Why Josh Widdicombe's new comedy tour is inspired by Marie Kondo

Josh Widdicombe has taken a bit of a break from live stand-up but he is back on tour this autumn with his new show. He spoke to James Kettle.
Josh Widdicombe is bringing his new tour to Yorkshire.Josh Widdicombe is bringing his new tour to Yorkshire.
Josh Widdicombe is bringing his new tour to Yorkshire.

Interviewing Josh Widdicombe – acclaimed stand-up, star of shows including The Last Leg, Hypothetical and his own sitcom Josh – means a chance to tackle the big questions. So here’s one – what’s the biggest misconception people have about Devon?

Widdicombe – a proud Devonian – laughs and ponders. “It’s only two hours away from London, people talk like it’s Alabama. Exeter has an Apple store. Let’s be clear about that. On the other side of the coin, I did go to a village school where there were four people in my year.”

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Josh Widdicombe and James Acaster on their panel showWiddicombe’s upcoming UK tour with his new show Bit Much... kicks off in York in October, with dates in Hull and Leeds in December.

Widdicombe (left) with Last Leg co-stars Adam Hills and Alex BrookerWiddicombe (left) with Last Leg co-stars Adam Hills and Alex Brooker
Widdicombe (left) with Last Leg co-stars Adam Hills and Alex Brooker

It’s his first in a while and he’s enthusiastic about getting back into the habit. “I had some time off,” he explains, “and I absolutely needed it. I’d been doing stand up for eight years, and I’d kind of forgotten why I was doing it and why I enjoyed it.”

How Boris Johnson missed his Love Actually moment with Donald TrumpNow he’s rediscovered his love of the artform, and wants to make the new show a distillation of the very best he’s capable of. “I wanted to do the best ‘pure me’ stand up show, and see if I could do eighty minutes that was just – “unremitting” is probably the wrong word,” he laughs. “But I like the idea of a show being almost relentless.”

What that has meant is a laser-like focus on eliminating mediocrity, dumping any joke that doesn’t come up to scratch before he takes the show out on the road.

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“In the warm ups if I’m not loving anything, I just drop it. You know that Marie Kondo woman who says get rid of everything that doesn’t spark joy? I think that’s a really good way of writing a stand-up show.” While he’s focused on quality control, Widdicombe isn’t reinventing himself on this tour – if you like what he does, then rest assured that’s what you’re going to get.

Premium quality observational comedy, served up with an incredible eye for detail and an inexhaustible capacity for indignation. Don’t expect him to be banging on about Trump or Brexit – Widdicombe’s much more exercised by the smaller things in life, the everyday annoyances that drive us all to distraction. “That’s what makes me laugh. I’d much rather watch Frank Skinner or Sean Lock than a highly politicised hour of stand up, just because that’s what I’m into really.”

Les Miserables on the way to BradfordIs it more difficult, playing these big theatres than the comedy clubs where you started out? “Oh, it’s a lot more fun these days,” he says. “The absurdity of stand-up is that when you start you’re at your worst, and the gigs are the toughest. Its just gets easier, because you’ve got people who want to come and see you and you know what you’re doing.”

So now that he’s made it, what kind of glamorous life does a touring comedy star enjoy? “It’s a lot of sitting in a car with my tour manager and the support. Let me put it this way – last time on tour, the most extreme it got was we would have a running five pound wager on what the next band playing on the radio would be.”

Josh Widdicombe tours the UK with Bit Much… this autumn. York Barbican, October 3; Hull City Hall, December 4 and Leeds Town Hall, December 11. Tickets on sale now joshwiddicombe.com.