Phill Jupitus set to amaze with three-part character comedy show

Phill, who after 23 series is the last man standing from the original line-up of BBC2’s widely adored pop quiz, Mind the Buzzcocks, is an immensely popular comedian.

He could easily have hit the road with a show comprising “greatest hits” gags, and no one would have complained.

But he is a far more adventurous and innovative comic than that. So Phill has come up with a dazzlingly inventive three-part character comedy show that will surprise and delight his legions of fans.

He is touring the country this spring with a wonderfully original show, ‘You’re Probably Wondering Why I’ve Asked You Here…’ It is a beautifully crafted act which the comedian plays three very different characters: The Late Vernon Herschel Harley, a legend of stage and screen who died at the age of 114 just last Thursday; The Late Kurt Schiffer, the “Korvettenkapitan” of the U42B, part of the German Navy’s feared “Wolf Pack”, which was the scourge of the Atlantic shipping lanes during the Second World War; and The Late Phill Jupitus, who died on 24 June 2052 on the eve of his ninetieth birthday.

The show is quite unlike anything you ever seen before. It highlights Phill’s marvellous versatility and brilliant off-the-cuff comedy gifts. For this bravura piece, he advises us to “Leave your preconceptions at the door, but don’t forget to bring your curiosity.” After a hit run at the Edinburgh Festival last summer, tickets for the show are flying out of the door, so you’re advised to book early.

The critics have been united in praising “You’re Probably Wondering Why I’ve Asked You Here…” The Scotsman declared that, “This show is a huge amount of fun and an impressive display of Jupitus’s skills.” One4Review said that, “I left an hour later with further admiration of the man’s talents and his willingness to try something different… It is an experience that should not be missed.”

Meanwhile, Broadway Baby observed that, “Jupitus is undoubtedly an excellent improviser, and there is a great deal of pleasure to be had from watching his quick wit at work.”

You’ll be very glad to hear that, when I chat to him in the run-up to the tour, Phill is just as much fun in person. He begins by explaining the inspiration behind “You’re Probably Wondering Why I’ve Asked You Here…”: “I did a stand-up show two years ago that was just me telling jokes. It was great fun, but I didn’t want to do the same thing again.

“So this time I was looking for a way of keeping myself interested in the job, and I wanted to approach it in more experimental way. That’s how the idea of doing character comedy evolved.”

Phill, who for many years was the host of BBC 6 Music’s lauded breakfast show, continues that, “Stand-up is generally risk-adverse, but I wanted to build something with an element of risk because that’s when the best stuff happens.”

The comedian, who was also enjoyed critical acclaim playing Edna Turnblad in the West End musical Hairspray and King Arthur in the UK and Irish tour of Spamalot, goes on to say that he loves the element of the unexpected in the new show.

“The joy of stand-up is that when it’s at its best it is like improvisational jazz.

It’s different every night – ‘You should have seen Art Tatum’s show on Tuesday!’

“The great thing about ’You’re Probably Wondering Why I’ve Asked You Here…’is

that it’s a show where I know the characters, but I don’t know what they’ll be asked. Every night is different – it’s entirely dependent on the audience.

I wanted to find a way of incorporating into the live work the kind of thing that happens on Buzzcocks, where it flies in an entirely free-form manner. That flight of fancy element came from the panel show. Once the audience get what you’re doing, they start to participate, and that’s when the show really takes off.”

Phill, who in 2010 wrote a bestselling book entitled Good Morning, Nantwich - Adventures in Breakfast Radio, proceeds to give an example of the inspired way in which the audience contribute to the show. “Recently, when I was playing Vernon, one guy from the audience said, ‘Tell us about your feud with Tony Curtis, which I know you don’t like to talk about’. That was brilliant.

“On another night, an audience member shouted out to the German submarine commander, ‘Tell us about your secret mission to kill Winston Churchill’. I gave that a 10-minute answer. You have to go deep into the character. Something fires you up on stage. The more creative the audience, the more they are rewarded with the responses.”