Catch us up on what you’ve been up to since we last chatted. What’s new with you as a performer?
Oh god, when did we last chat? What have I been doing with my life? Aaa.
Well the biggest news will be in my personal life I have finally formally begun my medical transition, so that’s exciting and has fed into a lot of my writing in recent months. I’ve not been gigging super often now, but I’ve been using the experience to somewhat document what the process looks and feels like, at least for me, in an attempt to demystify it for anyone ignorant. Especially for younger orcloseted trans people who don’t know where to find the resources to know what options are actually available to them. I certainly struggled to find this information, and only really understood through mates who started the process before me.
I just think it’s a cool thing to talk more about especially during a satanic panic around trans women in particular just to kinda lay out what it actually involves and hopefully keeping it light hearted and humorous in the process.
My goal in comedy has always been first and foremost to speak directly to people like a younger me, especially those who may be alone or isolated to make them feel less so. To hopefully give them some representation and confidence to be more their authentic self. Secondary to that, anyone who wants to listen and learn from my perspective is also great, but I try not to pander too much to allies or justifying to cis folk my experience and right to exist. That is frankly emotionally draining, and less fruitful than providing a safe space for queer and trans folk to have respite from an increasingly hostile world.
Blizzard turned 7 earlier this year. How does it feel to pass that milestone?
Makes me feel old. That doesn’t feel real. Aging itself hasn’t made me feel as old as the notion that we’ve been running this silly lil club for at this point over half of my adult life. Blizzard has become such a cornerstone of my career and my social life, I truly cannot imagine life without it at this point.
While we’ve not quite reached a point of being a viable business model by any stretch of the term, it means a lot to me that there is enough communal investment into the club to keep us afloat as a community project. We’ve fully embedded ourselves into the Manchester comedy circuit as a niche home for both comedy nerds and newcomers who feel less comfortable in the wider circuit. Which is, I think, all I ever really dreamed for this to be. Anything more is a bonus!
How do you feel the role of Blizzard Comedy has shifted as the comedy scene has evolved around the show?
Oh what a good question. It hasn’t escaped my notice that Blizzard has at least been a driving part of certain trends in the local comedy circuit to be more mindful of things such as pronouns and trigger warnings, to the point that they rightfully no longer feel like USPs for us in the same way they maybe did in our first year. Folk from both XS Malarkey and the Comedy Balloon have expressed to me that what we did with Blizzard in those early days have served as inspiration to look at how they run their own shows in some aspects. This is a huge honour as both clubs were very formative parts of my embedding into the Manchester comedy scene. Feels like giving back to the community in an immediately visible way, and if I achieve nothing else in comedy that is still a fantastic legacy.
As to how it’s evolved now? I think we still have a role in a technically accessible yet creatively quirky small club that platforms a diverse array of comic talent, both exposing new audiences to them and exposing them to our circuit, and I suspect providing a lot of them their first paid work as a stand-up. That’s certainly what I’m going for anyway. I’ll leave that up to the culture to decide how well we’re doing that.
Not to toot my own horn, but I feel like Blizzard provides a comedy experience from both performer and spectator points of view that is very complementary of the scene around us yet distinctly our own. It makes us, anecdotally at least, a place many have expressed a huge amount of joy to play and attend.
Blizzard Comedy has this year bumped its schedule up from quarterly to bi-monthly. How are you finding the new schedule?
Not gonna be the most rock ‘n’ roll answer, but I’ve been struggling honestly. I’m glad I’m easing back into things rather than going straight back into monthly shows, however other aspects of my life have just been so hectic that I unfortunately struggle to put as much of me into these shows as I’d like to. I thank everyone’s continued support and patience in this new era of whatever proportion of life crisis this hobby is.
That being sad, I do think the more limited programme is having benefits from a freshness point of view. The shows we run feel much more like events than just a club that’s on at a certain time/schedule, which I think makes it way more exciting for our regulars (not that I suspect they’d complained if and when we return to monthly lol). But it also allows me to invest more of my own money into the bucket split which is an extra incentive for the acts we can get as I’ve got more time to save.
