No ordinary Joe: Brummie comic stands up for us all, and always very politely
Joe Lycett describes himself as an overthinker. Which is why the Brummie comedian admits he sometimes feels bad about going after companies in his Channel 4 show. Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back – which returns next week for a second series – sees the 31-year-old stand-up star investigate consumer complaints from members of the public, often going undercover in a quest for justice.
But while he sometimes wonders if he’s said the wrong thing, he’s at peace with why they do the show – to get genuine results.
“It’s never about taking on a receptionist or about the little people in the company,” he said.
“We always try and get to the top people; the people who are ultimately responsible if there’s bad practice.”
From scams and poor customer service to unacceptable consumer standards, the series covers a range of gripes, giving us plenty of laughs along the way.
In the first episode of the new series, Lycett investigates the number of packages the courier service Hermes lose.
They didn’t catch up with the CEO in his office, but they did manage to get him on the phone instead, which was, according to Joe,“brilliant because it meant that I could actually speak to him. It meant I could say,‘are you going to do something about this? What’s your plan?’
“They’re people at the end of the day, and I never try to be rude or whatever. I always try to present the stuff as gently and as humorously as possible.”
As for what else we can expect in the new episodes, the funnyman learnt plenty of lessons from the first series.
“When you’re going into companies and you’re secret filming, I didn’t realise the amount of protection you need legally before you can do just the slightest thing,” he added.
“And it’s really good that they have that because it’s protecting me and the channel from getting massively sued. The channel has been so good at allowing mad ideas and facilitating stuff.”
Affable Joe is, according to insiders, one of the good guys – and is popular among comedy fans.
“It’s a cliché, but the people who enjoy your work and who come up and say,‘i enjoyed that and I liked that’, they are the people who ultimately are keeping you in work. And so, it would be rude and ungrateful of me to be anything but polite.”
However, asked if he’d ever star in a reality show such as I’m A Celebrity or Strictly Come Dancing, he protested:“no, thank you!
“I mean, who knows – there might come a point when I really need the money,” he adds. “But at this point, I don’t.
“I never wanted to be famous, I just wanted to be creative for my job, and perform. I like to show off.” Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back returns to Channel 4 on Friday, April 10.