A blog about grass-roots live comedy.
I started standup in 2017, and since then I’ve written this on-and-off blog about my experiences at open mics. It used to be called “Diary of a Comedy Newbie” but I’m not really a newbie any more, just a comedy industry bottom-feeder who doesn’t know how to quit.
Three gigs last week, ending with a trip to Southampton on Friday for the Manfords New Act of the Year Competition, but let’s start at the beginning. Things kicked off on Monday with a spot at We Are Funny Project, which turned out to be a small but perfectly formed night. There were a few … Read more
I was back at We Are Funny Project in Dalston last night and, while it was a little quieter than it has been recently, the room was still buzzy with plenty of audience and a good atmosphere. I’ve been at WAF quite a lot recently so I had a bit of a dilemma about what … Read more
I did a spot at Sam Rhodes’ Comedy Explosion at the Rocksteady in Dalston this week. To be honest, I’m stressed out of my nut with work at the moment and not focusing much on standup, but I’d booked the gig and didn’t want to bale on it. As it happened it was qute nice … Read more
Just a single spot this week, Monday at We Are Funny Project again. I’m in the middle of a big project at work which is kind of all consuming at the moment, and it’s staying that way until the middle of March. That means comedy’s taken a back seat for a while, I’ve not found … Read more
I’m in a bit of a quiet period at the moment, since it’s the time of year when I’m busiest in my day job so everything else has to take a bit of a back seat. I did one gig on Monday of this week and haven’t got another booked until nearly the end of … Read more
A busy week for me. I started on Monday with 5 minutes at Sam Rhodes Comedy Explosion in Shoreditch. It’s a nice, friendly night and always a good place to try out new material, so I had planned to try out a lot of new bits I’ve been working on. In the bar I got … Read more
It took me a year to get a spot at Angel Comedy Raw last October and it was a really good gig, so I’ve been looking forward to getting back there. It didn’t take so long this time, I applied at the start of December and they came back to me fairly quickly with the … Read more
The Max Turner Prize is an annual competition run by Comedy Virgins at the Cavendish Arms in Stockwell, one of the most popular and long running comedy open mic nights in London. As well as a bundle of cash, the first prize includes a full year of being able to perform on any night without … Read more
The first half of January has been busy, at least by my standards. To kick the year off I went to watch a Max Turner Prize heat as a bringer for Nicholas Everritt. I’d never met him before, but remember seeing him at one of the first ever open mics I went to watch when … Read more
I wrapped up my first full year of doing standup (nearly 18 months in total) with a spot at Comedy Virgins at the Cavendish Arms in Stockwell. It’s always a good night, and my set went down well – I got into the clap-off, but was soundly beaten by Luke Chilton who was so on … Read more