John Robins Returns

May 7, 2026

John Robins, comedian, broadcaster and Taskmaster champion, talks about his memoir Thirst and sobriety. He discusses writing as self-discovery and the difference between honesty on stage and on the page. Conversations cover 12-step parallels with stand-up, how sobriety reshapes ego and career perspective, managing dread, and whether he’ll return to full-time stand-up.

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INSIGHT

Writing Revealed Hidden Truths About Drinking

Writing revealed facts John Robins didn't know about himself and reframed past events as evidence of alcoholism.
He discovered patterns only after stopping drinking and connecting memories during the prolonged drafting and rereading process.

INSIGHT

Stand-up Lets You Drop The Pretence

Stand-up lets John be himself without pretending, whereas TV often requires performing a version of a comedian.
That mismatch explains his discomfort on many TV formats and why live stand-up feels more authentic and freeing.

INSIGHT

Recovery Meetings Mirror Stand-up Structure

John sees 12-step meetings as a performer-audience relationship and links historic AA speaker tapes to stand-up.
He listened to American speaker tapes and noticed the structure and humour mirror stand-up craft.

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313 episodes later… the critically acclaimed comedian, award-winning broadcaster and Taskmaster champion, John Robins returns to the pod!

John first spoke on stage with an incredible level of honesty and introspection about his alcoholism with Howl (which you can listen to on his here). This week he’s continuing to share that story with the release of his memoir, Thirst: the story of his life through the lens of alcohol, the drinks that made him, and those that broke him.

In this episode we discuss:

how Taskmaster was the closest he’s got to being himself on TV
why 12-step recovery feels like a form of stand-up
the process of opening yourself up in the form a book
how comedy careers can distort what you see as success
the problem with “ego” in comedy and how sobriety shifts it
learning to sit with yourself instead of escaping
and if John plans to return to stand-up...

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how much of stress is actually chosen
why alcohol never actually solves what it claims to
and the impact of recording the audiobook

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Catch Up with John: John Robins' Thirst is out now on in all good book stores and is also available as an Audiobook. Find all the info at johnrobins.com. You can keep-up-date with John on Instagram, @nomadic_revery.

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Everything I'm up to: Come and see me LIVE, find out all the info and more at stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy. Discover my comedy about the climate crisis, for everyone from activists to CEOs, at stuartgoldsmith.com/climate.

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