Seann Walsh brings 'This Is Torture' to Portsmouth

If you have a soft spot for a good old-fashioned rant, there is a date worth circling. Seann Walsh is bringing his brand-new stand-up show, 'This Is Torture', to the New Theatre Royal on Thursday 22 October, and it is the sort of night that is easy to leave to the last minute and then regret when the tickets have gone.

For anyone who has not caught him live, Walsh is best known for exactly what the title suggests: a fresh hour of high-energy exasperation and razor-sharp observation. He has built a career out of turning everyday frustrations into a bit of a spectacle, and 'This Is Torture' follows the sell-out 2023 tour 'Back From The Bed', so it is a genuine new show rather than a greatest hits set. It is the sort of comedy that works because it is so recognisable, and it is exactly why he has become one of the more reliable names on the UK circuit.

Beyond the stage, Walsh is everywhere these days. He co-hosts two popular podcasts, 'Oh My Dog!' with Jack Dee and 'What's Upset You Now?' with Paul McCaffrey, and his specials 'Back From The Bed', 'Kiss' and 'Seann Walsh is Dead, Happy Now?' have racked up over a million views between them. On television, he has appeared three times on 'Live at the Apollo' and has taken in 'The Wheel', '8 Out of 10 Cats', 'The Last Leg', 'The Stand Up Sketch Show', 'Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled', 'World's Most Dangerous Roads' and 'Battle in the Box'. He also spent a stint in the jungle in series 22 of 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!', and his chart-climbing 'Class Clown' looks at personal battles with rule-breakers. He has even dipped his toes into acting, with 'The Lovebox in your Living Room', 'Clown' and 'The Bystanders', the latter of which picked up Best Actor at the 2023 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival. In 2024 he made his Shakespearean debut as Malvolio in 'Twelfth Night' at Stafford Gatehouse before playing Yvan in a regional tour of 'ART'.

That range is part of the appeal, but the stand-up is where he is most at home, and 'This Is Torture' is the show that is touring the country this autumn and into next year. The Portsmouth date sits in the middle of a busy run, with the tour continuing to places like London's Hackney Empire, Milton Keynes, Bath and Plymouth later in October, and then stretching right through to early 2027, taking in Salisbury, Newport on the Isle of Wight, Guildford, Canterbury and beyond. It is a long tour, which is good news if you miss the Portsmouth show and are happy to travel, but the New Theatre Royal is the easiest place to catch it if you are based here.

Tickets are available through the New Theatre Royal, Ents24, Ticketmaster UK and LiveNation, so there are plenty of ways to grab them. The venue is at 20-24 Guildhall Walk, PO1 2DD, right in the middle of town, which makes it an easy one to fold into an evening without much planning. It is a straightforward night out: a fresh hour of comedy from someone who is genuinely good at it, at a theatre that is easy to get to. If you fancy a night of high-energy exasperation, this is the one to book.