Justin Moorhouse has been performing comedy for more than twenty years, with television credits including Phoenix Nights, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, and even Coronation Street.
He has also appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, as well as hosting and appearing on a number of radio shows throughout his career.
His latest live show, Think and Stretch, is now touring across the UK, including South Hill Park.
With his considerable experience in stand-up, he professes that it may be easier than it seems.
“I think people think it must be harder than it is; you have to get up on stage, and if you die you die, but there’s no replacement for stage time.
“There’s an element of advantage to being a touring comic, as people have bought tickets to see you, you’re on the poster, people are invested.
“In a comedy club, you have to get good by being best on the bill.”
He says it’s also the kind of career which can keep a performer’s feet on the ground, as a result.
“When you have a tough gig, it’s a really chastening experience, because you feel like you’re on gossamer wings of appreciation when it goes well.
“But you only learn something when it goes wrong, and there’s always a way you could have done better.”
“I’m not one for blaming an audience– occasionally audiences are difficult, but you have to get used to dealing with different audiences and you have to grow and develop.
“If you’re a stand up comedian, it’s very healthy to have a kind of reality check every now and then– it’s good for the soul.”
Justin says that his daughter, now approaching adulthood, is showing interest in performing, too.
On whether he would give her the inside tips gleaned from years of experience on the circuit, he said: “absolutely no chance– she can work it out for herself.”
Especially, he says, as he came to comedy “late in life; I already had years of experience working around people and having to ‘present.'”
“Coming from a large family who didn’t have a lot, in the way people didn’t in those days, where you make your own entertainment.”
Justin is currently touring his latest show, Stretch and Think, which he says explores shifts in his life following a certain milestone.
“I’m 52, and I’m downsizing a little bit in life, my kids are getting on a bit, off to university, and we’re selling off the house so they can’t come back!
“So the show is making some inroads into my final decisions on stuff– things like the menopause and libido, to Labradoodles, and recycling.”
When it comes to politics, he says the show won’t shy away from topics of which other comedians might be wary.
“The funniest moment of the show, for me, is the bit I’m enjoying.”
In this show, Justin says that it is his more contentious material, despite careful handling, which is the most exciting part.
“I say in the show ‘when kids are born, their allocated agenda is either male or female, andnd then I take a pause.
“And in that moment, I acknowledge that there’s a roomful of people who are all clenching.
“And they’re all saying ‘please, do not go down this road, because so far your comedy has given us the indication that you’ve got the chops to deal with it!”
Political issues are difficult, though not impossible, he says, to exclude in their entirety from stand-up.
“I think politics is life, and has always informed comedy– but party politics at the moment is a duck-shoot, whatever your sensibilities are.
“You used to be able to ask people who the Prime Minister was to see if they were okay, but not any more.
“It’s difficult to avoid, it’s so omnipresent, because that’s what life is.”
Despite this, he says that comedians– and audiences as a result– have more options and avenues than ever.
“In comedy now there’s an alternative to the alternative, and I think it’s great, there’s plenty of space for everybody.
“It’s the one art form where you can’t blag it and we’re in a really healthy place with it– until ChatGPT starts doing comedy, of course.
“But what I don’t like is someone who will play to the gallery and espouse some views on stage which they don’t believe
“That’s the thing about being a comedian; once you get caught out being a hypocrite, there’s no going back.”
He says that comedy is not something he is giving up any time soon, however.
“If I couldn’t perform stand-up, I don’t know what I’d do. It’s an absolute essential for my soul, for my mental wellbeing.
“The sound of laughter in a room, in a cellar or in an arena, what a wonderful response to elicit, and it’s instant.
“It’s not about the adulation, but that shared experience– that idea of community, congregation, it’s absolutely magic.”
Justin Moorhouse is currently touring Think and Stretch in venues around the UK, including South Hill Park in Bracknell on Thursday, April 20.
Tickets and more information are available via: ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/justin-moorhouse.
