Comedy / Ian Smith
Ian Smith on tour with show about ‘stress, love and buying a magic spell off Amazon’
Since he last spoke to Bristol24/7 in the spring of 2024, Ian Smith’s career trajectory has continued, rapidly, to ascend.
With his 2025 show Foot Spa Half Empty, he sold out his entire Fringe run, and earned a second Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination amidst a galaxy of stars from critics.
Smith continues to amass TV credits both at home and abroad, and is growing his audience through his podcast, Northern News, which he co-hosts with fellow comedian Amy Gledhill.
He has also found a natural home on Radio 4, where he has had a guest-hosting spot on The News Quiz, appearances on The Now Show, Just a Minute, The Ultimate Choice, and One Person Found this Helpful, and the four-part series Ian Smith is Stressed.
Smith is touring Foot Spa Half Empty around the UK in the first half of 2026, and will be returning to The Alma Tavern and Theatre on February 21.
The show explores his ongoing struggle to retain his Northern identity while living in London – with all its attendant stresses – as well as his “slow creep towards becoming middle-class”.
He also confronts the issue of fertility, by way of a range of esoteric relaxation methods from cryotherapy and cowhugging, to ‘competitive jigsawing’.
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Ian Smith: Foot Spa Half Empty is at The Alma Tavern and Theatre on February 21st at 7.30pm. Tickets are available via www.iansmithcomedian.co.uk. Follow @iansmithcomedy for updates.
All photos: Matt Stronge
Read next:
- Indian comedian returns to Bristol for ‘How to be a Baddie’ tour
- Amy Gledhill: finding the funny in ‘self-confidence, romance and bin bags’
- Ian Smith brings latest smash-hit comedy show to Bristol
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