Josh Widdicombe Q&A as he announces his new show

Josh Widdicombe has just announced a 57-date tour kicking off next autumn. Not My Cup Of Tea, talking about the little things that niggle him, from motorway hotels to children’s parties. Here, the 41-year-old explains why he has finally decided to embrace middle age, giving up drinking, and going back to small clubs to road-test material.

How is the preparation for the tour going?

It's going way better than I thought. To the point where I could probably get away with doing it in the spring but I didn't want to put any pressure on myself. 

I want to enjoy it because in the past I was so busy with Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo and stuff I was chasing my tail and desperately trying to have enough material for each tour. This time I'm able to enjoy the process of creating the stand-up.

What is it like returning to tiny clubs to roadtest material?

I’ve been doing 20 minute sets and it's almost divorced from the fact that I'm going on tour, which I think is the best way to write a tour, like you're just doing it for the sake of it, in the same way I suppose it must be nicest for a musician to just write songs for the sake of writing songs. I love the experience of coming up with ideas and just being able to go and do them.

You’ve called your new show Not My Cup Of Tea…

Yes, because I like the phrase. And since I gave up alcohol in 2023 I drink a lot of tea. As you get older you realise who you are a bit more and I've realised that the things I love are like parochially British things like Martin Parr’s photography or Blur or Alan Bennett.

Is there a theme?

If there is a theme it’s probably about accepting that I prefer being at home and not having to deal with any other human beings. Which is a weird way to approach a tour show where you have to travel around the country talking to thousands of people!

You are more of an introvert comedian than a show-off comedian then?

When I stopped drinking I realised how much the reason I drank was really for social situations because I didn't feel comfortable in them.

I grew up in Devon, I was an only child in a small school and watched TV for hours a day so I was quite introverted. 

Here's a good example. When I was doing The Last Leg in Paris and everyone was like ‘do you want to meet up in the morning?’ and I'm like ‘no, I'm spending 10 hours a day working with you, I want the morning to myself so I can read a book in bed.’ 

And there's something about observational comedy, it’s about watching from the outside, so I wonder whether that is part of why I do comedy.

I thought about talking about giving up drinking [in stand-up] but realised that was never going to be as funny as talking about Inside The Factory with Gregg Wallace.

I live a very mundane life and I really like that. I like leaning into the fact that I like doing the school run or the big shop. I suppose I've finally become comfortable with that. After years of not knowing who I was I'm quite happy being middle-aged. I’ve made my peace with the fact that I like putting my kids to bed and watching a Netflix documentary about basketball even though I don’t like basketball.

Do you expect you’ll get a Parenting Hell audience on this tour?

That’s interesting. Obviously there's people that won't be there for Parenting Hell so I'm not going to do loads of parenting stuff. There's a bit about my family but not a huge amount. 

Sometimes an anecdote that works on the podcast doesn't work as stand-up. There was a saga on the podcast about my number plate being cloned that I have turned into a routine, but stand-up isn't just telling an anecdote like you would on the podcast. There have to be observations and jokes around the story.

Are there any other new routines you think will make the finished show?

There is a bit about children's parties and party bags so as you can see I'm dealing with the big issues! I take a huge pride in the banality of the topics I talk about. I think that's my favourite type of stand-up – really niche observations about silly little things that you wouldn't think about. I've got no interest in the big topics.

Has Parenting Hell's success changed your stand-up style?

I think the podcast has had a huge impact on how I understand myself as a comedian. I spent years terrified of letting the audience know who I was and then we did Parenting Hell and I suddenly saw that the more I showed myself the funnier I am. So I think it will almost certainly be the case that I’ve changed, but I wouldn't ever do it consciously. 

I saw Ed Gamble at the Hackney Empire recently and – I’d hate him to know this – I found it incredibly inspiring because he was funny every 20 seconds for an hour and 10 minutes and that is everything I want to be. Just be as funny as possible.

Did you find it easy to give up drinking?

I gave up in April 2023 and I found gigs to be quite easy because you just enjoy the bands. Or going to a football match I find that easy, but I wouldn't find going to a party or a stag do easy because if I drink I really drink. When I drank it was a laugh until it was not a laugh.

Have you missed stand-up?

It took a while for me to think I wanted to do stand-up again after the pandemic. I think I got really used to being at home. I hadn't had evenings off for 12 years and for the first time I got my evenings back and I was like ‘oh this is what it's like and it’s really nice.’ But now I'm really loving it again.

Do you ever worry about how long success will last?

It's the curse of the freelance. You can go up and down in terms of venue size, I don't know where I am on that graph. I’d rather work really hard and take the opportunities while they're here now. One day they might not be here. 

People ask ‘why did you do that show?’ and you're like ‘because it's fun, because I love it and I get paid really well to do what I love so why wouldn't I do it?’ I can't believe that I got paid to go to the Paralympics. This is my hobby that got out of hand!

» Josh ​Widdicombe: Not My Cup Of Tea tour dates

Published: 16 Sep 2024