There’s a stereotype that us Brits are prudish when it comes to talking sex. Even more so when it comes to talking about it with our parents. So how would you handle finding out your dad had started writing erotica?
That’s the problem faced by Jamie Morton, the voice behind the funniest podcast around, My Dad Wrote a Porno. Jamie’s dad (nom de plume “Rocky Flintstone”) came to him with Belinda Blinked, a story of how the “sexiest sales girl in business earns her huge bonus by being the best at removing her high heels.” (The author’s words, not mine.)
The story follows Belinda Blumenthal, a newly appointed sales director for a kitchenware company, as she fucks her way through a whole cast of business clients. Rocky’s book might not win any awards, but it did inspire Jamie to create My Dad Wrote a Porno. The hugely successful pod, now in its second season, sees Jamie, along with James Cooper and Alice Levine, read a chapter of Belinda Blinked week by week, adding their hilarious commentary to the smutty novella.
A lack of any real plot in the book is more than made up for by phrases such as “vaginal lids,” “private pussy area,” and “her tits swung freely, like pomegranates.” But it’s Jamie, James, and Alice’s side-splitting narrations, interjections, and general sounds of disgust that make My Dad Wrote a Porno so fantastic.
At first the show seems like it’s merely mocking Rocky’s book, but My Dad Wrote a Porno is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of bad sex. The show can make the most awful commute feel like you’re hanging out with friends you haven’t seen in years, and it’s so rare that a podcast manages to do so much with so little.
Consistently at the top of the United Kingdom’s iTunes podcast charts, set for three sold-out shows at the London Podcast Festival, and getting ready to release a book just in time for Christmas, My Dad Wrote a Porno is one of those beautiful shows that proves all you need to make a great podcast is an awesome idea, and even better friends.
The Daily Dot had a chat with Jamie about how to stay sane when, you know, Dad writes a porno.
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How did you react when you found out your dad had written Belinda Blinked?
I was at home for some family weekend celebration, and he took me to one side and told me he’d written a novel. Initially I was really happy—what better way to spend your retirement after all?
However he negated to tell me that it was erotica until I started reading it a few weeks later. Needless to say, I was shocked, appalled, and disgusted. But it was so bloody funny I had to share it with my mates.
Has the show changed your relationship with your dad?
It’s been brilliant for our relationship, actually. It wasn’t something I’d anticipated but it’s brought us much closer together. It’s been really cool sharing the experience with not only my best mates, but also my dad.
Working together has also been ace—we’ve just finished writing our book which is out in October together and that was a really special thing. If you can look past the porn part, of course.
And what’s your favorite (or least favorite, I guess) line from the books?
There is so much gold in Belinda Blinked. It does change but at the moment I think my favorite line is from season 2, episode 5, when Dad describes Peter Rouse and Belinda’s tryst in the kitchen sink.
The exact line is: “She took him completely into her mouth, tasting the flesh of mankind.” I mean come on. It doesn’t get much better/worse than that.
My Dad Wrote a Porno is available from acast, or wherever you download podcasts.