Diary of a Standup Comedy Bottom Feeder

Last week I did a spot at Comedy Virgins on Wednesday. It was one of those “meh” nights that sort of went ok but didn’t really feel like the audience was especially into it. I’m probably being a little harsh on myself, as I had a couple of mates along and they said it went … Read more

I did a spot at Sam Rhodes Comedy Explosion last night, although Sam himself wasn’t there and Basil Jamm took over MC duties. It’s always an interesting night because the show usually takes place in the main bar area of The Cornershop, in the middle of Shoreditch, so even on a Monday it’s busy and … Read more

Another two gigs this week, starting on Monday at Sam Rhodes Comedy Explosion at The Cornershop bar in Shoreditch. This night is normally run in the main bar area, so as well as people who’ve turned up for the open mic night you also get random drinkers in the audience, which is a mixed blessing. … Read more

I did two spots this week, the first at Heavenly Comedy in Shepherds Bush on Wednesday, and another at Battersea Power Comedy on Thursday. It’s been a while since I did a spot at Heavenly Comedy, and this was the first time I’ve been to the new venue, The Princess Victoria, a really nice pub … Read more

Last night I went Back to We Are Funny Project in Dalston for the first time since they took their August break. Feeling confident after a good night at Angel Comedy RAW last week, I decided to go bareback and do my current set without any notes at all. The MC gave me a nice … Read more

I’ve been trying to get a spot at Angel Comedy’s RAW night for over a year. They run the famous Bill Murray comedy venue in Islington, and RAW is the new act/material night they run in the upstairs room of the nearby Camden Head pub. This week I finally got to do a spot there, … Read more

In an earlier post I wrote about my “racist baby” bit, which came from the real experience of my kid being scared of black people when he was really little. I’ve always liked the premise because the idea of this tiny, innocent baby being innately racist was funny to me, but in practice it’s a … Read more

Last week I was in San Francisco for a work trip, so I checked out the open mic scene before I went and planned to do some spots while I was there. In the end I only managed to do one spot – a combination of jet-lag, catching a cold on the way out, and … Read more

Back to Battersea Power Comedy this week. The gig runs in the upstairs room of the Duchess pub, which does great food, so I’d arranged to meet a friend there for dinner beforehand and ended up getting through a couple of pints and most of  a bottle of wine before it was my turn to … Read more

One of the most common problems for people starting in standup is finding somewhere to perform. Bigger cities will usually have a lot of comedy open mic nights, but it can be harder to find spots if you don’t live in one of those places. The first thing I learned was that it’s actually pretty … Read more