Josh Widdicombe: The Further Adventures of…: Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2012
Laugh Till It Hurts Comedy Gala: Bloomsbury Theatre, London, 2013
Josh Widdicombe: Incidentally…: Assembly George Square, Edinburgh, 2013
Always Be Comedy (2 shows): The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2015
Josh Widdicombe: Work in Progress: Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2015
Josh Widdicombe: What Do I Do Now…: Brighton Dome, Brighton, 2016
Always Be Comedy (Christmas show): The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2017
Always Be Comedy (4 shows): The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2018
Always Be Comedy (3 shows): The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2019
Always Be Comedy Online (2 shows): Online: 2020
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2020
Always Be Comedy Online in aid of The Lily Foundation: Online: 2021
Return of The Craic Online Comedy Club: Online: 2021
Always Be Comedy Online (2 shows): Online: 2021
Always Be Comedy (3 shows): The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2021
The Last Leg (TV recording): Television Centre, London, 2021
The Last Leg (TV recording): Elstree Studios, London, 2022
Southbank Literary Festival: Parenting Hell: The Book: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, London, 2022
The Last Leg (3 TV recordings): Television Centre, London, 2023
Always Be Comedy (3 shows): The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2024
The Last Leg (TV recording): BBC Elstree Studios, London, 2024
It has been a pleasure to watch Josh Widdicombe develop into a great comedian. I first saw him at the Edinburgh Festival in 2012 perform his solo show The Further Adventures of… He looked slightly nervy and awkward yet funny; he became more appealing to the audience as he got into his stride. I watched him again in 2013 do a twenty-minute set and aw well as his solo show at Edinburgh that year Incidentally… where he was improving all the time and becoming very popular with audiences. Widdicombe has become a regular and crowd-pleasing favourite at Always Be Comedy where I have seen him to date three times.
The Devon stand-up comedian is the undisputed king of the infuriated irritation. He takes a sarcastic look at the world around him and points out logical flaws the audience never see but immediately recognise. However, his 2016 tour What Do I Do Now… which I saw at the Brighton Dome also had plenty of engaging nostalgia about his isolated Dartmoor childhood with very funny reminisces. Widdicombe was such a relaxed presence onstage he makes me think that he is not working hard to make me laugh. This was a fabulously entertaining show, jumping between set-pieces and more off-the-cuff asides and chats with the audience.
Watching his increasing dismay on stage always reduces me to fits of consistent laughter and he has become one of my current favourite comedians on the circuit.
To experiment with any new material can always be a daunting prospect but Widdicombe is always effortlessly entertaining with an audience. I always very much enjoy watching him progress with his comedy and on the numerous occasions when he played Always Be Comedy many happy times in April, May, September, October 2018 and in January, March and June 2019 where every time he was naturally and hysterically funny.
Widdicombe’s winning way with words, delivery and visual expressions drove the audience to recognition of situations he was describing and always seemed to find them hilarious. He had a great voice for comedy which increased the more irritated he got at the most minor of annoyances. He related to and happily bantered with the audience on all three occasions and then moved onto new material by saying a word such as ‘So..’ Widdicombe was busy preparing for a major 2019 tour but even with try-out sets, he appeared to be more confident and funnier with delivering the new material which included everything from holiday dilemmas to wearing glasses.
The comedian was a guest at Always Be Comedy Online in April and July 2020 and performed a live set under socially distancing conditions for the club in September 2020. He was jovial and witty as ever delivering new material or as he chatted with MC James Gill and was great company. He also jointly compared with Gill for Always Be Comedy Online for The Lily Foundation that I watched in February 2021. The Lily Foundation helps to improves the lives of people with mitochondrial disease.
Widdicombe was a guest for Return of The Craic Online Comedy Club in March 2021 and again for Always Be Comedy Online in April 2021 where he chatted to compere Jarlath Regan about his life and career.
In May and August 2021, the comedian returned to live stand-up and was the first comedian to play Always Be Comedy when it properly reopened in May and then perform a full hour-long preview in August 2021. He had a natural ability and ease to effortlessly make the audience laugh with his wonderful look of bewilderment and frustration recalling funny stories about becoming a father for the second time. He was a pleasure to watch and I could not stop laughing.
In September 2021, Widdicombe appeared online for Always Be Comedy and talked about his first ever book Watching Neighbours Twice A Day… How 90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me For Life. Chatting to James Gill, he explained how important 90s television was in uniting his generation and it was an extremely entertaining and nostalgic evening. The book is extremely funny and highly recommended.
Making a brief appearance for Always Be Comedy in November 2021, he once again performed a short routine honing the material for the tour. Seeing his increasing dismay stage persona brilliantly displaying his sharp routines reduced me again to fits of consistent laughter.
In November 2021, I watched the superb comedian at a TV recording of The Last Leg, the much-acclaimed topical comedy news show on Channel 4. Widdicombe was as witty as ever with his remarks and stopped to say hello to me in the audience between the takes which was wonderful. The show was so good, I went again to more recordings in 2022 and 2023.
The smash hit podcast Parenting Hell (www.podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rob-beckett-and-josh-widdicombes-parenting-hell/id1510251497) about the ludicrousness of being a dad, features Rob Beckett and Widdicombe who are both parents. The podcast was turned into a book and in November 2022, I went to the Southbank Literary Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall to see the two of Britain’s most popular comedians in conversation with wonderful comic and parent, Jen Brister. This was a wonderfully funny night with a Q & A session which included a signed copy of the book.
The great comedian returned to Always Be Comedy for new material nights in January and February 2024. Practicing for a new tour, Widdicombe was hysterically funny as ever with his world-weary views on life. I also returned to watch another recording of The Last Leg in February 2024.
Watching his comic journey, Widdicombe has become one of my very favourite comedians and I look forward very much to seeing him live again soon.