John Robins announces his biggest tour yet
Comic says Howl 'isn't about mental health... it IS mental health'
John Robins has announced his biggest live tour yet.
Entitled Howl, the show is about mental health ‘in all its rage, joy, tears, anxiety and humour’, in the comic’s own words.
The former Edinburgh Comedy Award winner and podcast pioneer will be playing 39 dates, kicking off at the Norwich playhouse on September 14 next year.
Robins – who also won an Aria award for the Radio 5 live show he co-hosts with Elis James – wrote his own press announcement of the dates, saying in his own idiosyncratic words.
He said: ‘Holy shit! Johnny JR is hauling his old bag 'o bones back on the road. That's right folks, 50 million podcast downloads and I daresay the odd Perrier Award knocking about the place isn't enough to hold this firebrand away from dropping truth bombs left right and centre.
‘Well, that's one way of looking at it. Another is that the four years since my last tour left me with a hell of a lot of staring time, and if I don't start screaming in regional arts centres soon then I may just burst.
‘If I thought lockdown was hard, then this last year has been an absolute pile of shit, I drove around the UK in a Kia Sportage in an attempt to get away from everything. Did it work? Did it fuck.
‘This show isn't about mental health, this show is mental health. In all its rage, joy, tears, anxiety and humour. Isn't that what comedy is? There's even a bit where I'm pretty scathing of the disingenuous platitudes of the modern wellness industry.
‘"Hot dang! Get me a thousand tickets!"
‘If you've seen me before you know the drill, if you haven't hold on to your butts.
‘"Has this been written by some jackass American podcaster John? Someone who puts their feet on the table in interviews and vapes a lot?"
‘No I'm just fooling with you [hides vape]
‘This show won't end with something glib and preachy. Nor anything particularly uplifting. Nothing will be set to music. There will be both bangs and whimpers, it will end on a good old-fashioned laugh. That's my motto. I'm also trying to edit out all the bits about golf if that sweetens the deal?’
Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday.
Published: 8 Dec 2022
