like such a broad church. I think what you're doing is you're presenting what you believe to be the
Speaker A
funniest version of yourself and this is what makes you laugh. There's authenticity to that. The idea that you have to be trapped like you know just because I just talking to a mic that doesn't mean that that is what
Speaker A
standup comedy you know I mean it can be whatever you want it to be.
Speaker A
Yeah. But there is still I do think you're absolutely right and you're saying the the things that very kind and are very like you know we know that to be true but there's still like a a a clawing desire to be kind of legitimized
Speaker A
be like yes that art form I'm putting in inverted commas for the audio listeners because it is not really art but whatever I'm making I want it to be like seen as like oh that's a really cool thing to do and I
Speaker A
the problem is I don't know who by because university it's not always going going to happen with everybody. So, um I'm doing, you know, some more telly stuff because I just want to see what that's like and see like then test the
Speaker A
waters there. How much do you care about tell? I if if the if the creator the the concept is amazing. I love it because that's just purely just another bit of you know that's a format just in a
Speaker A
different world. Yeah. But you're not doing YouTube thinking I hope this leads me to telly.
Speaker A
No, that the YouTube telly. Yeah. The YouTube in and of itself is the goal, right? You're not going this is my stepping stone to get onto mainstream television or whatever.
Speaker A
But like there are still there are still huge mainstream shows that I would love to do.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um because you grew up watching them. Because I [clears throat] grew up watching them or I'm a big fan of them.
Speaker A
Which ones, Max? Uh Strictly, The Traitors. You want to do Strictly? Uh yeah, why not?
Speaker A
I don't think that I mean, listen, you'd be great on Strictly. You'd be a liability, wouldn't you? What? I'm just trying to think of the sort of stuff you'd wear.
Speaker A
You'd be great on Strictly. We in fact let's put it let's put it out there now.
Speaker A
Max Fosch wants to do Strictly. I know the producers. In fact, I make I should text Josh right now going Max wants to do Strictly.
Speaker A
Just make it happen. We could just We could make this happen, Max. We could potentially.
Speaker A
Okay, so Strictly. Sorry. Strictly. What were the others? The traitors. Traitors. Yeah. Um you'd be so untrustworthy on traitors.
Speaker A
That's the problem. I think I' I'd have the Well, you you won't be able to tell me what happened this year, but obviously Niko last year as the fellow YouTuber, they was like, I don't know who you are. I've heard you do pranks.
Speaker A
off you [ __ ] [laughter] and you're not white. So I I don't know how well I'd do on that show. Yeah, but there's like there's definitely some some some shows that I'd love. I mean, I did The Weakest Link with you recently.
Speaker A
Yes. And you were great. That was so much fun. Yeah. But but but you're not doing that going this means I'm established. You're doing that because you think it'd be a cool experience.
Speaker A
Cool experience. A show that I like. Um, and what I do appreciate is the fact that I can go on that and know that if nothing happens afterwards, I've still got basically a a career elsewhere that I can just make stuff that is totally up
Speaker A
to me. Yeah. Yeah. And and I think I think being the master of your own destiny is sort of a thing that actually weird YouTubes and standups, I know you're both, but have in common in a way because like
Speaker A
you can create your own opportunities. You can always go on tour or whatever. Do you know what I mean? No. Um, now speaking of incredible TV as we were, would you rather decide to survive on Prime Video?
Speaker A
On Prime Video? Now I, um, we, when, how long ago did we, did we film this?
Speaker A
We filmed this in October 25. Yeah, we were in Greece. Was it Greece? Two weeks.
Speaker A
I got to stay. Well, let's not talk about where I was staying. But anyway, I hosted it cuz it wasn't where we were staying.
Speaker A
[laughter] I was like, "Wow, this is the second best hotel on the island. [laughter] But I um I uh I was very excited to host the show. One because would you rather is is a like as a conversation piece.
Speaker A
Yeah. Would you rather do this or this is like a great thing. And also when they tell me that they were it's so difficult because there was a lot of discussions about what to call what the collective noun for you is.
Speaker A
What's the collective noun for creators or YouTubers? Yeah. Yeah. So content creators, I guess, but we're all content creators.
