Joe Lycett

Joe Lycett is an award-winning comedian, writer and television host.

One of the best-loved performers in the UK, Joe is a stand-up star. An Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominee and a Chortle Award winner, Joe’s profile has risen rapidly since making his stage debut at the Manchester Comedy Store in 2008.

Joe made his television debut on The Royal Variety Performance, in 2016, at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. Joe has since become a TV regular, performing stand-up on ITV’s Sunday Night At The Palladium and BBC1’s Live At The Apollo and Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, plus starring on panel shows such as Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, BBC2’s QI and ITV2’s Celebrity Juice. Joe has also hosted BBC1’s Comic Relief show and appeared a contestant on series 4 of Dave’s Taskmaster.

Joe has hosted BBC Radio 4’s long-running panel show, It’s Not What You Know, since 2015, and in 2018 had his own BBC Radio 4 show, Joe Lycett’s Obsessions, commissioned. He is a regular guest on BBC Radio 4 institution Just A Minute, The Richard Bacon Show on Radio 5 Live, The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1 and has co-hosted The Greg James Show on BBC Radio 1.

Joe performed his hotly-anticipated debut hour Some Lycett Hot at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show was a huge hit with critics and audiences alike, selling out its entire run and securing Joe a Foster’s Comedy Award Best Newcomer nomination.

Joe has since returned to the Fringe with his 2013 hit, If Joe Lycett Then You Should’ve Put A Ring On It, and the critically acclaimed That’s The Way, A-Ha, A-Ha, Joe Lycett in 2015. Both shows enjoyed sold out runs and rave-reviews, with the 2015 Fringe culminating in a packed-out show at the 750-seater Pleasance Grand. Joe toured the show in 2016, winning the Chortle Award for Best Show and eventually releasing it on DVD. Joe has also performed internationally at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival.

Joe hit the road with his biggest tour to date in 2018, with his latest show I’m About To Lose Control and I Think Joe Lycett. The tour of the UK and Ireland was a huge success, with over 90 dates performed, and Joe took the show to packed-out rooms in Australia in 2019. The show has also been released on DVD.

Joe’s 2022 tour, More More More, How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett? has been released as a special and made available to purchase. Joe will also tour in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.

In 2019, Joe became the new host of BBC2’s The Great British Sewing Bee and Joe’s comedy consumer affairs show, Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, aired first on Channel 4 to critical acclaim. The third series of Got Your Back aired which sees Joe Lycett vs Beckham as he took on the famous footballer over his endorsement of the World Cup in Qatar, grabbing front page headlines in the UK . Joe has also been confirmed as the new host of Channel 4’s long-running travel documentary series, Travel Man. 

Joe made his first foray into the literary arena with Parsnips: Buttered, a self-help book designed to teach you how to “baffle, bamboozle and boycott your way through modern life”, released in October 2016.

Awards

• Winner: Features Award for Joe Lycett vs Beckham: Got Your Back at Xmas – BAFTA TV Awards 2023
• Nominee: Entertainment Performance for Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back – BAFTA TV Awards 2022
• Winner: Presenter Award for The Great British Sewing Bee – Royal Television Society Awards 2021
• Winner: Formatted Popular Factual Award for Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back – Royal Television Society Awards 2021
• Nominee: Features Award for Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back – BAFTA TV Awards 2020
• Winner: Best Show – Chortle Awards 2016
• Nominee: Best Compere – Chortle Awards 2013
• Nominee: Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer 2012
• Finalist: BBC Radio 2 New Comedy Award 2011
• Winner: Best Newcomer – Chortle Awards 2010
• Winner: Chortle Student Comedian of the Year 2009
• Runner-up: Latitude Festival: New Act of the Year 2009
• Runner-up: Laughing Horse New Act of the Year 2009
• Semi-Finalist: So You Think You’re Funny 2008
• Edinburgh Fringe 2008: Amused Moose Hot Starlet

