With his own XFM show, a stack of awards and regular stints on cult comedy shows Mock The Week and Channel Four’s The Last Leg, it’s hard to believe Josh Widdicombe first walked on to a stage in 2008.

Now he is midway through writing his third Fringe show and taking last year’s Edinburgh hit Further Adventures Of Josh Widdicombe on a nationwide tour that takes in Haywards Heath.

“It was not wanting to have a proper job,” admits Widdicombe as to why he decided to get into comedy. “It wasn’t a calling or something I’d wanted to do all my whole life.

“I didn’t want to work in an office – I couldn’t really handle it – so trying to find a way out I went to do a gig. And it went well. There are lots of lost comedians who died on their first night.”

In common with many new comics, Widdicombe entered a lot of competitions and ended up as a finalist in the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny? at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe only a few months on from his first show.

Two years later he was named 2010’s Leicester Mercury Comedian Of The Year and beat 273 comics to win ITV 4’s FHM Stand-Up Hero Competition, scooping a £10,000 prize.

“It’s strange, at the time you think the competitions are very important,” says Widdicombe.

“When you get further into the industry, they don’t matter as much.

“At the time you think, ‘Rhod Gilbert won this, so all I need to do is win this and I’ll be like Rhod Gilbert.’ The fact is he was really good and he happened to win awards.

“The trick is to get as good as possible and ignore all the other stuff around it. The only thing you can control in comedy is trying to be funny – everything else, the business side of it, is redundant.

“I started out going out most nights and doing dreadful gigs where no one was there. It was a learning curve. I think comedy is something you have to learn – you can’t just naturally do stand-up. It takes ages.”

His style is laidback, endearingly informal and observational, but very carefully crafted. As one reviewer for comedy website Chortle put it, “The laughs just keep on building, with the initial punchline rarely being the best.”

He doesn’t like looking back on the early days.

“I wouldn’t want to hear my old routines,” he admits. “It would be painful! I can barely listen to a gig I’ve done the week before, let alone a few years ago.”

He is looking forward to achieving another comedy milestone this Christmas – his first comedy DVD, which he is filming at the Hammersmith Apollo in September, alongside Brighton’s own Seann Walsh.

“It’s very exciting,” he admits. “A comedy DVD is certainly something that was on my bucket list of things I wanted to do.

“It’s easy to become accustomed to these things but it is exciting to know that a DVD will exist and be there as a record for ever. Whatever happens, I’ve got that.”

He is also pleased with his latest achievement – getting his own Saturday morning radio show on XFM, which started in January. He follows in the footsteps of comedy heroes Ricky Gervais, Russell Howard and Adam And Joe.

“It’s one of the most fun jobs I have had,” he says. “Having done a few of them it doesn’t feel that pressured. You can always go to a song and you can’t hear the reception you’re getting, so it’s a lot less stressful than stand-up.

“The main stress is starting at 10am – it means getting up at 8am on a Saturday. It’s almost like having a job – perish the thought!”

Another major success has been his role on The Last Leg, the Adam Hills-hosted comedy show which was launched on Channel Four to give an alternative view of the Paralympics.

It was so successful that Widdicombe, Hills and sports reporter Alex Brooker were invited to continue with the format post-Paralympics in a Friday night slot.

“It has snowballed,” admits Widdicombe, who is the only able-bodied member of the trio – comic Hills was born without a right foot and Brooker was born with hand and arm deformities and a twisted right leg.

“Because it was a late-night Paralympic round-up, it got away with more. Maybe people didn’t give it much thought. It had a chance to grow out of the spotlight.

“We have managed to find a way of keeping the spirit of the show but making it broader.”

The Last Leg is broadcast live – a format Widdicombe is comfortable with.

“It’s a nicer way to do television. If you do something in a panel show format, the filming takes two and a half hours. You only need to say five or six really good things and they will make the edit.

“With a show that’s live, the pressure is on another way – but there’s none of these long nights in recording studios.”

He is now putting together his next Edinburgh show. Similar to the observational style of his previous two hours, there is no overarching theme.

“I don’t write it as a show, I just do little bits and as much stuff as possible,” he says. “I’m just building the blocks.

“It’s a bit like the third album – the first show [which was nominated for the 2011 Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer] I had ages to get everything together.

“The second was the first I had to write from scratch, but that feels like a long time ago. I’ve done this show so many times now I can’t remember if it was scary to write.

“Certain things which come up in a lot of stand-up revolve around the stand-up lifestyle – lots of stuff about trains and hotel rooms.

“I don’t think my life has changed significantly. I spend a lot of my time doing nothing. I tend to go to a cafe or whatever to write. I just get to go to slightly better cafes now.”

  • Clair Hall, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, Saturday, April 27. Starts 8pm, £15/£13. Call 01444 455440