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
He’s back, he’s bad, and he’s pulled off one of the most surprising pivots of the pandemic: writing an incredibly useful and heartfelt self-help book, masquerading as an autobiography!
In this edited special edition, as Stu interviewed Jimmy live on stage during his “Terribly Funny” tour shows in Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff, Stu navigates deftly between celebrity anecdotes to push Jimmy into territory which he’s a little less familiar with sharing.
In part one Jimmy talks about his friend and colleague the late Sean Lock; goes into real detail on his favourite heckles and his strategy for combative comedy roasts; and reveals his deep relationship with his late mother, and how her passing affected the rest of his family.
With offensive language from the start. Please bear in mind this is a live performance in front of an audience of Jimmy Carr fans who’ve just enjoyed an hour of his best stuff, so - far more so than usual - this takes place within the sacred circle known as “context”. Please continue at your own risk…
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)
If you thought wrestlers shared some of the tropes of comedians’ lives, wait til you hear about historians! Comedy-adjacent public historian, writer of “Dead Famous” and other superb books, and creator and host of “You’re Dead To Me” (BBC Sounds) Greg Jenner had factual oversight on every word of Horrible Histories ever recorded, and wrote some of the jokes too. He’s also a student of ComCom and probably our most learned ever guest…
We talk about his creative process in constructing analogies that package and frame his research; learn about the pitfalls of generalising and the responsibility of the historian; and he shares his deeply personal struggle with mental health, anxiety and extraordinary insomnia, and they effect they still have on his fraught relationship with celebrity.
30 mins of extra content available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Greg delving further into his anxieties, particularly those that accrete around social media and listener feedback; the joy of online kindness; “factoids” and his doomed quest to rid the internet of viral “fake facts”; and we learn about the hidden link between Rattus Rattus from Horrible Histories and Greg himself.
Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for this and much more, including the exclusive Insiders Q&As with Nish Kumar, James Acaster and Alfie Brown, and your invite to the forthcoming ones with Fern Brady and a “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet (MClinPsych)
“Not a cute ragdoll, but a disgusting sex robot”, Rosie Jones is a triple-threat in ways of which you couldn’t dream if you hadn’t seen her act. Leveraging hugely punchy comedy from people’s constant underestimation at her sheer agency, we discover the precision comic timing borne of her cerebral palsy; her new political dynamism; and why she won’t drown, even though she can’t swim.
40 mins of extra content from comedy’s Thanos, available exclusively to the Insiders Club include her *unmissable* insights from behind both production and performance sides of TV panel games; how and why her feelings about being viewed as an inspiration have changed; and why Nish Kumar is such a horrible man.
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 ones with Fern Brady (24th May) and a self-help for comedians special with Amanda Donnet (MClinPsych)
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.
Stu also co-hosts the “Child Labour" parenting podcast with Sindhu Vee
www.childlabourpod.comMondays 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.
"America's Funnyman" Neil Hamburger is the disturbing comic creation of Gregg Turkington; deeply funny, vile and poignant in equal measure. Ordinarily reluctant to talk about his alter-ego, Gregg gradually uncovers his love for outsider art, and the qualities he considers genius. We learn about the origins of Neil in prank phone calls and fake live shows, the comedy he can't stand and why, and the utterly original concept behind his live albums.
Over 30mins of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include Gregg on being booed onto the stage supporting Tenacious D at Reading Festival, and how it meant no more to him than a crowd at Madison Square Garden chanting his name! We also learn the surprising basis to whom he won't attack and why, and find out why he considers interviews pointless... Support the show today with a recurring donation and receive your access to the Insiders Club private podcast at www.comedianscomedians.com/insiders
Zach Zucker and Viggo Venn and their permanent director and co-creator Jonny Woolley are like a mainline injection of a comedy drug that hasn't been invented yet. This trio has been around the world four times at some disgustingly young age, winning awards and crazed fans, and revelling in mistakes, misadventures and madness.
We talk about their first Edinburgh and how they snatched victory from the jaws of a 10 month old baby, explore their solo work, including Zach's "Jack Tucker" character and his unique relationship with live direction and sound cues, and discuss breaking the rules, winding the Late N Live audience up on purpose, and getting good at being bad.
You get the whole 90 min interview in this episode, but you can sign up for the Insiders Club at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders to get access to all the extra content from any episode that has it, plus loads of extra stuff on a special private podcast!
The rushes from the three main interviews are available soon from www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders, along with all the extra material from any episode which has ever had extras attached!
Come and see Stu's work-in-progress show "Primer" at the Edinburgh Fringe at Monkey Barrel, who appear to have cheekily grabbed