‘Irresistibly madcap’ Spencer Jones brings debut standup tour to Bristol

Spencer Jones is an actor and standup artist who first came to the attention of the comedy community with his much-lauded 2014 Edinburgh debut, Spencer Jones is the Herbert.

The twice BAFTA-nominated, twice Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated star of Mister Winner and The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk (BBC Two) is beloved by fans of absurdist clowning and, in his own words, “prop-based tomfoolery.”

He once made a memorable appearance on Harry Hill’s Clubnite (Channel 4), showcasing his unique mastery of the loop pedal.

In recent years, Jones has also reignited his passion for art.

He did this initially by “furiously painting” on pieces of wood he “found in the street” for his acclaimed 2019 show, The Things We Leave Behind.

He sold his first work while filming a documentary for Sky Arts, A Brush With Comedy, in 2023.

“My paintings make me laugh,” he says. “But experience has taught me that the audience don’t always agree with me. I’m fine with that.

Cockney Vampire, Spencer Jones – photo: courtesy the artist and Stowe Gallery

Jones continues, “I release these art pieces into the world, like naughty children I’m slightly ashamed of.”

Stowe Gallery presented Jones’ first solo exhibition in June 2024. In another first for Jones, his first solo standup tour comes to venues in September, presented by powerhouse comedy producers, Show and Tell.

Poster: courtesy the artist and Show and Tell

For those unfamiliar with your work, how do you think you would characterise a Spencer Jones show?

“I always find it hard to explain my type/style/strain of comedy but I would say currently it’s a strangely dressed man twatting about on stage. My show is usually about what’s been happening in my life around the time I am writing it. If something happens and it’s weird or epic or life-changing, it will be in a show. Kids being born, leaving a proper job, family, death – it’s going in. Life gives me lemons, and I show the audience my lemon collection, if you catch my drift?

“I tell stories. And I make it as funny as I can with props music, physical visual humour, puppets (but I’m not a ventriloquist) and helping me tell my current story. In this one, it’s chickens.”

Spencer Jones – photo: courtesy the artist

How did this particular show originate?

“It began in my brain. It always does, not sure why. It started like an itch, that I started scratching, until it created the massive open wound I like to call ‘creating a show’. I’m aware that sounds nuts, but we moved from London to Devon four years ago, just after Covid ‘finished’ and I was already nuts after being indoors for two years.

“Then we moved to Devon and I didn’t know anyone and the loneliness continued. This show is about me losing the plot living in a bungalow near Torquay. It sounds miserable but it’s a laugh. I promise.”

Though you’re loved in the comedy world, this is your debut UK tour. How different does it feel to be on the road?

“I’m looking forward to putting a pair of swimming trunks in my suitcase, promising to myself that I will go for a swim in the local pool in the place I am visiting. But I know at the end of the tour I will remove the trunks from my case bone dry.

“I’m really looking forward to visiting places and venues I have never played before, as well as the places I already know and have been dropping into over the years. I’ve never been to Glasgow embarrassingly, and I get to put that right. But I Always LOVE playing Bristol. They properly get my weird shit. Decent city.”

Spencer Jones – photo: courtesy the artist

When you’re writing and planning a new show, do the constraints of live performance limit – or expand – your creativity?

“A great thing about the process is I have complete freedom to make the show in any way I want, about what I want and tell any story. Making a live show can be quite freeing in that respect. Telly is good but there are lots of people chipping in and changing things. On stage, it’s all on me; I have freedom of choice to perform whatever I want.

“I dream big at the start of the writing process (elephants on trapeze, video messages from Ledley King, a fully plumbed sink on stage); I am always trying to stretch myself and give audiences more. But at the end of the day I am just a bloke trying to make a room full of people laugh. Necessity is the mother of invention. So if my big dreams of how the show will go don’t come to fruition, I can find a way around it that always ends up way more interesting.”

Spencer Jones exhibition – photo: courtesy the artist and Stowe Gallery

In terms of finding an outlet for your own creativity and self-expression, how do comedy and art differ? Which is more freeing?

“Fuck I don’t know. Good question. Hard question! They are all part of the same thing to me really. Same as writing music or making props. My brain most of the time flits from one thing to the next. I find concentrating on one thing extremely hard. So I dip into music, painting, singing, then drawing, then in front of a mirror pulling faces, then making the kids laugh, then dressing up the dog, then back to a joke I thought of, then a script for a bit.

“I feel like I am swirling around in weird soup of my own making. I’m not sure it’s healthy but it seems to work for me. I put everything I have noodled away at indoors on stage, on camera or on canvas. That’s why the shows are quite varied with standup to catchy tunes to weird visual gags. Both are fun also with stressful bits. Comedy and art are both freeing if I relax and let them, but they can both equally be a pain in the arse. Like most jobs!”

The Long Walk Home, Spencer Jones, 2024 – photo: courtesy the artist and Stowe Gallery

Spencer Jones is at Tobacco Factory Theatres on September 22 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com. Visit www.spendals.co.uk or follow @spencer_jones_actor (for acting and comedy), and @spencerjonesartwork (for art).

Spencer’s exhibition is available to view at www.stowe-gallery.com.

Main photo: Spencer Jones

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