London run

I've just finished the London run of my show John Peel's Shed at Jackson's Lane. It's a lovely theatre, great space and near the bus stop too. Have had so much fun performing in front of audiences enthusiastic about radio and music. I've packed my record player away for a few weeks and then it will be going on tour in the new year. Check here for tour details.


There was a lovely review the other day in the Tottenham and Wood Green Journal:

"Listening to an enthusiast banging on about their obsession generally goes one of two ways. You either get caught up and whisked along in their passionate diatribes or, more often than not, bored to tears as they roll out factoid after indescribably dull factoid.

Thanks heavens that John Osborne - despite geeky first impressions - has nailed the art of storytelling.

Revealing himself to be the lucky recipient of a box of improbably obscure vinyl from the legendary DJ’s garden shed, Osborne delivers a fluid and enjoyable meditation on the oft-overlooked joys of radio.

As we join him on his eight-year journey to listen to every track on every record in that box (“full of people’s hopes and dreams,” he says, from Walter Ghoul’s Lavender Brigade to Boyzone punk covers band Oizone), Osborne dissects what it is that keeps us locked on the wireless even now.

With a warm, affable and disarming delivery and tales from his own part-time jobs hell, he tells us how radio saves us from the everyday; from the cookie-cutter Radio 1 shows that lift the masses from dead-end drudgery, to the graveyard-shift DJs in Norwich sweating over playlists heard by only three listeners and a dog.

As an argument for a medium that simultaneously unites millions and is as comforting and personal as your favourite winter jumper, it’s devastating.

His enthusiasm is infectious, his observations clear-headed and his quips are smart and funny.

It’s little wonder his run at the Edinburgh Festival sold out. This is a rare show that restores your faith in humanity."



Other quotes:

“Shy and awkward but with a keen eye for a killer line and the significance of the trivia of daily life, Osborne sits somewhere between Tom Wrigglesworth and Daniel Kitson, which a very good place to sit. I could have listened for hours” – ★★★★★ The Independent

"A complete pleasure. All radio nerds need to see it but non nerds will also love it." Greg James, Radio 1.

“Beautifully-written, funny and poignant… Just as John Peel’s records changed his life this lovely, simple, beautifully executed show has enriched ours” –★★★★★ The Scotsman.

"A wonderful show and a great way to remember John Peel. I bloody loved it" - Josie Long.

“One of the Top Ten Theatre Highlights of the Edinburgh Festival… Funny, perceptive and charming” – ★★★★ The Telegraph

“One of the loveliest things you’ll see all year” – ★★★★ The Herald

“Genius… A comic highlight” – The Guardian

"The book is ace, the one man show is special" - Huw Stephens, Radio 1.

“I heartily recommend John Peel’s Shed. It is a gentle tale of one man’s passion for obscure music and the radio which has been compared to the work of Daniel Kitson” – Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard.

“John Osborne captures the intimacy of the medium, the startling human connections and priceless stories. Its an uplifting if occasionally twee story that makes a classic, nostalgic fringe piece” – Total Theatre.

★★★★★ Fringe Biscuit
★★★★ The Latest
★★★★ Sunday Express
★★★★ Edinburgh Evening News
★★★★ Exeunt Magazine
★★★★ What’s On Stage
★★★★ Fest Magazine
★★★★ AllTheFestivals.Com