In today’s trip down memory lane, the ever effervescent Shaparak Khorsandi leads the way – with a quick stop off at Comedy’s figurative playground – via her own yellow brick road. We dissect second chances, shifting statuses, and how the pursuit of money stunts artistic quality...
Candid, nuanced, and not lacking in poise, Shaparak opens up on the difficult situations to which her early standup inexperience subjected her, and the realisation of how bullying is ultimately rooted in jealousy.
Stu's new comedy special "I Need You Alive" has a worldwide digital premiere on Feb 23rd, see the trailer and find the ticket link at www.stuartgoldsmith.com
This week we swing wide the comcom vault door and crack open a vintage 2012 with the indefatigable Sarah Millican.
We talk about her unbound positivity, the necessity to jettison pre-gig baggage, and managing her - as well as the audience’s - expectations. We also delve into Millican’s Law, Thermos pasta, and men’s proclivity to urinate in hotel kettles.
Stu's new comedy special "I Need You Alive" has a worldwide digital premiere on Feb 23rd, see the trailer and find the ticket link at www.stuartgoldsmith.com
Exploding supernova Jordan Gray has just had the Edinburgh that every newer act dreams of: five-star reviews across the board, sell-out shows, a transfer to the Palladium, as well as being made an honorary X-Man by Sir Ian McKellen. She’s an extraordinarily funny, talented and skilled act who’s managed to pull an absolute Minchin!
We talk about the danger of believing your own hype, why she has to be an example not just a comedian, and we get an intimate snapshot of the very early stages of the sorts of hard choices that await someone experiencing this kind of success…
25mins of extras available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include Jordan on her music career as “Tall Dark Friend”, the most heartbreaking thing to hear after a gig, and she takes Stu to task on his skittishness! We also get an incredibly useful breakdown of the transferable skills a comic can bring to script writing, and find out why she wears a jump-suit and why she very deliberately isn’t “fabulous”…
Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for ad-free episodes, extra content from every show that has it, and much more - including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, Alfie Brown, James Acaster and Fern Brady, plus the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.
Catch up with Jordan:
http://JordanGrayLive.co.uk
TW/IG: @talldarkfriend
Don’t miss Jordan live at the London Palladium on 28th October!
Everything Stu's up to:
Podcast community links
Social media handles and comedy clips
And Stu’s official YouTube channel…
Are all at linktr.ee/stuartgoldsmith
Or visit:
www.comedianscomedian.com
www.stuartgoldsmith.com
Stu offers remote and in-person talks to business, distilling insights from over 400 comics on cultivating resilience and the ability to bounce back, to all levels from C-suite to team members.
“There’s perfect and there’s perfect; and that was perfect.” David Cooper, Chief People Officer Circle Health Group
Tremendous story-teller comedian Alison Spittle is a very sunny specialist in making comedy from trauma, but you’ll be furious that she’s had to undergo so much of it. We talk about her incredible new Edinburgh show “Wet”, and why it’s no longer simply about a fight during an aqua aerobics class. We also cover her excellent shame-beating podcast “Wheel of Misfortune”; the challenge of keeping oneself emotionally secure when making comedy out of pain; and how to be powerful.
25 mins of extras available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include Alison on her earliest material that made her feel like herself; the journey of her expressing her mental health honestly; the importance or not of doing “reps” in comedy; and the non-comedy-related quality that got her where she is…
Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for ad-free episodes, extra content from every show that has it, and much more - including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, Alfie Brown, James Acaster and Fern Brady, plus the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.
Stu offers remote and in-person talks to business, distilling insights from over 400 comics on cultivating resilience and the ability to bounce back, to all levels from C-suite to team members.
“There’s perfect and there’s perfect; and that was perfect.” David Cooper, Chief People Officer Circle Health Group
We find the irrepressible Slim at a crossroads in his long career. After three decades as “the King of Black British comedy”, this very funny and astonishingly likeable comic is crossing over to the mainstream with the help of new management and a new game-plan.
From possibly the world’s most terrifying first gig - shoved onstage by a comedian friend at a sold-out Hackney Empire - to just recently selling out the London Palladium by himself, we talk about faking it til you make it, serving and deserving the community, and the tension between his natural humility and the swagger required to kick down doors…
20mins of extra content available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Slim on whether connecting with audiences is a teachable skill, a lovely analogy about comics as salespeople and what represents a “good sale”, whether there’s a downside to doing your learning on a different circuit, and the decisions that went into his Live At The Apollo set.
Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, James Acaster and Fern Brady and the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.
Catch up with Slim
IG: @slimcomedian Twitter: @SLIMcomedian
Everything Stu's up to
This podcast is @ComComPod on Twitter and Instagram
Stu offers remote and in-person talks to business, distilling insights from over 400 comics on cultivating resilience and the ability to bounce back, to all levels from C-suite to team members.
