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I've been meaning to start this for a while, and the other thread gave me a nudge. I really need something new to watch, especially since Stewart Lee fell off, and I've watched more Bill Burr than is healthy.

Following on from the previous discussion, I find Jim Jeffrey's too........... Australian maybe. He can be very funny but he comes across as a bit obnoxious at times. Maybe it's just me? Frankie Boyle while offensive is actually very clever at times. I love his joke about Prince Harry and Afghan shepherds ;D

Recommendations and favourite clips welcome.....

Daniel Kitson is probably my favourite UK comedian. Probably.

I like a lot of U.S. comics: Burr, Doug Stanhope, Marc Maron. I don’t mind people like John Mulaney but Aziz Ansari has ‘lost it’ for me. Feels like popularity has gone to his head.

Am I right in recalling you've done some stand up yourself?

Yeah, I did quite regularly for about 3 years.

Mostly enjoyable but I think I’m done with that now.

I love Bill Burr to bits but find his intensity exhausting.

I applaud you for that. It must take some guts to get up there in front of an audience.

I did it once egged on by Wil Hodgson, never again, frightening, Nemo also has done some stand up too.

Comedy is very subjective, I know many many brilliant comedians but I doubt many would appeal to the masses especially if you are into the housewife favourites Peter Kay and Michael Mcintyre.

Find a comedy club, go out and do it, you will find shitloads of talent that will never (or rarely) make it on TV but on stage are fantastic.

Acts such as Tim Shishodia, Wil Hodgson, Martin Mor, Phill Jupitus, Jimeoin, Rob Deering, Mark Olver, John Robbins, Gary Delaney, Jarred Christmas, Steve Day, Simon Donald, Simon Evans, Craig Campbell, Richard Herring et al the list is almost endless of talented and rarely seen on TV acts.

I have visited the Edinburgh Comedy Fringe every year for 12 years and over that time taken in around 250 acts and almost all of them are worth the entrance fee.

Saw Kitson at the roundhouse last July.  He is truly next level from anything else Ive seen.  Hilarious, touching and thought provoking he says what I feel.  Just much much better.

Saw Jordan Brookes at Chippenham comedy festival last year.  He went on to be shortlisted fopr the Edinburgh award.  He was very good as well.

Last weekend went up to London and saw Bridget christie doing a work in progress show which was allright, but very much a work in progress followed by Rob Newman doing a show about philosophy which was very funny.

Looking back at the thread I realise this doent help at all.  Sorry.

I also saw Venkman at the chippenham comedy festival.  He wasn't performing but was still very funny.

Does anyone have any Daniel Kitson they'd like to share? Or is there not much available online? I've watched a couple of short bits of his before, nothing that's really grabbed me.

Been to say Craig Campbell after he supported Frankie Boyle on his tour about 5 or 6 years ago. Was very good. Seen a lot of Gary Delaney, but not live, mainly his Mock the Week stuff. Isn't he married to Sarah Millican??

If you get chance to see David Baddiel’s My Family: Not the Sitcom, do so.

Searingly honest, very funny and, unless you have a heart of stone, you’ll choke back tears at the end

Was just looking for Daniel Kitson tickets and saw Mark Thomas is on at the Old Vic. I've seen him twice at the Tobacco Factory(about walking the wall in Palestine,  and his dad and Opera). He's done some great stuff since the mid-90s in my opinion.

You won't find much of his stuff online, but I echo everyone else's recommendation. You're best off signing up to his mailing list as tickets sell out quite fast if you just go looking.

I'm off to FINALLY see Stewart Lee in February, so I'm glad to hear he's gone off the boil :D

I'm a Kitson disciple.  You need to see him live, a class apart.

Kitson was, I think Im right in saying, not keen on TV and general 'celebrity' after appearing in Phoenix Nights as Spencer the barman.  He sort of quit then to just do live performance and has managed to keep most of his stuff away from the web.

His badly maintained website and mailing list are the best places to get any of his stuff and the bandcamp page has a few bits for a fiver.  Very much worth it.  

http://danielkitson.bandcamp.com/

http://www.danielkitson.com/index.html

And Ells - Stewart Lee did a work in progress of that show at the Chippenham Comedy festival way back in Septemeber 2016 (maybe when I saw Venkman) even at that stage it was brilliant.  You'll have a great time.

You may feel completely differently, although a friend who loves him said the same when I brought it up. I thought the last series was pretty awful, he actually seems jaded rather than just pretending to be. I think people will still laugh because it's him, but how long can he keep going with 'the people over that side don't get it' or one of his other stock phrases? It's a shame because I adored him, I think 'Give it to me straight like a pear cider' is possibly the finest piece of performance art I've ever seen.

I've signed up to DK's mailing list now, thanks all.

I'm not sure how much of the Phoenix Nights thing was Kitson hating fame and how much was him hating Kay and what happened to PN. I know who comes out looking better, though.

And cheers Saxo, it's one off my comedy bucket list if nothing else :)

He is indeed, his live stand up is fantastic, probably my all time favourite stand up and a lovely bloke too.

Stewart Lee is superb and when me and Saxondale saw him he did a near 2 hour set of all new material, so so good, before the gig he turned up and went into the changing room and when asked if he wanted anything he repied "do you have an vinyl record collections for me to look through" to which Wil gave him a box full of old LPs which he happily spent an hour going through.

Cannot recommend im highly enough.

Talking of which Suzie Bennett is at the Chippenham Comedy Club this coming Thursday, she is also very good live and an old friend, worth a visit to the Old Road Tavern in Chippenham.

Indeed I did, I was pretty dreadful but it was a good experience. Trying to make people laugh makes any other kind of public speaking you do after an absolute doddle. Not doing it any more, but quite fancy doing a bit of comedy writing or improv (which are admittedly at opposite poles of the 'things I hate about stand-up' meter, but there you go) at some point.

Not got many recommendations beyond the ones earlier in this thread (Mark Olver in particular is a lovely fella, was my MC/coach when I did it the first time), but if you're in or around London, the Comedy Store is a great Friday night, especially if you don't know anyone on the bill.

I was chatting to someone recently who had a degree in stand up comedy, think it may have been an element of a wider comedy degree.

Isn't education great.....

I was expecting a punch line there Reg, and you didn't deliver it.

I'll leave it to you pro's...

Here you go...

I was chatting to someone recently who had a degree in stand up comedy.....

He said you have to be 180 or it doesn't count as "stood up"

..I won't give up my day job.  :suicide:

I've just discovered I'm going to see Joe Lycett soon too, don't know much about him so will be interesting.

Do you use a protractor? she said might work better...

A joint effort, I like it  :pint:

My Dad is still livid about someone doing a PhD in Alfred Hitchcock that he saw on Pointless about a month ago.

...she said the sextant wasn't very good....#Ba-dum-dum-tisshhh#

The TEF collective could probably come up with a sitcom and script it, if minds were put to it. After all Mrs Brown's Boys gets big viewing figures, and you can offshore the proceeds.

Went to see this the other night, about opening a comedy club in Palestine. Not as funny as his previous shows, but very interesting and worthwhile.

I've started to watch a bit of Marc Marion now, hadn't heard of him before. Cheers.

Mate of mine says there's a new brothel in town fronting as a greengrocers...

...I've heard they do a roaring trade in courgettes but they can't fathom why their unripe bananas keep being returned...

Ha, the old road tavern. I used to play league darts against them. Proper pub, chip butties during the interval  :)

Good cask beers too, nice pub.

Best pub in Chippenham, although the competition is hardly fierce.

Looking at tickets for Richard Herring and Andy Hamilton in the next few months.

Saw Richard Herring last year, he was superb. Get those tickets if you can.

I needn't have worried about seeing Stewart Lee losing it - he was exceptional (and very nice when i met him after the gig). I get that the "those over there don't get it" jokes are a bit repetitive to some, but it's not the majority of the show by any means. Probably the funniest stand up I've ever seen since Kitson.

It's okay, everyone loses it in the end. The only ways to avoid this are a) pretend to die and then come back as Alex Jones or b) get good when you're old so there's no time for you to lose it, like George Carlin.

Richard Herring is a lovely if a little morose bloke, I get on well with him, we talk about football, he is a massive York fan having been born there even though has lived most his life about 15 miles down the road from me in Somerset.

Stewart Lee is one of THE best stand up acts I have ever seen, never disappoints.

Went to see Mark Thomas: Showtime from the Frontline in London.
Had forgotten about him until he got a mention here. Used to enjoy the Comedy Product.

The show was very good, educational and thought provoking.
The two Palestinian guys both had polished and very different routines.
Stratford East is a proper old musty smelling theatre.

