“Is there any more depth to you, or are you just jokes?"

…So went The Honourable Tom Houghton’s experience with Netflix influencer/reality show “The Circle”, and we get right into that here! We also discuss his ballistic comedy style, the social media strategy that has seen him accrue over 10M likes across Tiktok and Instagram, and his truly harrowing relationship with his boarding school.

We also discover his relationship with improv group The Noise Next Door and how it persists despite him leaving, and encounter a lifelong journey to master sincerity in his work…

25 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Tom exploring the relationship between his initial Posh Guy positioning and his most authentic comedy self; how he was called out by friends on his more obnoxious behaviour; and some excellent tips on social media mindset and work ethic.

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.

And submit your unmissable moments of ComComPod at www.comedianscomedian.com/unmissable

Catch up with Tom Houghton:

Catch Tom on his sell-out tour with extra dates added as speak!

www.honourabletom.com/pages/tour

www.honourabletom.com

Twitter/Instagram/Tiktok: @honourabletom

Everything Stu's up to:

Stu’s new stand-up special “I Need You Alive” is available online video and audio on demand via www.stuartgoldsmith.com

Podcast community, links to comedy clips on Instagram and Tiktok, and Stu’s official YouTube channel are all at linktr.ee/stuartgoldsmith

Or join the mailing list to stay friends forever at:

www.comedianscomedian.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

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Alcohol, Audiences, Channel 4, comcompod, Corporate Gigs, Do you ski?, Edinburgh, Fame, Festival, Fringe, Humility, Improv, Instagram, Interview, Jack Whitehall, James Acaster, London, Milo McCabe, Privilege, Roast Battle, Stage Persona, Success, Tom Houghton, Tower of London, TV, Twitter, Writing Jokes

Sarah Keyworth is a seriously funny comedian, and has a succinct and uncomplicated way of showing it. In this very thoughtful interview, they talk about the point where being saddened by other peoples’ reality meets the irresistible pull of activism. We also explore their creative partnership with the late, great Paul Byrne; and why they’d love to have a pint with JK Rowling…

20 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include what happened when Sarah’s therapist found out they were doing material about them, and we also learn why they’re a little old man at heart…

And submit your unmissable moments of ComComPod at www.comedianscomedian.com/unmissable

Catch Up With Sarah:

On their national tour in Nov, Feb and March, which culminates in a huge show at The Bloomsbury Theatre on 19th March - tickets available now via www.sarahkeyworth.co.uk/gigs

IG: @sarah_keyworth

TW: @sarahkcomedy

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

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: 8 Out Of 10 Cats, ADHD, Audiences, Awards, BBC4, Catherine Bohard, Edinburgh, Fringe, Interview, LGBTQ+, Live At The Apollo, Mental Health, Mock The Week, Radio 4, Sarah Keyworth, Shelf, Stage Persona, Success, Twitter, Writing Jokes

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.



Catch up with Alison Spittle:

www.alisonspittle.com IG/TW: @alisonspittle

Wheel of Misfortune podcast: https://pod.link/1525520717

See Alison live in Leicester and London: http://alisonspittle.com/gigs

See “Wet” at the Edinburgh Fringe: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/alison-spittle-wet



Everything Stu's up to:

This podcast is @ComComPod on Twitter

www.comedianscomedian.com

IG and Tik: @stuartgoldsmithcomedy

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.

“There’s perfect and there’s perfect; and that was perfect.” David Cooper, Chief People Officer Circle Health Group

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Alison Spittle, Audiences, BBC, Bill Hicks, Blue Peter, Cancel Culture, comcompod, Coping, Eddie Murphy, Edinburgh, Fear, Feminism, Fern Brady, First Open Spot, Fringe, Interview, Irish, Kerry Katona, Mental Health, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Nish Kumar, Stage Persona, The Guilty Feminist, Tommy Tiernan, TV, Twitter, Wheel of Misfortune, Writing Jokes

Stevie Martin has been generating excellent material for years, and is now starting to break through due to her jaw-droppingly funny online videos, packed with punchlines and with a genuinely unique flavour.

We talk about the huge amount of time and prep that goes into her work, as she battles to feel like a “proper comedian” in an industry that prioritises certain styles, backgrounds and looks.

