Comedy: Class Act

Freedom of speech at the forefront of comedy

Many years ago (about eight and a bit years ago if you’re being pedantic) I was writing up a review of a new act night I’d been most impressed with and, like a diligent reviewer, called up the promoter when I couldn’t find the names of the acts listed anywhere online. Credit where credit’s due, I always say. Anyway, the promoter and I got chatting, and it turned out that this particularly impressive collection of new faces to the live comedy scene had all completed the Jill Edwards Comedy Workshop, and that the promoter was – in fact – Jill Edwards.

That line-up included Toby Whithouse, who went on to be a finalist in the highly respected So You Think You’re Funny competition – as well as continuing with his day job of being a writer for Doctor Who, Torchwood, creator and writer of Being Human, and he’s got a new series coming out in the next few weeks called The Game for BBC2. And this showcase was one of the earliest ever outings of a certain Mr Paul McCaffrey, now to be found all over BBC3.
Jill Edwards asked, might I be interested in doing the course myself? I was. I spent my Saturday afternoons learning at Komedia for a few months with about 20 others, after which we all had our very first three minute sets. We auditioned to a panel of judges – and I got through! Someone else who got through from my class was Seann Walsh. He closed the showcase gig beautifully. It was his second time on stage.

This Saturday I will be back at Komedia again, but this time as a judge for a whole new array of nervous new comedians, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Seann and Paul, as well as other Jill Edwards alumni such as Jimmy Carr, Shazia Mirza, Romesh Ranganathan, Angela Barnes, Shappi Khorsandi, Simon Evans and others. It’s one of my favourite things to do all year, to go and see the new class coming up.

Those of you who regularly go to see new act shows will know that certain subjects and topics can fall into vogue with newbies – whether it’s The Budget or Kim Kardashian’s hair. The beauty with this lot is that all of it has come straight from their noggins with none of that cross-contamination of material, meaning that this truly is original and fresh skewed perspectives on the world that I have never heard before. And I love it. The only downside is having to pick who goes through and who can’t quite make it this time. A week and a half later everyone else gets the chance to see them debut at Komedia in their own New Act Night. A gem. And hosted by the incredible Angela Barnes. It’s not unusual to find tickets have sold out before the day arrives, so book now, and see the real stars of the future.
New Act Night, Komedia, Wednesday 6 May, 8pm, £7/5, www.komedia.co.uk/brighton