The whole of this two hour conversation is available to everyone over parts one and two, but members of the Insiders Club were also treated to a special Q&A over Zoom, asking James their questions in person.  That audio is now available on the Insiders private podcast, and it was so much fun we’re going to do more of them with other comics!  For your future invitations to those, as well as all the extra content from every episode that has it, join now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

And now…
To celebrate the forthcoming self-release via Dice.fm of his new special “Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999”, James returns to the podcast for two hours of insight across two episodes!  We explore the rawness of this new special, talk about his new “cool guy” costume, and discuss the pros and cons of having a right royal go at the audience.  We learn about his rejection of social media, the distance between his persona and his real self, and how in the past he’s forfeited his sanity in order not to rock the boat…

“Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999” streams once at 8pm on 17th Dec wherever you are in the world (fancy!) and you can get access here:

https://dice.fm/artist/james-acaster-bbx6o

You cannot follow James Acaster on social media.

Everything Stu's up to:

The Infinite Sofa chat show is now available as a solution to remote-working office parties over the festive period and beyond! For more info on how this unique concept can bring your staff together while working apart, go to www.virtualofficeparty.co.uk

Stu also offers remote talks to business on what the distilled wisdom of over 350 comics can teach you about resilience, especially in times of pandemic.

“The most inspiring talk I’ve had in years!” (LEGO staff member)

Find out more at www.comedyinsights.com

This podcast is @ComComPod on twitter and instagram www.comedianscomedian.com

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: 6Music, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Art, Audiences, Awards, BBC, Channel 4, comcompod, Coping, Corona, Criticism, Dave (TV channel), Depression, Ed Gamble, Edinburgh, Fame, Festival, Fringe, Interview, Jimmy Carr, Jobs, Joel Dommett, John Kearns, Live At The Apollo, London, Melbourne, Mental Health, Music, Netflix, Nish Kumar, Onstage Persona, Open Mic, Persona, Phil Wang, Podcasting, Radio 4, Radio X, Reviews, Risk, Stage Persona, Structure, Stuart Goldsmith, Success, Taskmaster, TV, TV Comedy, Twitter, Whimsy, Widdicombe, Writing Jokes

Artist, comedian, provocateur and cleaner, Kim Noble is far more concerned with pursuing his artistic instinct than the trappings of success. From sneaking into B&Q dressed as staff (engaging with the customers and sometimes not even recording it), to his brilliant new podcast “Futile Attempts”, we find a man relentless in his integrity and experimentation, but sometimes adrift from the comedy community and the wider world.

We learn the sometimes devastating effect of his constant recording on his personal life; find out how his mum felt about his possible exploitation of his dementia-suffering father; and talk about innocence, terror, and overstepping the line.

30 minutes of extra content, available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club, includes Kim on his most recent “meltdown”; a meta chat about the pros and cons of his notion to record his appearance on the podcast and take control of the audio; the story behind “Noble and Silver” and why they split… and dread.

Join now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

Find out more about Kim:

www.mrkimnoble.com/futile-attempts-podcast/

www.mrkimnoble.com

www.twitter.com/mrkimnoble

Watch the “Noble and Silver: Get Off Me” episode filmed in one take:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDGixWJOetY

Everything Stu's up to:

This podcast is @ComComPod on twitter and instagram
Find out more at 

www.comedianscomedian.com

Join the Insiders Club at

www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

Stu also co-hosts the “Child Labour" parenting podcast with Sindhu Vee

www.childlabourpod.com Mondays 9pm BST - "The Infinite Sofa" chat show
Top celebrity talent (previous guests include Dara O'Briain, Sarah Millican and Russell Howard) join Stu and 12 members of the public, in an increasingly cult-like live online performance experiment.

www.infinitesofa.com Tuesdays 8pm BST - "Chops" Online comedy club
www.chopscomedy.com

www.twitch.tv/stugoldsmith

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Acting, Adam and Joe, Adam Buxton, Age, Alternative Comedy, Art, Audiences, Awards, Channel 4, Character, Clown, comcompod, Corona, COVID-19, Depression, Directing, Double Act, Edinburgh, Fame, Festival, Fringe, Futile Attempts, Hatemail, Heckles, Inspiration, Interview, Isolation, Jobs, John Kearns, Noble and Silver, Onstage Persona, Podcasting, Poetry, Pope Lonergan, Problems, Risk, Rob Auton, Sketch, Stage Persona, Success, Tim Key, TV, TV Comedy

One of the first guests on ComCom about 8 years ago, Paul Sinha has had a rollercoaster of a life in the interim.  From fringe comedian to celebrity quizzer as “The Sinnerman” on The Chase (ITV), to a memorable appearance on Taskmaster (Dave) which came just as he was diagnosing himself with Parkinson’s disease, we catch up on how his comedy has metamorphosed from political agitation to personal story-telling.

