{"id":611960,"date":"2026-09-02T06:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T06:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/611960\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T06:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T06:16:09","slug":"ok-fine-im-a-national-treasure-joe-lycett-on-fatherhood-celebrity-traitors-and-his-tv-show-live-from-a-pub-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/611960\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018OK, fine. I\u2019m a national treasure\u2019: Joe Lycett on fatherhood, Celebrity Traitors \u2013 and his TV show live from a pub | Television"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe Lycett sits in a pub, an untouched pint in front of him. \u201cSince I had my son, I\u2019m not drinking anywhere near as much,\u201d he laments. \u201cChildren do not respect hangovers, or tiredness in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

His son is almost two, and Lycett has readjusted his life accordingly. \u201cI\u2019ve started going to bed when he does, which is about seven o\u2019clock,\u201d he explains. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a few nights where I\u2019ve just gone: \u2018Right, well, that\u2019s me, then.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

However, this is all set to come to an end thanks to the comic\u2019s new television programme, Live from the Lycett Arms, which will not only be broadcast live three hours after his new bedtime, but absolutely surround him with alcohol. The Lycett Arms is a continuation of what began with his previous live Friday night show, Late Night Lycett<\/a>, only with a more ambitious premise. This time, Lycett will host while simultaneously operating a working pub. It sounds as if it has been specifically constructed to maximise impromptu chaos \u2013 more on that in a bit \u2013 but for now Lycett has a pair of larger anxieties to deal with.<\/p>\n

The first is that, even though we\u2019re meeting just a couple of weeks before the first episode, the pub isn\u2019t ready. \u201cIt\u2019s not fully constructed yet, so I\u2019ve been to where it will be,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be in fashionable east London, and that\u2019s everything I can say about it, because I don\u2019t actually know the full address.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lycett: \u2018If it isn\u2019t fun, there\u2019s no point in doing it.\u2019 Photograph: Alicia Canter\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, he promises that the finished building will be \u201cidentifiably a pub. There\u2019ll be an outdoor area and a cellar. There\u2019s a bar. There\u2019s a kind of back room. There\u2019s a saloon bar. There\u2019s a pool table. There\u2019s darts. There\u2019s karaoke. It should be really fun. That\u2019s the goal. If it isn\u2019t fun, there\u2019s no point in doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A bigger issue, though, is that, since the Lycett Arms will be a real pub, Lycett will be its licensed operator. This is a role that comes with a legal requirement: he needs to pass a mandatory exam to be accredited with a Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders. It is an accreditation he does not yet hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took the exam but I failed,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t do any work, so that is a problem. I needed about 70% to pass, and I got something like 38%. I tried to use common sense, and I don\u2019t have a lot of it apparently.\u201d<\/p>\n

double quotation markI\u2019m amazed they commissioned this show because nobody\u2019s commissioning anything. TV is in freefall \u2013 I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve heard<\/p>\n

Eager to help him out a little, I ask if he knows the four primary licensing objectives, as per section four of the Licensing Act 2003. The blood briefly drains from Lycett\u2019s face. \u201cSafe \u2026 safety \u2026 safe drinking environment to create \u2026 happy places, for people \u2026 to dwell?\u201d he yammers.<\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t what\u2019s written on the test. The answer is: \u201cPrevention of crime and disorder. Public safety. Protection of children from harm. Prevention of public nuisance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s what I said, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

No, not really.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I think I paraphrased that. And I think that\u2019s their problem that I didn\u2019t get the licence because I did essentially paraphrase it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

