Stand-up Milton Jones chats about latest tour The Lion Whisperer (From News Shopper)

Mock The Week star Milton Jones bringing tour to Croydon's Fairfield Halls

3:38pm Monday 31st October 2011 in Comedy By James Rampton

Stand-up comedian Milton Jones is back on tour with The Lion Whisperer. James Rampton catches up with the Mock The Week regular about his love of silliness and those outrageous shirts.

MILTON Jones is a hugely popular comedian with a wonderfully eclectic audience. To prove the point, he relates an anecdote about a recent show to me.

"I was sitting backstage at the Hammersmith Apollo waiting to go on stage," he recalls.

"Suddenly I read a Tweet from someone in the audience who said, ‘It's weird. I'm sitting next to a pensioner on one side and a Goth on the other!’

"Whole families come to my shows and say it's marvellous to enjoy something together. It's lovely to have such a broad appeal."

The great news is, more people than ever can now enjoy Milton’s splendidly engaging sense of humour as he is embarking on a massive nationwide tour with his brilliant new show Lion Whisperer, visiting Croydon's Fairfield Halls on November 9 at 8pm.

Often fondly referred to, mainly by himself, as "the weird bloke with the shirts from Mock the Week", Milton is a really engaging stand-up. His witty and punchy one-liners are accessible to all ages and have charmed audiences from Lands End to John O'Groats.

Milton is as comic and compelling off stage as on it. It is a sheer delight to spend an hour in his company.

He begins our interview in the run-up to the tour by explaining what audiences can expect from Lion Whisperer.

With typical modesty, he says, "It is not a show about anything. It's a lot of jokes stuffed into a bag which come out in a different order every night, depending on where I am. It's accessible to everyone. People won't learn anything from it, but if they like jokes, then it's the show for them!"

A dazzlingly inventive comedian who has proved a huge hit on both BBC2's Mock the Week and Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow on BBC1, Milton says he is drawn to daftness.

He said: "Sometimes I think it would be nice to do something dark and poignant, but that thought lasts about 10 seconds. Then I get bored myself and go back to the silly jokes."

So where does this penchant for sheer silliness come from?

"My father was a physicist, and I grew up in straightforward home and went to a serious school," Milton replies.

"I rebelled in the sixth form. I suppose it was something to do with wanting to turn everything on its head. I was delighted to find that people could make a living out of this sort of thing."

At first, Milton recalls, "I had wanted to be an actor. But I'm very glad I chose this path. Comedy is now a runaway train. The alternative has become the mainstream. Saturday night shows with Michael McIntyre have become the equivalent of 1970s programmes such as Mike Yarwood and Seaside Special. It has all worked out very well."

The mainstay of Milton’s show is a dizzying string of one-liners.

He emphasises the attraction of this genre, saying, "I love one-liners. When I started out as a stand-up, I was so terrified, I wanted to get a laugh as soon as possible. That soon snowballed out of control. I don't like waffle. I like to get to the point as quickly as possible.

"Of course, if you carry on with one-liners for too long, you can see blood coming out of people's ears, so I like to intersperse them with other material.

"So in the new show, there are some characters and music to freshen it up. I also have an old school project and show acetates of badly drawn things. People like that change of direction."

Milton has garnered loads of new fans from his very popular appearances on Mock the Week. It has really boosted his profile.

He says, "Telly is like putting a leaflet through the door of everyone in the country. They begin to recognise my face and my style.

"At the beginning I made sure I wore a certain type of shirt, a mixture between a Hawaiian and a bad taste shirt. I wouldn't wear it to a barbecue, but it has that feeling of a silly uncle. The shirts have a dated appeal. At least if people don't remember me, they'll remember my shirt."

After a while working in other media, Milton is delighted to be returning to the live arena.

He said: "On television and radio, you can lose touch with an audience's reaction. There is nothing like performing, say, 28 shows on the trot at the Edinburgh Festival. After that, you really know what works. It makes you much sharper as a comedian.

"If you have three months off, it takes you a while to get back into it and return to where you were. It's a muscle; if you stop exercising it, you lose the use of it."

There is no danger of that happening to the ever busy Milton.

He stresses, "I'd like to think I'll always do live comedy. I'm reticent to have a five-year plan.

"Sometimes I think I'd like to do some acting, but I'm aware there are so many good actors who are unemployed. I'm better off staying with what I can do that others can't. I should be grateful for what I developed and stick to that."

The comedian, who, to emphasise his growing popularity, is also making a sitcom pilot for Channel 4, is eager to get back on the road with Lion Whisperer. He says nothing can match the thrill of live comedy.

Milton beams that, "You can't beat it. There is that lovely moment of affirmation when something new works and gets a huge laugh. That gives you a terrific buzz.

"Stand-up is a very honest art form – you can be under no illusions about whether or not it went well.

"You can't pretend an audience liked it if they weren't laughing. I love the immediacy of it. I'm so looking forward to performing Lion Whisperer. I just can't wait."

Nor can we, Milton, nor can we.

To book, call 020 8688 9291 or visit fairfield.co.uk