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No Such Thing As A Fish
No Such Thing As A Fish

609: No Such Thing As Aunt Bessie In A Red Citroën Picasso

November 13, 2025 • 55m

Summary

⏱️ 7 min read

Overview

A lively episode of No Such Thing As A Fish featuring comedian Amy Gledhill, exploring fascinating facts about bingo laws, Pizza Express flirting training, Laurel and Hardy's multilingual filming, and the surprising origin of Aunt Bessie Yorkshire puddings. The conversation meanders through topics of dating apps, historical flirting customs, and peculiar laws, with particular focus on Northern England culture and comedy history.

North Carolina Bingo Laws and the Six-Hour Rule

Amy introduces the bizarre North Carolina law that prohibits playing bingo for more than six hours straight. The discussion reveals this restriction came about when charities wanted to legalize bingo while preventing full-scale gambling halls. The group explores bingo's surprising difficulty and Amy's genuine enthusiasm for the game, describing it as genuinely exhilarating despite initial skepticism.

  • North Carolina law prohibits playing bingo for more than six consecutive hours
  • No alcohol allowed at bingo in North Carolina and games can't be held within 48 hours of each other in the same building
  • Amy describes bingo as genuinely exhilarating and harder than expected, requiring focus and speed
  • There's an annual Bingo Caller of the Year competition with ten finalists from each region
  • Different countries have different bingo calls - Russia uses 'Stalingrad 43' referring to the WWII battle where two million died
" I was so cynical about it until about five years ago. I was like, who's going to bingo? What a stupid night out. Who cares if you've got a number on a thing and you're dabbing your dabber on it? And then I went, and it was the most exhilarating thing I've ever done. "
" When they go eyes down for a full house. Silence like I have never heard before. Pin drops, you can hear people's heartbeats. It's so exciting. "

Pizza Express Flirting Training and Restaurant Service

Andy reveals that in 2010, Pizza Express trained staff in subtle flirting techniques to make customers feel more relaxed. The conversation evolves into a broader discussion about appropriate behavior in service industries, including bizarre stories about New York taxi drivers and the use of AI in modern dating apps.

  • Pizza Express Richmond branch hired an actor in 2010 to train staff in subtle flirting to make customers feel relaxed
  • New York officials banned taxi drivers from 'flirting with or ejaculating on passengers' in official regulations
  • Dating app founder Whitney Wolfe Herd predicts AI versions of people will meet first to determine compatibility
  • Historical Lancashire flirting involved 'promenading' where boys and girls stood on opposite sides of roads making eye contact, and girls left cakes outside boys' houses if interested
  • Men tend to overperceive flirting signals while women underperceive them, potentially contributing to the 'friend zone' phenomenon
" New York taxi drivers to be banned from flirting with or ejaculating on passengers. "
" I don't think flirting can go too far at times. I mean, he's facing the wrong way. "

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