Ian Boldsworth


Richard Ian Boldsworth, previously known under the pseudonym Ray Peacock, is a comic performer, best known for The ParaPod, The Peacock and Gamble Podcast and the Ray Peacock Podcast. He came to prominence in The Big and Daft comedy trio, BBC London radio series, three consecutive years of sell-out Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows and their own series for the BBC's PlayUK, Terrorville.

Career

Boldsworth made his debut at the Edinburgh Festival in 2002, originally as a brash Yorkshireman character named Ray Peacock who soon became a regular act on the live circuit. In his 2006 show at the Edinburgh Festival, the character was dropped in all but name and a confessional stand-up show entitled "Out of Character" was delivered.
In 2007 Boldsworth began presenting his iTunes & Chortle hosted The Ray Peacock Podcast alongside fellow comedians Ed Gamble and former EastEnders actor Raji James. It was later succeeded by The Peacock and Gamble Podcast, which is also hosted by Chortle.
Launched on 8 June 2009, The Peacock and Gamble Podcast was Boldsworth's second foray into the medium of podcasting. Released every Monday, the show was a comedic insight in the two's lives and experiences. It can be found free on the iTunes Store, and also on Chortle. Kings Place in London hosted a large scale live show version of the show in December 2009, which featured Nick Mohammed in supporting roles. Bumper two-hour shows commencing on 24 February 2011 at Kings Place, London – "Peacock & Gamble Emergency Broadcast" touring the UK from July 2011. The show was based on the concept that the "real" show has been halted, so Ray and Ed take over and fill the time so the audience still have a show to watch.
Early shows have featured a seance, a guide to world culture, a re-creation of the Stanford experiment, a tribute to Sister Act, and live Guitar Hero. The Kings Place shows were also notable for their live Twitter take-overs, where Ray and Ed hack into an audience members account during the interval. A limited Edinburgh run took place every Sunday of the 2011 Fringe. The show ended with a live podcast at Kings Place on 8 December 2011. It was reincarnated for daily episodes in the 2012 and 2013 Edinburgh Festivals with a new format with a different special guest each day. In 2013, BBC Radio 4 commissioned a pilot of Emergency Broadcast.
live recording at QEDcon, 2017
Boldsworth co-presented a 3-season paranormal podcast, The ParaPod, with comedian Barry Dodds, in which they explore and debunk reports of paranormal activity and conspiracy theories which Dodds brings to each episode. The three series consisted of 30 episodes and, as of April 2018, has been downloaded over 2 million times.
He also presents a mental health podcast The Mental Podcast for which he won the digital champion award 2017 from mental health charity Mind. In addition he has presented Some Nonsense Fubar Radio show and podcast, and since 2017 has written weekly short stories for 4000 Words podcast released by Infinite Hermit Productions on Patreon.
In April 2018 Boldsworth announced the upcoming release of The Parapod Movie'', in which he and comedian Barry Dodds travel around the UK in a hearse with Dodds attempting to convince Boldsworth of the existence of ghosts. On general release it will become the first ever podcast to be transferred to movie format.
In September 2013, Boldsworth hosted a three-hour radio show on BBC Radio 4 Extra dedicated to comedy icon Les Dawson.

Work

Live