The Joe Lycett Live Show coming to Friday nights on Channel 4
- Channel 4 has ordered The Joe Lycett Live Show, a live, late-night variety show broadcast from the stand-up's hometown of Birmingham
- Lycett will be joined by celebrities and "a mix of local legends, LGBTQ+ heroes and allies" on the "mischievous" series
- "I'm absolutely psyched and naturally very nervous about hosting a weekly live show from Birmingham, but it has been a dream of mine for many years and I look forward to some (controlled) late night chaos" he said
Joe Lycett has landed a "mischievous" late night show for Channel 4 going out live on Friday nights, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
Airing this spring with the working title The Joe Lycett Live Show, the comedian will host an audience from his hometown of Birmingham and be joined by "celebrities and big-name guests from the worlds of comedy, television, music and film" as well as "a mix of Joe's community of local legends, LGBTQ+ heroes and allies".
Five hour-long episodes have been ordered of the variety show, which BCG understands follows a similar format to last year's Joe Lycett's Big Pride Party on Channel 4, which earned the comic a National Comedy Award nomination and also featured Tom Allen, Rosie Jones and Mawaan Rizwan among others.
In the new series, Lycett will "take a look back at the week in a way only he can - combining his unique brand of mischief and mayhem with his singular style of comedy.
"Shot on the banks of Birmingham's canals, the show will bring a touch of Hollywood sparkle to Digbeth in a big night of unmissable entertainment."
Lycett said: "I'm absolutely psyched and naturally very nervous about hosting a weekly live show from Birmingham, but it has been a dream of mine for many years and I look forward to some (controlled) late night chaos."
In December, he alluded to the then unnamed series on Zoe Ball's Radio 2 show, saying he had been pitching it to Channel 4 "for ages".
The Joe Lycett Live Show reunites the comic with production company Rumpus Media, who make his consumer justice show Joe Lycett's Got Your Back and previously produced his Mummy's Big Christmas Do! for Channel 4. The series is a co-production with Lycett's own company, My Options Were Limited.
"We are so excited that Joe is hosting this series from the centre of his universe - Birmingham - creating a truly inclusive show to which everyone is invited" said Emily Hudd, joint managing director at Rumpus. "It's a weekly celebration uniquely curated by Joe that harnesses both his mischief but also his warmth - it will be funny, silly and explicitly Joe Lycett."
Produced by Lisa Kirk (The Last Leg), The Joe Lycett Live Show was commissioned for Channel 4 by Phil Harris, head of entertainment, and commissioning editors Steven Handley and Tom Beck. The executive producers are Hudd, Ian Wimbush and Tim Dean for Rumpus and the production executive is Sarah Croker. A director has yet to be appointed.
Lycett also hosts the Travel Man travelogue for Channel 4, with the 11th series airing at the start of this year.
He generated headlines around the Qatar World Cup in November by threatening to shred £10,000 of his own money destined for queer charities in football, unless David Beckham pulled out of his multi-million pound promotion of the tournament.
When Beckham did not respond, Lycett appeared to go through with the shredding but later revealed that he had already donated the money, with the incident then becoming the focus of a Got Your Back episode.