Booked up for David Baddiel at the Wyvern tomorrow.

Will look to catch an open mic night somewhere at some stage.

Saw John Robins who won the Edinburgh award this year do his show at the Komedia Bath on Wednesday.

Very good.  All about his relationship falling apart and his girlfriend (Sara Pascoe) leaving him.  Very funny.  Going to see his ex Sara Pascoe in Swindon in October to get the other side of the story.

*John Robins

I found the shorter guy much too loud, although I was quite near the stage. Both has decent acts though, and I can imagine they've honed them more in the two months since I saw them.

Yes.  The tall insecure neurotic one not the short insecure neurotic ocd one.

Ha! I like Robins’ Radio X show he does with Elis James.

The new James Acaster special is quite good

I saw David Baddiel's show a couple of years ago when he was previewing it.  Thought it was brilliant and I can see why 2 years later there's still demand for it.  Hope you and enjoy.  It's funny and sad in equal measure.

Posting this for my good friend Wil Hodgson who is hosting the Chippenham Comedy Festival on the 6th to 8th July.

A fantastic deal of £50 for the weekend gets you 9 acts comprising -

Robin Ince
Caroline Mabey
Andrew O'Neill
Sean McLoughlin
Jo Caulfield
Simon Donald
Danny Buckler
Mr B. The Gentleman Rhymer
Wil Hodgson

Tickets available here.

http://chippenhamcomedy.co.uk/comedy-festival/

That's a bloody cracking line up.

It is excellent for the money, a few proper headliners there.

The only thing is the venue only holds about 100 max so they are selling out fast.

Fair play to the bloke, he seems to put in a lot of work to get things happening in the town.

Where is it? Three Crowns?

The guy loves his Chippenham.

No, its at the Old Road Tavern right next to the railway station.

The Chippenham massive as he calls it.

I'm amazed you can fit 50 into the Tavern..

Its in the old barn out the back.  And it is still a bloody tight squeeze.  I go when I can and have caught the Stewart Lee show in there and also Jordan Brookes who was nominated for the edinburgh prize last year.  Very good.

aaaah, yes, that makes sense, he says... not realising there was a big barn out back..

Yeah its not THAT big but with a squeeze and standing you can fit 100+ in there with seats its nearer 70.

Its little more than a large shed.

If I lived closer/had time that'd be right up my street. Robin Ince is acquired taste to some but I think he's great (and very bloody clever). Damn you distance/time!

Saw Ivo Graham at the Arts Centre last night. Fucking brilliant.

Andy Hamilton last night at the Redgrave, with a show about change. Very funny, not overly political and he railed against the new left who get offended by everything. It's good to know I'm not alone and I haven't just gone all alt-right in my old age.

Rob Newman - Total Eclipse of Descartes will be next I hope.

Saw Rob Newman doing that in Jan at the Soho theatre.  Excellent baffling stuff that makes me think Im not that clever.

Kitson is doing some small shows in Brizzole soon which Im going tot try to get tickets for.  Will probably fail.

Saw Adam Buxton best of BUG at the Brizzle comedy garden yesterday. Very amusing, but the tent was hotter than the sun

Off to see Jason Manford in Taunton tonight courtesy of a couple of freebies from Joops, nice, not seen JM before but know his brother COlin who is also a stand up, can't wait.

Is that his Muddle Class Tour, if so we saw him at Peterborough earlier this year.   
I enjoyed it so hopefully you will too

Yep thats the one, have always like JM but not had a chance to see him live yet, did he have a support act?

Nope, he did two halves himself.

Brilliant thanks for that :)

Jason Manford was absolutely brilliant last night with his Muddle Class tour, one of the best I have seen ever and I have seen many hundreds of acts over the years.

He did a 50 min set warm up and then his 1 hour 10 set plus 25 mins encore in front of 1,000 people, he really enjoyed it that was obvious, a lovely bloke too, highly recommended if you can get to one of the 130 scheduled gigs on the tour.

The wife and I saw him a few years back. He’s an excellent standup and comes across as a thoroughly decent person as well.

Glad you enjoyed it PV, and agreed he did come across as a genuinely good bloke.

I’m off to see Chris Ramsey in a few weeks time, will be the first time I’ve seen him

Not seen Chris Ramsey before, had a chance at Edinburgh at the Fringe before he became well known but didn't bother in the end. Let us know how good he is and if hes worth seeing :)

So saw Chris Ramsey on Sunday night.

