Just joshing about: The hilarious Josh Widdicombe heads to Oxford Playhouse

It was a night to remember – the premiere of Josh Widdicombe’s new show What Do I Do Now? – which turned into a self- fulfilling prophecy.

The opening night was at Oxford Playhouse, a sell-out gig, tickets like gold dust. And with Josh’s new Ch4 comedy Last Leg about to debut, his was the name on everyone’s lips.

But would his new show be up to scratch and on this, the opening night, would it live up to the hype? The pressure was immense.

“The first night of a tour should set the tone for the months on road to follow. So it was with excitement and slight trepidation that I arrived at Oxford Playhouse to begin my tour four months ago,” Josh admits, “Would it be an artistic triumph? Would I be carried from the building on the shoulders of the audience? No and no. Would a power cut cancel the show? Oh yes.”

We never got to watch Josh in action, the massive power cut shutting down most of central Oxford that October night, leaving Josh pacing the Playhouse corridors, hoping to be reconnected in time to perform. He had been waiting months for this moment. Was it an omen, a curse? And what of the crowds milling on the pavement outside, tickets clutched in their sweaty palms praying to the electricity Gods? What of them?

“I felt so bad for everyone who had come to the cancelled show so we supplied the audience with a free drink each to say sorry,” he tells me. “But as I was leaving, a man with a small red wine approached me, ‘Hey Josh, look, I got a free red wine! Best night ever!’ “At last I have finally found out what audiences really want,” he chuckles, “although sadly for people attending the rescheduled show at the Playhouse I have bad news – there will be no free red wine. However there will be a comedy show… hopefully.”

It also means that Josh is fitting the extra Oxford dates around filming the recently recommissioned second series of his self-penned, autobiographical BBC3 sitcom, which has been a massive and unexpected hit from the word go, and in which Josh plays... himself.

“It’s about my life four to five years ago when I shared a house and was trying to make it as a comedian when the audiences were full of stag parties,” he explains.

“I just wanted to make comedy more accessible, because my ascent has been very gradual. There wasn’t a gig that changed everything, things just got easier and better over time.”

So what is it like playing a version of himself?

“It took a lot of effort actually because I never set out to be an actor, so it is fun, weird and a great experience. But then I only got into stand-up because I loved sitcoms.”

As for What Do I Do Now? is it hard to dip in and out of the two mediums “It’s fine because the new stand-up show is just me grumbling really, not about my work, but just day-to-day stuff.

“And having sat down with lots of ideas and spent six months crafting them into a show, I’m really excited about the gig in Oxford.”

It’s nice to talk to the 32-year-old again. Last time we spoke several years ago, Josh was about to take a year off, staying at home to write the sitcom, taking a break from stand-up and recharging his batteries, not that you’d know from his frequent appearances on TV comedy panel shows.

“I feel like I’ve been working all the time, I just haven’t been touring, but yes time out reminds you why you do it in the first place.

“And the strange thing about comedy is that the better known you become, the easier things get.

“It’s not like an early comedy gig I played in 2008 when the people in the front row sat with their backs to me while they waited for Kevin Bridges to come on.”

“I didn’t have the confidence in those days that I have now, so I just battled on,” he remembers. “Comedy gets easier when people know what you are about. And because this is the first time I’ve been good at a job – I never really nailed it until now.”

Journalism’s loss is comedy’s gain because in 2010 Josh gave up his day job as a sports reporter to become a full-time stand-up, and has never looked back, now one of the most in-demand and highly regarded comedians in the UK – a brilliant observer of the absurdity of everyday life, “I talk about the kind of things I spend all day thinking about. It may not be worthy, and hopefully it’s funny.

“I never saw myself as a performer before I started doing this, and I’m quite surprised I’m still getting away with it because you never feel you’re safe. You never get to the point where you think ‘I’ve done it, now I can relax’. In fact you constantly feel that it could go wrong at any moment. That drives you, and means you never let up. It keeps things interesting.”

I hope the gods aren’t listening.

WHERE AND WHEN
Josh Widdicombe brings his not-so-new show What Do I Do Now to the Oxford Playhouse on Jan 21-22.
01865 305305 oxfordplayhouse.com