In a podcast recorded in a less frightening time (about a fortnight ago) Desiree Burch talks us through her upbringing and development to becoming the powerful and hyper-eloquent comic force she is today. We talk about seeking connection, the protective shell of comedy, finding acceptance but to white standards, and why her tremendous debut poster was a literal collage of dick pics.

30 mins worth of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Desiree’s very inspiring thoughts on being her own boss and recognising her own value, and a deep dive into her last show “Desiree’s Coming Early” which used a twin narrative to reframe her personal history, whilst being incredibly funny…

As the live comedy circuit undergoes a painful transformation into some unknown new form, there HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME to keep the podcast alive and get hold of oodles of sweet extra content (including the new special episode about The Great Pivot with ComCom Consultant Pete Dobbing) with a regular subscription.  Join now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

And join Stu Goldsmith for a Working Lunch!  Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/lunch to book your one-to-one social or professional online lunch date with Stu!

@destheray |www.desireeburch.com

www.comedianscomedian.com | @comcompod | @stugoldsmith

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Filed Under: Audiences, Comedy, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Interview, Joe Wilkinson, Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week, Reginald D. Hunter, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Success, TV, Twitter, USA, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes

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In the face of an unprecedented pandemic, most listeners will soon be confined to isolation of one sort or another. Stu tries to make himself and hopefully you feel better about the overwhelming challenges ahead. How can we stay resilient, positive, and maybe creative during this bewildering and frightening time?

Support the podcast by joining the Insiders Club today. Sign up at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders to access all the extras from past episodes, the workspace app, and the new special episode about pivoting to online work with ComCom Consultant Pete Dobbing. Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/lunch to book an internet one-to-one lunch date with Stu.

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Comedy, Coping, Corona, COVID-19, Fringe, Stand Up, Success, Twitter, Worth, Writing

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Superb comedian, thrilling storyteller and born survivor Janey Godley not only answers back to her online death-threats, but publishes her whereabouts with an open invitation to "come and have a go". We talk about how she thrived despite abuse, poverty and alcoholism in her upbringing; detail her absolute conviction in the power of honesty; and learn how an early experience at the Edinburgh Fringe led her to reject the comedy industry and focus instead on her audience.

CW: We talk about abuse Janey suffered as a child, at the very start of this show, and throughout.

25 mins of extras available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include Janey on how her refusal to play along led to her being banned from a chain of comedy clubs; how she approaches publicising criminal connections whilst keeping her own nose clean; the ramifications of her husband’s autism, and the glee she feels at her daughter Ashley Storrie’s success in the comedy world. Join now and support the show at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

Thanks to the Stand Newcastle

www.janeygodley.com | @janeygodley

Janey Godley’s Soup Pot Tour is on right now - tickets available through her website 

Stuart Goldsmith's Edinburgh Fringe show "The Void" is on sale now at tinyurl.com/stu2020

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Filed Under: Acting, Actor, Age, Alan Davies, Alcohol, Audiences, Awards, BBC, Billy Connolly, Blogging, Bridget Christie, comcompod, Comedy, Comedy Store, Competitions, Criticism, Edinburgh, Festival, Fringe, Interview, Jerry Sadowitz, Jimmy Carr, Jo Brand, Jobs, Josie Long, Leicester Square Theatre, Malcolm Hardee, Mental Health, Money, Morecambe & Wise, Onstage Persona, Panel Shows, Perrier, Perrier Comedy Award, Persona, Phil Kay, Plagiarism, Rhona Cameron, Risk, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Stereotypes, Storytelling, Structure, Stuart Goldsmith, Success, Tarantino, The Pleasance, The Stand, TV, TV Comedy, Twitter, Underbelly, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes, Writing On Stage, YouTube

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The godfather of British alternative comedy, Alexei Sayle is always at the edge of catastrophe. The star of The Young Ones, Alexei Sayle’s Stuff, The Comic Strip Presents, many more and now his Imaginary Sandwich Bar, gets stuck into why inauthenticity is his bugbear, how to make the most of creative discomfort, the earliest days of the Comedy Store, and the transition from counterculture to national treasure

In 30 mins of extras available only to the Insiders Club, Alexei talks about his real feelings towards Ben Elton, and the current crop of arena comics; how he re-fit his show about political optimism when the wind changed; and identifies a link between standup and martial arts regarding the energy of the audience and his own… Available now only at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

See Alexei on tour now! Details at www.alexeisayle.me

Thanks to Ellen Frost at Bloomsbury Theatre @bloomstheatre

Stuart Goldsmith's Edinburgh Fringe show "The Void" is onside now at tinyurl.com/stu2020

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Acting, Adrian Edmondson, Age, Alexei Sayle, Alternative Comedy, Art, Audiences, Awards, BBC, Ben Elton, Bob Monkhouse, Bottom, College, comcompod, Comedy, Comedy Store, Compere, Compere/MC/Hosting, Fame, Fern Brady, First Open Spot, Fringe, Interview, Isolation, Jobs, Live At The Apollo, Liverpool, London, Onstage Persona, Persona, Phil Ellis, Podcasting, political, Political Comedy, Political Humour, Problems, Radio, Radio 4, Rik Mayall, Sketch, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Stewart Lee, Structure, Success, The Comedy Store, The Young Ones, TV, TV Comedy, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes, Writing On Stage

