John
Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal
“Everything that is really great about America, I think, can be summed up in the diversity and the range of the food culture that you have.”
Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal’s friendship is rooted in their shared love of food. Turns out, that’s also what made them YouTube’s favorite food duo. “I would say no one’s more surprised than us, but that would be discounting my parents. They are more surprised than us that this career choice paid off,” Kendal says. Their channel, JOLLY, takes the London-based pair across the world trying various cuisines. “It’s half a food review, but it’s half just two friends having a good time. So, it doesn’t really work if you’re not enjoying yourself,” Kendal says. They’ve turned that popularity into Cheeky Takeout, a new podcast where they chat with a celebrity over, you guessed it, food. “I think there’s this inner interest in seeing these people that we look up to, we respect, we admire as artists in whatever field they’re in, wanting to see behind the curtain…. Like when they want a guilty pleasure or a cheeky takeout,” Carrott says. But whatever they do, it’s all about staying true to themselves. “We’re just trying to make stuff that I think, for us, is entertaining. The kinds of things that we would like to watch,” Kendal adds.
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Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
The popularity of the channel is insane. What do you make of how popular you guys have become in just the last couple of years?
Ollie Kendal: I would say no one’s more surprised than us, but that would be discounting my parents. They are more surprised than us that this career choice paid off. Or at least, is paying off right now.
It is bringing people together in a way that you wouldn’t expect certain types to be watching you guys. You know what I mean?
Ollie Kendal: Yeah. I mean, I suppose that is something that is surprising to us, because we’re just making videos from here in London trying to make stuff that I think, for us, is entertaining. The kinds of things that we would like to watch.
Your reactions are infectious. Are the reactions genuine? Are there ever times where you’re like, “Maybe I should probably temper the eye being so big?”
Josh Carrott: That’s something I think about fairly often because my natural response to things is to—I just naturally can’t help it if I enjoy something. I’m like, “You will hear it on the other side of the room. I’ve just eaten something that I’m really, really enjoying.” And I am conscious that it may seem like we’re playing it up. But we’ll go out for a meal off camera, I react exactly the same way. It’s not really something that I have control over.
Ollie Kendal: You have to understand as well, when we’re filming these things, we’ve planned it in advance to go to the best place, generally, in the area. We may even go to that specific city just to go to that restaurant. So normally, it is genuinely a once-in-a-lifetime type meal. You’re not watching a normal meal. You’re watching a meal that’s a product of a ton of research, and we’re super excited to be there. We just feel so grateful that we literally get to eat for a living. So I think most people would be pretty excited if they got to do that.
How do you feel about the economic impact that you can have on a restaurant through your videos?
Ollie Kendal: That is a great Newsweek question.
Thank you.
Ollie Kendal: Just to be completely honest, we’re very disconnected from that side of things. The only time we really get in contact with it is when people reach out after the fact. And it doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen a fair amount of the time. A few months down the line, usually a restaurant owner or a manager who—generally, people are very polite and very accommodating—but sometimes we’ll get a message being like, “You guys did not tell me that this was going to be a big video.”
The likelihood of you getting something you don’t like is probably rare. But what do you do when you don’t like something?
Josh Carrott: It’s rare for me not to like things, and maybe it’s just because I’m more easily pleased.
Ollie Kendal: That makes me sound like I’m picky.
Josh Carrott: Well, you just have a more refined palette.
Ollie Kendal: Definitely not.
Josh Carrott: Maybe it’s just a more British palette. Your distinct tastes, things that you don’t like. For instance, oysters. Not a fan of oysters. Very clear on his face when he eats an oyster. Not having a good time.
At least you eat it. I couldn’t even eat it.
Josh Carrott: I feel like you generally know if we don’t like things. I don’t know if we’ve ever had only things we don’t like from somewhere. Usually, the thing to do is you move on, like “Let’s try something else. Hopefully that’s better.” And almost always, there’ll be something that is really good.
Ollie Kendal: I think at its core, what we’re doing is two halves: It’s half a food review, but it’s half just two friends having a good time. So, it doesn’t really work if you’re not enjoying yourself.
You’ve also started the podcast Cheeky Takeout. How did that come about?
Ollie Kendal: Well, we’ve been privileged enough to have interviewed a lot of people over the years at movie junkets and stuff. But one of the things that we’ve realized through filming with each other and eating around the world is that food is this great leveler. Everyone’s got to eat. And as soon as you sit a celebrity down and give them a meal, the barriers come down, and you can start to actually get to know the person behind the persona, as it were. So that’s really the idea behind Cheeky Takeout—this idea that everyone, once in a while, needs a cheeky takeout.
Josh Carrott: Also, for me, I think there’s this inner interest in seeing these people that we look up to, we respect, we admire as artists in whatever field they’re in, wanting to see behind the curtain a little bit. Like when they want a guilty pleasure or a cheeky takeout.
What is it about American food that fascinates you guys?
Ollie Kendal: Flavor. It’s an absolute revelation. I’m not sure you Americans understand how diverse and rich your food culture is, because it really is amazing. Last time we were in Texas, in Arlington, just outside Dallas, we went to this barbecue joint that was rated the best barbecue by Texas Monthly magazine. And at the end, they’re like, “Oh, we’ve got this Laotian sausage, because one of our staff is from Laos.” And what they brought out was absolutely unbelievable. And everyone in there was like, “Yeah, of course. Laotian sausage.” And everywhere we went—we went up to Detroit, and there’s the most incredible Middle Eastern food there. I mean, that is the great American experiment, isn’t it? It’s the melting pot. Everything that is really great about America, I think, is summed up, or can be summed up, in the diversity and the range of the food culture that you have.
