Griff Rhys Jones is the Cat’s Pyjamas

Posted on 15th September 2025

There’s no denying the ease with which Griff Rhys Jones bounds on stage – despite his involvement in a catalogue of ground breaking TV comedy shows over the years, he has latterly seemed most at home chatting to a live audience. For me, it feels like life has come full circle. I first saw him when a student in “An Evening Without”. He was completely naked except for a (thankfully huge) necktie, demonstrating fearlessness which he’s clearly never lost.

We’ve all got a little older since then, something The Cat’s Pyjamas reflected on, likening the passing years to something a dog might gobble up ferociously, only to be puzzled when there was nothing left. Teasingly, he had a checklist of topics through the ages, but there was always going to be more anecdotes than time would allow, so we had to be content with tales of dog-eating crocodiles, fame in Finland and cameras being inserted where the sun doesn’t shine.

It was great fun that special attention was paid to the idiosyncrasies of Diss, not least the choice of acts appearing on other nights at the Corn Hall, and apart from a geographical slip up, corrected very loudly from the audience – “We’re in Norfolk” – he seemed to genuinely enjoy returning to the town. One of the funniest, and charming, moments came from him noticing there was someone under seventy in the audience. He immediately leapt off the stage and demanded a selfie – proof, we were assured, of his appeal to the younger generation. Self-deprecating to the last, Griff then asked the lad who made he come along (it was his mum).

Whether coerced or complicit, it’s fair to say anyone turning up to an evening with Griff Rhys Jones expecting a string of one line zingers might go home disappointed. This was a night more akin to a cosy chat with a witty chum, chuckling away at his own remembrances, be that sailing with his Dad, bunking off a christening to appear at Live Aid, or simply follow in the footsteps of Michael Portillo.