Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!
We’re slipping a little audio chocolate into your advent calendar: the true origin of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, plus a reading of the original 1939 story that made him a star. A festive treat from The Big Smoke family to start the holiday season.
This piece was created by our host Kevin Bennett and is starring actors Adam Cunis and Hollie Hales. It warmed the hearts of the audience at our 2024 Christmas live show, so we wanted to share it with you as you open the first door of your advent calendars!
If you'd like to join the fun at our live show this year, click the link below for info and tickets.
Happy Holidays from The Big Smoke Variety Show!
🎟️ The Big Smoke LIVE Christmas Special is at The Phoenix Arts Club in Soho on 14th December, 2025 — expect ghost stories, games, music and festive mischief.
—
Chapters
(00:00) Intro
(00:30) How Rudolph Came To Be
(05:27) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
(17:10) 2025 Live Christmas Show
—
Credits
Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett
Produced & Edited by Alex Graham
Assistant Produced by Adam Wright
Original music by Giles Terera
Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins
—
Adam Cunis is an actor who’s recent work includes 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (Bridge Theatre), and 'Macbeth Storytelling' and 'The Woman in the Moon' (Shakespeare's Globe - Sam Wanamaker Playhouse). He recently appeared in ‘Suspect: the Shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes’ (Disney+). His audio work includes Outliers podcast (Historic Royal Palaces) and The Incident Room (New Diorama).Hollie Hales trained at RADA. Her recent theatre work includes 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' (Bridge Theatre). Her audio work includes the ‘Tales of a Monstrous Heart’ fantasy trilogy by Jennifer Delaney (Audible). She works with Jane Austen’s house and will be performing readings for ‘A Celebration of Jane Austen’ in December and ‘Rebel Readings’ a collection of Jane’s favourite works at the museum in Chawton in January.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.