We cover how the mainstream-ification of his audiences changed his comedy; how he lost a friend to Covid-19 but managed to survive a devastating dose himself; what expectations he has of his life from now on; and why he’s a better comedian now than he’s ever been…

30 minutes of extra content, available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club, includes Paul on how he refuses to think about mortality, his new style of joke-writing on Twitter, and the inside story on his performance on Taskmaster…

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much much more.

Connect with Paul here:

@PaulSinha

www.paulsinha.com

Everything Stu's up to:

"Child Labour" parenting podcast with Stuart Goldsmith & Sindhu Vee

www.childlabourpod.com

Mondays 9pm BST - "The Infinite Sofa" chat show

Top celebrity talent (previous guests include Dara O'Briain, Sarah Millican and Russell Howard) join Stu and 12 members of the public, in an increasingly cult-like live online performance experiment.

www.infinitesofa.com

Tuesdays 8pm BST - "Chops" Online comedy club

www.chopscomedy.com

www.twitch.tv/stugoldsmith

Wednesdays 8pm BST - "ThinkTank"

A new even-more-experimental exercise in creativity, community, and throwing together a virtual bank heist under pressure.

New ideas and new jeopardy every week!

www.twitch.tv/stugoldsmith

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Art, Audiences, Awards, Chris Barrie, comcompod, Coping, Corporate Gigs, COVID-19, Criticism, Daily Mail, Dave (TV channel), Edinburgh, Fame, Fringe, Interview, Jobs, Kate Copstick, Lee Mack, London, Mental Health, Nish Kumar, Onstage Persona, Paul Sinha, Persona, political, Political Comedy, Radio 4, Reviews, Romesh Ranganathan, Sexuality, Shappi Khorsandi, Stage Persona, Stephen K Amos, Stereotypes, Storytelling, Structure, Success, The Chase, Tim Vine, TV, TV Comedy, Twitter, Vikki Stone, Would I Lie To You?, Writing Jokes

Catherine Cohen took home “Best Newcomer” at the Edinburgh Fringe last year, with a jaw-dropping show bursting with wit, originality and layer upon layer of irony.  Her angle of attack, mocking the audience for being so pathetically in love with her, allows her to take huge risks on stage, in a character that was grown through vast quantities of just the right sort of stage time.

We talk about why she loves the occasional “stone-faced” audience-member, about playing to win and succeeding, surviving burn-out, and why she can’t stop “freaking out about absolutely everything”…

Join the Insiders Club now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for all this and much much more.

Catch up with Catherine Cohen:

http://www.catherine-cohen.com

TW: @catcohen | IG: @catccohen

TW: @ComComPod | IG: @ComComPod

As per the post-amble, consider giving these comics a follow on Twitter:

@DaneBaptweets

@ninia_benjamin

@funmbi

@ginayashere

@destheray

@jamalimaddix

@olathecomedian

@AhirShah

@paulsinha

@MrNishKumar

@tezilyas

@dalisochaponda

@athenakugblenu

STU GOLDSMITH’S INFINITE SOFA

Every Monday and Thursday night at the new later time of 9pm, Stu Goldsmith’s Infinite Sofa brings you the warmest and most atmospheric cure for the social-isolation blues!

Forthcoming guests include Rhod Gilbert, Sara Barron, Iain Stirling, Flo and Joan, and Luisa Omelian, who with 12 members of the public join Stu for an hour and a half of brilliant comedy, music and variety with interactive games and big laughs. 