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Eshaan Akbar has an extremely diverse comic portfolio. This former wealth manager and government policy maker is now a successful TV comedian with a significant career in the making. We talk about his very precise ambitions and his fascination with the absolute freedom of the stage, as well as his disappointment in finding out that comedy is no longer anti-establishment and that comedians are “a precious bunch”. We also touch on Eshaan’s suicide attempt, and get stuck into the tremendous difficulty of exploring a serious emotional topic using comedy.
*Content warning: mention of suicide*

In 30 mins of extras available only to the Insiders Club, Eshaan outlines some fascinating and unique parallels with comedy from his former careers. He portrays different types of jokes by comparing them to bitcoin, treasury bonds and investments (which if you already know about jokes works neatly as a primer in finance) and explores links between policy making and comedy, via analysis of two very different ideas about “audience”. Quintessential ComCom, available now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

www.eshaanakbar.com | @eshaanakbar

Catch Eshaan at Soho Theatre, 7th-11th April 2020:

sohotheatre.com/shows/eshaan-akbar-infidel-ity

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

28/02/20

Cambridge Junction

www.comedianscomedian.com | @comcompod

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Age, Ahir Shah, Audiences, Awards, BBC, BBC4, Christian Knowles, comcompod, Comedy, Competitions, Controversy, Corporate Gigs, Corporate Work, Dark Humour, Diversity, Ed Gamble, Edinburgh, Eshaan Akbar, Festival, Fringe, Interview, Kevin Bridges, Lee Evans, Mental Health, Michael McIntyre, Micky Flanagan, Nish Kumar, Onstage Persona, Sindhu Vee, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Stephen Grant, Success, TV, TV Comedy, Twitter, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes, Writing On Stage

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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

@SeannWalsh | seannwalsh.com

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

28/02/20

Cambridge Junction

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: #Hypothetical, Audiences, Comedy, Dave, Directing, Drinking, Dylan Moran, Edinburgh, Ego, Fame, Fear, Festival, Fringe, Greta Thunberg, Ian Stone, Interview, Isolation, Jack Dee, John Maloney, Kevin Bridges, Lee Evans, Live At The Apollo, London, Mainstream, Mental Health, Micky Flanagan, Money, Off The Kerb, Persona, Radio, Reviews, Risk, Romesh Ranganathan, Russell Howard, Russell Kane, School, Sean Lock, Seann Walsh, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Stand Up For The Week, Stephen K Amos, Storytelling, Structure, Stuart Goldsmith, Success, TV, Twitter, Up The Creek, Vic And Bob, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes, Writing On Stage, YouTube

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A man on a mission, comedian and academic Dr Matt Winning is an expert on climate change and on making the apocalypse funny. We explore how to make a show educational without being worthy, finding purpose in struggle, and how to survive as a comic when you’re not motivated to quit your day job. We also dig into the maintenance of optimism when your crises are about something a little more meaningful than comedy, and gloss over the difference between polar bears and pall-bearers…

25 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Matt on “coming out” as a scientist in comedy, how his love of the surreal clashes with the mainstream direction of his mission, and we get a morsel of the inside story on the infamous “Bearpit Podcast Podcast”. Join now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

mattwinning.com | @mattywin85

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

28/02/20

Cambridge Junction

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Abandoman, Argument, Audiences, Awards, Brian Cox, Climate Change, College, comcompod, Comedy, Competitions, Daniel Kitson, Edinburgh, Festival, Festival Comedian, Fringe, Greta Thunberg, Interview, Lou Sanders, Matt Ewings, Matt Winning, Problems, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Stuart Laws, Success, TED Talk, Twitter, Up The Creek, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes, Young Comedian Of The Year Award, YouTube

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Twins Randy and Jason Sklar blow audiences away with their extraordinarily layered stand-up, weaving their delivery alongside, through and around each other’s voices; sparring, arguing and then dropping into perfect sync on a punchline.

We get stuck into their writing process, the difficulties of working as a team when their family lives don’t sync as easily as their creative lives, the challenge of identifying a target audience when you straddle mainstream and alternative, and why the “ball don’t lie”…

25 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include how Randy and Jason approach Roast Battles, why they love tagging jokes and the TV pitch it inspired, and we find out which twin is the happiest. We also get an insight into their episode of NPR podcast “This American Life”, when they were made aware of a genuinely mind-blowing possibility about their identities as twins. Join now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

TW: @SklarBrothers | IG: @SklarBrothers

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

07/02/20

Farnham Maltings

11/02/20

York – The Basement

12/02/20

Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club

28/02/20

Cambridge Junction

www.comedianscomedian.com | @comcompod

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Alex Edelman, Andy Kindler, Andy Samberg, Audiences, Bill Burr, Comedy, Interview, Janeane Garofalo, Joe Rogan, Marc Maron, Monty Python, Noel Fielding, Onstage Persona, Podcasting, Risk, Sarah Silverman, Sklar Brothers, SNL, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Stereotypes, Structure, Success, SXSW, The Mighty Boosh, The Office, TV, USA, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes

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