‘There is no greater sorrow,” as Dante had it, “than to recall happiness in times of misery.” If the converse is true, then John Robins is cooking up some divine comedy. Robins – best known now as one half of an all-conquering talk-radio twosome with Elis James – has a new touring show, the first since the pre-pandemic Hot Shame. Like its predecessor, and like much of the pair’s podcast work, it addresses mental health – specifically, Robins’ lifelong battle against high anxiety. But this time there’s a twist.
“One half of the show was written last year,” says Robins, “in quite a catastrophic phase, mentally. And the second half is being written now, when as you can tell,” he smiles, only a little ironically, “I’m very serene and peaceful.” This year has seen the 41-year-old turn a corner with his wellbeing. A man whose standup routines mainline disastrous failure at basic life management – whether that’s a breakup in his award-winning The Darkness of Robins, or simply buying a humidifier in Hot Shame – has now quit alcohol, taken up meditation and is learning to be less “in-self”. Things couldn’t be better for John Robins. But where does that leave his comedy?
