Tom Houghton Interview: “I’ve a Huge Love for the North East and Newcastle”

He first came to the attention of much of the British public via an appearance on the reality show The Circle and through early material which drew on his distinctly unusual background. You see, Tom’s father was until fairly recently Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) of the British Armed Forces, and Tom lived for a while in the Tower Of London, which marks him out as decidedly different in a comedy scene where working class credibility is often seen as essential. 

It might come as a surprise that Tom has a strong background in the North East, which is also where he first got into comedy. He’d grown up watching staples like Vicar Of Dibley and Harry Enfield & Chums, and his first ‘my god, what is this?’ comedy moment was watching a Billy Connolly show. But local hero Ross Noble was the first comedian he saw live, and his first gig was in Darlington!

“My family are from just outside of Darlington, my parents were at Catterick Garrison.” he explains.  “I was working in Darlington on the door, front of house, for a comedy night, and I asked if I could go onstage and do five minutes. I was awful, I stole all my material from other comedians. I was doing a drama degree at Kent University and I realised all the roles I was going for were the comedy parts and I liked making people laugh more than acting, so I did a stand-up Masters degree. I started and ran an improv comedy group – the Noise Next Door – for ten years, then I went solo and haven’t looked back.”

Tom clearly enjoyed his appearance on The Circle but admits he wasn’t really in it to win it.

“I never did it thinking I was going to win although looking back, if I’d have been a bit more cut-throat maybe I could have done, I played a very morally sound loyal game! For me, that was the battle and the war was the exposure afterwards. It was amazing, it upped my profile massively!”.

Indeed, as a consequence he went on to tour America and Europe, and is very grateful for the boost The Circle gave his career.

He’s keen to point out that while his Tower Of London-dwelling ‘posh’ background was his original USP and people still reference routines like ‘Do you ski?’ , his material has moved on considerably and his new show It’s Not Ideal comes from a very different place.

“You start writing comedy very personally, about what you know and where you’re from.”, Tom explains. “But this is my fifth hour and I’m trying to write shows with a bigger appeal. It’s not just about me, it’s my views of the world. Which hopefully make it more accessible but it also means people can disagree with you more! This show is more mature, and it’s also riskier, but I’m very happy with how it is. My concerns are different from four or five years ago. I don’t live in the Tower anymore and my dad is retired. But the audiences have grown with me.”

We asked Tom to sum up the themes of his new show.

“The bigger frame is the conflict between tradition and progress. The monarchy is a perfect example [Tom’s dad played a role in last year’s Coronation] where it is a tradition that is clearly archaic and but it also part of our identity. And in my own life, I’ve tackled sobriety, reframing my relationship with booze, had a break up, I’m breaking habits. It’s about traditions and habits, what to shed to move forward”.

Tom has a lot of connections with Newcastle – from friends playing for Newcastle Falcons to recording his first show, The Honourable, at The Stand.

“I’ve got a huge love for the North East in general but Newcastle very much so!”

The It’s Not Ideal tour is his biggest yet – around sixty dates in the UK and another thirty or so overseas – but we still had to ask him what else he has in the pipeline. There’s a lot of writing, although he can’t give us details (there’s a mysterious Netflix mention too) and he’s got a Bad Manors podcast “about the secret scandals of stately homes.". He’s also ‘in cahoots’ with the Very British Problems podcast, and hopes to work again with legendary surrealist stand-up Milton Jones (“He changed my skillset, he was a tutor to me, a proper Yoda character!”).

Tom is clearly a thoughtful and ambitious comedian, keen not to get stuck into a particular rut of character comedy, but he’s confident his audience have grown with him.

“Last year I did a show about reality tv and social media and a lot of people were ‘aw, you didn’t do the ‘do you ski’ bit’. The clips that made me go viral... You have to pay service to where you’re from, but it’s also important to grow, and now I don’t have to spend 20 minutes explaining who I am. The persona, the USP,  is already there!”

Tom Houghton brings his It’s Not Ideal tour to Newcastle Stand on 25th February. Tickets are priced from £14.50 and available from The Stand.