Joshua Michael Widdicombe (; born 8 April 1983) is an English comedian, presenter and actor. He is best known for his appearances on The Last Leg (2012–present), Fighting Talk (2014–2016), Insert Name Here (2016–2019), Mock the Week (2012–2016) and his BBC Three sitcom Josh (2015–2017). He also won the first series of Taskmaster in 2015 and the show's first Champion of Champions special in 2017. Widdicombe also hosted Hypothetical with fellow comedian James Acaster (2019–2022). During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Widdicombe started the Parenting Hell podcast with fellow comedian Rob Beckett.
Early life and education
Widdicombe was born on 8 April 1983 in Hammersmith, London, and grew up in Haytor Vale, near Widecombe-in-the-Moor in Devon. He attended Ilsington Church of England Primary School and South Dartmoor Community College, later studying sociology and linguistics at the University of Manchester.
Career
Widdicombe began performing live in 2008 and made it to the final of the So You Think You're Funny? comedy tournament at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe during the same year. In 2009, he co-wrote and performed in the sketch show Superclump, and appeared with James Acaster and Nick Helm.
In 2010, Widdicombe worked as a contributor for the Dora the Explorer magazine, and in 2011 he performed his debut solo show "If This Show Saves One Life..." at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and was subsequently nominated for Best Newcomer by the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards and for the Malcolm Hardee "Act Most Likely to Win a Million Quid" Award.
In 2012, Widdicombe became a regular on Stand Up for the Week. In July that year, he made his debut appearance on Mock the Week. He was also a main contributor to Channel 4's daily alternative review of each day's events at the London 2012 Summer Paralympics, The Last Leg with Adam Hills, alongside Adam and Alex Brooker. He also appeared on The Last Leg of the Year, the show's end-of-year special. In September 2012, Widdicombe appeared on The Million Pound Drop with The Last Leg co-host Brooker. The pair won £100,000 for their selected charities. His chosen charity was Scope. He has pectus excavatum, which he discovered after mentioning it to Christian Jessen on season 11, episode 10 of 8 Out of 10 Cats.
In 2013, Widdicombe was again a regular on The Last Leg, after Channel 4 renewed the show for nine further episodes, beginning on 25 January 2013. A third series started on 31 July 2013, a fourth on 31 January 2014 and a fifth on 1 August 2014. In May 2013, Widdicombe was a guest on the second series of Dara Ó Briain: School of Hard Sums with Marcus Brigstocke. Following this, he featured as a comedian on The Apprentice spin-off show, The Apprentice: You're Fired! In June 2013, he again appeared as a panellist on Mock the Week, featuring on several episodes of the show's 12th series. In 2014, Widdicombe appeared again on Mock the Week and on QI, and also made his debut on Have I Got News for You. Widdicombe won Celebrity Mastermind broadcast 31 December 2013 with a score of 24, on the specialist subject of his favourite band, Blur. His chosen charity was The Lily Foundation.
On 1 July 2014, the BBC announced Widdicombe would be joining its Radio 5 Live team from August 2014 as the new host of Fighting Talk along with Georgie Thompson. Both hosts announced on 10 August 2016 that they would not be returning to the show for series 14 in September due to their "increasingly busy schedules".
In August 2014, Widdicombe starred in the BBC Three Comedy Feeds pilot Josh, which he co-wrote with comedian Tom Craine and which was directed by David Schneider. A full six-episode series of Josh, also directed by Schneider, ran on BBC Three from 11 November to 16 December 2015. BBC Three ordered a second full series of Josh; and a third and final series followed in 2017.
In 2015, Widdicombe was a contestant on the first series of the Dave game show Taskmaster and won the series. For one of the tasks, Widdicombe got a tattoo of host Greg Davies's name on his left foot. He then returned for a team task in series two where he was partnered with Richard Osman and Jon Richardson.
Widdicombe has performed on radio on BBC Radio 4's Arthur Smith's Balham Bash and Absolute Radio's The Frank Skinner Show, written for comedy panel shows Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats and BBC Radio 4's Look Away Now, and supported stand-up comedians Russell Howard, Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr, Stephen Merchant and Shappi Khorsandi on their respective live tours.