COMEDIAN and star of ‘Mock the Week’, Milton Jones, will be performing stand-up at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre next month.

Milton will be stopping off in Aberystwyth during an 88-date tour of ‘The Lion Whisperer’, which he says will differ from show to show.

“There is no logical theme, it’s just stupid from beginning to end,” he said.

“There is no big idea behind it, it’s just lots of jokes. I have a skeleton, but I interact with the audience, it has a bit of a panto theme.”

Milton has been performing stand-up for 20 years and is widely recognised for his appearances on ‘Mock the Week’ wearing his loud and wacky shirts, whilst rolling out one-liners.

I asked Milton about the art of writing one-liners, and what makes a joke work.
“I think it is about painting a picture in peoples heads,” he said. “It is a verbal or visual joke in someone's head, it goes one way then quickly goes the other. It’s like a mini imagination hand grenade.”

The winner of Chortle Awards ‘Best headliner’ in 2011 believes that variety is the key – and having performed on radio, television and stand-up he says that that live stand-up is an absolute must for comedians.

“The most dangerous thing is live work, but live stand-up is a necessity . There are new material nights in London, some of it hits and some of it misses.”

Milton added that the key to getting a show together is trial and error, and he admitted that he sometimes makes his family wait until they have heard his jokes before they can eat dinner in the evening.

Milton feels he has a connection to Wales, being that his father is from Swansea, and is excited by the prospect of performing at Aberystwyth where he said the audiences have a reputation of being good. “I even feel I can do the accent quite well,” he added.

If you would like tickets to see Milton Jones on Sunday, March 13, at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre then you can call 01970 623232 or go on-line www.aber.ac.uk/artscentre.

Tickets are £15, or £13 for concessions.