Not someone I’ve seen much of before but as it was local seemed rude not to go.have to say thought he was very good, had a good rapport with the crowd and appeared to ad lib quite a bit (although it may well be that they are part of his show normally I guess).

Would recommend going to see him if he comes to Town.

He had a guy as a support act called Carl Hutchinson who was also very good, he did about 1/2 hour as warm up & had some very funny material, I would go & see him again.

https://swindontheatres.co.uk/Online/tickets-chris-ramsey-swindon-sept-2018

Im going to see Sara Pascoe in a few weeks at the wyvern and Ive just booked to see Kitson in Battersea in January.  He's doing 3 weeks there.

Have to admit I am not a fan of Sara Pascoe, have seen her 3 times, twice before she was famous and I just don't enjoy her comedy, her other half though I do find funny and hes a lovely bloke too (John Robins).

Sara and Robins split a while back. Their 2017 Edinburgh Shows both focused on it.

Robins' radio show with Elis James is good fun.

Is that at the Arts Centre? That’s just down the road from me.

I notice they have a few comedy nights scheduled, the one on the 23rd September is MC’d by Town fan Ivo Graham.

Was there last week It's just reopened after the fire. Looks brilliant. I've quite a history there over time as my Mother in Law was manager, and my brother in law the lighting tech there for many years. In fact I think most of my "Presents" from my Brother in law back in the day have come from there. Matt Lucas'es belt, Liam Gallaghers shoes etc etc :)

I just remembered the funniest thing I ever saw happened there. It was a leaving do for one of the stage hands of longstanding. Big party, Dj and the main man for the leaver hadnt turned up an hour in. All of a sudden Leader of the pack came on, and on cue (amazingly as he was utterley trashed) at the look out lookout bit of the song he appeared hell for leather on a pushbike on the stage. Wiped out the whole disco bit and the DJ, knocking himself out. The whole place was stunned into silence apart from me and the wife pissing ourselves. I still laugh out loud 15 years on.

Yeah its the arts centre grand hall.

I was unaware of that, I havent seen John in nearly 2 years though.

I saw Robins doing his version of the break up earlier this year at the komedia in Bath.  Just being a completist and getting the other side of the story.

There was half an hour of this on Radio 4 the other day, so should be online. I would have listened but I've got tickets to see it in November.

Stewart Lee - Content Provider is/was on iPlayer, for those that like that kind of thing.

Whose fault was it then?

Dunno.  Only seen one side of the story so far.

Robins blamed himself for being a child not ready for serious relationships.

Oh, probably should have read back there!


Sounds like her fault.

Went to a comedy club in Kings Lynn last night, all three comedians were good but I was particularly impressed with a young kiwi lad. Problem is being an old forgetful git I can’t remember his name  :(

Headline act was a guy called Jeff Innocent, who to be fair was also pretty funny

I've been devouring everything by Jeselnik lately. He's got two specials on Netflix but I think his best is Shakespeare. Love his turn of phrase and misdirection. Not for everyone though!

Bill Burr has a new special out soon. I hope fatherhood hasn't ruined him. His last one was a bit tired. Need to watch the new Chappelle one too. The man's a master craftsman.

Was glad to see Jordan Brookes winning the whatever it's called now comedy award at Edinburgh.  Saw him at the old road in chippenham last year and he was excellent.

Ive got Josie Long and Stewart Lee to look forward to in the new year as well.

When we saw Stewart Lee with you at Wils gig he was absolutely brilliant. Didn't realise he was touring again.

Its his London run before he tours next year.  At the Leicester square theatre.

I've got tickets for Mark Thomas in March, a show about national identity. He always gets you thinking as well as laughing, so should be good. I think he's done Swindon already, although Oxford and Reading are still to come.

Wouldn't have minded seeing Romesh in Bristol if I'd know he was coming. I need to check what's on more often.

Rather repeating myself here, but I went down to the Leicester Square theatre in January to see Stewart Lee's latest. 

Very very good again.  Especially for us liberal elites.  Agreed the fuck out of it.

It was also very very funny.  Worth catching when he tours it this year.

+5 Stewart Lee is very good and consistently so.

Do you think LL and Hobodan are fans?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cgeXd5kRDg

Unlikely.

I dont think i've ever laughed at one of his jokes. Not my cup of tea at all.

Saying that he's funnier than Reg.

