Comedian John Robins coming to The Apex later this month
Even if you don’t recognise his name, you’ll probably have seen comedian John Robins on TV.
He’s been a panellist on comedy shows (including “Mock the Week”, “8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown” and “Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled”), appeared on “Live At The Apollo” and sat in the famous chair on Mastermind … but more on that later.
Known for his honesty, charm and lightning quick improvisation, John began performing stand-up in 2005 and was an alumni of the legendary “Bristol Comedy Flat” alongside Russell Howard, Jon Richardson and Mark Olver and he is coming to The Apex, in Bury St Edmunds, later this month.
He took his first solo show to the Edinburgh Festival in 2009 and for the next eight years became one of the best reviewed stand-ups at the fringe.
More recently, he has received widespread acclaim for his Radio X and BBC Radio 5Live podcasts with Elis James.
John’s critically lauded, stand-up show, “The Darkness Of Robins” won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2017 and gained him a reputation for finding humour in our bleakest moments.
This autumn, John will be touring the UK with his new stand-up show, “Hot Shame”.
John is a renowned expert on the rock band Queen and was asked to warm up the crowd for their 2014 New Year’s Eve broadcast on the BBC.
He appeared on “Celebrity Mastermind” in 2017 with Queen as his specialist subject (scoring 10 points).
Attempting to link the new tour to his favourite band, he says: “You may notice similarities in ‘Hot Shame’s artwork to the Queen album ‘Hot Space’, this is no accident. It’s an album which remains a small source of shame for the remaining members, I however think it’s deserving of re-evaluation.
“Is it perhaps the case, that the album’s failings are not the much derided funk/dance tracks at the beginning, but rather the more traditional ‘Action This Day’ and ‘Put Out The Fire’ which try to wrestle it into the rock world, perhaps confusing its original vision? Does the album get worse as the songs get better? Is this a Freddie Mercury solo album in disguise? Is ‘Cool Cat’ an underrated gem? What’s ‘Calling All Girls’ really up to here? I’d love to know your thoughts, but just to emphasize, the show, at time of going to press, contains no reference to, mention of, nor material relating, to the Queen album ‘Hot Space’.”
With his Queen-related ramble complete, he adds: “My last tour ‘The Darkness Of Robins’, was done completely alone, and whilst this saved countless tens of pounds on Travelodges, it had a quite startling impact on my mental health. So, in 2019 I will be bringing along friend and comrade ‘The Lovely’ Robin Allender to provide support. He will be sharing his own hot takes on, not only shame, but remorse, regret and nostalgia. I will also have a tour manager, so if they close the M6 southbound this time, someone else can tweet Highways England whilst I relax in the backseat with a couple of cans.”
John Robins is at The Apex on Wednesday, October 16, at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from www.theapex.co.uk or 01284 758000.