Tom Allen on the moment a homophobic crowd lit a fire within him: ‘Comedy is about being confidently vulnerable’
In this exclusive interview, The Comedy Award winner at this year's Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, talks about his first laugh, standup and his dreams of becoming an actor
By Aaron Sugg
From hosting The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice to The Apprentice: You’re Fired to guesting on countless panel shows, Tom Allen is rarely off our TV screens. Whether with a mischievous wink or delivered as an outright shocker, his slick brand of comedy is as sharp as his dress sense. Allen is a well deserving winner of the Comedy Award at the 2025 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, powered by Jaguar.
Aged 42, having risen to comedic grandeur from the suburbs of Bromley, Greater London, Allen tells me he was funny from a young age, recalling his first laugh. “It was at school. I read a Roald Dahl poem and I didn’t think I was doing anything particularly special, but I just sort of leant into it, and the audience really loved it.” But it was at secondary school that Allen’s talent came into its own. “They had a really great drama department, and they would do these cabarets once a year. So yeah, it was in front of the parents and the PTA, and they seemed to really laugh.”
Cross-armed and wearing a wry smile, Allen relates how he never felt like he fitted in at school. “Even in primary school, I felt like I didn’t fit in. I felt very self-conscious and excluded.” Through his creative side and inner comic, he found his place. “I think it allowed me to realise that being different could be something that got laughs.” Though this didn’t come without its drawbacks: “I wasn’t really bullied for being gay. I suppose I was bullied for being different, and I think people didn’t like that.”
“I think comedy is about finding a common ground with people” – Tom Allen on finding comedy from a young age as a means of fitting in
Through these experiences, Allen honed his comedy, treating his peers as an audience. Though he wasn’t the class clown, school became the learning process that sculpted Allen into the comic he is today. “I think comedy is about finding a common ground with people. And what I realised is, if you make people laugh, you can connect with them. That’s what I was always looking for, really. As I say, it’s always that search for people to play with you. People to meet you halfway.”
Among his inspirations, he lists Noel Coward and Victoria Wood, with Allen sharing a love of piano with the late comedian and musician. “I’m not a great piano player, by the way, but I like it,” he says.
It was through music that Allen found a safe space at school. “The music rooms were often a place where you’d meet other quirky, accepting people. I think it’s hard to be mean in the choir, for example; you can’t really be horrible.
“I suppose it was all about escapism and disassociation” – Allen no his love for music growing up, the music room becoming a safe space
“I suppose it was all about escapism and disassociation,” he says, before revealing that he is still in contact with friends he met in the school music room. “Brigitte Aphrodite. Lovely Bree, she’s still performing. Great name, isn’t it?”
Taking a sip from his coffee, Allen explains he also had dreams of acting. “I thought I wanted to be an actor, and then it turned out I was just gay.” We laugh. Leaving school at 18, Allen decided against going to university, instead becoming directly involved with the National Youth Theatre, although those aspirations fizzled out. “I was always frustrated by the lack of autonomy, and I liked the idea of writing things.” This led him to the stage via a different talent — comedy.
“I started doing stand-up in 2005,” he says modestly, recounting how he won the So You Think You’re Funny contest at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that same year. “Friends encouraged me to try stand-up. They said, ‘Keep going,’ and then I was encouraged to go into a competition. Which I won,” he says, pursing his lips before sharing an irresistible smirk.
“Sarcastic, dry, storytelling” – Allen sums up his comedy in three words
Asked how he would sum up his humour in just three words, Allen doesn’t hesitate: “Sarcastic, dry, storytelling. Or maybe sarcastic, camp, storytelling.”
Comedy hasn’t always been smooth sailing, and Allen remembers a particular fist-clenching moment. “I remember doing a gig in Birmingham, and I talked about not being good at PE at school. Somebody shouted something like, ‘Get off, you poof!’ and I was so crushed by it, so wounded.” He admits he didn’t have a response in his back pocket. “I was just so flattened by it. I walked off stage because I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I rushed back to the hotel and rushed to the train station to go back home and bought a bottle of champagne. I’ve still got it. I still retained a little bit of the showbiz about it.”
Looking back, Allen admits his comedy career began not with polish but with the simple power of being “different”. Over time, he’s realised that difference, when owned and celebrated, is his greatest strength. He now strives to return to that original, authentic style of performing. “When I started out, there was a certain honesty and rawness about it. I like nuance and subtlety. So, it’s been a journey back to that kind of innocent, wide-eyed, almost authentic self I had starting out. Not that I was never authentic, but it’s more freeing now, more vulnerable. Comedy, I think, is about being confidently vulnerable.”
This is an excerpt from a feature appearing in the 2025 Attitude Awards issue. To see the full feature, order your copy of the Attitude Awards 2025 issue now or read it alongside 15 years of back issues on the free Attitude app.