Comedy icon announces Aussie tour, with a confession: ‘I didn’t want to do stand-up’

British comedian Ben Elton is one of the most lauded names in the genre. He’s heading to Australia for a run of shows. But first, he has a confession.

Cult favourite Ben Elton will tour Australia in 2025.

Confidential can reveal the British comedian will kick off his run of Authentic Stupidity shows of all-new content in Perth on March 13, with Sydney’s City Recital Hall booked for the 21st of that month.

“I can honestly say I feel more comfortable as a stand up than I have ever felt, but that isn’t necessarily saying much, because I didn’t used to feel very comfortable as a stand up at all,” Elton told Confidential.

“I never had any intention of being a stand up, I didn’t plan it, it wasn’t my goal.

“I wanted to be a playwright.

Ben Elton will tour Australia in 2025.

“I hadn’t even thought of novels, but that wouldn’t have seemed a stretch to me as a kid in terms of ambition, because I knew I wanted to write.

“But if somebody said I was going to be a stand-up comic for life, playing big halls, I would have been astonished.”

The late Rik Mayal and comedian Ben Elton in 1996.

British comedian Ben Elton.

It is a remarkable statement from one many would consider a great of comedy, not just in the UK but around the world, and who was a writer for iconic sitcoms like Blackadder and The Young Ones.

Elton, who is married to Australian Sophie Gare and splits his time between the UK and Perth, last toured here in 2021. This run of shows will also take in dates in Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Thirroul, Newcastle, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Ben Elton, actor Robert De Niro, and members of the band Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor at the Dominion in 2002 to launch the musical 'We Will Rock You'.

“I did it (stand-up) to get my material before the public. I did it to earn a living. I was on the dole and for the first five years I was a comic, I intended to drop it the minute I had some sort of financial security. But by the time I could have said, I honestly don’t need it, I don’t need it to advertise my wares and I don’t need it to make a living, by that time I was kind of hooked but I still didn’t enjoy it. I still found it tense and difficult, but that’s gone now. I feel very grateful to be on tour, but I know I’m doing it better.”

Originally published as Comedy icon announces Aussie tour, with a confession: ‘I didn’t want to do stand-up’