Josh Widdicombe

Josh Widdicombe interview

When I met up with Josh Widdicombe at the Riverside Studios in February 2014, he was pretty much on the cusp of household name status, thanks to the Channel 4 series The Last Leg, which he was about to film later that day, as well as regular panel show appearances and sell-out tours. He deserves success too - he's an easy-going nice guy, and, most importantly he's very funny - onstage, onscreen, and, hopefully, here in print where he talks about his life, work, influences and much more.

Josh Widdicombe interview

With stage, TV and radio gigs, comic Josh Widdicombe is everywhere. Lucky he's so talented.

Eyelashes on car headlights, slogan T-shirts and dill are among the candidates for Room 101 offered up by tonight's guests: child singer turned broadcaster Aled Jones, DJ Sara Cox and comedian Josh Widdicombe. The award for most controversial nomination of the evening goes to Widdicombe, who wants to pitch The Lord Of The Rings into oblivion - on the strength of its implausibility.

Radio Times review

Who would have thought that Aled Jones could ever have experienced anything more alarming than the moment his voice broke. But apparently he did and the story he tells tonight elicits gasps from the studio audience and makes his fellow guests (stand-up comedian Josh Widdicombe and DJ Sara Cox) squirm uncomfortably.

Among this week's pet hates nominated for Room 101 are slogan T-shirts, car lashes (yes, false eyelashes for your headlights), fish bones, dill and The Lord of the Rings. Despite Josh Widdicombe's efforts, the best jokes still come from Frank Skinner, who does a fabulous impression of a Tyrannosaurus Rex trying to eat its dinner from a plate, and a laughable attempt at crowd surfing.

This is the show that started out as a late-night sidebar to the 2012 Paralympics and proved so popular it took on a life of its own.

This is also the show that says it's OK laugh at disability provided, that is, those jokes are made within the parameters of a fiendishly sensitive, unwritten set of rules with question one being: "Are you Frankie Boyle?" And question two being: "Is your name Jim Davidson?"

As a rule of thumb, if you can count up to 20 using your fingers and toes, don't even think about trying to join in yourself.

With regular panellist Alex Brooker out in Austria presenting The Jump, comedian Micky Flanagan joins host Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe for the start of the new series.

Last year, Adam ­memorably remarked: "Getting angry at Jim Davidson because he doesn't know how to talk about disability is like getting angry at a dog for not knowing how to use the internet." There's a good chance the show might work up a nice head of steam about Davidson winning Celebrity Big Brother.

DVD review: Josh Widdicombe - And Another Thing

A little bit much to stomach in one go, his constant exasperation, and forever-rocketing pitch, is wearying. Like a cheese-grated to the soul. Which is a shame; left to mature a little longer, Widdicombe might've naturally evolved, found his feet, carved out his own identity.

Eddie Izzard is your host tonight as the mainstream comedy slot returns. After his stints in Hollywood dramas, it's genuinely strange to see Izzard doing his uniquely bewildering surrealism again, even if you suspect that it might be a bit much for the Michael McIntyre crowd. More easily assimilated stuff is at hand with the reliably baleful Josh Widdicombe and show-closer Trevor Noah. Noah's bits on growing up in apartheid-era South Africa and on learning German from Hitler speeches are, as Izzard suggests, "annoyingly good".

When the evening's host is as quick and brilliant as Eddie Izzard, it's easy to think of the guest acts as the lowlier partners. But while they lack Izzard's nimble physicality - put to use tonight in a routine about dressage horses burgling houses - Josh Widdicombe and Trevor Noah both have plenty of character.

Widdicombe has worked up a head of steaming dislike for cereal variety packs, Super Noodle serving suggestions and people who make their own jam, while Noah condenses his experience of growing up mixed-race in South Africa in what feels like a taster for his proper act. Apparently both parents had to disown him in public on occasion. Processing that has left him vulnerable to the seductive allure of American culture, and the challenges of ordering a sandwich in German.

Josh Widdicombe: My Comedy Hero... Frank Skinner

When I was a kid, Frank Skinner was the comedian I looked up to. There were various ones I was into like Jack Dee and Vic & Bob, but I loved Fantasy Football, because I was a big football fan.

Almost by stealth, this vaguely satirical, topical stand-up showcase has made it to a fifth series. Functioning as a sort of halfway-house testing ground between Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You, it's seen a surprisingly illustrious stream of light-entertainment talent pass through its doors.

Jack Whitehall, Kevin Bridges, Patrick Kielty and Rich Hall have all made appearances before moving on; this time Paul Chowdhry takes over hosting duties while regulars Seann Walsh and Josh Widdicombe are joined by newbies Simon Evans, Romesh Ranganathan and Angela Barnes in sticking the boot into the week's news. Decent post-pub fun, if you're in the market for that sort of thing.