Comedian and Taskmaster champion Andy Zaltzman heads to Northampton this spring

Fully updated due to the UK and the world both steadfastly refusing to sort themselves out, The Zaltgeist 2026 – A Second Thwack will start in February 2026 and run until May 2026.

The Zaltgeist sees one of the UK's leading satirical comedians assess the state of renowned planet Earth, its under-pressure current in-house millennium, and its most famous and controversial species – the human race.

With politicians the world over striving to outdo each other with ever-more flamboyant cocktails of incompetence, inexplicability and insatiable dishonesty, Andy, the universe’s leading and only 2-in-1 political-comedian-and-professional-cricket-statistician, harnesses the combined 21st-century witchcraft of A.I. and his live audience. Between them, they will concoct vaguely plausible answers to perennially troublesome questions such as What?, Who?, When?, Where?, and above all Why?

A regular presence on BBC Radio 4 over the last two decades, Andy became host of The News Quiz in 2020. He has brought his inventive brand of satirical comedy to Radio 4's long-running flagship topical comedy show, earning the show multiple awards, critical acclaim and a growing listenership.

Andy is also unquestionably amongst the very best of the one-person list of Satirical Stand-Up Comedians Who Are Also Professional Cricket Statisticians. Since 2016, he has been a key member of the Test Match Special team, adding his distinctive blend of knowledge, expertise, humour and numerical inquisitiveness to the BBC's legendary cricket broadcast.

Andy has hosted The Bugle, one of the world's longest-running and best-loved comedy podcasts, since 2007. Renowned for its unique cocktail of up-to-the-minute global satire and premium-grade hogwash, and listened to by hundreds of thousands around the world, The Bugle recently passed the 650-episode mark, and has clocked up around 100 million total downloads.

Crowned Champion in the 2025 BAFTA-nominated Taskmaster Series 18 (Channel 4), Andy’s other extensive TV, radio and podcast appearances include Unspun with Matt Forde (Dave), Pointless Celebrities (BBC), 8 Out Of 10 Cats (Channel 4), Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC), Politics Live (BBC), The Weekly with Charlie Pickering (ABC), and The Now Show (BBC Radio 4).

Andy’s live stand-up has drawn audiences and critical acclaim around the UK and the world. He has toured extensively in the UK and Ireland, as well as in North America, India, New Zealand and Australia, where he has appeared at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He is also one of the few British comedians to have performed stand-up in Bangladesh. Andy has also been a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe throughout the millennium, building his reputation as one of the most inventive satirists in the world, and his annual Certifiable History review-of-the-year shows at the Soho Theatre were a fixture in the satirical calendar in the late 2010s.

In 2008 his book about the Credit Crunch, Does Anything Eat Bankers?, was published by Old Street Publishing. He has also written for ESPNcricinfo, The Observer, The Times, The i, and The Guardian.

Andy Zaltzman takes to the Royal stage in Northampton on Tuesday 28 April at 7.30pm. Tickets – priced from £22* – can be booked online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk/andy-zaltzman or by calling Box Office on 01604 624811. The show is recommended for ages 14 upwards.

* A non-refundable £4 per-transaction fee applies for bookings of £20 and over. Does not apply to Groups and Members. Prices may change subject to availability.