Based on the wire recordings of undercover cop Pat Springleaf

James Acaster is making a spoof true crime podcast, to be financed by crowdfunding.

The show will revolve around his undercover cop alter-ego Pat Springleaf, who first featured in his 2014 stand-up show Recognise and subsequent Netflix special.

Acaster spoke about his plans to fellow comic – and fellow former Taskmaster contestant – Mike Wozniak at the London Podcast Festival last weekend.

Making reference to his other podcasts Perfect Sounds Whatever and Off Menu, which he hosts with Ed Gamble, he said: ‘I know how to host podcasts. I've hosted podcasts about easy things like music and food. That's a stroll in the park. Also, they're very boring things. No one really wants to know about those things. And yet I've made them a hit.

‘So I thought if I can sell chats about poppadoms. Imagine how much of an audience I can get when talking about the world of crime, the criminal underworld, drugs, murder, violence, robbery, lies, and porky pies.’

Springleaf is described as ‘a dark but dumb comedy about an undercover cop with a heart of gold’ and is based on the recordings Acaster he said he made while wearing a wire ‘24-7-365 (366 in a leap year)’

‘I'm taking my real-life wire recordings that I made of the cases that I did,’ he said. ‘I'm going to talk the audience through them talking through the biggest case of my entire career. ‘I anticipate this is going to be the Number One true crime podcast ever, like from like, from Year Zero to now.’

He played the audience an extract from a pilot, which also featured  Kemah Bob and  Kath Hughes,  and added: ‘A lot of comedians are in this podcast and who weren't aware I was recording them.’

Acaster also told Wozniak he had pitched it as a radio show but was rejected ‘And then as soon as I had a hit podcast, where I got angry about cheeseboards, they were knocking on my door.

‘Now. I was like, yeah, you blew it. Now I'm gonna do this myself. And I want to do it exactly how I want it.

‘Also, I think that if, if people are paying for it, who were like, you know, members of the public, I will feel more of a pressure to make it good.’

Producer Lyndsay Fenner of programme-makers Mighty Bunny, further told the British Comedy Guide: 'Getting your head around what's James and what's Pat, what's real and what's not, well, it takes me a while sometimes. Pat's a complex guy. But it's going to be really, really fun because James is great.'

The recording of his London Podcast Festival interview is available here, priced £9.50, while the Springleaf crowdfunder will launch soon at springleafpodcast.com

Published: 21 Sep 2022