The Comedian's Comedian WITH STUART GOLDSMITH

For anyone who writes comedy, makes comedy, loves comedy, or just has an interest in comedians and what makes them so annoying.

342 – Catherine Cohen

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

The Comedian's Comedian - 342 – Catherine Cohen

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

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339 – Brett Goldstein

At last! Brett Goldstein (movie star, comedian, writer, super-fan of ComCom and perpetual invite-swerver) drops by for a “NonComPod” that won’t expose at all how crackers he is. Sadly Stu can’t help himself and it all goes a bit “Are You Happy?” A brilliant conversation with a kind, funny, deeply handsome man, who lets us into his mind to discuss humility, boredom and workaholism - and why the comedy community is like an AIDS quilt...

25 mins of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include the backstage view of Brett’s “Films To be Buried With” podcast, how a run of terrible gigs way back during the Comedy Reserve fringe line-up show became a brutal bootcamp, and a decent chunk of Stu giving Brett unsolicited advice on how to navigate his mental health…

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

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

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
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

Filed Under: Acting, Actor, Audiences, Benny Boot, comcompod, Competitions, Coping, Corona, Depression, Derek, Directing, Edinburgh, Fame, Fear, Films To Be Buried With, First Open Spot, Fringe, Inspiration, Interview, Isolation, Jack Whitehall, Jobs, Josie Long, London, Lone Island, Mental Health, Nick Helm, NonComPod, Onstage Persona, Persona, Pleasance, Podcasting, School, Storytelling, Structure, Success, SuperBob, TV, TV Comedy, Twitch, Twitter, Uncle, Writing Jokes, YouTube

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338 – Helen Zaltzman

*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!

The Comedian's Comedian - 338 – Helen Zaltzman

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

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331 – Janey Godley

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

330 – Alexei Sayle

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

328 – Seann Walsh

Seann Walsh is an extraordinary observational comic, with a phenomenal talent for getting to the heart of the funny in the most everyday topics, and enlivening a routine with act-outs.

We talk about how his persona changed from open mics to big rooms, and how he strove for authenticity, despite the looming feeling that something was missing from his impressive TV career. Just when this outsider among outsiders seemed finally about to break big, in 2018 he appeared on Strictly Come Dancing (BBC) and pictures surfaced of him kissing his dance partner. We discuss the tabloid uproar and the accusations that followed, and the effect they had on his life and work.

40mins of extras available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include Seann on being unsettled by the aggressive environment on panel shows, getting kicked out of college and the cosiness of melancholy; his unique DIY technique for ridding oneself of nervous energy pre-show; and why any future set on Conan (TBS) will be very different to his first one...
Join today at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

@SeannWalsh | seannwalsh.com

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

28/02/20

Cambridge Junction

326 – The Sklar Brothers

Twins Randy and Jason Sklar blow audiences away with their extraordinarily layered stand-up, weaving their delivery alongside, through and around each other’s voices; sparring, arguing and then dropping into perfect sync on a punchline.

We get stuck into their writing process, the difficulties of working as a team when their family lives don’t sync as easily as their creative lives, the challenge of identifying a target audience when you straddle mainstream and alternative, and why the “ball don’t lie”…

25 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include how Randy and Jason approach Roast Battles, why they love tagging jokes and the TV pitch it inspired, and we find out which twin is the happiest. We also get an insight into their episode of NPR podcast “This American Life”, when they were made aware of a genuinely mind-blowing possibility about their identities as twins. Join now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

TW: @SklarBrothers | IG: @SklarBrothers

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

07/02/20

Farnham Maltings

11/02/20

York – The Basement

12/02/20

Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club

28/02/20

Cambridge Junction

www.comedianscomedian.com | @comcompod

The Comedian's Comedian - 326 – The Sklar Brothers

Filed Under: Alex Edelman, Andy Kindler, Andy Samberg, Audiences, Bill Burr, Interview, Janeane Garofalo, Joe Rogan, Marc Maron, Monty Python, Noel Fielding, Onstage Persona, Podcasting, Risk, Sarah Silverman, Sklar Brothers, SNL, Stage Persona, Stereotypes, Structure, Success, SXSW, The Mighty Boosh, The Office, TV, USA, Writing Jokes

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324 – Jamali Maddix

A master of "pulling back into the wide angle", Jamali Maddix thrives on big routines about big subjects, letting his innate comic ability run riot. We talk about the pressures of keeping up hit-rate within routines, and get technical about top-lines, and why he wants the premise of a bit to be more intelligent than he is himself. But what happens when you lose sight of your goals in the process of following the next apparently logical step?

30 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Jamali going deep into the production of his Vice TV smash "Hate Thy Neighbour", which saw him write an hour of comedy in three days, sixteen times, whilst avoiding being killed by neo-Nazis. We also cover how to extract laughter from horrific things, and find the fertile ground between outrage and consensus...

Join now at comedianscomedian.com/insiders

www.jamalimaddix.com

TW: @jamalimaddix | IG: @jamalimaddix

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

25/01/20

Corsham – The Pound Arts Centre

01/02/20

Newcastle Stand (early show – 5pm)

02/02/20

Glasgow – The Stand

07/02/20

Farnham Maltings

11/02/20

York – The Basement

12/02/20

Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club

28/02/20