Before. During. After.

Sam and Matt have a wide ranging chat about the addictive nature of making people laugh, how a comic sees the world differently, the benefits of clarity in any communication and how a full diary can help you overcome any setback.

In this week's episode Sam and the brilliant Ria Lina have a lively discussion about how confidence is built over time (not something you're born with) how performers can quickly and effortlessly regroup when something goes wrong, the benefits on focussing on providing value to your audience and the strange link between parenting and controlling a room of adults.

Today's guest is the brilliant Ben Clover, a wonderful comic who now helps other comics with their shows- which means he's very much tuned in to the BDA vibe. Ben and Sam discuss the power of proper preparation, how that prep gives you freedom to ad lib and why listening back to yourself is rarely as bad as you think.  

Adam Green is a brilliant comic who's been going for years. Adam and Sam discuss the benefits of structured preparation that can be repeated easily and quickly, how audiences need reassurance they're in safe hands and how to simply analyse what worked and what didn't from a show to move on.

Dominic and Sam have a lovely chat about a range of topics, including the crucial role of clarity in communication, how the audience is the best editor, why people don't want or like perfection in performance and how talking beats reading to a room every day of the week.

Russell Hicks is a US comic now based in the UK who has a very unique style. His sets mainly involve riffing in a room with what and who he sees in front of him. Here's a short clip if you're unfamiliar with his work https://vimeo.com/944374484?share=copy&fl=cl&fe=ci Sam and Russ discuss how he preps for shows with little pre-written material, how being empathetic to your audience helps yo...

In this episode Lenny and Sam discuss reframing nerves when you perform, the importance of authenticity, the craft of joke writing, stage persona and how pacing a performance affects your impact.   

Matt and Sam have a lovely chat about a range of topics, including how Matt found his comedy voice, how he handles hecklers, not 2nd guessing audience opinion and a great tip to help you listen to your own voice without dreading it.

Nathan and Sam discuss how he prepared for the biggest comedy TV show in the country, how he takes comfort in failure, the future of online comedy, working with comedy greats and the weirdest gigs he's ever done.

Nathan and Sam have a wide ranging chat, including topics such as his marathon run of Edinburgh Fringes, how he comes up with ideas for all of those different hour long shows, his pre-performance routines, overcoming doubt and how he draws on experience and pain. 

Pat and Sam have a lovely chat, that includes playing rowdy rooms, pre-show mantras, crowd control, finding your voice as a speaker, quantifying failure and much more. Enjoy.

Ben and Sam get into an in depth look at performance processes this week. Amongst other things they cover the level of preparation and detail comics go into, how you have to be in charge when doing stand-up and the distinction between being likeable and being nice.

Jenny and Sam have a lovely chat about creative inspiration, the effect room set-ups have on shows, picking yourself up after a bad show and the strangest gigs they've ever done.

Will Hannigan is a Canadian comic now living in London. Will and Sam take a deep dive into nerves; how Will frames and combats them to achieve his goals in comedy.

In this episode Jason and Sam discuss how to treat new material, using nerves as energy and taking advice from peers to get getting better. Get tickets for Jason's solo show Underrated here https://dice.fm/event/av3v9x-jason-patterson-underrated-30th-apr-camden-comedy-club-london-tickets?lng=en

In this episode Juliet and Sam discuss keeping material fresh, the key to memorable performance and women in comedy.

Mike Capozzola is a New York comic who's gigged all over the world and worked on both sides of the camera in Hollywood. Sam and Mike discuss how ordering topics changes overall impact, if he ever amends a set when he turns up to a gig, how he assesses what he's done and lots more.  Find more about Mike here https://www.capozzola.com/