The Comedian's Comedian Podcast

A diamond-hard joke writer and phenomenally deft performer, there is no aspect of Jeff Innocent's act that hasn't been honed to perfection.  A purist about several aspects of comedy, some of them surprising, his hard man aesthetic conceals a deadly sophistication. We talk about the poetry of comedy, the pursuit of the rolling laugh, and find out why never to say "hello"... Around 30mins of ex...

If I told you "Police Cops" met at drama school, mucked about to make their fellow students laugh and now tour an action movie spoof comedy show, you might turn up your nose. But you'd be a fool to ignore their hyper-speed joke rate, astonishing innovation and innate physical clowning. They are laugh-til-you-cry, standing-ovation funny, and they're converting crowds into baying fans wherever they...

One of the co-founders of Newport's finest musical export "Goldie Lookin Chain", John "Eggsy" Rutledge is an irrepressibly joyful soul who raps but isn't a rapper. We talk about the development of the band, why you can't ever get off the tour bus, his "Unexplainers" podcast with Mike Bubbins, and how and when to avoid the grownups. www.theunexplainers.co.uk | @theunexplainers | @TheGLC | Goldie Lo...

News of Jeremy Hardy's passing reached me today and came as a massive shock to the vast majority of his fans. The outpouring of love and affection for this wonderful gentle man and comic, who carried a righteous energy for activism and protest, has been moving and inspiring.  As Mark Steele tweeted today "Knowing him as I did, I know he wouldn't want you to be sad, he'd want you to be bloody...

Character-filled comedian and actress, Jessica Fostekew is also the presenter of her own podcast "Hoovering", and guest co-host of The Guilty Feminist. We talk about how noticing her own faked confidence led to a sea-change in her creative process, the "crime" of mixing stand-up and acting, the joys of fabricating the truth, and when to drink the champagne... Join the Insiders Club at  www.co...

"Britain's greatest living anti-comedian" (Guardian), Ed Aczel is an oddball among oddballs. We analyse his "instinctive adventure" within comedy, and discover how to create and burst tension in unexpected ways; the secret of destabilising beauty; and whether Ed knows why he's funny. Join the Insiders Club at  www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders  to access extra material including Ed on t...

Ben Bailey Smith AKA Doc Brown is a prodigious talent, with clean-cut standup and roof-raising comedy rap, as well as a parallel career as an influential and respected rapper. But his ostensibly industrial self-belief conceals a "patchwork of anxiety and depression". We talk about the state of mind that led him to turn down a 220-date national tour, how his stage name became a millstone, and why h...

Incredibly insightful and darkly funny, Laura Davis is a truly gifted artist who holds aspects of herself up to the light and says "you too?" We discuss the iron resolve that took her from an "extremely shy and extremely loud" girlhood, to performing jokes without victims, inside a duvet cover. If you've ever thought of jokes as "ideas refracted through a prism of other people's exp...

Creator of The Dark Room, one of the most exciting, imaginative, maddening and hilariously cruel live experiences Stu has ever been a part of, John Robertson is also a stand-up, tending towards lunatic clown. We talk about weaponising outsider status to survive school, and the dynamic between outlandish persona and the "over-indulged child" within. But how to you nurture joy when you get...

Unfailingly bright and bubbly, Laura Lexx has recently shifted into higher gear, with a breakthrough fringe show about an ongoing mental health struggle. We learn how her director Jessica Fostekew pushed her to be more vulnerable than her club comic instincts would ordinarily allow, discuss bailing at competition finals, and consider melting down the fat to get to the muscle...  Extras availa...

New T-shirts available to pre-order NOW until Dec 31st at www.comedianscomedian.com/merch Don't miss out! Online orders end on Dec 31st and then surplus will only be available in person after that... *THEY WILL NOT ARRIVE IN TIME FOR XMAS!*   "Bee" design by Lise Richardson @LiseRichardson www.liserichardsonart.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q.I. "Elves" Andrew Hunter Murray, Anna Ptaszynski, Dan Schreiber and James Harkin join Stu live onstage at the London Podcast Festival to break down the process by which they unearth the world's greatest facts and fancies, and turn them into one of the world's most runaway successful podcasts! Who's the leader, what's the difference between the two main clowns, and which team playe...

