While filming in London during 2021, comedian and actor Miles Jupp suffered a brain seizure. ‘I suddenly felt really strange and had a light flashing in my eye that just wouldn’t go away,’ he remembers. ‘Very quickly, I knew that something was really wrong. And then, suddenly, there was an explosion in my vision.’ Thankfully, Jupp was surrounded by diligent crew members who had first aid training. Within a few hours he was in hospital, and days later he had brain surgery to remove a benign tumour. ‘It was a pretty intense, surprising experience,’ he explains. ‘Obviously, you feel very lucky and you feel very frightened, and all these things. And suddenly you’re in the eye of the storm. It was a terrifying time but also fascinating and, at times, really, really uplifting. And overwhelming. I mean, if an experience like that doesn't make you stop and think then I’m really not sure what would.’

Jupp spent the following six weeks ‘sort of padding gently around the house and walking the children to school’. Keen to get on with his life, he chose to return to TV on Frankie Boyle’s New World Order. ‘It was quite useful to be back working, from a confidence point of view. And I was also thinking “can I still do that thing that I was doing before?” I told Frankie about it but otherwise I just quietly got on with it. The hair had grown back over the scar and I could appear relatively normal . . . and then I would come home and be flat out for two days.’

His recovery continued, and he enjoyed doing simple things that he’d previously taken for granted: riding a bike, driving a car, performing stand-up comedy in front of 3000 people at the Apollo. ‘That was a wildly intense experience,’ he remembers. ‘But again, it’s good for the confidence to get it under your belt.’ This life-changing event forms the backbone of On I Bang, Jupp’s first stand-up tour since 2017. ‘The shows that have a proper narrative are a bit more satisfying to perform, so I’ve enjoyed this. And I get excited by going to places where you have literally no connection, and people there want to buy a ticket and come see you in the theatre: I always think that’s sort of awesome.’

After four years hosting Radio 4’s The News Quiz, Jupp stepped down in 2019. ‘Once Jeremy Hardy died, it felt very different. Every now and then you’d have a difficult recording and you’d think “I’ll tell you who would sort this out, who would be able to make this funny?” But he’s not here any more. I also just felt that I wanted to go and do other other things. I tried to withdraw as graciously as possible because it was a great job and a really nice thing to be asked to do.’ Although he doesn’t miss chairing the show, he says he pines for the time he spent in the writers’ room. ‘I do love collaborative stuff, and that’s why I like being in a team. That’s the thing that’s not quite there with stand-up. I love that feeling of being part of a company.’

It’s not all about the comedy though: Jupp’s IMDb page is a thing to behold, with notable roles in everything from Balamory to Napoleon. ‘If you’d told me while I was lying in hospital that I’d be wandering around gently on a horse at the whim of Ridley Scott, I’d have been absolutely delighted.’ While he evidently enjoys acting, it’s the creative endeavour of writing and performing comedy that really drives him. ‘You walk out in the theatre, the audience is there, and then you get to the end of the show and think “I’ve created this thing, and we as a room of people have gone on this journey together”. I find that really exciting and satisfying.’

Miles Jupp: On I Bang tours until Sunday 30 June.