Superbly funny and effortlessly real on stage, Harriet Kemsley grew up scared of saying the wrong thing and making mistakes, but after trying stand-up at the suggestion of her parents, found in it the ability to embrace both her failures and her self. We talk about coping with having your debut show critically mauled; the self-control beneath the dizziness that people often assume of her; and crying at failing at clowning.
20 mins of extra content from this interview is available exclusively to the Insiders Club! We discover Harriet’s process for the roast of her husband, fellow comedian Bobby Mair, and her appearance on Live at the Apollo; discover why men often assume she needs help; and how she’s ageing into her persona. Plus, we finally get to the bottom of what she really thought of New York…
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.
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…
@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
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…
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.
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
Flo and Joan are a uniquely funny musical duo, with deadpan front-cloth patter rooted in their actual siblinghood. We talk about going from open mics to a special on Amazon Prime in just four years, get the inside story on their recent gig at the Royal Variety Performance, and learn why going viral makes you turn your phone off. We also discover what they learnt from the Canadian improv scene that underpins the whole shebang, and find out why shaking an egg is harder than it looks...
Thirty minutes of extras exclusive to the Insiders Club include a directorial tip that helped them trend on twitter on their first opening weekend; the backstage story on the Nationwide telly adverts that blew up and resulted in death threats; a look at the devilishly cunning improv-style narrative structure that forms the backbone of their special; plus the girls' analysis of each other's strengths and weaknesses!
And some burps.
Flawless in delivery, bubbling over with jokes, and with something real and compassionate to say, Suzi Ruffell is at the peak of her powers. We talk about: her latest Edinburgh fringe show "Dance Like Everyone's Watching"; making sure that LGBTQ+ people in the audience feel seen; how punishing she found being a new act (and whether she could do it all again); and why she finds happiness terrifying.
Extras available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include Suzi on her dos and don'ts of tour support, having worked extensively with Josh Widdicombe, Romesh Ranganathan and Kevin Bridges, as well as her thoughts on what makes a good director, and the best advice she was ever given... Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders to support the podcast with a regular monthly donation of your choice. Every level gets the same stuff, you pay what you think is appropriate.
Character-filled comedian and actress, Jessica Fostekew is also the presenter of her own podcast "Hoovering", and guest co-host of The Guilty Feminist. We talk about how noticing her own faked confidence led to a sea-change in her creative process, the "crime" of mixing stand-up and acting, the joys of fabricating the truth, and when to drink the champagne...
Join the Insiders Club at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders to get access to an ad-free version of this episode plus 20 minutes of extras, including Jessica's exploration of her work directing standup shows for Sara Pascoe and Lauren Pattinson among others. Insiders Club membership also gives you a whole private podcast stuffed with inspiring extra content, the chance to critique newer acts en masse, and pitch to interview Stu about the subject of your choice - as well as a new community of hyper-fans!
Very funny, amazingly watchable, and offering genuine insight into his personal and social politics, Tez Ilyas is a Northern, working-class, muslim comic capable of going all the way. Exceptionally frank about his disappointment on being overlooked for award nomination, he goes on to identify the historic lack of diversity on the judging panel of one of the most highly regarded prizes in British comedy...
Access exclusive extra material from Tez, plus all extra content from the podcast, by signing up for COMCOM MEMBERSHIP with a recurring donation at comedianscomedian.com/donate
* Get tickets for An Evening With David Sedaris in July from www.myticket.co.uk *
Fin Taylor and Caimh "CK" McDonnell are the last guests in this burst of episodes, then I'm on a break for August to record more content at a mystery festival somewhere past Berwick Upon Tweed... If you're reading this check @comcompod for more updates!
Get your hands on a ComComPod shirt & other stuff here...