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About Rob Oldham
Young, smart and described as having “aplomb, brain and delivery beyond his years” (Chortle), Rob Oldham is a truly original rising star on the stand-up scene.
Forming part of the renowned Cambridge Footlights team in 2016, Rob Oldham wrote and performed in their critically praised sketch show Lagoon at the Edinburgh Fringe and across an American tour. After dabbling in stand-up at university, Rob Oldham hit the Edinburgh Festival in 2017 with his first show Brink. Whilst there, Rob Oldham was selected to compete in the final of the ‘Amused Moose New Comedy Awards’, enviably picking up the prize for ‘Breakthrough Comic’.
Rob Oldham’s first full hour, Worms Lament, (produced by Fight in the Dog & directed by Liam Williams) was a hit on the 2018 circuit and was featured in The Guardian’s top shows to see at the Fringe. Keeping up a cracking momentum, his follow-up Edinburgh show Worm’s Resolve enjoyed critical acclaim and a sell-out run on the free fringe.
In addition to his own live work, Rob Oldham has been a tour support for John Kearns and Abandoman. Elsewhere he has appeared on Newsjack for BBC Radio 4 and written and performed in his own BBC Quickie and a BBC Life Lesson. Thoughtfully witty and offbeat, Rob Oldham is a comic who’s most definitely going places. Not to be missed!
WATCH ROB OLDHAM: WORM’S RESOLVE
Following on from Worm’s Lament, his 2018 debut, twenty-something ‘thinking man’s comic’ Rob delivers again. Delve into his existential exploration of being right, being wrong and getting angry. This is a beguiling melting pot of prose poetry and smart funnies on religion, politics and morality that will have you in stitches.
Reviews and Awards
Rob Oldham was the Breakthrough Comic winner in Amused Moose Comedy’s National New Comic award 2017. He was also a quarter finalist in the Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year 2016.
‘I was expecting a lot from Rob Oldham. He did not disappoint’
One4Review.com
‘Born in the Nineties, nurtured in the Naughties…Rob is a philosopher-poet who postulates like the banner-bearer of a new wave of comedy about to erupt from the Millennial fountain’
MumbleComedy.net
‘To put it enthusiastically, you have not lived until you have heard one of Rob Oldham’s tonal prose poems’
EdFestMag.com
‘Sharp comedic eye for satirical and frivolous subjects’
What’s On London
‘Quirky, offbeat sensibilities that distil into smart jokes that rarely sound like anyone else’s’
Chortle
Rob Oldham Tickets
Latest info on Rob Oldham’s gigs and live shows can be found here.
Can’t wait to see him live? Stream his full show now
Biography
It was as a student at Cambridge that Rob Oldham really found his feet in comedy. Talking to West End Wilma he explains: “I started off doing comedy at university, writing and performing sketches, and after a year or so I took the leap into stand up, which was initially terrifying but I’ve come to really enjoy.”
Rob Oldham initially began to dabble in performance as part of the world famous Cambridge Footlights. The university’s student comedy society, founded in 1883 is best known for its incredible alumni such as Peter Cook, Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Rowan Atkinson, Tony Slattery, John Cleese, and Mitchell & Webb. In 2016, Rob Oldham joined his fellow students on the Cambridge Footlights international tour. The show, entitled Lagoon, embarked on an incredible run, performing to over twenty thousand people across two continents at venues in London, California, Las Vegas, New York, and the Cayman Islands. A mixture of sketches, songs and original writing and starring just five performers, Lagoon was also a hit at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival.
Fresh out of uni the following year, Rob Oldham began making waves on the London circuit with his own material, winning the Quantum Leopard New Act Competition, as well as going on to write for topical sketch show Newsjack on BBC Radio 4. He also launched his own popular podcast, Menagerie. That summer, Rob Oldham took the plunge in returning to Edinburgh’s free festival with his own show, Brink, a solo about growing up, politics, and being a hypocrite in the 21st century. Rob Oldham was praised for “demonstrating himself to be an imaginative writer with interesting ideas and command over their delivery (Chortle) and was deservedly awarded the breakthrough prize at the Amused Moose New Comedy Awards.
His following full hour debut show, Worms Lament, was a hilarious ride through millennial despair, with Rob Oldham talking about his past, present and future, moving deftly between the personal and the political. Speaking to West End Wilma, Rob explained how inspiring he found it to have Liam Williams directing his first solo: “I saw him at the Fringe when I was 19 and I was completely blown away. I had never seen anyone do what he did with stand up; the thoughtfulness and use of language is incredible. The first series of ‘Ladhood’, his radio series, remains the best thing I’ve ever heard on radio.”
Worms Lament enjoyed a successful run at the Pleasance in 2018, and in 2019 comedian Rob Oldham returned to the free fringe with Worm’s Resolve. It was a success with audiences and critics alike with Chortle stating – “One word review for this: Wow! Rob Oldham has aplomb, brains and delivery beyond his years. It’s hard to credit he’s just turned 24 and he’s now delivering a ‘difficult second show’ that I’d be happy to pay money to watch, or to see him delivering to a club audience. There’s an ease and composure to his delivery that is confidence-inspiring for an audience. He’s of the ‘thinks funny’ rather than ‘funny bones’ school of comedy and I enjoyed his analytical, self-conscious approach.”
We can’t wait to see what comedian Rob Oldham has in store for audiences next!
Get More Rob Oldham
Want more of Rob Oldham? You’re in luck – his full stand-up comedy special is available to watch on NextUp – a digital comedy club where you can stream instantly over 120 comedy specials from some of the exciting names in comedy. Oh, and there’s a 7 day free trial.