Peep inside the mind of the "infinity lad" Sean Morley, a mysterious Northerner naked but for his own fragility. We talk about intelligent surrealism, the risk of commodifying weirdness, why he improvised his competition sets, and how to succeed by one's own metrics...   seanmorley.co.uk @seanmorl   Discover occult secrets about Sean's "Glang Show" as well as every past and future b...

Swaggering and slick yet positive and passionate, Imran Yusuf talks fast and funny, and dances around accusations of arrogance. The first free fringe act to be nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Festival, appearing shortly afterwards on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, it looked as if the world was at his feet. But he is the first to admit he didn't capitalise on his success...

Elf Lyons is a comic phenomenon; a sexy clown with weaponised vulnerability, who loves tackling impossible theatrical challenges. Recorded before some complex health issues took her out of action, this conversation goes into depth on Elf's process, including how dealing with a horrible experience via bouffon clown allowed her to access a funnier self. We discuss what a rare bird is the audience, w...

A quick introduction to my beautiful daughter... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Crowned "Funniest Person In The World" at the Hollywood Laugh Factory, Finnish Ismo is often described as a Scandinavian Mitch Hedberg.  We discuss his intertwined logic and absurdity, learn how his fascination with jokes annoys even other comics, and analyse "Are you happy?" as a trick question... Extra material for members of the Insiders Club includes Ismo on the perfect joke, what not to assum...

Mark Thomas is familiar to fans of British comedy as the innovative leftie agitator whose "Comedy Product" show entrapped arms dealers, torturers and Tories to hilarious effect, and at genuine risk to his safety and liberty. He survived being placed on the Domestic Extremist watch-list, and has transformed into a masterful theatre-maker; no less angry but producing richer and more nuanced work.&nb...

Championed as a Hollywood icon of the Slacker generation, Janeane Garofalo is a brilliant and fascinating stand-up, with the structure-free style you'd expect from someone who read from notes on her first HBO special. She's candid about crying daily within the TV "sausage factory" of crime drama which draws in former film stars, and lets loose on the makers of 24 and Criminal Minds. She also talks...

A comedy firebrand who channels his anger into punchy stories with great characterisation, Garrett Millerick had a breakthrough Edinburgh fringe this year with “Sunflower”, a show that was meaningful despite his efforts to the contrary.  We talk about dealing with very difficult emotional material; which one day of his life is completely off-limits; and getting the sensation that Somethi...

A purveyor of rigorously intellectual stand-up, searing personal material, and diamond-hard puns, Alice Fraser joins the ComComPod community for a live special episode - moments after the entire audience had enjoyed her superb show "Ethos". Covering bullying, Buddhism and artificial intelligence, can Stu crack this immensely self-assured nut?  Follow Alice on Twitter @Aliterative www.alicecom...

Responsible for the best reviewed comedy show at Edfringe 2018, Alex Edelman is an irrepressibly funny comic, with a grasp of joke structure and narrative arc that is both innate and studied. We cover his Modern Orthodox Jewish upbringing, and as well as identifying a "a confessional arms race" in modern comedy, he reveals a desperate need to be accepted by his peers. But is he...

Best know nowadays as Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelsonfrom BBC Scotland's "Scot Squad", Jack Docherty first came to comedy in 1980 with his sketch group "The Bodgers" arrival at the Edinburgh Fringe. We explore how the Fringe has changed, trace his career via the Channel Four sketch show "Absolutely", and resulting spin-off "Mr Don & Mr George", and discover his frustrations on hostin...

Winner of the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award (called it!), Rose Matafeo brought the thunder to #edfringe this year, with a barnstorming performance of her show "Horndog". We discuss how she ensured her hilarious material about female sexuality brought the whole room along with it; how she's actively mining for hot takes; and why she has a quintuple-threat approach to performance. @Rose_Matafeo G...

Whipsmart hipster Nick Thune combines hilarious club chops with genuine insight. In a hotel room at SXSW we discuss how he has fashioned a beautiful cage of a career, the difference between "open" and "closed" jokes, and deserving happiness. We also hear the incredible tale of the time he got to sift through the old notebooks of comedy legend Mitch Hedberg...   www.nickthune.com @ni...