Speaker A
Anyway, I thought that was exciting because I felt like one of the things that's great about people of your ilk is that you're sort of un you're unfilter you just say what you think and you're not media trained
Speaker A
you're not trying to think about a potential TV career because because you don't need it right and that makes you more interesting as people when you saw the lineup when you were doing alongside all of those people do
Speaker A
you see them are you a group or are you do you see them as rivals like what's your kind of attit No, I think that we are still within an industry with content creator where we're still kind of as the content creators themselves,
Speaker A
we really do stick together and there's kind of a rising tide lifts all ships.
Speaker A
And so seeing some creators on there like um the that I've always liked and watched, seeing us all together on a show of that magnitude with you hosting it was a real like before we started filming like oh this is cool. like it
Speaker A
feels like we're kind of being taken a little bit more seriously and then you covered me in lube. Um, so should we keep talking about on camera stuff?
Speaker A
Yeah, that's fair. That's fair enough. [laughter] Um, but it was it was a really it was I saw actually you did a clip with James Acaster on this show.
Speaker A
Yeah. Where you were talking about have you ever worked with I think the conversation there was a clip that did quite well which was um Oh, have you ever done TV work with creators? and I saw the beginning of this like cliff and
Speaker A
I thought, "Oh, I know. He's just going to be talking about us." And you were actually really positive. You're basically saying that we were fed up of having to do the drone shot six times.
Speaker A
And that is a genuine legitimate thing. Um, and so it was it was a different experience of normally we react to exactly what's in front of us. But with telly, the thing happens, there'll be some repositioning of cameras and some
Speaker A
lights action reaction. Yeah. And so it took a bit of time to get used to hold it in, holding your action, holding reaction.
Speaker A
Yeah. Well, that that's one of the things that I find the most interesting, not the most interesting, it's one of the interesting things about working with you guys. It's like we had chunks on weakest link. I think it was like the
Speaker A
first series I did. And in a nice way, he just went, "Why is this so long, man?" [laughter] He was like, "We would have done a whole episode by this time and we've not even done the first round. what's going on
Speaker A
like and and it is true because like you guys just go right let's just shoot this you know let's just do it so it's a lot more immediate but the other thing that I thought was great is is is I just thought everybody was so
Speaker A
funny on it I mean and I feel like everybody reacting to everything that's going I just thought I thought the cast are brilliant I thought the production team put together a load of really good games and and it was
Speaker A
actually fun to watch you guys interact and do all that stuff you also stole from me I did steal from you. They didn't put it in the edit.
Speaker A
They didn't? No, they didn't. So, this was a moment. Let's Let's tell this is Well, this is great.
Speaker A
This is great. So, for super fans for the eagleeyed amongst you. So, Romesh was there in a big, you know, wardrobe department, costume department, it's one person, one person. And Romesh on the first day wore this very nice blue jacket
Speaker A
and um I think he might have even commented on it in a way that almost felt like this is premeditated. Yeah. But it wasn't.
Speaker A
It wasn't. But you wore a lovely jacket on the first episode, the first day and then, you know, we filmed for a week and then about 6 days in, I suddenly went into my room and on a little clothes
Speaker A
hanger was Romesh's blue jacket. And I immediately realized that obviously it had gone into the laundry and was meant to go back to you when some runner had thought, "Oh no, this is actually Max Fos's jacket, so I'd put it
Speaker A
in my area because you and I are Cuz you and I interchangeable." Exactly. Looks wise, dress strength wise.
Speaker A
Um, and so I knew, right, this will be a great bit. I'm going to come out for the elimination wearing Ramish's jacket.
Speaker A
Romesh will immediately realize, but I need to make sure I do this without any of the production team seeing this cuz I know they'll see it like oh no that's oh no Max just wear something else like this would be
Speaker A
we don't think Ramish is going to react well to this things like that. Yeah I mean so I then we had to do loads of drone shots and I did it in just my t-shirt cuz I thought right I'm going to
Speaker A
stuff you're delaying it as long as I was delaying as long as possible. So I stuffed it under my bed. um did the drone shot. So, I'm wearing a completely different outfit. And then we come out and that first reaction is like, "Hello
Speaker A
guys, welcome." And you immediately went, "Is that my jacket?" [laughter] And Phil, the executive producer, I he he had clocked. I was like, "Phil, please. I think this would be a great moment." And they cut it from the show.
Speaker A
I didn't know they'd cut it from the show. They did cut it from the show.
Speaker A
Oh, I'm sorry. I stole and and then it was great because you like how like you were genuinely confused as to how I stolen your jacket. I could to to to be hosting a show where obviously I think you lot,
Speaker A
you know, I'm the host. [laughter] How have you had access to anything I own?
