‘A lot of my favourite comics are also fantastic compères.’ But he’s cutting down on his hosting work to focus on his tightly written material: ‘So catch the riff-daddy while you can,’ he says. ‘I wouldn’t be the comedian I am without that skillset,’ he admits. More crucially, though, what did Howard and Richardson learn from him? ‘They learned what it’s like to live with a man so desperate for attention that he will perform skits, semi-naked, in the living room, to strangers.’ He’s officially the funniest banter merchant in the countryĮarlier this month, at the 2015 Chortle Awards, Robins bagged the gong for Best Compère for his audience riffing skills. ‘Living with them taught me to always “be on”, which is infuriating for some people to be around, but when you’re all sat there, exchanging top-level banter, with rolling jokes and callbacks – man, I felt so alive!’

Howard: swagger and bench-pressing,’ he claims. What wisdom did he pick up from his future superstar flatmates? ‘Richardson: hygiene and slow roasts. It was the highlight of my week, and still is.’ He’s lived funnyīack in Bristol, Robins’s living situation was a sitcom waiting to happen – he shared a flat with Russell Howard and Jon Richardson. I used to pull over in petrol stations and talk to him on the phone for an hour. ‘I have loved chatting to him since I first met him ten years ago. But it was getting me down doing the same old gigs to earn a living and getting none of the sweet, sweet London action.’Īfter settling in the capital, the 32-year-old comic landed a breakthrough gig, hosting his own XFM radio show with fellow stand-up Elis James. ‘I love Bristol with all my heart, and miss it every sweaty-tubed, mean-spirited, siren-deafening London day. ‘I realised that the industry’s top kingmakers will never go to a gig in Chipping Sodbury,’ he explains. After eight years living in Bristol, where he was a favourite on the West Country circuit, John Robins made the move to the Big Smoke a few years ago.

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