FOLLOWING a sell-out UK tour of his 2018 live show Back To The Studio, the frustrated news reporter Jonathan Pie is back - with The Fake News Tour, which will stop off at Wycombe Swan on November 7.

Here, Tom Walker, the creator and actor responsible for Jonathan Pie, discusses Pie’s 2018 highlights, the upcoming year and a glimpse of what audiences across the UK can expect from The Fake News Tour…

What can audiences expect? With such a rapidly changing political climate, do you have to keep re-writing the show while out on the road to keep the material fresh?

They can expect first and foremost to have a laugh. Probably at Pie’s expense. Pie’s first live show back in 2016 was a nightmare. It was all about David Cameron and George Osborne. Brexit was a foregone conclusion and Trump was still just a joke candidate.

By the end of that run we’d voted leave, Cameron and Osborne were gone and Trump had won The White House. From the first show in the tour to the last show of the tour we rewrote probably 60 per cent of the show. I almost had a nervous breakdown.

Do you ever have trouble working out what Pie would think about a certain subject?

Ultimately, Pie is a character so I can make him say or think anything I want. He can be right. He can be wrong. He can be articulate, and he can be crass. He can agree with a pro-remain argument one week and agree with a pro-leave argument the next. Which means Pie has the unique ability of annoying absolutely everybody. But he’s a complex character politically. He’s left wing but is often found to be berating the excesses of the liberal elite. He hates Trump but understands his supporters’ reasons for voting the way they did.

Your online videos regularly spark a lot of debate and discussion across social media. Had that always been part of your intention when creating the character?

Pie is all about debate, but I have never courted controversy. Not for one moment. Unfortunately debate and Twitter are rarely easy bedfellows. No one could ever really be prepared for how vicious social media can be and Pie is on the receiving end of a lot of abuse by virtue of the fact that not everyone is going to agree with everything. Twitter is a cesspool of ad-hominem attacks and bullying if you dare to say anything that challenges the prescribed liberal view. So, I do find myself being more cautious these days on social media. Which is why in the live shows I can really let loose!

You took your last show overseas, performing in the US, Australia. How did Pie’s satirical approach to politics translate overseas?

They loved it, it was interesting, the US and Oz audiences are far less easily offended and much more open to having their opinions challenged. It was my first ever visit to New York and there I was doing a gig! And Washington is amazing!

Will you be taking this new tour around the world again? Do you enjoy brushing up on and tackling the politics of other countries for those international audiences?

I had to rewrite the show quite extensively for Australia and then again for America. But it’s the little details that are the toughest challenge. Who is their equivalent of Fiona Bruce? What’s their equivalent of the Daily Mail. I had a real nightmare rewriting a joke where the punchline was “A cheese and onion pasty from Greggs”. That took forever to get that one right.

Do people ever struggle to recognise Jonathan Pie as a character? Do people ever try and provoke a political debate with you when you’re out and about?

Most sensible people can tell the difference between a satirical character and an actual human being. But of course, the lines are blurred. Let’s be honest, we look and sound the same. So, it’s cool. The main difference between me and Pie is that I am not a politico. If I’m down the pub the last thing I want to talk about is Brexit or the importance of free speech. That’s the day job.

What else does 2019 have in store for Tom Walker and Jonathan Pie?

Well, Brexit appears to be actually happening, so I’m hoping to do something significant about that. Fingers crossed. I want this third live show to be the best yet, so no time like the present to start testing some new material.

Tickets available at www.wycombeswan.co.uk or call 01494 512 000.