The Two Whitehall’s

What do you get when you cross a world-famous comedian, his 84 year-old dad, and a trip down to NZ? A barrel-full-of-laughs, that’s what! It’s safe to say that Jack and Michael Whitehall—this dynamic duo—are the UK’s funniest men. Period. Full-stop. No questions asked. 

Jack, with his sweet, butter-wouldn’t-melt laddy charm and tongue-in-cheek jabs is a refreshing difference in tone, I guess, to his tightly-wound matriarch-father, Michael—his character completely polar-opposite…cynical, dead-pan, grumpy. 

Jack Whitehall has had practice, I guess, having been on the entertainment circuit since age 17. He knows what buttons to press. The man’s shared stages with enormously talented people and has used his natural talents on TV and in film, over the years, what with the role of JP in Channel 4 comedy-drama, Fresh Meat, or in BBC’s Decline and Fall, or as Newton Pulsifer in Amazon Prime’s Good Omens, to name a few. He’s also sold-out arenas for his comedy tours and is positioned as one of the funniest people in the world.

When watching Michael and Jack onscreen in their hugely popular Netflix series, Travels With My Father (or their recent Fatherhood With My Father), the wit works, and the repartee. Jack is obviously hilarious and Michael, oh Michael, is just…Michael. Naturally funny, and good-hearted at the core, but with a bit of a tough exterior. His monotone drawl is distinctive, like Kathleen Turner dragging from a cigarette. 

Over the years, Jack and Michael Whitehall have become house-hold names with their hilarious adventures together. Forget The Two Ronnies—here we have The Two Whitehall’s. Since their 2017 break-through Netflix series, Travels With My Father, that saw Michael and Jack embark to foreign lands, with the hope to build their relationship with each other, they have taken the world by storm in popularity. 

This year, both Michael and Jack decided to take a step in the other direction with yet another Netflix series. Embarking (yet again) on one of life’s most treasured journeys…Fatherhood.

In celebration of the series, both Whitehall’s are picking-up-sticks and heading down to the land of the long white cloud next year. We got to sit-down with Jack and talk to him about this tour down to New Zealand, that everyone is talking about.

The real question that’s on everyone’s mind down here in New Zealand is: are we really ready for the 2025 Whitehall invasion?

I don’t know if anyone is ready! I’m certainly not. It’s going to be a bit of a tornado once we get down there. We’ve done a couple of try-out shows for Jack & Michael Whitehall Live already and it’s never the same any one night. We never know what’s going to come out of Michael’s mouth at any moment. So it’s as terrifying for me as it is for the audience. They really will be watching the reality of our crazy family dynamic live on-stage, completely unfiltered. 

So it’s true that your characters—your personas—on-stage (or on-screen) are the same as in real life?  

I always say that Michael is pretty much like he is on-screen most of the time. If anything, I think he’s tempered down a bit onscreen because there’s an edit. We had the opportunity to edit Michael—curate him, I guess. In real-life (and certainly on stage), we don’t have that luxury. I suppose we’re playing up a bit to a persona per say, but the reality is our dynamics are very much what you see on the screen. A very eccentric family. There’s not a lot of ‘amping up’ we need to do. It’s just the reality of who we are.

We all went out for a family dinner last night for my sister’s birthday and we were all behaving very strangely. We were winding-up one another and being inappropriate,  Michael was making off-colour remarks, and Hilary was cringing-out at her kids. 

On the cab-ride home, [my girlfriend] Roxy was like: ‘your family are so odd!’ and I was like ‘yep, so sorry’. For the audience when we do our shows, I guess, they’re becoming a part of that bizarre family dynamic for an evening. 

That’s the really cool part of it. How us as an audience can insert ourselves—warts and all—into similar quirky situations with our own families and relate…

I think there’s a huge amount of appeal there, and the success of our shows are because audiences can relate to ours. Even though there are things that aren’t relatable for some audiences, there definitely are things that are universal. The way kids act around their parents, or how people constantly find new ways to embarrass their offspring. That’s a universal experience that people can tap into.

Are you gonna have a little holiday next year too, when you’re over here? Or are you just gonna do the shows and then gap?

This time round, we have a little bit more time which is great. Last time I was in NZ (in 2019) I was in-and-out. A very tight schedule. This time, partly because I’m doing the show with my dad, we’ve spread it out a bit. I’m bringing my family with me and we’re going to have a chance to see New Zealand. We’re going to have some down-time which is fantastic. That’s the advantage, I guess, of touring with an 84 year-old. Pace, schedule. 

It’s more forgiving, which isn’t really how I do these tours. It’s quite in-and-out when it’s just me, and onto the next place. So I’m looking forward to relaxing and taking some time to explore that part of the world. It’s just great to be anywhere other than London in January and February, where (within those two months) it is the most depressing, miserable place on earth.   

So what can audiences expect in Jack & Michael Whitehall Live next year?

There’s a loose framework we’ve got pencilled in, I guess. Basically, I come out and do a little bit of stand-up and gentle roasting of my father, then he comes on and has an opportunity (his rite, almost) to reply. Unfortunately, that framework and route I have in my head almost never works out the way as planned. It’s because my father is incapable of learning a script and often has more than one thought in his head, so is constantly deviating from any topic I’m trying to steer him towards. There is genuine unpredictability each night. We also have some archived footage from the past that my mother has managed to dig out and some pictures and funny videos of us from holidays and childhood. Hilary has this vast archive of things. We’ve got great content that comes out and also some amazing surprises as well—games too, and some cheeky audience interaction.    

The audiences that we’ve been doing it in front of really relate to it and responding well to it. Looking forward to getting to New Zealand and seeing what everyone thinks of it down there!

What, do you think, over your career, has been your best on-stage moment?

You have lots of moments in your career where they’re significant milestones. Whether it was the first time I played the Apollo, or first time I played the West End in London, or the first time I toured a show of my own and performed in a theatre. All of these were significant moments, for sure. For me, the Stood Up 2019 NZ tour was incredible because I had never been to Australia or New Zealand and it was the first time I’d taken a tour out there. 

To go there and play to big houses and have this new fanbase is so overwhelming and amazing. I had such a wonderful time when I was in New Zealand last and it was a real pinch-me moment. Netflix, I suppose, makes the world a smaller place. So to get the exposure from Travels With My Father and Fatherhood With My Father, we were able to reach fans internationally, and grow a fan-base in ways I never thought we’d go to before. Like in NZ. So I remember those shows being very special and significant for me. That’s why I was so keen when me and my dad had the idea of touring Fatherhood With My Father together to go back. Such fond memories of my time there in New Zealand. 

Congratulations on recently becoming a father, by the way! Over the time that you and your dad have been doing Netflix’s Travels With My Father and Fatherhood With My Father, had/have you been taking notes from Michael on how to be a great dad? Have you found that you’ve picked up some traits from him in your own parenting?

Yeah, I definitely recognize some elements of my dad in me. He does have a softer, slightly more sentimental side that you don’t necessarily see on screen. It’s something I regularly see in him and want to replicate in myself with my daughter. Also the way he attacks every situation and hurdle in his life with a degree of sarcasm and humour. That’s certainly something I’ve made sure to have in my arsenal. The idea that no matter what life throws at you to always have a degree of humour has been a really good strength. That’s something I’ve definitely picked up from him.   

What was the best thing about doing Fatherhood With My Father, for you?

What was nice about that one was it was at a time when Roxy and I had just brought Elsie into the world. It was very nice to have my parents around for a lot of that. Obviously, when my dad and I did Travels With My Father, he was a bit younger. We did the show, then we took a break for a couple of years. I was very proud of him that in Fatherhood With My Father, at age 84, he’s still firing on all cylinders and throwing himself into these experiences. He really impressed me, and I love that he’s still got this spirit and attitude. He’s more advanced in years, which made me more in awe of him doing it.

If you could have a word with your younger self, when you were just starting out, what would be the advice you’d give them?

I think I would tell myself to take a bit more time off between things and try to have a bit more head-space. I think when I first started I wanted to do everything and say yes to everything and cram my diary full of as much stuff as I could. I have a broad spectrum of interests—stand-up, acting and I write scripted and non-scripted shows on TV—and do quite a lot of different things. It would’ve been nice to have taken a beat and recharge my batteries a bit and have a bit of headspace to go and have a bit of life-experience from that. I think if I had done that I would’ve had a bit more balance in my life. 

What would you say your definition of success is?

I love having new challenges and always feeling fulfilled and just making sure to challenge myself. I’m always looking out for what the next challenge is. I want to push myself creatively. That’s my creative goal, I guess, just to keep going, aiming higher and higher.