Speaker A
Yeah. Horrible. You're like, how have you done this? And it was just it was just completely serendipitous. But I thought that was I thought that was a good example of what is great about you because I I think
Speaker A
that [snorts] you're we can talk about like you know obviously you've got a team and you think about these YouTube things and but you have got a I think you've got it you know and and somebody once said to me like um when I was
Speaker A
coming up as a comedian they said there's going to be some element of you that people want to buy into and it's out of your control and you might have it and you might not and and it's just
Speaker A
the way it is. Do you know what I mean? You can be as funny as you like, but if people don't buy into you, whatever. I think you have got that because you do stuff like that and in somebody else's
Speaker A
hands that would have been like a twatty thing to do you know what I mean? Like it would have come across as like it would have come across as a bit like, oh, this guy's being a prankster wanker
Speaker A
or whatever. But it was charming and I think that is part of what makes you so good. I think you've just got this way about you that when you're doing these things actually you c I'm not watching that guy. I've seen other people do not
Speaker A
the same stuff as you, but some just go, "Oh, what a tosser. Why have they done that?" No, I don't think people feel like that with you. And I don't know whether that's by design or just by who
Speaker A
you are, but it's it's an amazing thing, man. It really one of the good posh ones, I think.
Speaker A
Yeah, you're one of the good posh ones. [laughter] That's very kind. Thank you, Romesh.
Speaker A
Um, right, we're going to play the game, which I'm sure you know, misqued. Yeah, [music] it's misqued. Uh, this is where we've got five quotes. Some of them you said, some of them you didn't.
Speaker A
Yeah. You've just got to tell me if you didn't or you did, and hopefully it'll create some content.
Speaker A
Okay. So, here's your first one. Good luck. How well do you think you'll do at this?
Speaker A
I don't think I'll do very well because I think I've said a lot. I've broadcast my life for the last nine years. So, all right. Um, here's your first one.
Speaker A
I'm often labeled as a posh show, but I don't think that's the best description of who I am.
Speaker A
I probably did say that. You didn't. Did I not? You've actually adapted something you said which you've talked about a little bit. I'm often labeled as a prankster, but I don't think that's the best description of what I do. A prank
Speaker A
implies that there is a victim that's to living north in 2022. [laughter] I was doing the the big boys.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um what how do you describe what you do? I know you talk about Luke Buzz, but if somebody goes, "What do you know who you are and they said what do you do?" I'd say a party. I don't know if you go to
Speaker A
those. I've not been to one for over a decade now, probably. But I think I go I'm an artist.
Speaker A
No. [laughter] Then they'd walk away immediately after. No, I would say um it depends who I who I'm talking to. If they're over the age of 40, I'll say I'm a comedian, right?
Speaker A
And then if they're under, I'll say, "I'm a I'm a YouTuber." And then they say, "Oh, what kind of YouTube videos do you make?" And then I'll say, "I I I find loopholes in things." Okay, I think that's good. Um All right.
Speaker A
Here's your next one. So that you you didn't score. Didn't say that. No. Um I always think it's a bit like freshers week because everybody's snogging each other who shouldn't be snogging each other.
Speaker A
Did I I think I'm talking about the Edinburgh Fringe. And I think I did say that.
Speaker A
Tatler 2026. Oh god. So what's what's going on with your Edinburgh fringe, Max? Cuz you got a girlfriend, haven't you?
Speaker A
I do. I'm just I'm purely I'm [laughter] I'm purely survey. I am I am just You're a voyer.
Speaker A
I'm a I'm a voyer. I've got my peak pole set up in underbelly. Sure.
Speaker A
It's great. In the filthy underbelly, you'll find Max Wash underbelly. Looking through Underbelly is the name of a series of venues. It's neighbor venues. It's not the dark underbelly of Edinburgh. That's slightly But it does have a dark underbelly.
Speaker A
It does. Um I did. Yeah, it is a bit freshers week is a bit like that. No, sorry, not freshest week is a bit my freshest week wasn't like that. Me sat on my own trying to find a
Speaker A
friend. What a levels did you do? Um but the fringe is wild, isn't it?
Speaker A
It's what and what happens is is that like you you get in a group chat with the people that you see every single day and you are on top of each other sometimes snogging them and then on the
Speaker A
1st of September you leave Edinburgh and you never talk on that group chat ever again.
Speaker A
Yeah, it is um like how how into the Edinburgh fr that side of the fringe do you get?
