This newsletter is all about hilarity and heckles. This week, we’re honoured to announce that we’ve got a guest writer who really knows his comedic onions. His name is Harry Deansway, editor of one of the London’s leading lights of comedy The Fix. Without further ado, we’ll pass the mic to Harry…
Comedy – you’ve all seen it on the TV. You’ve bought the DVD at Christmas but now is your chance to see it live. But where do you start in London? Hello I’m Harry Deansway editor of one of the top comedy sites The Fix. Here we go:
Weirdos, Fortnightly on a Tuesday at Kings Cross Social Club, 2 Britannia St, WC1X 9JE
From the current TV standup comedy output you’d be forgiven for thinking that all comedy was about the differences between men and women and going to work in the rush hour. However, if saccharine stream of conscious observations is not your thing then Weirdos should be your club night of choice. Host and promoter, Adam Larter, hand picks the best oddities from the circuit and if a night with no trite observations is weird enough it’s free to get in!
The Canal Café, 10 Westbourne Terrace Rd, London W2 6NG, 020 7289 6054
Founded at the start of the last stand-up comedy boom in 1979 (a vintage year), the Canal Café is a piece of London Comedy history. Primarily a place for new talent to develop their shows and established acts to try out new material, the venue is a comedy lottery where for a £5 ticket you have a high chance of winning laughs.
Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX
The Leicester Square theatre is fast becoming the venue in London to see comedy at. With its beautiful 400 seater room upstairs and its intimate basement venue, the programme combines the biggest names in comedy with the hottest rising stars. From Stewart Lee to Colin Hoult, many comedians on the circuit are making this venue their home.
The Invisible Dot, 099F Camden Stables Market, NW1 8AH, 020 7424 8918
Tucked away up some winding stairs at the back of Camden market, comedy doesn’t get much cooler than The Invisible Dot. The venue of choice for cult comedy poet and Fosters Comedy award winner Tim Key amongst others, the feeling that you are part of a top secret club only adds to the quality of the acts they book.
Well, if it isn’t my own comedy promotions company The Fix. Fancy seeing you in a preview of the top comedy nights in London that I am writing! Currently residing between the most opulent venue on the circuit, King’s Place, and the slightly dingier, Bull And Gate, The Fix’s modus operandi is to bring the biggest names together with the hottest new talent. Financially this has not paid off for us but culturally you’d be hard pressed to find a better night.
King’s Place, 90 York Way, N1 9AG http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/
Bull And Gate, 389 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2TJ www.bullandgate.co.uk/
Finally, we have two tip-offs from our own GLP back pocket…
Comedy on the Green, The Brook Green Hotel, 170 Shepherd’s Bush Road, Hammersmith, W6 7PB
There’s a small comedy club in Brook Green, Hammersmith called ‘Comedy on the Green’ that has been running monthly for over a year. It’s a real labour-of-love non-profit project, which means they’ve managed to pull some big names out of the hat that they only announce to fans of the club. So sign up sharpish.
Feature Spot, 100 Oxford Street, London, W1D 1LL
In approximately the only great little place on Oxford Street, Paul McCartney’s favourite 100 Club, is a night which consistently delivers brilliant comics old and new. Adam Buxton is a regular, and if you haven’t seen his sketch about YouTube comments then what the hell are you good for. Set in 100 Club’s tucked away underground den of iniquity, you’ll be treated to school style orange chairs, decor that quite rightly hasn’t been updated since the Fonz ran the show and some of the very finest comedy talents you’ll find anywhere along the number 15 bus route.
That’s it for this week – give us a follow at http://twitter.com/glpLondon for more tiptasticness. And if you think a friend might like this newsletter, send them this way: http://www.greatlittleplace.com/subscribe-to-newsletter/.