Credit

Television

• Late Night Lycett (Host, Channel 4, 2023)
• QI (Guest, BBC2, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• Joe Lycett: Summer Exhibitionist (Host, 2022)
• Joe Lycett’s Big Pride Party (Host, C4, 2022)
• The Big Breakfast (Guest, C4, 2022)
• Travel Man (Host, C4, 2021, 2022)
• The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan (Guest, C4, 2019, 2022)
• Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back (Host, C4, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• The Great British Sewing Bee (Host, BBC2, 2019, 2020, 2021)
• The Graham Norton Show (Guest, BBC1, 2019, 2020, 2021)
• Who Do You Think You Are (Guest, BBC1, 2021)
• Gardeners’ World (Guest, BBC2, 2021)
• Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant (Host, C4, 2021)
• The Ranganation (Guest, BBC2, 2021)
• Life Drawing Live! (Host, BBC2, 2021)
• Celebrity Catchphrase (ITV, 2021)
• Have I Got News For You (Guest, BBC1, 2021)
• The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (Guest, C4, 2020)
• Grayson’s Art Club (Guest, C4, 2020)
• Hypothetical (Guest, Dave, 2019, 2020)
• The Great Stand Up To Cancer Bake Off (Contestant, C4, 2018)
• Roast Battle (Contestant, Comedy Central UK, 2018)
• Mary Berry’s Christmas Party (Guest, BBC1, 2018)
• The Last Leg (Guest, C4, 2018)
• Celebrity Portrait Artist of the Year (Contestant, Sky Arts, 2018)
• Sunday Brunch (Co-host, C4, 2017-2022)
• As Yet Untitled (Guest, Dave, 2017, 2021)
• The One Show (Guest & Co-Host BBC1, 2017-2020)
• Comic Relief (Host, BBC1, 2017)
• Michael McIntyre’s Big Show (Performer, BBC1, 2017)
• Taskmaster (Contestant, Dave, 2017)
• Travel Man (Guest, C4, 2017)
• Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule (Guest, ITV, 2017)
• Would I Lie To You? (Guest, BBC1, 2015, 2020)
• The Big Spell (Co-host, Sky1, 2016-17)
• 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Guest, C4, 2014 – 2017)
• Live At The Apollo (Host, BBC1, 2016)
• 12 Stars Of Christmas (C4, 2016)
• The Royal Variety Performance (Performer, ITV, 2016)
• The Jonathan Ross Show (Guest, ITV, 2016)
• Room 101 (Guest, BBC2, 2016)
• Countdown (Dictionary Corner, C4, 2016)
• Russell Howard’s Stand Up Central (Performer, Comedy Central, 2016)
• Duck Quacks Don’t Echo (Sky 1, 2016)
• Drunk History (Storyteller, Comedy Central, 2016)
• Insert Name Here (Guest, BBC2, 2016)
• Thronecast (Guest, Sky Atlantic, 2016)
• The Great British Bake Off: Extra slice (Guest, BBC2, 2015)
• 8 Out Of 10 Cats (Guest, C4, 2011, 2012, 2015)
• Celebrity Fifteen To One (Guest, C4, 2015)
• Sunday Night At The Palladium (Performer, ITV1, 2015)
• Reality Bites (ITV2, 2015)
• The Apprentice: You’re Fired (Guest, BBC2, 2014)
• Live At The Apollo (Performer, BBC1, 2014)
• Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Guest, BBC2, 2012, 2014)
• Celebrity Squares (Panellist, ITV, 2014)
• Sweat the Small Stuff (Guest, BBC3, 2013, 2014)
• Montreal International Comedy Festival Gala (Performer, Comedy Central, 2014)
• Twit of the Year (Panellist, C4, 2013)
• Staying In With Greg & Russell (Guest, BBC3, 2013)
• Xtra Factor (Guest, ITV, 2013)
• Britain’s Got More Talent (Guest, ITV, 2013)
• Celebrity Juice (Guest, ITV2, 2012, 2013)
• Don’t Sit in the Front Row (Guest, Sky Atlantic, 2012)
• Deal or No Deal (Guest, C4, 2012)
• Dirty Digest (Regular Panellist, E4, 2011)
• Comedy @ The Fringe (Performer, BBC3, 2011)
• Epic Win (Co-host, BBC1, 2011)
• Show and Tell (Guest, E4, 2011)
• Most Annoying People 2010 (Guest, BBC3, 2010)
• The Late List, non-broadcast pilot (Channel 4, 2010)
• Laughter Shock (BBC3, 2010)

