Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Award nominee, Ian Smith (Live at The Apollo, Have I Got News For You, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown) has extended the UK tour of his acclaimed show, Foot Spa Half Empty, an hour of shouting into the wind about everything he’s stressed about - big and small.
A working class Northerner struggling to adapt to his slow creep towards becoming middle-class, Ian is managing to find life more stressful than ever.
Then, when a fertility test brings back some genuinely stressful results, Ian has to contend with his own anxieties and the plethora of useless information he can find online. He realises he has to try harder than ever to do all the right things and relax, but of course he’s willing to try some of the weirder stuff too, like going to see a dodgy acupuncturist and ordering a fertility magic spell from Amazon.
Ian Smith is a multi-award-winning comedian and co-host of the Northern News podcast - as seen on Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News For You (BBC), 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4), The Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV) and Comedy Central Live. He is a regular on BBC Radio 4, appearing on The News Quiz, The Now Show, Just A Minute and The Unbelievable Truth. Last year, as well as guest-hosting The News Quiz, Ian had his own Radio 4 stand-up series, Ian Smith is Stressed.
Ian’s 2023 Edinburgh Fringe show Crushing was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award, a Chortle Award for Best Show, shortlisted for the (ISH) Edinburgh Comedy Award and was runner-up in Next Up's Biggest Award in Comedy. It was named as one of The Guardian’s Top 10 Comedy Shows of 2023, and one of British Comedy Guide’s Top 50 Shows of 2023 and ranked by them as among the Best Reviewed Edinburgh Fringe Shows of 2023. His sold-out run transferred to Soho Theatre, followed by a UK tour and run at New Zealand Comedy Festival in 2024.
In 2025, Foot Spa Half Empty was also nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award and long-listed for the (ISH) Edinburgh Comedy Award. It received a total of twenty reviews of four or five stars and was once again on the list of British Comedy Guide’s Best Reviewed Shows.
Ian’s previous Fringe shows have received critical acclaim, an Amused Moose Comedy Award, ThreeWeeks Editors’ Award and seen him invited to perform at the prestigious New Zealand, Adelaide, and Melbourne International comedy festivals. In 2015 he was also part of the hugely successful, multi-award-winning Fringe show, Richard Gadd: Waiting for Gaddot.
Tour Dates
NOVEMBER 2025
25th - 29th | LONDON - Soho Theatre
FEBRUARY 2026
13th | LEICESTER - Firebug
21st | BRISTOL- Alma Theatre
26th | OXFORD - Glee Comedy Club
27th | HULL - Social
MARCH 2026
7th | SOUTHAMPTON - Attic
12th | LEEDS - Wardrobe
MAY 2026
28th | CANTERBURY, Marlowe (On sale soon) NEW DATE
JUNE 2026
4th | GOOLE, Junction (On sale soon) NEW DATE
All info: http://www.iansmithcomedian.co.uk/
Picture Credit: Matt Stronge
