Grimsby comedian Lloyd Griffiths talks One Tonne of Fun before dates in York, Hull, Leeds and Sheffield

So why does he have his head in a big bag of chips?

“I'm from Grimsby/Cleethorpes, an area famous for fish and chips. I wanted something to grab people's attention. The photographer Matt Crockett and me basically went and got, I think, five bags of chips, and let them cool off so they didn't scold my face. But yeah, it was real. I had to lay on the floor with a board all around me covered in chips. The seagulls of Acton, where we shot it, got fed well that day. We could have done it with Photoshop, but I like to think of myself as a bit of an old school entertainer.”

Griffith sets out on his latest tour, One Tonne of Fun, in early 2023 and stops at The Crescent in York on January 26, the Hull Truck Theatre on February 1, Leeds City Varieties on February 22, The Leadmill in Sheffield on March 8 and finishes with a homecoming run of dates run at Docks Academy in Grimsby from March 16.

Griffith, a Grimsby Town FC fanatic who can often be seen at Mariners games, left the area to study music at university in Exeter before moving to London to pursue classical singing, which he still does.

However it was in the capital where he experienced stand up comedy live.

“The first gig I saw was in Shoreditch around 2008. Lee Hurst was hosting and the acts were Milton Jones, Stefano Paolini and Micky Flanagan. None of them had done any TV at the time and I just lost my mind. I could not believe this existed. So I just became obsessed with comedy."

Griffith has previously supported Jack Whitehall on a UK arena tour and has also opened for Rob Beckett, who is a close friend.

His acting work includes roles in Ted Lasso, It’s A Sin, Infinite, House of Games, Not Going Out and Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club.

Griffith has also fronted a documentary on BBC called Can You Beat The Bookies?, and was a co-host of Soccer AM.

As a singer, he can often be heard performing with the choirs of Westminster Abbey, St George’s Chapel – Windsor Castle and with various other London groups.

His latest comedy tour, though, has no particular theme, he says.

"I just want it to be funny. I'm harking back to where I used to watch Lee Evans and Lee Mack. They were just funny. I want people to leave their worries and woes at the door. There's always singing in my show but a lot of people don't know that I sing so they come along and they're just absolutely baffled at this little fella belting out an opera oratorio. There's a joke about hotel biscuits, alittle quiz about rap and religion. And impressions, though not like Rory Bremner. I used to do the sound of sellotape being ripped, that sort of thing."

Tickets at: https://lloydgriffith.com/