Speaker A
I did I I'm not talking about snogging people. I'm talking about like it just gets a bit debortous, doesn't it? It gets very debortous but it then becomes very it gets quite toxic because then what you especially around the time of like
Speaker A
finding out the awards and nominees and things like that because what happens is people then try to win the fringe which which I don't think is ever good for anybody. Um and I think that's when it starts to to slightly descend into into
Speaker A
chaos. But I did I've done two runs and I've loved both of them equally. They are it's a wonderful place. It is a bit like freshest week. How I got chlamydia.
Speaker A
That's a joke. Yeah. Well done for clearing that up. The chlamydia. I mean, uh, here's your next one. Whenever I'm with my mom and someone approaches us, she tries to shield me. I never have said that.
Speaker A
[laughter] If I've said that, that is that is lies. [laughter] Here's a real quote. Whenever I'm with my mom, every single time someone says hello, even if I take a picture with them, she'll then go, "Are they friends
Speaker A
from school?" And I'm like, "No, mom. They watch the videos. That was in your Tatler interview.
Speaker A
So, does she just not believe that you're famous? She just I think she just slightly forgets. Um like my dad turned up to the biggest show of my life at the Apollo and you see games in my dress. Max are
Speaker A
people outside. [laughter] I know. What do you think I did? Just rented the room.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um so it's but they they it's very cliche say they don't understand. They do understand, but I think it it it reminds them whenever they see the real life connotations of what's happening.
Speaker A
What do they think about what you do? Cuz I can't There's no way in a minute.
Speaker A
They're baffled. They are absolutely baffled. And the hardest thing I ever do is whenever I'm at lunch with mom and they're with a friend of theirs and they then start explaining what I do. That is No, it's it's loopholes. It's he finds
Speaker A
loopholes. Like you did something with a you did you did you did that thing where you became very poor for seven minutes for an experiment. He went to Luton.
Speaker A
Yeah. [laughter] Was there a point where they thought it was like a phase and they were like oh this will this will pass. He'll but then I stopped asking them for money and they were like that's when it gets good.
Speaker A
They were like ah no this is good. So it was at university and they're like oh you know I wasn't like oh can can you help me with with this? I'm like oh fine crack on. It's not porn is it? No.
Speaker A
Great. It could be. It's hookie. It is hookie. Yeah. leans slight to the left.
Speaker A
People are into you. Are they super into you? Like, do they? No. And that's what I'm so grateful for.
Speaker A
People do not give a [ __ ] about my life. They just care about like what big stunt I'm doing. So, I can live my life like my No one is interested in like my my my personal life or, you know, who I'm
Speaker A
seeing. So, was that And are you do you deliberately try and hide that side of No, no, don't try and hide it, but not it's not part of the the the the offering that I'm sure that I'm giving.
Speaker A
I get you. Um, okay. Well done. Uh, here's your next one. My unpopular opinion is that I think Pizza Express is the best restaurant in the world.
Speaker A
I did say that. You did say it. Oxford Student 2024. Yeah. I think I was just trying to be just relatable. [laughter] After the Prince Andrew, Oxford student.
Speaker A
Yeah. After the Prince Andrew stuff, I just thought, yeah, I'd really get in that Pizza Express PR. Yeah. Um, no. I just think I was just trying to be controversial, but that shows the length of what I'll say to be controversial.
Speaker A
Um, and I've done lots of food podcasts now and they've been like, "So, you said that pizza I think it's a great pizza. I think it's I think it's fantastic." Well, I'm a bit worried about Pizza Express.
Speaker A
Why? Well, because I think I mean they're struggling, aren't they? Pizza Express like Pizza Express is sort of the one in Crawley's closed down now, right? That's That's That's not the litmus test for when how well a company's doing,
Speaker A
but Pizza Express used to be like It used to used to go in there and it felt a little bit fancy.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And now now it looks like it's not the same experience. No. And it I don't don't think it helps that they have the same uniform as Foot Locker.
Speaker A
No. No. You're right. Tricky. Although horizontal, vertical, there is there is a slight difference.
Speaker A
I also think if you're going to make the kitchen open view, Yeah. have the staff look a little bit more enthusiastic [laughter] or add some drama in there. If you know your local Pizza Express, once a night the chef will shout at someone. You're
Speaker A
going Yeah. I don't want to see somebody individually positioning dough balls. They do a very performance.
Speaker A
[laughter] I don't need to see that. Raise the screen. You know, it's not adding anything to my to the basement down. I don't want to see I don't want to see this.
