James Acaster’s Findings

Summary

Award-winning comedian and Hypothetical host James Acaster presents the remarkable results of his research

You may know him from his Netflix series Repertoire, his podcasts Off Menu or James Acaster's Perfect Sounds, but before all of that James Acaster was one of the top researchers working in the UK today. In these five shows, he probes deeply into a variety of subjects - and shares his eye-opening conclusions. Accompanied by agreeable assistant Nathaniel Metcalfe (Fresh From the Fringe) and Donna from the Complaints Department (Call the Midwife's Bryony Hannah) he tackles the big questions on the topics of Bread, Wood, Fruit, Wheels and Paint.

Pilot show 'Bread' reveals why the French struggle to come up with a snappy slogan to advertise brioche. Plus, we learn why the bagel is so trendy, and discover the hidden anti-bread propaganda pushed at children through the medium of fairytales.

In 'Wood', James goes to a lumberjack optician to find out if they can see the wood for the trees, experiments with toothpicks and termites, and investigates the difference between the xylophone and the glockenspiel - all while wearing his patented Clegg Clogs.

'Fruit' finds him disagreeing violently with Nathaniel on the subject of orange juice with bits in, recalling a formative childhood experience with a brown banana and explaining why it's fine to bring an apple to an orchard.

'Wheels' (powered by Picnic the hamster) sees James analysing the stylistic perfection of 'The Wheels on the Bus', refusing to divulge his roulette wheel exploits (what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...) and reinventing the Ferris wheel so it's proportionally more thrilling.

And in 'Paint', James gets his portrait painted, speculates on the identity of Banksy (top three suspects: Jamie Oliver, Gordon Banks and Nathaniel Metcalfe) and strips down to his pants to play paintball, just like on Jackass...

Also included is a bonus short story, 'Sorry for Your Loss', recorded in front of a live audience at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.


Written and performed by James Acaster
Featuring Nathaniel Metcalfe and Bryony Hannah
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner (James Acaster's Findings) and Kirsteen Cameron ('Sorry for Your Loss')
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 26 March 2013 ('Bread'), 5-26 November 2014 (Series 1), 26 August 2012 ('Sorry for Your Loss')