Ian Smith Is Stressed arriving angst-ridden this summer on Radio 4
- Based on his Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated show Crushing, Ian Smith Is Stressed is set to air in August
- The four-part series, mixing stand-up, field outings and discussion with experts, finds Smith hugging a cow, attending a topless body painting party, having a dip in an ice bath and trying to land a passenger plane with no training
- "I'm very excited for people getting ready to eat their dinner to hear me shouting on the radio" Smith said. "I actually hope my life remains stressful so Radio 4 will let me do more!"
Ian Smith has landed his debut series for Radio 4, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
Inspired by his Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated show Crushing, Ian Smith Is Stressed is set to air in August.
"It's been surprisingly enjoyable to write about all the things that stress me out" Smith told BCG about the four 30-minute episodes. "I'm very excited for people getting ready to eat their dinner to hear me shouting on the radio. I actually hope my life remains stressful so Radio 4 will let me do more!"
Always stressed about something and now being told off by his jobsworth dentist for grinding his teeth in his sleep, which is stressing him out even more, in the series Smith is applying his ranting stand-up to a never-ending list of things that agitate us, as well as some of the more bizarre methods of relaxation.
Mixing stand-up, field outings and expert help, Smith pledges to take a chill pill, wash it down with a couple of Red Bulls, and see if he can get back on good terms with his dentist.
Featuring additional material from Rhiannon Shaw and Max Davis and produced by Daddy's Superyacht (Icklewick FM, Sunil Patel: An Idiot's Guide To Cryptocurrency), in each episode Smith explores a different subject, all the reasons we find it stressful and the things people say that we can do to help.
Talking about The North, the body, love and holidays, he goes to a farm to hug a cow, attends a topless body painting party, has a dip in an ice bath with his girlfriend and tries to land a passenger plane with no training. Is stand-up still enjoyable when you can hear the performer's back being cracked by a chiropractor? He's hoping to find out.
A Radio 4 regular, with appearances on The News Quiz, The Now Show and Just A Minute, Smith also created the 2021 comedy documentary, Girl Stuck In Basketball Hoop, examining the phenomenon of girls getting stuck in basketball hoops in his home town of Goole.
The parochial idiosyncrasies of the port town in Yorkshire have been a recurrent theme in his stand-up. And he has parlayed it into his popular podcast, Northern News, which he co-hosts with fellow London-based Northern comic Amy Gledhill.
Described as "an intensely funny and peevish set about his mission to destress after a breakup" by The Guardian and hailed as a "well-crafted" build-up of "tension and release" by The Scotsman, Crushing was a critical hit at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe. Smith is about to record it as a special at the Pleasance in London on 4th June, alongside Stuart Laws taping his show, Is That Guy Still Going?
Smith and Gledhill also begin a series of dates for Northern News: Live! on 23rd June at The Leadmill in Sheffield.