Comedian looks at life alone, the Tower of London and discovering himself in new show

For Tom Houghton, it's become the basis of a show he is set to bring to Birmingham as part of his "It's Not Ideal" tour, explaining the changes he has gone through in his life over the last year.

After a break-out year in 2022, the multi-viral, social media sensation, star of Netflix “The Circle” and host of "Very British Problems: Live" and “Bad Manors” podcast, is ready to bring his new tour to the region.

The comedian is coming to the Glee Club on February 11 with a show full of his trademark stories and silver-spoon observations, as well as his own story of moving on, dealing with events and growing up.

He said: "I've written this show over the last year and it's about the year I've had living on my own, having lived in the Tower of London for the last six years.

"I've had my first year living on my own in my own apartment and I've been through a break-up, so I've been sort of healing and going through that and I've had a lengthy period of sobriety to reframe my relationship with alcohol.

"It's about tackling the worst of my habits, but also a reflection at the same time of the changes in our time, with the Queen dying, a coronation and having a king now, so moving on as a country.

"My dad was part of the coronation, so it's a show about becoming self-aware and moving on and dealing with events and going forward and growing."

Tom said a lot of his comedy came from his own reflections on life and experiences and being able to look at the aspects of his life that he can make relatable, even when it came to stories about his father being General the Lord Nicholas Houghton GCB CBE DL.

He said: "You want to be relatable to the audience and when I started doing comedy, I was living in the Tower of London and my dad was a Lord and was living around certain people who would say I won't be able to play this place because I wouldn't be relatable.

"Things is, human emotion is universal and so there will people who didn't have a dad who was part of the coronation of King Charles or anything, but they'll know what it's like to have the pressures of a dad's opinion and achievements.

"They'll know what it's like to feel proud, to feel scared, to feel happy and all that other stuff, so I think that people like to think they're different, but on a human level, we're all very much the same person."

Part of what has formed Tom as a person has been his relationship with his father, who is an ex-chief of defence and former head of the British Military and became constable of the Tower of London when he retired from the military.

Tom said he had been invited by his father to live at the Tower as he was pursuing his comedy career and said it was an amazing experience, although he joked it was hard to chat up girls and convince them that's where he lived and said his father didn't, initially, get the idea of becoming a comedian.

He said: "My dad's a military man and there's a strict hierarchy and a salary, so it's very secure, so I think when I first told him I wanted to become a comedian, I don't think he understood how it worked and didn't get it, but then he and my mum came to a show where I had a really good gig and he took me aside and said he understood it and has now become my biggest fan.

"I've had Beefeaters in the audience, albeit not in costume, which would have been something, but it's a really nice moment when your parents suddenly go from being sceptical and worried to becoming your biggest fans.

"Living in the Tower of London was great for me as I lived in the centre of London, so could get about easier, and I also got to reconnect with my dad, because I'd been at boarding school since the age of six and he'd been on military tours, so it was nice to reconnect with him.

"The thing about the Tower is that when you try and chat up girls in a Vodka Revolution smoking area, they don't often believe you and it's quite a strict going in and out policy at the Tower as you have to sign everyone in and if I did, then the Beefeaters would have a black book of all my conquests!"

Tom said his comedy influences had started with Blackadder, the Vicar of Dibley, Harry Enfield and Fawlty Towers and had built through some of the great comedy actors and comedians around.

He said: "I remember seeing Rick Mayall for the first time and thinking this guy was amazing, with the energy and unashamed performance that he had, then I would listen to Billy Connolly, who had this amazing way of storytelling, which I love.

"I would also watch Whose Line Is It Anyway, which I would secretly tape and stay up to watch them, or sneak upstairs to watch them, and I was in an improv comedy troupe for 10 years, which gave me the ability to banter with the crowd and enjoy that sense of spontaneity.

"I think as far as writing jokes, the first comedy thing I ever watched was when one of my geography teachers, who was probably hungover, put on "Airplane" rather than doing a lesson and it was like a master class of quick-fire joke writing and was the funniest thing I'd ever seen."

Tom said his style was about being very open and friendly and conversational and making people feel like he's more their friend, rather than just a performer.

He said he hoped to bring that style and energy to the Glee Club, a room he said he liked playing in a city he liked performing in.

He said: "The Glee Club is such a good room as it's a purpose built comedy room and is set up really well, plus it shows you're moving up in the comedy world as you get on the circuit and play what are well-renowned and great clubs, something Birmingham is for my money.

"It's great to be touring it under my own show as well as the last time I played up here and around the area was supporting Milton Jones on his tour, which happened before Covid.

"I hope that people will come along and have a great time and be entertained, first of all, but the show does talk a lot about becoming self-aware of some of your shortcomings and tackling them and what it's like to suddenly be on your own.

"I think there's an epidemic of people out there who are feeling very lost and lonely and, perhaps, not treating themselves as well as they should, so if I can get anyone in the audience to go away and feel there are ways that they better themselves, then it'll be worth it."

Tom Houghton will bring "It's Not Ideal" to the Glee Club in Birmingham on February 11.

To find out more and to buy tickets, go to honourabletom.com