Probably not his best set, but Widdicombe’s nonchalant execution had the audience in the palm of his hands throughout…

Over the last few years, Josh Widdicombe seems to have become a household name. Fans of panel shows including QI, Mock the Week and Adam Hill’s Last Leg will have seen him make regular appearances. However, it is often hard to know what to expect from a comedian you have only ever seen on TV. Some of those who are among the greatest characters on panel shows can be largely disappointing in their own stand-up gigs.

Thankfully, this was not the case with Widdicombe. His general cynicism about the world shines through as he continuously points out the absurdities in things we consider normal (or, indeed, don’t consider at all!).

he hit the jackpot from the opening

Before his set really got underway, Widdicome began with some traditional audience interaction. Whether he got lucky with the people he chose from the audience or not, he hit the jackpot from the opening. After picking on a man called Stu and his family, Widdicombe pounced on a slip of the tongue by poor Stu, who accidentally referred to his daughter’s boyfriend as his own. Stu’s wife was praised as being “very understanding” and when Widdicombe discovered they had been together for 30 years, he retorted “Well this must come as a real shock then”. It’s one thing to use interactions with the audience as an icebreaker, but Widdicombe offered so much more than that.  He had a way about him that made all of the audience want to get in on the act.

Perhaps some of Widdicombe’s strongest material is based around his fears of flying and sleeper trains. He angrily pointed out that turbulence on a plane is not okay and questioned why on earth people accept this. After all, you wouldn’t go on a bus if the driver told you that at some point in the journey the bus might swerve between lanes on the motorway uncontrollably and there’s nothing the driver can do about it whatsoever. With the tongue already firmly in his cheek, Widdicombe hilariously compared watching the progress of the flight’s journey on the little screens to watching a car’s sat-nav.

I didn’t spot one person leave the arts centre without a big smile on their face

What is perhaps in some ways unique about his style is that he only delved into his personal life at the very end of his set, where he describes his childhood in Dartmoor, Devon, and how he was a ‘cool’ 10 year old kid. Widdicombe fondly reminisces about his cabin bed and the daily struggle to get up to and down from the bed without hurting your feet. Though, to his admission it wasn’t the real thing, he also shows the audience the Filofax he had as a 10 year old and the days spent walking around the playground ignoring his three other classmates.

The ending of the show felt a bit premature; Widdicombe did seem to take too long to get into the meat of his set. Despite this his charming delivery had the audience laughing at almost everything he said. I didn’t spot one person leave the arts centre without a big smile on their face.