Comedians Julia Davis and Vicki Pepperdine dispense filthy, unfiltered advice on their hugely successful podcast, Dear Joan And Jericha. Can their alter egos help 2020’s great and not-so-good?
In an increasingly fractured and hostile world, it can be hard to know where to turn during moments of crisis. Enter Dear Joan And Jericha, the darkly hysterical podcast in which comedians Julia Davis and Vicki Pepperdine play the world’s least sympathetic, most judgmental agony aunts. Armed with their own experiences of marital difficulties (Joan has lost three of her six husbands to suicide) and large-headed lesbian progeny (Jericha’s adult daughter Cardinal is medically classified as a “walking syndrome”), no problem is too filthy or absurd to receive a dose of their unique wisdom. And what they lack in empathy, they more than make up for in consistency. Whether plagued by “muttony lady limbs” or a husband who gets amorous with the family dog, listeners can rest assured that they have only themselves to blame.
Launched to little fanfare in 2018, the show has since become a cult hit, winning best comedy at the 2019 British podcast awards. Now, the duo have written a book, Why He Turns Away, “an unputdownable bible of sex and relationship advice, from dating right up until you or hubby pass away”. To celebrate, we asked Joan (Julia) and Jericha (Vicky) to raid their postbag and revisit some of 2020’s biggest quandaries. Joe Stone
