John Tothill
English stand-up comedian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Tothill is an English stand-up comedian and actor. He was nominated for Best Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2025.
John Tothill | |
|---|---|
| Education | Clare College, Cambridge (BA) |
| Occupations | Comedian and actor |
Career
Tothill was formerly a primary school teacher in Southend-on-Sea and was a member of the Cambridge Footlights during his time studying music at Clare College, Cambridge.[1][2]
Tothill began stand-up comedy in November 2022 and made his Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut performing his one man stand-up comedy show The Last Living Libertine in August 2023 at the Pleasance Courtyard.[3][4] In order to fund the show Tothill took part in a drugs trial for an anti-malaria drug but having been injected with a strain of the disease, felt symptoms of the disease beyond the doctors' expectations.[3]
He returned to Edinburgh the following year with the show Thank God This Lasts Forever, however his run of performances was impeded by a burst appendix.[5] Waiting until his rest day to consult medical advice, his body went into intra-abdominal sepsis and had to ultimately cancel nine shows, but Tothill quipped "They cut through my stomach muscles so I couldn’t sit up. I couldn’t eat. But obviously it was less painful than what I’d been going through previously…Writing a standup show".[3]
His 2025 one-man show This Must Be Heaven was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award.[6] In 2025, he joined the cast of Channel 4 comedy series It Gets Worse, created by Leo Reich and produced by A24.[7][8]
Tothill appeared on Ian Hislop's team on Have I Got News for You for the Series 71, Episode 9 episode broadcast on BBC One on 29 May 2026. [9]