Find out more at www.infinitesofa.com

CHOPS COMEDY

Every Tuesday at 8pm come and watch your favourite comics riding their sea-legs in the new world of online stand-up, with a warm and a generous studio audience, at Chops Comedy!  Forthcoming headliners include Josie Long, Sarah Millican, Jarred Christmas, Rob Kemp, Russell Hicks and Lost Voice Guy

www.chopscomedy.com

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Audiences, Awards, comcompod, Compere/MC/Hosting, Coping, Corona, COVID-19, Drama School, Edinburgh, Equality, Festival, Fringe, Gender, Interview, Isolation, Mental Health, Musical Comedy, New York, Persona, Podcasting, Reviews, Risk, Stage Persona, Structure, Success, TV Comedy, Twitter, USA, Whimsy, Writing On Stage, YouTube

*New episodes are now streamed live at www.twitch.tv/stugoldsmith on 1pm BST every Wednesday, for release the following week*

Is this a regular episode or a NonComPod?  It matters not as we meet Helen Zaltzman; podcasting matriarch, mentor of Stu’s, co-host with Olly Mann of “Answer Me This”, host of the brilliant “Allusionist” podcast on the Radiotopia network, and very funny lady indeed.

We talk about her comedy origins as Josie Long’s embroiderer, her childhood and the positives of knowing she was an unplanned baby, and setting one’s own parameters for success.  We also talk about language as a means of understanding the world, overcoming her own pedantry and forgiving it in others, how she wrote a successful tour show in less than a day, and why you’re Namaste-ing all wrong…

25 mins of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include a dive into the origins of Helen and Olly Mann’s “Answer Me This” podcast; how they cultivated the community now 14 years deep into their show (and passing it on to their own children), and how they broke new ground with the sorts of creative and marketing tactics that these days would make up a TED Talk.

Join the Insiders Club now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for all this and much much more.

helenzaltzman.com | instagram.com/helenzaltzman |twitter.com/helenzaltzman

Allusionist: theallusionist.org, twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow

Veronica Mars Investigations: VMIpod.com, twitter.com/VMIpod, instagram.com/VMIpod, facebook.com/VMIpod

Answer Me This: answermethispodcast.com, twitter.com/HelenAndOlly, facebook.com/answermethis

STU GOLDSMITH’S INFINITE SOFA

Every Monday and Thursday night at the new later time of 9pm, Stu Goldsmith’s Infinite Sofa brings you the warmest and most atmospheric cure for the social-isolation blues!

Forthcoming guests include Nish Kumar, Suzi Ruffell, Anna Mann and Randy Feltface, who with 10 members of the public join Stu for an hour of brilliant comedy, music and variety with interactive games and big laughs.

Find out more at www.infinitesofa.com

CHOPS COMEDY

Online new material from seasoned professionals and exciting newer acts, in the most as-live environment online, every Tuesday night at 8pm BST via www.chopscomedy.com

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Join Stu Goldsmith for a one-to-one coaching session about your comedy career or personal project. These aren’t joke-writing sessions, more of a sort of micro-ComCom mentoring experience, to identify how you might be getting in the way of your own creativity and offer some solutions!

“Stu has made me think about writing comedy in a way that I wouldn’t have considered otherwise. His mentorship allowed me to access the deep, vulnerable, and humorous truths that are actually more impactful than the surface stuff I was doing otherwise. Highly recommend.” Jasky Singh

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/lunch and book your one-to-one with Stu now!

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Age, Andy Zaltzman, Answer Me This, Audiences, Awards, College, comcompod, Compere, COVID-19, Edinburgh, Gender, How To, Inspiration, Interview, Isolation, Jobs, Josie Long, Persona, Podcasting, Radiotopia, Risk, Structure, student comedy, Success, TED Talk, The Allusionist, YouTube

The co-host and co-creator of Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit, Steve McNeil started his career in sketch comedy, and has enjoyed an invigoratingly twisty journey through multiple genres, currently specialising as a twitch gamer and host, with new project #WiFiWars gathering momentum online as we speak. We talk about his pivot away from TV, the single most agonising factor that led to the demise of "Go 8 Bit", his new special "Hey Listen!" and his recent battles with his mental health.

30 mins of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club focuses Steve's tips and tricks for growing an audience on Twitch, and what comics can expect to find when trying to explore that fertile territory! Sign up now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

#WiFiWars
@WiFiWarsUK

Steve's special on GFS https://gofasterstripe.com/heylisten

https://twitter.com/stevemcneil

https://www.twitch.tv/stevefromgo8bit

https://www.twitch.tv/team/thestreamcreamdreamteam

As the live comedy circuit undergoes a painful transformation into some unknown new form, there HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME to keep the podcast alive and get hold of oodles of sweet extra content (including the new special episode about The Great Pivot with ComCom Consultant Pete Dobbing) with a regular subscription. Join now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

And join Stu Goldsmith for a Working Lunch!  Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/lunch to book your one-to-one social, or professional, online lunch date with Stu!

