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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A juggernaut of charisma and filth, Ninia Benjamin has a supernatural connection to her audience and a mind like a firework display. We discuss why she won’t ever explain her race or size, only her point of view, and how she moved beyond the onstage anger that used to motivate her.  We also dig deep into her career rebirth after an ‘annus horribilis’ brought about by professional struggles and her own impostor syndrome.  This far into her career, can she finally accept herself as a “proper comedian”?

Extras include Ninia on writing for Aladdin and what she sang to Will Smith, a deep-dive into why she identifies writing comedy with “homework”, and a full on pep-talk from Stu about exactly how she should attack the Edinburgh festival… Access them, and all other extra content, by singing up the Insiders Club at  www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders

IG: @ninia_benjamin | TW: @ninia_benjamin

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

01/02/20

Newcastle Stand (early show – 5pm)

02/02/20

Glasgow – The Stand

07/02/20

Farnham Maltings

11/02/20

York – The Basement

12/02/20

Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club

28/02/20

Cambridge Junction

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: 3 Non-Blondes, Aladdin, Audiences, Comedy, Interview, Janey Godley, Jo Caulfield, Jobs, John Gordillo, Jongleurs, London, Mental Health, Mike Gunn, Onstage Persona, Persona, Reginald D. Hunter, Risk, Ross Noble, Russell Howard, Seann Walsh, Sketch, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Stephen Grant, Success, Terry Alderton, TV Comedy, Will Smith, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes, Writing On Stage

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A master of "pulling back into the wide angle", Jamali Maddix thrives on big routines about big subjects, letting his innate comic ability run riot. We talk about the pressures of keeping up hit-rate within routines, and get technical about top-lines, and why he wants the premise of a bit to be more intelligent than he is himself. But what happens when you lose sight of your goals in the process of following the next apparently logical step?

30 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Jamali going deep into the production of his Vice TV smash "Hate Thy Neighbour", which saw him write an hour of comedy in three days, sixteen times, whilst avoiding being killed by neo-Nazis. We also cover how to extract laughter from horrific things, and find the fertile ground between outrage and consensus...

Join now at comedianscomedian.com/insiders

www.jamalimaddix.com

TW: @jamalimaddix | IG: @jamalimaddix

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

25/01/20

Corsham – The Pound Arts Centre

01/02/20

Newcastle Stand (early show – 5pm)

02/02/20

Glasgow – The Stand

07/02/20

Farnham Maltings

11/02/20

York – The Basement

12/02/20

Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club

28/02/20

Cambridge Junction

LISTEN HERE

Filed Under: Alcohol, Audiences, Awards, Bill Burr, Bill Hicks, comcompod, Comedy, Competitions, Dave Chappelle, Edgy, Edinburgh, Ego, Fern Brady, First Open Spot, Imran Yusuf, Interview, Jason Manford, Jobs, London, Melbourne, Mike Gunn, Money, Montreal Comedy Festival, Onstage Persona, Patrice O'Neal, Persona, Phil Kay, Reginald D. Hunter, Risk, Russell Howard, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Storytelling, Structure, Success, Tom Stade, TV, Twitter, Vice, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes

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The only comic ever to have consecutively won Best Newcomer and Best Show at the Edinburgh Fringe, John Kearns is a master at finding pathos in the prosaic, combining clowning and standup in a way that makes absolutely no sense written down. With influences from Jacques Tati to Neil Hamburger, we explore his sense of place within himself, overreaching in his writing, and ambition in his career...

Thirty minutes of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club includes John's brilliant technique for underpinning all his material with genuine pathos, and delves into writing for Harry Hill, meeting Chris Morris, and how the spotlight can burn...
@johnsfurcoat 

Get tickets for Stu's tour:

04/12/19

Aldershot – The West End Centre

25/01/20

Corsham – The Pound Arts Centre

01/02/20

Newcastle Stand (early show – 5pm)

02/02/20

Glasgow – The Stand

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: Alternative Comedy, Art, Audiences, Awards, BBC4, Best Newcomer, Bill Cosby, Bob Monkhouse, Character, Chris Morris, Clown, comcompod, Comedy, Competitions, Dave (TV channel), Directing, Dr Brown, Eddie Izzard, Edinburgh, Fame, Festival, Festival Comedian, Fosters Comedy Award, Free Fringe, Fringe, Gregg Turkington, Harry Hill, Interview, Isolation, Jobs, John Kearns, London, Mental Health, Neil Hamburger, Onstage Persona, Perrier Comedy Award, Persona, Phil Burgers, Problems, Radio 4, Risk, Soho Theatre, Stage Persona, Stand Up, Success, Tom Allen, Tony Hancock, Twitter, Whimsy, Woody Allen, Worth, Writing, Writing Jokes

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