Comedian and podcast star John Robins brings tour Howl to Harrogate

“It’s four years since my last tour left me with a of a lot of staring time, and if I don't start screaming in regional arts centres soon then I may just burst,” said John in his pre-tour interview.

“The show I am touring is called Howl and feels pretty well summed up by these kind words about previous outings of mine.”

As wrote the Scotsman critic: “Robins exploits his misery for every single possible laugh – transforming his pain into one long existential comic howl against the human condition.”

“If I thought lockdown was hard, then this last year has been an absolute pile of rubbish,” he said. “I drove around the UK in a Kia Sportage in an attempt to get away from everything. Did it work? No.

"This show isn't about mental health, this show is mental health. In all it's rage, joy, tears, anxiety and humour. Isn't that what comedy is? There's even a bit where I'm pretty scathing of the disingenuous platitudes of the modern wellness industry.”

“This show won't end with something glib and preachy. Nor anything particularly uplifting. Nothing will be set to music. There will be both bangs and whimpers, it will end on a good old-fashioned laugh."

John Robins is one of his generation’s most critically acclaimed stand-ups. John followed winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2017 with two sold-out national tours

Alongside friend, comrade and “under-DJ” Elis James, he rewrote the rule book for commercial digital indie radio broadcasting on Radio X. Before moving to prime time BBC 5Live. As well as this, Elis and John host a podcast called How Do You Cope? where they talk to guests about the challenges and hurdles they’ve faced in their own lives.

John has appeared on Live at the Apollo (BBC Two), Celebrity Mastermind (BBC One) (John is one of the world’s leading authorities on the rock band Queen) Live from the BBC (BBC Two) and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4).

Tickets: www.johnrobins.com and www.ticketmaster.co.uk