The largest celebration of gender diversity in the UK will be returning to Manchester this weekend with plenty of live music, workshops and festivities.
17.06.2023 - 17:15 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
He may be living the high life in central London - but Failsworth-born comic Josh Jones is itching to move back to to where it all began.
You may have seen his face on TV screens, having recently appeared on the likes of The Jonathan Ross Show, 8 out of 10 Cats and Celebibility. None of this has been sudden he says, but rather eight years in the making.
Openly gay comedian Josh, 30, who only decided to give stand-up a go as a punt when studying at Salford University, is now relishing his hard-earned success and gearing up to embark on a huge UK tour where audiences can expect, in his own words, 'a daft Manc kn****** having a laugh'.
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His 'gutter mouth' and 'crude' jokes about gay sex may have frightened off a load of middle-aged blokes in working men's clubs when he cut his teeth years ago - but the tough crowds certainly taught him the ropes.
It was never a future he had imagined for himself, but a few amateur stand-up shows while studying and some advice from a guest lecturer soon changed his mind.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, he said: "A load of my mates were doing stand up and I was the last to do it. No-one has ever taken me seriously.
"I remember it was really nerve-racking and being dead nervous when you first start out. You do gong shows, like the one at the Frog and Bucket, where you've got five minutes, but the audience have cards and if they don't like you, you get 'frogged off' and that's quite brutal, really.
"I did a gig for farmers in Yorkshire and as soon as I walked on, this old bloke said 'not for me' and picked up his chair and turned around. All I'd said was 'hello'.
"I started in working men's clubs and rugby clubs and stuff, it was a
The largest celebration of gender diversity in the UK will be returning to Manchester this weekend with plenty of live music, workshops and festivities.
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