I think he's beautifully dry and sarcastic. Each to their own though.

I once knew a girl like that.

Seeing you post reminded me to check for Rob Newman, and he's doing a work in process tour that's in Bath and Corsham soon. I absolutely loved Total Eclipse of Descartes. The second half of the show tailed off a bit I thought, but hardly surprising given the depth of the subject.

You were doing it all wrong?

Got freebies to see the great Gary Delaney down the road from me in Uffculme on 29th Feb, funny and lovely chap is Gary :)

I have seen a number of good gigs at Uffculme and Tiverton and am always keen to support local comedy events.  Not a fan of one liner type gags.

I have seen Gary probably 15 times in total, hes well worth it, his support act, Steve Day is a mate of mine too, hes a deaf comedian and certainly not a one liner.

Nice little venue been there a fair few times.

Ok, noted- thanks. I may have a look at the website.

ditto

Same.

Who Stewart Lee? I wasn't a fan until I saw him live in Chippenham, he was one of the best stand ups I have seen, and I have seen a lot, very intelligent humour too, not like his TV stuff which is dull to say the least.

I actually laughed at that

This. He's cracking live.

Bo Burnham - Inside, has to be the single most brilliant piece of pandemic inspired art I've seen. Some of it is a little daft, but I even enjoyed those bits.

Looking forward to going out to something again soon, my last show having been Mark Thomas just before the first lockdown. I had tickets for Rob Newman, twice cancelled, and now not showing in Bath on the new dates.

Mark Thomas at the Bloomsbury Theatre tonight.
Only downside might be being surrounded by students as it's a UCL run venue I believe.
No matter,  looking forward to it.

Passing the time on an ale trail until then.

two comedy gigs in two nights ..

Jonathan Pie - thought he was excellent, though you should watch some of his clips to make sure before you go....I mean, you might be too Tory to find it funny

Henning Wern - who I generally like but thought this was one of his weaker gigs. Also is his own warm up act, which is fine but goes over stuff from his his last tour...

Pie, I have heard of on the circuit but never seen yet, Wehn though I don't find overly funny, he has the occassional pun based upon his German ancestry. I dont hate him but I personally dont find him very funny.

One I can highly recommend is Jimeoin who doesnt tour the UK as much as he should, one of THE best standup I have seen (4 times so far) he is coming to the Wyvenr on 19th Feb next year, very very funny if a little silly at times. If you haven't seen his live show have a look on Youtube for a laugh.

You realise some accuse him of being a right-wing stooge?  :soapy tit wank: I thought his brexit analysis in the last show was the best I've heard, basically "If you voted remain you're an idiot, if you voted leave you're an idiot, and if you didn't vote, why not you lazy idiot?" I would have liked to have seen him this time but was too late to try and organise.


Let us know how it is, Bob. I've seen him four times, and each show I've enjoyed a little bit less. Not that any of them have been bad, the first two I saw were superb.

We go to the local comedy club, it’s on most months, usually get a really good mix.

The odd thing was one of the acts from last month is on Richard Osman’s House of Games this week (Joanne McNally).

We’ve also booked to see Ivo Graham (hopefully) when we’re in London in December for a weekend in December

Went to see Jonathan Pie in Bath a few weeks back. His stage show worked better than I expected it would.

I liked the reason he got 'sacked' too.

no spoilers

Ivo Graham at the Arts Centre very decent gig. Told him as much when seeing him at the Sutton game. Seems a good bloke 👍

It was very good. He made us laugh, a lot, so job done.
The Boris Johnson section had me in tears.
We only got about 10 (not 50) Things About Us in the end as he focussed more on the looking after his mum during the lockdowns and the Tories of course.
Oh and Labour are shit as well.
More enjoyable than "Showtime from the Frontline" which was still good.
Will try and see him again on the next tour whenever that will be.

Thank, Bob. I've just realised this is the same tour that I saw the start of in March 2020. It seemed more like a 90 minute rant than the exploration of our national identity that I was expecting, not that I could disagree with a lot of it.

His show about walking the Israeli/Palestinian 'peace' wall (plus accompanying book) was superb. As Used On The Famous Nelson Mandela was also a brilliant expose about our international arms trade, and The People's Manifesto is good for a laugh  ;D

Went to the monthly Comedy Club last night.
Julian Deane & Tadiwa Mahulunge were ok, but didn’t go down that well.

However, Glenn Wool was the headline act & he was really funny