A blog about grass-roots live comedy.
Recently I did a spot at Low Stakes Comedy in Streatham, which as far as I’m concerned is a dream open mic night. It’s in a nice little room that’s perfect for comedy, it’s well set up, and even though the audience was mostly made up of other acts, they were all engaged and up … Read more
I did a couple of spots this week – Compulsive Comedy at the Carlton Tavern in Maida Vale, and back to the Comedy Centre at the Milford Arms in Isleworth. It was my first time at Compulsive so I didn’t really know what to expect, but it’s a nice, well organised gig, run in a … Read more
I’m trying to make an effort to book more gigs outside of London, because I live right on the very southern tip of the city and it’s just as easy to drive to any number of smaller towns as it is to slog through the city traffic to get to central gig. Also, they don’t … Read more
This week I did a 7 minute spot at The Comedy Center, run in Isleworth’s Milford Arms pub by Matt Lowes, and Sam Hampson (who also hosts the gig with great energy). It’s a lovely little new act, new material night, well organised, friendly, and on the two nights that I’ve done there’s been an … Read more
This week I kicked off 2026 with a ten-spot at an Instant Laughs gig in South Mitcham Community Centre. The promoter, Marvin McCarthy runs a bunch of gigs local to me in around south-west London, so it’s always nice to get a spot that I don’t have to travel too far for. This monthly gig … Read more
And I’m still doing standup. Kind of. It’s been a bit of a year for me, and standup has taken a back seat for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I took all of August off work and took my kids on month-long road-trip across America – from Yellowstone to Chicago, with a lot of stop-offs … Read more
I’ve not been doing much this month since the Ding Dong Gong show a couple of weeks ago. Work’s been full on this month and with the Euros on as well it’s not been an ideal time for doing standup, so I’ve been trying to revert to my original plan for the year, which was … Read more
If you’re the kind of person who thinks doing standup comedy is scary, and the idea of trying to make a roomful of strangers laugh makes your guts gurgle with anxiety, you’re going to absolutely shit your pants when I explain the Ding Dong Gong Show. A standard gong show is like an open mic … Read more
Last night I did a spot at Pink Peach Comedy, a new act new material night hosted by Keenan Atkins. I hadn’t heard of the night before I got a spot, and I don’t know Keenan, so I didn’t have much of a clue about what kind of gig it would be, but I ended … Read more
Every Tuesday night Sam Rhodes Comedy Explosion runs a bar show at the Lodge Tavern in Ealing – it’s set up in the corner of a public bar, but usually most of the people are there for the show so it feels like a dedicated comedy room even though it’s not really. The venue puts … Read more