We also explore her brilliant former sketch outfit Massive Dad, and whether their aesthetic made them “unapproachable” as performers; the relative loneliness of stand-up; and trying to love Edinburgh in the way that it deserves to be loved…

Insiders:
35 mins of extra content available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Stevie on her murky past as an Edinburgh Fringe reviewer! She also shares some surprising insights about what works on Twitter and why, the inside editorial secrets of content creators, and we find out why her next Edinburgh poster might sell her in a very different way than previous years.

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.

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: ABK, Acting, Adam Riches, Age, Alasdair Beckett-King, Audiences, Awards, Big Train, Brett Goldstein, Channel 4, comcompod, Corona, COVID-19, Edinburgh, Fame, Feminism, Fern Brady, Festival, Fringe, Interview, Nish Kumar, Onstage Persona, Persona, Podcasting, Stage Persona, Success, TV, TV Comedy, Twitch, Twitter, Viral, Writing Jokes, YouTube

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)

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Age, Audiences, Blackadder, Dead Famous, Eddie Izzard, Heckles, Horrible Histories, Interview, Maid Marion, Monty Python, Sara Pascoe, Structure, Success, TV Comedy, Twitter, You're Dead To Me

Bethany Black makes a powerfully funny connection with her fanbase, and has been wielding it to great effect over the course of her heavily-shielded pandemic experience.

We explore the effect on her work of her concurrent diagnoses with autism, ADHD and agoraphobia, and discuss how her fanbase consists of people just like her, rather than the cool kids she was trying to impress.

We also cover painting her herself into a corner with stand-up; how some promoters book to their own taste without realising; not being famous enough for The Chase; and what she’s already anticipating tolerating in her sixties…

No extras for this episode but you can still hit www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for all the extras from every episode that has them, including the exclusive Insiders Q&A with James Acaster!

Follow Bethany Black:

Follow @beffernieblack
Follow her and subscribe to: http://twitch.tv/beffernieblack
Buy her stand-up special: http://gofasterstripe.com/unwinnable
Tip her through http://ko-fi.com/bethanyblack

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: Acting, Actor, Age, Alcohol, Audiences, Awards, Bill Hicks, Brendon Burns, Caroline Aherne, comcompod, Coping, Corona, COVID-19, Dr Who, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Gary Delaney, Gender, Inspiration, Interview, Janey Godley, Jobs, Johnny Vegas, Jongleurs, Mark Watson, Mental Health, Peter Kay, Stage Persona, Success, TV, Twitch, Twitter

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, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Graham Norton, Hello America, Interview, James Acaster, Milton Jones, Mitch Hedburg, Mock The Week, Nish Kumar, Stage Persona, Success, The Mash Report, TV, TV Comedy, Twitter, Victoria Wood, YouTube

Winner and still holder of the 2019 Edinburgh Comedy Award, Jordan Brookes’ marriage of stand-up and clowning is an absolutely extraordinary experience. He deftly walks a tightrope between frankness and insincerity, observing the observers, and mining material from the problem of self-reflection. And if you think that sounds pretentious you’re going to love the rest…
We talk about calling bullshit on emotional manipulation, his slow climb back to normality after a youth inflected with OCD and depression, as well as the seductive narrative of victimhood…. Also seducing your mum.

35 minutes of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club includes Jordan on the arduous process of making his hit show “Bleed”, which did something incredibly new at imaginative, at some cost; the cultural race to expose more and more weakness and suffering over which comedy seems to obsess, and his mixed feelings about the award win.

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

Follow Jordan Brookes:
On his excellent website, on which you can watch tonnes of clips, plus digitally download "Bleed" and "I've Got Nothing": www.jordanbrookescomedy.com

On Twitter: @jordbrookes

Everything Stu's up to:
Stu’s “Infinite Sofa” chat show is now available as the perfect solution to remote-working office parties, sales conferences, motivational and twellness events.

“It was an absolutely hysterical and wonderful evening, for both those partaking and everyone watching online!” Maria Kuzak (Fundraising Manager at CALM)

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, Alternative Comedy, Art, Audiences, Awards, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Interview, Stage Persona, Success, Twitter, Writing Jokes, YouTube