“Stuart was brilliant; he nailed the brief, and the balance of meaningful content and humour was perfect for our audience.” Jo Matkin, CEO Celsus Group
Back on tour after a period of self-reflection, comedy powerhouse Omid Djalili is admirably candid as he shares his concerns about the material that made him famous. Taking to heart some stinging criticism from his son, he explores the tension between his phenomenal commitment to live performance and his craving for validation
We talk about the tendency of white middle-class reviewers to froth at his otherness; whether or not his “everything and the kitchen sink” approach armed them against him; and find out what advice a young Michael McIntyre rejected…
20 mins of extra content available exclusively to the Insiders Club includes Omid on how Whoopi Goldberg inspired him when they worked together, an amazing true story about his approach to casting directors in the early days of his movie career, and the truth behind his mould-breaking audition for his key role in The Mummy (1999)…
Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, James Acaster and Fern Brady and the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.
Catch up with Omid:
TW: @Omid9
“Omid Djalili: The Good Times Tour” will be at London’s Eventim Apollo on 18th December and touring the UK until November 2022. For all tour dates and tickets visit www.omidnoagenda.com
Everything Stu's up to:
This podcast is @ComComPod on Twitter and Instagram
www.comedianscomedian.com
Stu 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)
Stu’s “Virtual Office Party” is now available as the perfect solution to remote-working office parties, sales conferences, motivational and wellbeing events.
“It was an absolutely hysterical and wonderful evening, for both those partaking and everyone watching online!” - Maria Kuzak (Fundraising Manager at CALM)
“The games and interactive element were hilarious and extremely well executed! 10/10 from us, you created a real buzz in our business, thank you.” - Ben Gott (SVP at Merkle)
For more info on how this unique concept can bring your staff together while working apart, go to www.stuartgoldsmith.com
Bear-like in stature and authority and nimble of wit, Pierre Novellie is a fantastic comedian and writer who wrings every punchline out of his routines. We talk about how his origins in Johannesburg and the Isle Of Man make him an “outsider expert” on the English, and discover why he deliberately obscured his vice-presidency of Cambridge Footlights. We talk about his early assumptions that he was somehow low status on stage; explore his body of work, and attitudes to risk and certainty; and discover the perils of “getting your bum out too early”…
A belting 40 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club features Pierre and Stu sharing their tips on how to survive corporate gigs, with advice on material selection, mindset and how to think about the money in the right way. Also Stu reads some of Pierre’s reviews back to him - the monster! - and we learn about authenticity, and how to wring all of the topics out of a joke…
Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, James Acaster and Fern Brady and the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.
Stu 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)
Stu’s “Virtual Office Party” is now available as the perfect solution to remote-working office parties, sales conferences, motivational and wellbeing events.
“It was an absolutely hysterical and wonderful evening, for both those partaking and everyone watching online!” - Maria Kuzak (Fundraising Manager at CALM)
“The games and interactive element were hilarious and extremely well executed! 10/10 from us, you created a real buzz in our business, thank you." - Ben Gott (SVP at Merkle)
For more info on how this unique concept can bring your staff together while working apart, go to www.stuartgoldsmith.com
Is Stuart Laws an absurdist rambler who froths up a load of increasingly hilarious nonsense whilst honking in a gilet? Or is he an astute and quite private man who started a production company when he was 18, and went on to produce his own sitcom Grave new World (Amazon Prime) as well as directing James Acaster’s “Repertoire” (Netflix) and countless other standup specials? It’d be great if the answer was “neither” wouldn’t it? But it’s clearly both.
We talk about “The Prestige” as it pertains to stand-up shows; what it means to be both producer and director of one’s own work; and what makes other comics attractive assets to his company Turtle Canyon. We also cover openness, privacy and what shocks him about other comedians…
25 mins of extra content available exclusively to the Insiders Club includes Stuart on the different ways he directs comics, with reference to James Acaster and Joel Dommett; how to direct without imposing; his social media and TikTok sketch strategies, and some insights on the only show ever made about Wario. Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, Alfie Brown and your invite to the forthcoming one with Fern Brady!
Stuart Laws is up to the following things:
Stuart’s series Grave New World is on Prime Video and Vimeo on Demand, links at www.stuartlaws.com.
He has two stand up specials on NextUp and his podcast with Matt Winning, Up Your Footfall, is at https://www.podfollow.com/1559039647.
Everything else is here: https://linktr.ee/stuartlawscomedy
Everything Stu's up to:
Stu’s “Virtual Office Party” is now available as the perfect solution to remote-working office parties, sales conferences, motivational and wellbeing events.
“It was an absolutely hysterical and wonderful evening, for both those partaking and everyone watching online!”
- Maria Kuzak (Fundraising Manager at CALM)
"The games and interactive element were hilarious and extremely well executed! 10/10 from us, you created a real buzz in our business, thank you."
- Ben Gott (SVP at Merkle)
For more info on how this unique concept can bring your staff together while working apart, go to www.stuartgoldsmith.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.stuartgoldsmith.co.uk
This podcast is @ComComPod on twitter and instagram
Get your hands on a ComComPod shirt & other stuff here...