Is There Anything Alexander Armstrong Can't Do?

Sketch shows, singing, TV presenting, the radio... is there anything Alexander Armstrong can’t do?

- Jeremy Blackmore

After 25 years in the entertainment business, Alexander Armstrong is still trying to make sense of his career. It’s been a varied one. Since being a chorister in his childhood, he has been a sketch performer, actor, gameshow host, recording artist and voiceover artist.

Now, true to form as he enters his 50th year, he is adding another string to his bow, setting off on the road with a one-man show and all his usual breathless enthusiasm for a new venture.

His first ever stand-up tour, All Mouth and Some Trousers, takes in 18 venues across the country – including King’s Lynn Corn Exchange – and reflects on the strange things he has said yes to over the years.

“As I approach my 50th year, it’s me trying to discover what the trousers are! Where are the trousers in this deal?

“Because it has been a lot of mouth from me. But where’s the grit, where’s the actual story; where am I, what do I do? That’s really where I find myself in my 50th year. I find myself looking around trying to find my purpose, trying to find what the meaning is to all the things I’ve done so far!”

Indeed, his career has taken a number of unexpected twists and turns from the surrealism of Armstrong & Miller to his role as the genial host of the hugely popular Pointless, from Classic FM to Peppa Pig. It’s no surprise that his fan base ranges from preschoolers to pensioners.

“It’s the bit in the middle, I’m not sure of!” he laughs.

A trained classical baritone, music was his first passion and he attended Trinity College, Cambridge on a music scholarship, before moving to London to pursue a career in acting and comedy. A fortuitous meeting with Ben Miller saw the pair forge a lasting and fondly remembered comedy partnership.