The Comedy Hole: English Standup in Europe

Syrian comedian Badr Laffar (@badr.comedy) joins Ariel (@ariel.bialski) and Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) to discuss truth in standup. How much of a standup story has to be true, if any? Can you lie about surviving 9/11 if it gets laughs? Does it matter that Bo Burnham was living with his girlfriend and dog while filming Inside? Does Ariel have diarrhea? The gang tackles these questions and many othe...

Ciao! This week Beatrice (@beatricerossano) joins Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) and Ariel (@arielbialski) to complain about standup being so very hard.  Everyone thinks their job is the hardest job in the world and almost no one is right about that. But why is stand-up comedy in particular considered to be one of the most notoriously difficult pursuits to engage in? Is standup harder than basketball?...

Ariel (@arielbialski) and Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) get together to discuss Jordan's recent confidence crisis after doing standup in New York and the overall role of confidence in standup. How do you gain confidence? What's the danger of being overconfident? Does confidence even matter? Ariel and Jordan also discuss the open mic scene in New York, the risk of doing solo shows only 2 years...

On this especially strange, meandering episode of The Comedy Hole Podcast, Andrzej Sosnowski (@comedyandy) joins Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) and Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray) to have a wide-ranging conversation about the delicate issue of mental health in standup comedy. We are not mental health professionals - we are comedians - so please ignore this entire episode if you are looking f...

One of Poland’s most popular standup comedians, Cezary Jurkiewicz (@cezary.jurkiewicz), joins Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) and Ariel (@arielbialski) to talk about performing at open mics in New York City, seeing Jim Norton and Louis C.K. at the Comedy Cellar, performing with Todd Barry at a basement in Warsaw, the art of crafting an hour-long standup special, and learning English from episodes of So...

This week on The Comedy Hole podcast, Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) and Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray) talk with talented standup comedian and international singing sensation Kamil Gerard (@kamil.gerard) about building a standup set from 5 minutes to 20 minutes, bombing in Poznań, getting too drunk on stage in Bydgoszcz, and encountering the single drunkest heckler Jordan has ever seen at...

This week, Ariel (@arielbialski) and Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) are joined by Pavlok CEO, viral hacker, and budding standup comedian Maneesh Sethi (@maneesh) to talk about open mics, Maneesh's Shark Tank appearance, Jordan's worst comedy song ("I Can't Stop Watching YouTube"), and the nuances of joke theft. Yes, Jordan and Ariel fight again in this one! Maneesh Sethi is an Am...

Ariel (@arielbialski), Jordan (@jordanthomasgray), and Bea (@beatricerossano) interview Newcastle-based standup comedian Raul Kohli (@raulkohlicomic) in front of a live audience at the Brighton Fringe festival. Raul has been called "One of The Best Comedians in England" by BBC Radio 4 and was previously host of the BBC Sounds podcast "Comic Sanskrit." Catch Raul's solo show...

This week Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) and Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray) discuss the journey from 0 to general competence in standup, and going from absolute beginners at open mics to hosting shows, performing at showcases, and touring. Topics discussed: Learning from bombs Using open mics to work on material Riffing when in a flow state on stage Turning moments of inspiration into full...

Ciao! This week, Portuguese comedian and future Father of the Year nominee André Serrenho (@serrenhocomedy) joins the gang to talk about TOURING! Andre is going to smash through 14 cities in Poland with his new standup show "PO LA LAND" in May. 14 cities in 21 days! Andre will join us again in June when he's back from his tour and he'll tell us how it all went. Good luck, André!...

Beatrice (@beatricerossano) is back from her tour! This week Bea, Jordan (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel (@arielbialski) are joined by Polish comedian and cringe powerhouse Kamil Maleszyk (@kamil.maleszyk) to talk about style, stage presence, and making the audience uncomfortable as a standup tactic.  Kamil hosts and participates in shows all over Warsaw and the rest of Poland, so give him a f...

Ciao! Take off your shirts and get ready to shout "Where ya from?!" at the unsuspecting Polish children in the front row. Comedy virtuoso Andrzej "Andy" Sosnowski (@comedyandy) joins Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) and Ariel (@arielbialski) to discuss the art, science, and spectacle of CROWD WORK in standup. Here are some topics the gang covers: How to take your first steps into crowd work and audience...

Put on your boxing gloves and square up for a tempestuously turbulent episode of The Comedy Hole Podcast! This week, Warsaw comedy veteran, crowd favorite, and all-around very funny guy Gaweł Feliga (@gawelf) joins Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) and Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray) for a discussion about comedy, comedy, comedy, and...some other stuff. Jordan is writing this description and he...

