We’ve got to know a lot of excellent and talented comedians via our coverage of the Edinburgh Fringe, but Ian Smith has a definite place on my personal list of absolute favourites.

It’s massively pleasing, therefore, that I have this opportunity to talk about how great he is simply because he’s performing at the Soho Theatre in late November, ahead of a UK tour next year. 

It also provides a good excuse for a catch up: I arranged a chat with Ian, to find out more about his latest show ‘Foot Spa Half Empty’, his TV and radio work, and what to expect from him in the future. 

CM: Can you start by telling us a bit about the content of ‘Foot Spa Half Empty’? Does it have a specific story or themes? 
IS: It’s about becoming more middle class and how I thought that would make me less stressed – but then some tricky fertility news made my life more stressful again.

That sounds quite dry and serious, but it’s all done in as silly a way as possible. There are stories about an angry seagull, a problematic acupuncturist and a time I ordered too much rice.

CM: How do you decide what the focus of a show is going to be? What process do you go through in creating it? 
IS: It’s sort of decided for me by whatever is happening in my life. There’s usually one main thing I’m thinking about and then it gets surrounded by all the other things that have happened to me.

Usually you’ll find there’s a connecting tissue between them all. I then usually spend three months shouting at my laptop and plotting callbacks.

CM: We got to know and love your work via edfringe, and this show was on at the Festival in 2025. How did that run go from your perspective?
IS: I was so happy with it – it was my best reviewed show and my second Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination. It’s been a dream of mine to get nominated since I started doing stand-up, so it felt very surreal for it to happen again.

I feel like I’m finding my crowd up there and when you have people who are enthusiastic to see you it makes the job so much easier and just a lot of fun.

CM: You’ve been doing edfringe for a long time – why do you keep doing it? Will you continue in the future? 
IS: That makes it sound like you want me to stop going! I really love doing solo shows – being able to talk for an hour lets you build a narrative, be a bit more creative and put more of yourself into the shows.

Edinburgh is such a beautiful city as well, and in August it’s filled with people who love comedy, so the audiences there are the best… but I also love the audiences at Soho Theatre and every other venue I’m playing on my tour!

CM: Do you think the award nominations and wins have made a difference to your career path?
IS: Well, I’m writing the answers to these questions sat on a gold toilet. Let’s put it that way! I think the awards have really helped get me noticed and I’m sure they will have helped with some of the TV and radio things I’ve done since.

CM: Talking of which, I’m mildly obsessed with ‘Just A Minute’, ‘The Unbelievable Truth’, ‘The News Quiz’ and ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue’. You’ve appeared on three of them and I really enjoyed hearing you. Are the recordings as much fun as they sound? How does it compare to doing your own thing? 
IS: I’m also mildly obsessed with those shows! I listened to them all long before I got to do them. ‘The News Quiz’ is really fun, it’s a big challenge to have to generate so much material on whatever is happening in the news in such a short space of time.

‘Just A Minute’ is so nice to do, but to be completely honest I think I’ve had a mild panic attack every time I’ve done it. I’m always so desperate to make it to a minute and if I get anywhere close I start losing my mind.

CM: And speaking of which, can you tell us a bit about your own Radio 4 show ‘Ian Smith Is Stressed’? 
IS: ISIS – an unfortunate acronym for the series – is all about me being stressed out and my attempts to relax. We’re doing a second series and maybe I’ll finally discover how to relax. More likely I’ll just give up.

It’s a mixture of stand-up, interviews and documentary, and I’m excited to start recording the new episodes. I’m going to try to get the BBC to let me drive to Sweden to scream with some university students.

CM: Which is best, TV, radio or live performances? 
IS: That’s a hard choice! What if I say one and then the other two decide to never book me again?

I think my favourite will always be doing my live solo shows – but I also love collaborating with people rather than writing by myself in a room where one of the windows won’t close and I don’t know why.

So anything that allows me to do that is great.

CM: Can we go back a bit: how did you get into this? What made you decide to pursue this career? 
IS: I was in a sketch group with two friends in school and we put on a few shows at our local theatre – an 80 seater venue where the fabric was coming off most of the chairs. I loved making people laugh and as we went off to different universities I knew I’d have to do stand-up by myself instead.

CM: What would you say have been the highlights of your career thus far? 
IS: I think the Edinburgh Comedy Award nominations – I work really hard on my shows and to get those at the end of the Fringe has been a real dream.

That and ‘Live At The Apollo’! It’s a real out of body experience to walk underneath the huge Apollo sign that you’ve seen so many comics you admire do on TV.

My only criticism is that the smoke from the smoke machine is so thick that you really don’t think you’ll ever see anything again when you’re walking through it.

CM: I’ve asked you this before, but just in case things have changed: do you have any big ambitions for the future? 
IS: I’d like to bring out my own range of pasta sauces and try and take on Lloyd Grossman. Him and the Dolmio family have cornered the market for too long and we need someone to come in and really shake things up. That person is me.

CM: What’s coming up next for you after this?
IS: As well as the tour, the second series of my radio show is out in the New Year – and I’ll be guest hosting an episode of ‘The News Quiz’ again in January while Andy Zaltzman is away on cricket duties.

I’m writing lots of scripts as well, so I’m hoping that something will happen with them. Then obviously I’ll be developing some interesting new pasta sauces.

Ian Smith performs ‘Foot Spa Half Empty’ at Soho Theatre from 25-29 Nov. See the venue website here for more information and to book tickets.

In 2026 he’s headed out on a big tour that includes dates in locations like Cambridge, Sheffield and Helmsley, near where my mum and dad live. Have a look at the full list here. 

LINKS: sohotheatre.com | iansmithcomedian.co.uk | x.com/iansmithcomedy