Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas opens Halstead Comedy Club

Inbetweeners and White Gold star, Joe Thomas, appeared at Halstead’s Empire Theatre last weekend.

Joe, who played Simon Cooper in the British TV show The Inbetweeners and Martin Lavender in comedy series, White Gold, is a regular on the stand-up circuit and opened up Halstead’s Comedy Club show last Friday.

Joining Joe during the evening were fellow comedians Angelos Epithemiou, Kevin Daniel and Ross McGrane.

Talented - Joe Thomas (Image: Rich Hardcastle)

Speaking to the Gazette, he said: "I’m from Chelmsford, so Halstead isn’t too far away and I’m very fond of Essex, so it seemed like a nice place to perform."

Throughout the show, Joe performed comedy material he will use in his upcoming appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe later this summer.

“It’s all about my life, being a dad, having a career – just relatable stuff," he said.

“I like comedy to be recognisable and relatable, and hopefully that’s what I can do."

Coming from the TV sets of White Gold, Fresh Meat, and The Inbetweeners, Joe found the change from cameras to live audiences ‘different’ but ‘important’.

He said: “It’s a very different kind of discipline, but I think it’s really important for people in television, especially comedy, to keep up with the live stuff.

Comedian - another image of Joe Thomas (Image: Rich Hardcastle)

“In television you don’t get any feedback on the day, which can be quite bewildering so it’s really, really nice to be in a live setting and be able to rely on your natural instincts,

“Performing live is where it all begins, it’s where your instincts are – comedy is a live medium at heart."

Having starred on the screens throughout many peoples’ teenage years, Joe still has lots of people recognise him from his shows.  

“I still get people come up quoting lines, particularly from ‘The Inbetweeners’," he said.

Comedy show - Joe Thomas, Slim, James Beatty, and Kevin Daniels (Image: Jo Collis)

“I think it’s because of that collective experience of adolescence, it never really changes – every generation goes through an almost identical copy of it,

“There’s people – older and younger than me- who feel that ‘The Inbetweeners’ is an accurate representation of their youth, and I think there’s something quite timeless about adolescence that the show taps into."

Having been born in Essex, Joe is ‘very fond’ of the county and said he ‘absolutely’ wants to perform in Colchester.

He said: “I like Colchester, I’ve spent a lot of time there.

"I used to go there quite a lot when I was younger, it’s a great city."

Joe’s career will continue to focus on live comedy.

He is set to perform an hour-long comedy show, ‘Joe Thomas Rule Breaker’, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.