"Patrice O'Neal said it's good to have half the room uncomfortable and the other half laughing. And I kind of agree, but mostly I get the entire room uncomfortable." - Rana Warsaw's most talented female Muslim comedian that performs in English, the mysterious ray of sunshine Rana (@ranaa_brg), joins Ariel (@arielbialski), Jordan (@jordanthomasgray), and the newly built Beatrice substitute Robo Bea...

"Don't f*** with the universe...No matter how good you are, standup has a way of tuning down your ego to exactly where it needs to be." - Filip Brymora Ciao guys! This week, the insightful Polish standup comedian Filip Brymora (@filipbrymora) joins Jordan & Ariel to get metaphysical and talk about flow states in comedy, opening in arenas for the most famous comedian in Poland, radical acc...

Ho ho ho! On this episode of the Comedy Hole, Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano) regales the gang with her tale of traveling to London to see UK standup and improv, then the gang waxes philosophical on city siloing in standup, whether standup is like martial arts, and Bea and Jordan's first show abroad in Lisbon. Other topics discussed: Are there any good YouTube standup tutorials? Ariel's Toront...

Beatrice, Ariel, and a very tired Jordan get together to discuss touring! Jordan is fresh off his 7-city "Why Poland?!" tour and the gang discusses all that goes into setting up, marketing, and executing on a profitable solo standup comedy tour. We also have a special guest named Charlie at the top of the show, but don't worry he doesn't stick around for long! BIG NEWS: The Comedy Hole will b...

"Everything can be joked about. But with this war, you can't be in the middle in terms of the side you pick. And you have to be very clear about the side you are on." Ukrainian comedian Elin Davydova (@elinwrites) has lived all over the world and speaks 6 languages including Chinese, Japanese, Ukrainian, and Russian (bleh). She joins The Comedy Hole gang to first tell a very disturbing story about...

"It's painful to be polite." Zimbabwean crowd favorite Zingalingadingdong (@they_call_me_zinger) joins The Comedy Hole gang to discuss growing up in Zimbabwe during economic and political turmoil, learning from the worst standup sets to build the best standup sets, how to bomb with dignity, and whether or not Jordan is an ageless comedy robot. Stick around for the second half for a discussion abou...

Ciao, my sweet little comedy babies! In this episode, The Comedy Hole gang recaps their Italy mini-tour in Napoli and Rome. Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) reveals the exciting details of his recent career change, the gang discusses whether excessive drinking is a serious problem or just a fun thing to do with your buddies that has no consequences, Ariel (@arielbialski) endorses seven varieties of vita...

Madonna mia! That's a spicy Jimmy Pepperoni!!! The Comedy Hole gang reports live (at the time) from an AirBnB in Rome, Italy (yes - specifically that Rome) with acclaimed Berlin-based Italian comedian and highly trained clown Filippo Spreafico (@filippospreafico). Filippo joined Beatrice, Jordan, and Ariel on a mini Italian tour for a couple of raucous standup comedy shows in Napoli and Rome. In t...

"Everything is funny, Beatrice. Everything is hilarious to me. I see the absurdity in everything. It's like a curse. I'm haunted. Day and night I'm haunted by ideas." - Ricky K Canadian-Polish Comedian and Human Tornado Ricky Krzyzewski (@rickykrzyzewski on TikTok) joins The Comedy Hole gang to discuss his kitchen-centric writing process, that time he bombed as an Elvis impersonator on Poland's Go...

Belarusian comedian and general mischief-maker Terry Marinich (@terrificcomedian and @comedyperiferal) joins The Comedy Hole Gang to discuss Belarusian dating habits, how war and turmoil have affected the Eastern European comedy scene, and that time he went to prison for 45 days for making a viral video critical of the Belarusian president. We touch on Slava Komisarenko (@slavakomissarenko) a famo...

Warsaw standup comedy veteran Ravi Kumar (@raav.kr and www.standupravi.com) joins The Comedy Hole gang to talk about English standup in Warsaw – and Poland as a whole – before the events of 2020 reset the table. Ravi has lived in Warsaw for 10 years and was heavily involved in starting the English standup scene along with Piotr Szumowski (@piotrek.szumowski), Filip Brymora (@filipbrymora) and many...

In this Comedy Hole episode, Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray) takes on the persona of a frustrated Elementary School Teacher and walks the listener through 6 steps towards performing a 5 minute standup comedy set at your first open mic. Meanwhile, Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano) and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) do their best to distract him with antics, general mischief, and some genuin...