@comcompod | @stugoldsmith

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Acting, Age, Alternative Comedy, Audience Participation, Audiences, Awards, BBC, Bottom, Chortle, comcompod, Coping, Corona, COVID-19, Dara O'Briain, Dave (TV channel), Depression, Double Act, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Gaming, Go 8 Bit, Interview, Jess Robinson, McNeil & Pamphilon, Stage Persona, Streaming, Success, TV, Twitch, Writing Jokes, YouTube

Superb comedian, thrilling storyteller and born survivor Janey Godley not only answers back to her online death-threats, but publishes her whereabouts with an open invitation to "come and have a go". We talk about how she thrived despite abuse, poverty and alcoholism in her upbringing; detail her absolute conviction in the power of honesty; and learn how an early experience at the Edinburgh Fringe led her to reject the comedy industry and focus instead on her audience.

CW: We talk about abuse Janey suffered as a child, at the very start of this show, and throughout.

25 mins of extras available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include Janey on how her refusal to play along led to her being banned from a chain of comedy clubs; how she approaches publicising criminal connections whilst keeping her own nose clean; the ramifications of her husband’s autism, and the glee she feels at her daughter Ashley Storrie’s success in the comedy world. Join now and support the show at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

Thanks to the Stand Newcastle

www.janeygodley.com | @janeygodley

Janey Godley’s Soup Pot Tour is on right now - tickets available through her website 

Stuart Goldsmith's Edinburgh Fringe show "The Void" is on sale now at tinyurl.com/stu2020

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Acting, Actor, Age, Alan Davies, Alcohol, Audiences, Awards, BBC, Billy Connolly, Blogging, Bridget Christie, comcompod, Comedy Store, Competitions, Criticism, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Interview, Jerry Sadowitz, Jimmy Carr, Jo Brand, Jobs, Josie Long, Leicester Square Theatre, Malcolm Hardee, Mental Health, Money, Morecambe & Wise, Onstage Persona, Panel Shows, Perrier, Perrier Comedy Award, Persona, Phil Kay, Plagiarism, Rhona Cameron, Risk, Stage Persona, Stereotypes, Storytelling, Structure, Stuart Goldsmith, Success, Tarantino, The Pleasance, The Stand, TV, TV Comedy, Twitter, Underbelly, Writing Jokes, Writing On Stage, YouTube

The godfather of British alternative comedy, Alexei Sayle is always at the edge of catastrophe. The star of The Young Ones, Alexei Sayle’s Stuff, The Comic Strip Presents, many more and now his Imaginary Sandwich Bar, gets stuck into why inauthenticity is his bugbear, how to make the most of creative discomfort, the earliest days of the Comedy Store, and the transition from counterculture to national treasure

In 30 mins of extras available only to the Insiders Club, Alexei talks about his real feelings towards Ben Elton, and the current crop of arena comics; how he re-fit his show about political optimism when the wind changed; and identifies a link between standup and martial arts regarding the energy of the audience and his own… Available now only at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

See Alexei on tour now! Details at www.alexeisayle.me

Thanks to Ellen Frost at Bloomsbury Theatre @bloomstheatre

Stuart Goldsmith's Edinburgh Fringe show "The Void" is onside now at tinyurl.com/stu2020

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Acting, Adrian Edmondson, Age, Alexei Sayle, Alternative Comedy, Art, Audiences, Awards, BBC, Ben Elton, Bob Monkhouse, Bottom, College, comcompod, Comedy Store, Compere, Compere/MC/Hosting, Fame, Fern Brady, First Open Spot, Fringe, Interview, Isolation, Jobs, Live At The Apollo, Liverpool, London, Onstage Persona, Persona, Phil Ellis, Podcasting, political, Political Comedy, Political Humour, Problems, Radio, Radio 4, Rik Mayall, Sketch, Stage Persona, Stewart Lee, Structure, Success, The Comedy Store, The Young Ones, TV, TV Comedy, Writing Jokes, Writing On Stage