After strenuously assuring me that the show will go on, with a stand-in licensee if he continues to perform as disastrously as this, Lycett starts telling me how excited he is for people to see the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it\u2019s my pub,\u201d he says. \u201cBut from week one, there will be a celebrity manager who\u2019s doing a trial shift. My aunties are going to be working the bar. There will be a weekly quiz and rotating regulars. I\u2019m well up for weird and wonderful celebrities to just turn up, drink a pint and leave. I just want it to be constantly surprising and silly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tailor made \u2026 Lycett getting involved as a host of The Great British Sewing Bee. Photograph: Mark Bourdillon\/Love Productions<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also exciting that he gets to be the face of live, late-night television, I tell him. It\u2019s a dying breed of show. \u201cI\u2019m kind of amazed they\u2019ve commissioned it, because nobody\u2019s commissioning anything at the moment,\u201d he replies. \u201cTV is in freefall \u2013 I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

So in essence, running a pub could be a fallback career if the TV work ever dries up? \u201cI mean, hospitality is in freefall as well,\u201d he points out, not unreasonably. \u201cLike most industries, it\u2019s all just sort of fucked, isn\u2019t it? Should I join the Guardian? Is that doing well?\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the thought of turning the Lycett Arms into a permanent nightspot is something that appeals to him. After all, if Jeremy Clarkson has proved anything<\/a>, it\u2019s that tourists love nothing more than a pub with a celebrity landlord.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think lots of people feel like they could open up a pub or restaurant or whatever, and obviously it\u2019s really hard,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I do like the idea of it. I think it\u2019s the cachet of being, like, \u2018Let\u2019s go and have a lock-in at mine.\u2019 When the reality must be doing invoices and working out VAT.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a big year for Lycett. As well as Live from the Lycett Arms, he is returning to standup after stepping aside for a couple of years. This is something he is palpably excited about. \u201cI\u2019m touring next year, but since last October I\u2019ve been trying to do one gig a week,\u201d he says. \u201cIt took me a good few months to feel even close to like I knew what I was doing. I still don\u2019t feel like I know what I\u2019m doing. But I\u2019m really enjoying being on stage, and I\u2019m not panicked about it in the way I was when I had just come back from paternity leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since his last tour, Lycett has become more recognisable and beloved in a way that nudges him towards national treasure status.<\/p>\n

\u201cI dispute that,\u201d he growls.<\/p>\n

Please agree for the sake of my question, I beg.<\/p>\n

\u201cFine, OK, I\u2019m a national treasure, yes,\u201d he says, rolling his eyes.<\/p>\n

Lycett: \u2018I want to stand up for things more than I used to.\u2019 Photograph: Alicia Canter\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Because people pay more attention to him now than when he last toured, does he feel a greater weight of responsibility for the topics he covers? \u201cNo,\u201d he says. \u201cIf I started to change who I am on stage to fit what I think people want of me, I\u2019d go mad. When you get reviewed, and the reviewer doesn\u2019t like what you do, there\u2019s this temptation to write the sort of show that the reviewer would like. But there are only about 10 comedy reviewers left in the whole country, and it wouldn\u2019t be good to write something just so that 10 white men will like me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the thing that has changed what I do most is being a father,\u201d he continues. \u201cI feel more risk averse, but I also want to stand up for things more than I used to. It\u2019s like this weird tussle between not wanting to annoy the wrong people because I just want a calmer life, and also really wanting to annoy those people a lot more. But then a big part of this new show is also about swimming, so if you\u2019re into swimming-based material, you\u2019ll love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lycett will take part in The Celebrity Traitors later this year, which will almost certainly be 2026\u2019s biggest show. He is sworn to such secrecy that he practically ties himself in a knot trying to give the blandest non-answers imaginable. \u201cThe production team were very nice, as was Claudia Winkleman. I can\u2019t say anything about the other players, so I can\u2019t say whether they\u2019re nice or not,\u201d he offers apologetically.<\/p>\n

But before that airs, Lycett has six episodes of Live from the Lycett Arms to deliver. As I leave, he is taking notes on the decor of the pub we are in, particularly the quality of the bar itself. \u201cApparently it\u2019s been treated with Danish oil,\u201d he says approvingly. \u201cThat might be a future requirement for any pub I go into. The bar must have been treated with Danish oil.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Lycett sits in a pub, an untouched pint in front of him. \u201cSince I had my son,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-611960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}