During the 12 Days of Christmas, Miranda and Nat Luurtsema and I took part in a 12 Days of Christmas Tarot project to receive divinely inspired glimpses of the year ahead. Each day you draw a Tarot card and that card shows you what the corresponding month of the year will be like for you in 2025. I commenced each of my readings by chanting a mantra in a magical (ie. high-pitched) voice while shuffling the cards. The mantra went “Oh Tarot Cards, I invoke the powers of the 12 Days of Christmas on this, the first day of Christmas, to show me a vision of January,” and so on for each day/month. I believe Nat and Miranda did not do this, so it’s not essential, but I think it does help.

So far, my 2025 has been playing out eerily closely to the cards’ predictions, to the extent that I now wonder if I am some sort of conduit for a force beyond our reckoning, but that’s another story for another time. Just as the cards predicted, January did indeed see me embarking on a series of journeys which have tangible financial reward as their intended outcome.

“But Joz,” I hear you cry, “that sounds incredibly vague. Couldn’t nearly anything we do professionally be categorised as a journey whose intended outcome is tangible financial reward? Wouldn’t it be quite difficult for a month to go by where you didn’t do that? Sounds to me like Tarot cards are really a form of neuro-linguistic programming best used as a therapy tool for journalling and the like.” Hey shut up, I’m talking about magic here!

Now February is upon us, and it’s time for the card I drew on the second day of Christmas – THE HANGED MAN.

The Hanged Man is a card of transition and change.

“Aren’t they all that though?”

Well yes, in a way, but this one is specifically about in-betweens, about finding the gap for reflection as something changes from one form to another. It’s about looking at something from a fresh perspective as that thing changes shape around you. What does that sound like to you?

“I don’t know. Literally anything I guess?”

Wrong. It sounds exactly like putting on a work-in-progress comedy show. When us comedians put on work-in-progress comedy shows, we then look at them from a fresh perspective and we might then make changes to the show, enabling it to transition from one form to another.

“Yeah, but you could also say this about making a bolognese, in the bit where it has to simmer for a while.”

Oh right, yeah of course, because I always look at my bolognese from a fresh perspective during that bit. What are you on about?

“Ok, maybe it’s not a perfect example.”

No it’s not, but a month full of work-in-progress comedy shows sure is. And, just as the cards predicted, that’s exactly what February is shaping up to be.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, a lot of my creative efforts this year are once again revolving around the Fringe, not just because I’m returning there with my own solo show, but because I’m collaborating with several other brilliant comedians and artists on their shows too. Eerily, as the spirits foretold, all of those shows are putting on WIPs in February. I thought I’d do a quick rundown of what they all are and where you can see them!

THE FOURTH HOTLY ANTICIPATED DEBUT SHOW FROM RISING STAR ANDY BARR. My fellow Weirdos alumnus Andy Barr has long been an incredibly distinctive and original comic, having crafted three esoteric, strange and brilliant narrative character comedy shows. His fourth show is also his first autobiographical stand-up show, and I’m so excited to see him exploring this new ground because he’s always had such a strong and creative voice as a stand-up. The show was supposed to be about grief but isn’t any more because that’s all sorted now, so now it’s about narcissism, nihilism and hope. It’s on at the Pen Theatre, London on the 7th of Feb and the Phoenix, Leicester on the 15th of Feb for Leicester Comedy Festival.

ROSALIE MINNITT – CLEMENTINE 3. Rosalie is presenting the first outing of the sequel to her Regency smash hit Clementine at the Pleasance, London on the 8th of Feb. Those who saw Clementine know what kind of chaos to expect, and I’ve been helping her put together ideas for the followup, which promises additional pickpockets and revolutionaries and may end up being a 19th century underdog sports movie for ladies of leisure. I think Rosalie is eyeing Fringe 2026 as the eventual launch for this show, and I’m really enjoying helping her to build it.

TARA BOLAND IS DUSTY CREASES – JUST DANCE. I’ve been directing this show, which is a dance masterclass from an insane choreographer who is unable to stop moving. It’s at the Rosemary Branch Theatre, London on the 12th of Feb. I’m loving working on it, Tara is a phenomenal performer and Dusty is an absolutely ludicrous character, and our rehearsals for this have made me laugh like a drain.

EDY HURST’S WONDERFULL DISCOVERIE OF WITCHES IN THE COUNTIE OF HIMSELF. A bit of a cheat, this, as this is not a work-in-progress show, but it is a show I’m very proud of. I worked with Edy on this from 2023 into ‘24, and it launched with an amazing run at the Lowry in Salford back in October. Since then it’s gone onto a national tour, and it comes to Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester on the 13th of Feb for Leicester Comedy Festival. It’s the story of one man’s journey of self-discovery into the world of the Lancashire witch trials and the Vengaboys.

