Wow 7 years.
That’s how long I’ve been helping run this incredibly self-indulgent comedy club/community/social club/platonic orgy/whatever the fuck we are at this point.
Compared to the greats of the local scene this is still reasonably young, but it’s old enough to be an achievement and also a bit sad. Next year, I will have been running this club for over a quarter of my life and, despite measuring on any corporate success metrics this is an incredible waste of my time and money, on the measures that actually matter in terms of social, personal and creative fulfilment, I wouldn’t change these last 7 years for anything.
Well, some things I’d change about them, but nothing Blizzard Comedy related, like.
I’ve said it so many times, but I love this little community of cool comedians and comedy nerds we’ve managed to foster in this tiny corner of the northern quarter. Marking the anniversary with a room nearly entirely made up of our friends, regulars and some of my all-time favourite comedians was such a wonderful way to celebrate.
We started with Justina Seselskaite, a comic who tears the roof off every time she performs here to the point that I’m surprised she hasn’t performed with us more often. She always leaves such a fantastic impression every time she graces our stage.
Justina has angles on topics of sexuality, dating, living in this country as an expat, and My Humps by the Black-Eyed Peas that are a mix of intensely relatable for our audiences and new and fun perspectives on our less common experiences, but both of which are jaw-droppingly funny.
Justina has so many fantastic punchlines delivered with a charisma and cheek unrivalled in the circuit, that even the ones I have heard several times before often catch me off guard with her expert delivery. (I tried to think of a synonym for delivery, so I didn’t use two variations of that word in the same sentence, but Word just gave me shit like “sending” and “transport” and my favourite “deliverance” which really changes the vibe of this compliment I feel, so that’ll have to do.)
My own shortcomings as a writer aside, Justina is an act who I feel is destined for exciting and great things in her career should she continue to pursue them and is someone that any comedy fan of any level should absolutely be keeping an eye on.
Next we had Edy Hurst, fulfilling the role of token he/him comedian of the evening – it’s always worth having one to keep the lads happy, and oh boy did he!
Edy Hurst is a maestro of whimsical wit, blending silly songs, deconstruction of musical tropes, and playful musical clowning skits executed with such technical perfection making him one of the most engaging musical comedians of the era.
I always adore a comedian who is perceptably having fun on stage, and Edy performs with incredibly earnest joy in all he does that you can’t help be infected by his delight, elevating his already marvellous material to stratospheric levels.
Edy Hurst is just a world class performer in every way. You are always guaranteed an excellent night with him on the bill.
Kicking off the second half we had Charlotte Cropper, an act who has already made waves on the local scene starting her own award winning comedy club (that I’ve still not made it to, I really need to check it out) and firmly establishing herself as a local legend as a performer, promoter and community figure.
It’s always a delight to have Charlotte on our stage, we really don’t do it enough. One of the friendliest stage prescences I’ve ever seen, and I run a comedy club that is laser targeted on attracting friendly and lovely comedians.
Charlotte’s presence is a ray of sunshine, which makes her punchlines such as the “I blame Anne Frank” give everyone an absolute whiplash. (If you want context, you’re gonna have to watch the stream, more on that later.)
Charlotte is the kind of comedian who you always find yourself wanthing more of, consistently engaging, beautifully creative niche observations yet hyper accessible delivery that makes her a unifying figure of alternative and mainstream comedy. Truly I cannot think of any comedy fan who wouldn’t get something out of Charlotte’s set, and you owe it to yourself to check out her work if you haven’t already.
Closing the show we had a long-time favourite of the club Hannah Platt. I’ve already heaped so much praise onto her in these write ups over the years, but at the risk of repeating myself, Hannah Platt is a true pro at what she does, and what she does is dark, intensely funny, and weirdly comforting. (Either that or I’m intensely broken and mentally ill, but if you follow us you probably are too, so the point stands.)
Hannah has always feen a fantastic comic, even from back in our open mic days. She’s always had a really distinct and gripping stage presence, and vicerally funny punchlines that stay with you for years after hearing them for the first time. It’s been a delight seeing her get to a point of incredible professionalism, really tight wit, somehow retaining the more deadpan vibes whilst increasing dynamism in the actual delivery that make her a performer you cannot look away from.
She’s just, unambiguously, one of the best comedians working today, at any level, and it is a privilege to continue to welcome her to our stage.
An absolutely perfect show. Looking back 7 years to Amy Gledhill headlining our first ever show and now seeing she’s absolutely killing it on Taskmaster, thinking back to some of the other acts we’ve had the pleasure of hosting over the years who are seeing success after success in whatever direction they go, rising up the national circuit, breaking through to TV, starting their own clubs, moving into different creative fields, or just continuing to become local legends and heroes and remain quintessential parts of local circuits. I am intensely proud of all the wonderful acts we’ve worked with all of the years, though some are sadly no longer with us their memories and legacy and impact on the circuit an indeed our club lives on.
So to all the acts who’ve given us a chance, those who come back regularly to try out new stuff or just have a gig where they know they can count on lovely vibes and comedy savvy and safe audiences to try things a bit weird or open up in what they talk about in ways that are more daunting with a lot of other audiences: Thank you so much, whether you’ve gigged with us once years ago or frequent our stage, you make this show what it is, along with our dedicated audience and supporters, culminating in just one of the nicest social settings let alone comedy clubs I have ever had the fortune to be a part of.
If you missed the show or would like to relive it, it will be streamed on Twitch at 7:00pm on Monday 27th April – and available for 14 days afterwards.
AND if you’d like to reseve your ticket for our special all-dayer festival on Sunday 14th June, tickets are live NOW and you can book yours here. We will have six fantastic acts, including Hannah Platt, are previewing their festival/touring hours here at Gullivers from 2pm-late – all free entry, just one ticket reservation needed to prioritise entry to any show. This is a new format for us and we’d love to pack it out as much as possible, so we’d love to see you there ❤
Love you all, and see you soon xoxo
