“In 2024 I remounted all ten of my previous solo shows, and this gave me a great opportunity to take stock of things. It let me ask myself the question ‘what sort of show haven’t I done yet?’ and I realised that ‘mainstream conversational stand-up’ was one of them. So I’m making that show. In the meantime, I had a bit of a terrifying health scare, so I’m building a mainstream stand-up show which happens to be about wrestling with mortality. But actually, we’re all going to die, so you can’t get a more mainstream topic.”
Jeffrey Lewis – Sometimes Life Hits You
My friend Jai recommended this song to me and said I’d really like it, and I was like, “Oh yeah, I’ll give it a listen,” while secretly thinking; “I contain multitudes, I’m unknowable, how dare you presume to know my depths.” But then I listened to it about fifty times in a row, and had to concede my friend *did* know me. Stupid friends. It’s a song about how life will, at some point or other, land you with something really shitty, and it’s the perfect song to listen to while you’re processing nearly dying from blood clots in your lungs. It also takes me right back to the anti-folk, low-fi comedy scene of around 2007 when I started doing comedy, which gives me a pleasant nostalgia and makes me feel old. So, it reminds me of my mortality on multiple levels (at least two).
They Might Be Giants – Older
TMBG are a fantastic band when it comes to writing fun songs about our inevitable decay and departure, this being a perfect example. Most of my favourite bands are niche concerns, but that works out quite well for me – Oasis announce a tour and everyone stresses themselves out in online queues, but, for example, The Magnetic Fields announce they’re playing all of 69 Love Songs at the Barbican, and I can get tickets at my own leisure for reasonable prices. So I apologise to my own fans for my decision to become the Oasis of comedy.
Sparks – Music That You Can Dance To
I don’t know whether to describe Sparks as my favourite band or my spirit band, because there are probably bands I listen to more than Sparks, but there are no bands I feel such an affinity with. The story goes that a record exec said; “Why can’t you just write music that you can dance to?” and they wrote this song as a response. And it’s really good to dance to. I respect them for sticking so tightly to their guns over the years, and never compromising, even as I have decided to sell out and write comedy that you can laugh to.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Soft Shock
For some reason, this song, and the rest of the It’s Blitz! album, is a failsafe thing for me to write to. I don’t know why, and I’m not having tests done on my brain to find out, no matter how much you ask me.
CMAT – Communion
This song contains one of my favourite lyrics: “Why do I love Philip Larkin? He would’ve hated me.” I love Philip Larkin too, and he would have hated me, probably. I write quite a bit of poetry, and I’m putting some of it in this show. Just the funny ones though, don’t worry.
Stevie Wonder – Sir Duke
Sometimes it’s important to look back on where you started. This is the song I came on stage to for my very first show, John-Luke Roberts Distracts You From A Murder. It is the most showbizzy sounding song I could find, and the perfect counterpoint to my wilful alienation of an audience by pretending to be a murderer. It was a weird show, that one.
Hamish Hawk – The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champions
I am besotted with Hamish Hawk, and being in a crowd singing every word of this anthem is a wonderful experience. It begins: “To write a cathedral I’ll need a ballpoint pen, it’ll sound like ‘Common People’ sung by Christopher Wren,” and carries on like that. The fact that that can be a rousing singalong for a large group of people makes me feel better disposed towards mobs.
John-Luke Roberts: What I Talk About When I Run About, Talking, Monkey Barrel Comedy, 5-30 Aug (not 19), 2.10pm