LULU POPPLEWELL – LOVE LOVE. I did a bit of work on Lulu’s debut show in 2023, Actually Actually, which was about her experience of starring in Love Actually as a child. I enjoyed working with her so much that I’m directing her followup, Love Love, which is about dating and true love, and how to know what that is when you’ve learned not to trust your thoughts. We were originally playing with themes of chronic illness in the show, but Lulu recently landed on the “true love” concept and has been amazing at writing new stories and reworking the show around that new focus. I think it’s something that will really speak to a lot of people, and it’s on at Tonne, Leicester on the 21st of February for Leicester Comedy Festival.

CAMERON SINCLAIR HARRIS – PLANETS!!! As you might be able to tell, this is too many shows for me to realistically be fully on top of, so not all of these are shows I’m attached to as a director. I’ve only been able to do one creative session with Cameron on their show, but I really wanted to have some input into it as I really love what it’s exploring. It’s a character comedy/cabaret show about the cosmos, the planets and the wonder and fear that underpins our desire to explore them. It’s on at Soho Theatre on the 21st of Feb.

THE MAYOR AND HIS DAUGHTER – A GENUINE APPRECIATION OF COMEDY. And finally, I’m directing the debut show from cursed sketch double act the Mayor and his Daughter (Ciaran Chillingworth and Kit Finnie). I’ve admired their output for years, and was so happy when they asked me to direct this last summer, I jumped at the chance. A Genuine Appreciation Of Comedy is a cursed character comedy show about the corrupted soul of a village in pain, and the power of comedy to save the independent local Caffe Nero. It features a real Demon, honest, and is easily the weirdest show I’m working on this year. It’s on at the Guildhall, Leicester, on the 22nd of Feb for Leicester Comedy Festival.

JOZ NORRIS – YOU WAIT. TIME PASSES. Oh, and this show is good, actually, if you like this kind of thing. It’s about closure and hope and achievement and moving on, and about what to do with your life once you’ve done what you were put on this earth to do (which I recently have done, you’ll have to see the show to find out what it was). It’s on at the Bill Murray, London on the 11th of Feb, and Duffy’s, Leicester, on the 23rd of Feb for Leicester Comedy Festival.

A Cool New Thing In Comedy – I’m excited to announce I’m teaming up with Queenie Miller Productions for the Edinburgh run of You Wait. Time Passes. I’ve not gone to Edinburgh with a producer in over ten years, but I’m a tired old man now and will need the energy and nous of a good producer to help me get out of bed in the morning. Queenie is already great to work with, and I’m excited by what we’ll be building together this year!

What’s Made Me Laugh The Most – There’s a dance routine to “Air On The G String” in Tara’s aforementioned show which I cannot watch without collapsing into laughter. During one run I said “This is my favourite bit” before she did it and she said “I know it is,” so I worry I’ve shown it too much love if anything, but it is really, really good.

Book Of The Week – I’ve just started reading Waging Heavy Peace, Neil Young’s autobiography. I’m not far into it and it’s already mad – it’s essentially the stream-of-consciousness ramble of an old man who is enjoying playing with his train set but trying to force himself to get several start-up businesses off the ground, one about coming up with an alternative format to MP3 that preserves sound quality, the other about building a big car that runs on renewable fuel, and in between all of this he occasionally reminisces about what David Crosby and Crazy Horse were like. I absolutely love it, the guy’s insane.

Album Of The Week – Victory For The Comic Muse by the Divine Comedy. I don’t know why I’ve always skipped over this Divine Comedy album, it’s the only one I’ve not heard apart from their debut, which apparently is shit and has been deleted from existence. But this one’s really good! There’s a really lovely song about a glamourous old lady that has some nice accordion on it.

Film Of The Week – The Brutalist. I enjoyed this, but it’s one of those films you never need to watch again, because it’s four hours long. It’s much, much better than Killers Of The Flower Moon, the last 4-hour film I saw, but it could still be improved by just asking the actors to talk a bit faster, and maybe making some of the long, static shots of landscapes a few seconds shorter each. You’d probably get half an hour back that way. Anyway, it’s alright, if you like that kind of thing. I liked it when he built that library, and I liked his beard when he became a coal miner.

That’s all for this week! As ever, let me know what you thought, and if you enjoy the newsletter enough to send it to a friend or encourage others to subscribe, I’d hugely appreciate it. Catch you all next time,

Joz xx

PS If you value the Therapy Tapes and enjoy what they do, and want to support my work and enable me to keep writing and creating, you can make a one-off donation to my Ko-Fi account, and it’s very gratefully appreciated.

PPS Met this guy in Stratford the other day while recording a podcast and absolutely love him:

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