Radio & Podcasts

• Scarlett Moffatt Wants To Believe (Guest, 2021)
• Sara Cox Show (Guest Host, BBC R2, 2021)
• Teach Me A Lesson with Greg James and Bella Mackie (Guest, BBC Sounds, 2021)
• Joe Lycett’s Obsessions (Host, BBC R4, 2018-2020)
• The Greg James Show (Co-host & Guest, BBC R1, 2017-2019)
• Rylan On Saturday (Guest-host, BBC R2, 2019)
• It’s Not What You Know (Host, BBC R4, 2016 – 2018)
• Chain Reaction (BBC R4, 2017)
• The Unbelievable Truth (BBC R4, 2015)
• Don’t Make Me Laugh (BBC R4, 2014, 2015)
• Just a Minute (BBC R4, 2014, 2015)
• Britain Vs The World (BBC R4, 2014)
• Phil Taggart & Alice Levine (BBC R1, 2013)
• The Scott Mills Show (BBC R1, 2012, 2013)
• The Josh Widdicombe Show – weekly contributor (XFM)
• The Radio One Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw (BBC R1, 2013)
• It’s Not What You Know (Guest, BBC R4, 2013)
• Tom Deacon’s Road Trip (BBC R1, 2013)
• MacAuley and Co (Guest, BBC Radio Scotland, 2011-13)
• Richard Bacon (Guest, BBC Radio 5 Live, 2012)
• Afternoon Reading: Comic Fringes (Writer/Performer, BBC R4, 2011)

Voiceover

• Ibiza Weekender Series 1-3 – Voice Over (ITV, 2015-2019)
• Magaluf Weekender Series 1-3 – Voice Over (ITV2, 2013-14)

Live

• More, More, More! How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett? UK Tour 2022
• I’m About To Lose Control and I Think Joe Lycett, UK Tour 2018
• That’s The Way, A-Ha A-Ha, Joe Lycett, Edinburgh Fringe 2015 then UK tour 2015/2016
• If Joe Lycett Then You Should’ve Put a Ring On It, Edinburgh Festival 2013 then UK tour 2013/14
• Joe Lycett: Some Lycett Hot, Soho Theatre 2013
• Joe Lycett: Some Lycett Hot, Edinburgh Festival 2012
• Jack Whitehall: Let’s Not Speak Of This Again, UK Tour 2011 – Support
• Tommy Tiernan: Poot, UK Tour 2011 – Support
• The Pleasance Comedy Reserve, Edinburgh Festival 2011
• Ross Noble and Friends
• Scott Capurro: Spring 2011

Books

Joe Lycett: Parsnips, Buttered: Bamboozle and boycott modern life, one email at a time (Hodder & Stoughton, 2016)

Press

The excellent routines are greatly enriched by Lycett’s manner: playful, laidback, more like on of us, it feels, than the attention-seeking neurotics you might encounter elsewhere.
The Guardian

What a joy it is to spend an hour with Joe Lycett… Lycett is affable when the tackles the big topics as he is when he deconstructs the trivial. Arenas surely wait. 
The Independent 

If he continues this way, Lycett will become one of mainstream’s biggest names. ★★★★
The Times 

If you want to bet on the next mainstream stand-up star put your shirt on Joe Lycett. ★★★★
Evening Standard

He’s cheeky, warm, super-funny and mixes delightful stories and observations. He’s effortlessly funny and an hour in his company is an absolute pleasure.
Time Out

Extremely fine gags. 
Guardian

Rising talent Joe Lycett already possesses the confidence and relaxed, homely charm of an old campaigner.
The Times

A delightfully natural style that builds a real connection with the audience…an accomplished storyteller.
Chortle

Entertainingly mischievous … intensely charming.
Guardian

Lycett’s guaranteed to be a huge star.
Time Out

The epitome of affability on stage… he has an excellent way of telling a story.
Chortle

A growing force on the UK stand-up circuit.
The Telegraph

On 2015 Edinburgh Show That’s The Way, A-Ha, A-Ha, Joe Lycett

He has the calm, confident air of a comedian twice his vintage. ★★★★
The Independent 

Some comedians just make it look so easy, and Joe Lycett is one such example. An hour in his company just goes down like water. Since he made his debut two years ago, he has developed the serene air of a comic completely at ease with himself and his material. ★★★★1/2
Chortle 

He makes funny seem easy.
The Guardian

On 2013 Edinburgh Show Joe Lycett: If Joe Lycett Then You Should’ve Put A Ring On It

An accomplished hour…instant rapport with his audience.
Metro

This show is a roaring success.
Fest

So entertaining…cheerfully silly…it’s a pleasure to be in Lycett’s company.
Chortle

It’s impossible not to be carried off on a wave of goodwill…should leave you grinning with liberal delight.
The List

On 2012 Edinburgh Show Joe Lycett: Some Lycett Hot

This may be Joe Lycett’s debut solo year, but his confidence and comic timing would be the envy of the most experienced turn.
The List

His armoury consists of wit, charm, and the enviable ability to elicit laughs through cadence alone.
Chortle

[The Audience is] utterly charmed…Don’t be surprised to see him gracing the Best Newcomer shortlist.
Metro

Scorching comedy.
Fest