Speaker A
No. Smile or [ __ ] off. [laughter] Dough baller. What' you call me? There you go. One all. [laughter] I'm not even holding a dough ball. So, uh, okay. Um, here's your final one.
Speaker A
You've done very well on this. Oh, thank you. We've all shot ourselves at some point.
Speaker A
[laughter] Is this your your quote or my quote? Um, I think I mean it's some it's a it's a I can't remember saying it, but it's a it's a um something I stand behind, so I think I did say it. You said it on the
Speaker A
saving grace podcast with JK Barry talking about Mount Kilimanjaro. I shut myself up at Mount Kilimanjaro.
Speaker A
So what happened? I mean you sh I mean we've got the Well, I mean I was a 17-year-old boy at Harrow School. What else do you do? You climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
Speaker A
Obviously. Obviously. And I it was a fiveday expedition and I thought I think 5 days I could I could sort that with Emodium for 5 days.
Speaker A
Just block up. Just block up. Um and uh the the the dam burst up the up the summit night. Where did you go?
Speaker A
In my trousers. Oh, yeah. Obviously. What happened then? This is, you know, wonderful. I'm trying to make myself uh legitimize myself as a as a genuine person who makes comedic stuff. Um uh it was so cold that uh the the the poo
Speaker A
froze in my pants. So then I had a pusicle. Scratchy. Scratchy. It was quite scratchy. And what was it was quite easy.
Speaker A
Just chisel it off. Well, then just kind of at one point I I just had a very uh like bare few seconds and I just kind of flipped it inside out. You know how you can basically if you pull down the bottom of your pants
Speaker A
and let go, it kind of turns into a slingshot. Yeah. So, I kind of crouched down, trousers down, catapulted it out.
Speaker A
Catapulted out. Is that what you want? Are you happy with the content you've got?
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. I think uh viral. I pooed myself on Mount Kilimanjaro. Um, that's a possible title.
Speaker A
There you go. I think Greg's already done that one. Well done for misqued. You did really really well.
Speaker A
Thank you. Um before we finish, I just want to ask you a little bit about your comedy career.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um so you are you are doing you you do tour shows basically, don't you?
Speaker A
So I did a big show called Loophole. Um that was a 72 day tour across the US, Europe, and Australia. Um, it killed me just in terms of like you to to make tours as profitable as possible, they'll
Speaker A
they'll schedule the shows back to back in consecutive nights and make sure that you're not spending extra money on hotels. So, I did I think it was 35 shows across the US and Europe. Did 35 shows in 32 days. So, there's a couple
Speaker A
of matineese in there. And every single morning, I got the 5 a.m. flight to the next city. I landed, went to the venue, did tech, had dinner, did show, go to bed, 5 a.m. flight. We did that for 32
Speaker A
days in a row. Did that not drive you insane? It was horrific. Yeah. Um and I remember kind of looking around being like, "Oh, it's not that glam though, is it?
Speaker A
It's cool. That is I mean that is a grim schedule." It was pretty grim. Um and I would meet up with tour managers who were local to that area. So I would often like in the Europe one luckily I mean I had some
Speaker A
incredible um uh tour managers some of whom there was some of they they they had managed tour managers Queen Prince Alicia like the biggest names I remember one of them spoke to me they're just before they're like have a briefing call
Speaker A
with you um when we're in the states um close protection um is it need and also do we need to organize any long long gun security basically a case like I was like you are going to be so
Speaker A
disappointed when we do meet and I was generally no security is needed and she's like really I got there and she's like oh no and now I get it because you know the the demographic was kind of you
Speaker A
know the family were coming um and we didn't quite sell as well in America as we would have potentially liked uh you know shout out to the 92 people that came in Fort Lauderdale to the 1200 seater theater that we booked
Speaker A
out that's that's the best ratio of seats to audience I think to really rock the room to really rock the room um so and to to speak candidly, the amount of money I made was the same as making two YouTube
Speaker A
videos. So, I think that I love doing live shows. There is I mean, I had some I did Dublin. I did the Olympia Theater, which is just one of the best venues I've ever done. It was unbelievably fun. So, you
Speaker A
get getting that feeling is just so powerful. But I've now I'm kind of looking and working on a new show at the moment which is actually part of my exclusive. Not that I'm announcing the show but it's actually a bit in it. Um
Speaker A
which I probably shouldn't be saying but I don't care. Um I would love to do another show but just kind of like let's strip back the amount of shows you still get that experience.
