NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE
Comedian Joe Lycett is back to shake up your Friday nights with his hilarious new show
Often praised for his sarcastic take on comedy, funnyman Joe Lycett is back speaking about his viral stunts. And the 34-year-old from Birmingham is overjoyed to be returning to his stomping ground as he prepares to host Channel 4 show Late Night Lycett, where he says viewers can expect “all sorts of strange”.
He continues, “It’s got a very Birmingham feel to it. We’re doing it by the banks of the canal, and it’s going to be definitely rough around the edges. There are going to be some floating shopping trolleys. There’s an idea of me, tossing a corpse into the canal and all sorts of strange, silly things.”
Live TV doesn’t scare Joe. In fact, he thrives when things go wrong and only experiences waves of anxiety when everything’s going too smoothly. “I suffer from anxiety when things are settled and everything’s fine. It’s when things go wrong that my anxiety calms itself down,” he shares.
The star recently went viral for criticising David Beckham’s promotion of the World Cup in Qatar despite the nation’s poor human rights record – his videos expertly finding the humour in a tough topic.
In his younger years, Joe reveals he looked up to comedic inspirations such as Alan Carr, Michael Mcintyre, and Australian comic Sarah Kendall.
And as he looks back on his life before starting out as a comedian, he says he “couldn’t believe” how fearless those people were.
“When I watched them all, I just couldn’t believe how funny everyone was. But I couldn’t believe also how brave they were to do it. I just thought, ‘I’ll never be able to do that. I’ll never be able to achieve anything like it.’ And I still pinch myself thinking like, ‘Oh my God, like, this is my job,’” says Joe.
Many will recall Joe sarcastically saying he was “very right-wing” and felt “reassured” with Liz Truss as prime minister as he appeared on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. And as we ask him about any dream guests he would love to have appear on his new show, Joe says Liz is at the top of his list. “Any of the Loose Women lot, and then I also think Vladimir Putin. I’d like to speak to him,” he says, before adding, “Sorry. How did I forget? Liz Truss is the pinnacle. If we got Liz, I’d stop working and retire at the peak of my powers.”