John Robins kicks off next tour in Bristol

News just in that the brilliant John Robins – formerly Bristol-based, winner of the 2017 lastminute.com Edinburgh Comedy Award and co-host of The Elis James and John Robins Show on Radio X, will tour the UK with his brand new show Hot Shame from September 2019: and he begins right here in Bristol.

John begins his nationwide tour with a six-night run at Tobacco Factory Theatres (Sept 2-8), wrapping up at Birmingham Town Hall on November 30. Tickets go on sale on Friday 1st February 2019 at www.johnrobins.com

John has gained a reputation as a stand-up for finding humour in our bleakest moments – and the new show promises plenty of soul-bearing, self-lacerating, piping hot shame, in much the same vein as his acclaimed previous show The Darkness of Robins.

John Robins, in his best Freddie Mercury jacket, contemplates bringing his tales of Hot Shame to Bristol

“Following my commercial digital indie radio quest to rid the UK of shame, I have decided to climb the rope out of John’s Shame Well to travel the country with stories of ‘Hot Shame’,” John explains. “Conveniently, I already had a 44-date pub crawl in the diary, and my agents suggested I combine it with shows at regional arts centres and theatres. After some long, and, at times, quite heated discussions about remuneration, I agreed.

“My last tour The Darkness Of Robins was done completely alone, and whilst this saved countless tens of pounds on Travelodges, it had a quite startling impact on my mental health. So, in 2019 I will be bringing along my friend and comrade [Bristol-based singer-songwriter] Robin Allender to provide support. He will be sharing his own hot takes on not only shame, but remorse, regret and nostalgia.

John’s comedy career took off while he was based in Bristol

“I will also have a tour manager, so if they close the M6 southbound this time, someone else can tweet Highways England whilst I relax in the backseat with a couple of cans.

“You may notice similarities in the show’s artwork to the Queen album Hot Space: this is no accident,” John, a known Queen fan, continues. “It’s an album which remains a small source of shame for the remaining members, I however think it’s deserving of re-evaluation. Though this show is not explicitly concerned with the Queen album Hot Space, I always think it’s useful for the audience to have a little bit of homework.

The artwork for the tour…

“So, whack it on and assess your thoughts. Is it perhaps the case, that the album’s failings are not the much derided funk / dance tracks at the beginning, but rather the more traditional Action This Day and Put Out The Fire, which try to wrestle it into the rock world, perhaps confusing its original vision?

… mimics the album artwork for Queen’s little-remembered 1982 dance/funk LP ‘Hot Space’

“Does the album get worse as the songs get better? Is this a Freddie Mercury solo album in disguise? Is Cool Cat an underrated gem? What’s Calling All Girls really up to here? I’d love to know your thoughts, but just to emphasize, the show, at time of going to press, contains no reference to, mention of, nor material relating, to the Queen album Hot Space.”

John Robins kicks off his Hot Shame tour at Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol from Sept 2-8. For more info and to buy tickets, visit www.johnrobins.com

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