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

www.comedianscomedian.com

Find out everything Stu’s up to at 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.

“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

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Age, Audiences, BBC, Bob Mills, Comedy, Dave Chappelle, Def Comedy Jam, Def Jam, Edinburgh, Festival, Interview, Kevin Hart, Live At The Apollo, Mainstream, Richard Pryor, Risk, Robin Williams, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Success, TV, Up The Creek, Urban Circuit, Worth, Writing

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)

Find out more at www.stuartgoldsmith.com

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

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Audiences, BBC, BBC One, Comedy, Edinburgh, Have I Got News For You, Interview, Jack Dee, Live At The Apollo, London, Mainstream, Omid Djallili, Onstage Persona, Parenting, Persona, Racism, Rob Brydon, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Success, Worth, Would I Lie To You?, Writing, Writing Jokes

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.

Catch up with Pierre Novellie:
www.pierrenovellie.com
TW/IG: @pierrenovellie
Pierre is co-host of @TheBudPod with Mr Phil Wang
Watch Pierre’s sketch show CUTS here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9ZMCN60lVA

Everything Stu's up to:
TW/IG: @ComComPod
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)

Find out more at www.stuartgoldsmith.com

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

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Age, Audiences, Awards, BBC, comcompod, Comedy, Corona, Corporate Gigs, Corporate Work, COVID-19, Dave (TV channel), Dylan Moran, Edinburgh, Eshaan Akbar, Festival, Footlights, Fringe, Futile Attempts, Garrett Millerick, Geoff Norcott, Ian Cognito, Interview, Jeff Dunham, Jon Robins, London, Mark Olver, Matt Ewings, Mental Health, Mike Gunn, Nish Kumar, Onstage Persona, Persona, Phil Wang, Pierre Novellie, Radio, Reviews, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Success, The Mash Report, TV, Worth, Writing

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

www.comedianscomedian.com

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Acaster, Audiences, BBC, Ben Target, comcompod, Comedy, Daniel Kitson, Edinburgh, Fear, Festival Comedian, Fringe, Interview, James Acaster, Joel Dommett, Josie Long, Mainstream, Nina Conti, Nish Kumar, Onstage Persona, Risk, Rob Auton, Simon Amstell, Sketch, Spencer Jones, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Structure, Stuart Goldsmith, Stuart Laws, Success, Vic And Bob, Whimsy, Worth, Writing

Energetic, elastic and totally committed to being “the toughest kid on the estate” when it comes to his ability to get laughs, Russell Kane has firm ideas about his precise place in the comedy firmament.

We talk about the creative power of his exceptional on-stage energy; his surprising reaction to Stewart Lee’s material about him; his unerring ability to mind-map a topic and see the central idea immediately; and learn about the hour-long preview which he scripted in just eight words, moments before walking onstage…

25 minutes of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club includes Russell’s incredible advice for comics considering performing live standup on YouTube, and thoughts on his possible over-commitment to showing one particular critic who was boss…

The single confidant who suggested that his experiments with image were driving away his long-term audience…

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&A with James Acaster.

Follow Russell on:

@russell_kane
www.russellkane.co.uk
And subscribe to his channel on YouTube, home of the “Kane-ing”

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.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: Age, Arena Comedy, Audience Participation, Audiences, Awards, BBC, BBC3, Bill Burr, Channel 4, Chortle, Chris Rock, College, comcompod, Comedy, Corona, Corporate Gigs, Corporate Work, COVID-19, Criticism, Daniel Kitson, Edgy, Edinburgh, Ego, Fame, Fear, Festival, Fosters Comedy Award, Frankie Boyle, Fringe, Improv, Inspiration, Instagram, Interview, Jeremy Hardy, Jobs, Jongleurs, Josie Long, Katherine Ryan, Lee Mack, Live At The Apollo, London, Mainstream, Money, Noel Fielding, Observational Comedy, Onstage Persona, Parenting, Perrier, Perrier Comedy Award, Persona, Peter Kay, Problems, Reginald D. Hunter, Reviews, Risk, Romesh Ranganathan, Russell Brand, Russell Howard, Russell Kane, Seann Walsh, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Stereotypes, Steve Bennett, Stewart Lee, Structure, Success, TV, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes, Writing On Stage, YouTube

Head writer for “The Mash Report”, show-runner for “Hello America” on Quibi, and profoundly nice man, Tom Neenan has a practised ease with pulling jokes out of thin air.  He’s also a comcompletist and one of the nicest people in the industry.

We talk about his entry into the business as a recipient of the BBC writer’s bursary, how a position as staff-writer taught him to be super-productive, and how to mine ambiguity for a punchline.

30 minutes of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club includes Tom on learning to make shows more personal; Stu and Tom get self-indulgent riffing on story and the Lubitsch touch with reference to Pixar and the MCU, and Tom shares some of his favourite joke-formats…

Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&A with James Acaster.

Tom Neenan
Follow @tneenan for his very funny tweets and drawing

Follow Tom’s Dr Who podcast @Wheezingpod

We also mentioned some of his favourite instructional YouTubers; these include HBomberguy, Jenny Nicholson, Every Frame a Painting, Lessons From The Screenplay, Folded Ideas, and Lindsey Ellis.

And here’s a link to the video about The Lubitsch touch Tom mentions in the extras:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxqt7UmN_bQ

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, Practice Lead, Marketing Solutions EMEA, SVP at Merkle

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: Al Murray, Audiences, BBC, BBC4, Comedy, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Graham Norton, Hello America, Interview, James Acaster, Milton Jones, Mitch Hedburg, Mock The Week, Nish Kumar, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Success, The Mash Report, TV, TV Comedy, Twitter, Victoria Wood, Worth, Writing, YouTube

Athena Kugblenu is an impassioned and very funny comic, intent on making people laugh even when they disagree with her.  We talk about joining the comedy circuit from a successful career in the public sector, why she doesn’t debate on Facebook, affinity bias and assimilation.  We also cover why she loves changing her mind, and good honest graft.

25 minutes of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include Athena on why she no longer wants a career in politics, adaptability, and the niche overlap between comics and writers…. Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&A with James Acaster.

Catch up with Athena:
Follow @athenakugblenu on twitter and instagram.

www.athenakugblenu.com

www.athenakugblenu.com/podcast for more news on her podcast “Keeping Athena Company”

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: Age, Art, Athena Kugblenu, Audiences, Awards, BBC, BBC One, BLM, comcompod, Comedy, Coping, COVID-19, Feminism, Gender, India, Inspiration, Interview, Jobs, John Bishop, Keeping Athena Company, London, Mental Health, Miles Jupp, Money, Parenting, Podcasting, political, Racism, Risk, Sarah Millican, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Success, The Guilty Feminist, Whoopi Goldberg, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes

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, Comedy, 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, Stand Up, Structure, Stuart Goldsmith, Success, Taskmaster, TV, TV Comedy, Twitter, Whimsy, Widdicombe, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes