Josh Widdicombe

Josh Widdicombe interview

Comedian Josh Widdicombe talks to Rupert Hawksley about the new series of The Last Leg, disability . . . and Nick Clegg

This comedy chat show first saw the light of day as a cheeky late-night companion to the Paralympics last summer. Hosted by Australian stand-up Adam Hills, flanked by comedian Josh Widdicombe and presenter Alex Brooker - and tonight joined by Luther star Idris Elba as a special guest - the show boldly bowls into territory the PC police would declare off limits as it reviews the week's events. During the Paralympics, Hills and co dared to treat competitors as real people rather than brave saints and they encouraged viewers to join in - the show's Twitter hashtag #isitok is still live, so expect to see photos of Paralympic snowmen for openers.

Adam Hills was one of the Paralympics' more unlikely stars, widely praised for his comic yet pointed take on the Games. So much so that this new series sees him being offered the chance to widen his brief: tonight, he'll return alongside regular sidekicks Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker to cast his eye over the last seven days of news. Expect regular updates, too, on Brooker's quest to participate in the Rio Paralympics. Well, as Games aftermaths go, it'll surely have more to recommend it than Tom Daley's Splash - Idris Elba, for one, who is the guest for tonight's opening edition.

Their naughty nightly chat show during the Paralympic Games deservedly became a cult hit. Now likeable Australian stand-up Adam Hills and his two sidekicks, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker, present this weekly live review of the past seven days. Joining them on their opening show is actor Idris Elba.

Thanks to the success that was The Last Leg during the 2012 Paralympics - no less a critic than Clive James said it was almost the best bit of the whole shebang - genial Aussie comedian Adam Hills returns to present a round-up of the week's events in the news. He's joined again by stand-up Josh Widdicombe and sportswriter Alex Brooker. Doubtless their easy-going chemistry and quick quippery will snag them an even sturdier audience than the one they earned over the summer.

A new comedy series in which three comedians (this week Frank Skinner, Josh Widdicombe and Roisin Conaty), presided over by Jack Dee, mock the lives and habits of four selected (and willing) audience members. Each round sees the spectator with least comic value being voted off. Desperately unfunny.

If you're missing Josh Widdicombe from Adam Hills's Paralympics show The Last Leg, then you get another dose of the droll comic in this belated Edinburgh dispatch as he hosts Welsh wonder Mark Watson, cosy Iranian Shappi Khorsandi and Radio 4 regular turned Spamalot star Marcus Brigstocke.

The Last Leg with Adam Hills is something of a high-risk venture, and the comedian fronting it reminds us frequently that he has a prosthetic leg, giving him licence to crack jokes that most of us wouldn't dream of.

The fact that he's an Australian helps - no one expects him to be subtle. "You will say the wrong thing," he said in the first show. "Don't worry." Then he went on to ponder whether in the equestrian events it should be the horse rather than the rider that is disabled.

Rather more edgy was the contribution of Josh Widdicombe, a vaguely recognisable comic who has no disabilities. His report on the day's events included an item on how horses defecating in the arena was supposed to be beneficial to their performance. If horses are to be the focus of attention at these Games, then someone in the production department has got the wrong idea. No wonder that Balding is anchoring the coverage.

But it's not quite as wrong as Widdicombe's jokes about how the weightlifters don't have to lift the weights very high. Joshing Josh may have to raise his game a little - or they may as well go for his namesake Ann. Or Frankie Boyle.

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