Speaker A
Yeah. I think I think you need to have fun on tour as well like you know you know I think if you part of it is the problem is if you and I've done that in the past as well where you've packed a
Speaker A
schedule. thing is you got I've really it's been my dream to do this and now I'm [ __ ] on it by making it too brutal. Yeah.
Speaker A
Um right Max we as you know we like to end the podcast on a big moment.
Speaker A
Yeah. And you've said to me that you've got an exclusive for us. I do. Now this this exclusive comes with caveats. Number one. Do you have a big audience in the manosphere?
Speaker A
I don't believe so. No. Okay. Right. Then you know they're not the red pillars aren't No. I mean I called Andrew Tate recently. Number two, I would request that you don't use this bit as a clip.
Speaker A
You can use it in the podcast, absolutely, but not as a clip. And I and I'll tell you for why. And number three, this goes out to any broad um like newspapers watching the Sun, the Daily Mail. for the inte
Speaker A
uh for the integrity of the bit. Could you this might be very presumptive for me. Could you not post about what I'm about to say? I'm very happy at being in the ether, but when I explain what it is, I don't want too many people
Speaker A
to know about it. So, and listen what I know from my dealings with the Sun and the Daily Mount, they always follow those instructions. Always listen.
Speaker A
So, I think it'll be fine. So, guys, you know, you could do the right thing. you could do.
Speaker A
Okay, which you know. So, this is my excuse. I brought something with me. Okay, hold on. I'll just go get it.
Speaker A
I'm quite excited about this is very exciting. So, [snorts] for the last six months, I have been making a company. And this is for a bit that I might do in a standup show. Not sure about EX. It's still on there.
Speaker A
So, for the last six months, you're working on something you might use in a standup show.
Speaker A
Yeah. Cool. I have invented a protein powder company called Men's True Nation. Right now, what we're trying to do is the bit would be I tricked the manosphere into promoting women's rights.
Speaker A
So, we have invented this company called Menstream Nation, which is just menration. Yeah. Uh the tagline is for every day, not just once a month.
Speaker A
And we have been sending this to individuals within the kind of the red pill world.
Speaker A
Yeah. Getting them to promote it on their Instagram. [laughter] And has it worked? It is currently in the process of working.
Speaker A
Now, I want you there's there's there's lots of little Easter eggs in here that like if you read this um you you then um you know realize that what it is, but just open up the lid and have a look
Speaker A
inside. Obviously, protein powder comes with some sort of um scoop. So, for our scoop [laughter] Oh, well. [laughter] Let me let me just The scoop for the Men's True Nation protein powder is a Moon Cup. [laughter] Wow.
Speaker A
So, we're currently in the process of sending this out. Some of them have already received it. We're waiting on the videos.
Speaker A
Is Is this a real protein powder? So, that is a real protein powder. That is just a um one you can get in Holland Barrett that we take off all the the stickers off. So, I'm just back I'm
Speaker A
banking on that the divide of social media is so strong that I don't think those that have been sent this will have this come up on their social media.
Speaker A
[laughter] Um, so I don't know whether it's going to work. It might be a video the whole process we've done this. It might be a like a nice like 20 minute like setup um for a stand segment, sorry, for a
Speaker A
standup bit. Um, but we shall see. So, that's that's up there as one of the best exposes we've ever had on the podcast.
Speaker A
Thank you. Thank you so much. Please can you give it up for Max Fos?
Speaker A
Thank you so much for watching and listening to this episode. Before you go, if you've enjoyed this episode and you've not subscribed, that's a bold decision. Crazy behavior. Follow and subscribe to the Ramish Wang and Nathan Show wherever you listen. It helps me
Speaker A
really like really helps me. It helps the team and it costs you absolutely nothing. We drop episodes every Monday and Thursday. Mondays I'm joined by great guests. Thursdays, my mom Shardi joins me to answer your questions and family dilemas. I'll see you Thursday
Speaker A
with mom who, let's face it, is who you're actually here for. If you've got a problem you want to solve or a story you want to share, send it to podcast at rangab.com voice or text us on 07731-623355.
Speaker A
[music] We can't promise good advice, but you might end up on the show. See you soon.
Speaker A
Oh, shut up, Romesh.
Topics:Max FoshRomesh Ranganathanposh cultureYouTube careercomedyviral videoscontent creationBritish comedyWould You RatherAmazon Prime
