Josh Widdicombe relishes return to live comedy shows

Josh Widdicombe, the self-confessed '˜guy from TV comedy shows with the curly hair'
Joshn Widdicombe at Buxton Opera House on October 18.Joshn Widdicombe at Buxton Opera House on October 18.
Joshn Widdicombe at Buxton Opera House on October 18.

is back on the road with a new tour.

We caught up with with the star of the Last Leg and Have I Got News for You, ahead of his show in Buxton next month.

Josh begins by underscoring how delighted he is to be returning to live comedy. “I love stand-up,” he beams. “I think of myself as a stand-up. It’s not like a proper job, but it’s what I do. Other things just happen to me.”

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He can’t wait to hit the road with “What Do I Do Now?”… “I’m really looking forward to it. Because I haven’t been on tour for a while, I feel so rejuvenated.

“It’s also quite a meditative way to spend your time. When you know you’re going to be in a car for the next four hours driving to tonight’s ve‎nue, your day is prescribed. You think, ‘this is going to happen’. So you just sit there and chat because you can’t do anything else. It’s actually very stress-free.”

Josh is really excited about the prospect of reconnecting with his fans and it’s a relationship that’s really important to him. “That interaction with the audience is what keeps the show lively. To do a completely rehearsed show would seem odd. You might as well send the audience the DVD.”

He jokes that he is only concerned about die-hard fans. “I say that the loyalists are the ones I’m interested in, the ones ‎who have been there from the start. But in fact I’ll take everyone!”

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Another reason why Josh is so popular is because, in spite of his great success, he remains appealingly down-to-earth. “I find it hard when well-known people moan about the difficulty of fame.” Josh muses.

“I was in Edinburgh last week and a lot of people came up to me and chatted. You can’t complain about that. If that’s the tax I have to pay for getting to do what I do, that’s absolutely fine by me.”

So what subjects will Josh be addressing in “What Do I Do Now? ‎ “I’ll be discussing what’s annoying me right now. I’ll also be doing a lot about growing up in Devon in the 1990s. At my primary school, there were only four children in my year. It was a very different experience from a lot of other people’s. So I’ll be doing some comparing and contrasting with how I live now.”

Finally, Josh would like to convey a reassuring message for those that want a light- hearted evening. “I’ve never done stand-up about politics or human rights. That’s not what I talk about on a day to day basis with my mates, so why would I go on stage and talk about it?”

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He adds: “I don’t draw any conclusions in this show. You won’t learn anything about me or yourself. But hopefully it’ll be really funny. That’s the primary aim.”

Josh Widdicombe is at Buxton Opera House on Tuesday, October 18, at 8pm. Tickets £21 from the box office, call 01298 72190 or visit www.
buxtonoperahouse.org.uk