I do not think the All-Dayer would’ve been possible had we been running monthly in that regard, so it lets us be a little more ambitious and grand in the shows we put on.
Maybe it’s also giving us an extra air of exclusivity for our acts as well, and maybe they feel a huge sense of honour and privilege to grace our stage, who’s to say. Not me, I’m humble as shit for a promoter as brilliant as me.
Blizzard had its first Mini-Fringe All Dayer this summer. How do you feel the new format worked?
Better than I ever could’ve hoped.
The motivation was two-fold. Firstly, the problem with our previous program of extra preview shows in the months leading up to Edinburgh was a lot of extra work with very little payoff attendance wise. It’s a lot to ask folk to commit to 2 to 3 Blizzard shows a month, especially as previews typically have a smaller range of acts to entice folk in.
Secondly, the purpose of previews for Edinburgh specifically, but also many other comedy festivals, is to prepare folk for those kinds of gigs. Dedicated preview shows don’t really emulate the feeling of performing to a crowd of people who’ve been watching comedy and probably drinking all day, nor does it let you adjust to performing at unusual times of day. So this format comes closer to replicating those conditions for performers, and as an added bonus also gives a lil of that experience to local comedy audiences who are priced out or otherwise unable to attend the big comedy festivals.
That was the thinking behind it, but of course you’re never really sure whether that’d translate until you do it. But it led to not only our best attended previews ever at its peaks, but also by far our greatest financially too. People were so excited and generous. Whether they were just popping by for a couple of shows or marathoning all six, they all seemed to have a wonderful time and expressed that with their wallets in a lot of cases. So thank you so much everyone who contributed!
It was an intense day, not least because of how hot and stuffy it was. But all our acts, crew and audience did a fantastic job and had a huge deal of stamina for the occasion. I am definitely keen to repeat this in future, hopefully as an annual thing. It was incredibly fun to throw together, and concentrating all the extra work into one long Sunday definitely paid off on every level. Stay tuned for more like this!
You recently performed at Sparkle Weekend 2026. How did it feel to be a part of that?
I alluded to this above, but my favourite thing and ultimate goal as a visible out transgender performer is connecting with other transgender people, especially those early in their journeys and uncertain and scared about the whole experience. So Sparkle was an incredibly emotional and heartwarming experience for me.
It wasn’t my first time doing the festival, but it has only gotten more necessary to have organisations and events like Sparkle in the face of ever more coordinated and aggressive attacks against our most basic liberties. Being a part of an unapologetic celebration and declaration of solidarity was hugely important to me.
Despite being intensely out of practice, having not gigged since April, it was one of the loveliest gigs of my life. The connection I felt between myself and the crowd at Sparkle in that moment was indescribably powerful. It was a privilege to be a part of this event, and it’s my favourite kind of crowd to play to, so win/win.
What can we expect to see from you coming up in the future? Do you have any fun plans we should be looking out for?
Most of my plans are prioritised around my personal life and wellbeing, so as much as I’d like to say “big things coming soon”, that would be unsubstantiated. Not least because the estrogen means the thing is no longer big and defo not coming anytime soon.
No, I have a few vague ideas for future projects but I don’t feel ready to reveal too much so I don’t hold myself accountable to them and stress myself out trying to deliver. Blizzard Comedy will be returning in 2026 absolutely, but more details on that in the late autumn/early winter I reckon.
Oh and if for some reason you’re up that way, I’m doing my first ever Newcastle gig on September 23rd, so keep an eye out on my socials for more about that @Jayciegc on Facebook, Insta, & Bluesky.
Do you have any advice for anyone hoping to carve out their own distinct niche in comedy the way you have?
I’m not really sure I’m the best person to give that advice honestly. Maybe it’s the impostor syndrome talking, but I honestly feel like I blagged/lucked my way into it.
I’d say it’s a cliche but finding your own voice is important. The things that are important to you, and your own communication quirks that can be played up for comic effect, etc. But I also wouldn’t fret too much if it takes you a while to figure that out. You will likely naturally attempt to emulate comedians you like, especially in the early days. That’s fine as long as you’re aware about it and at least do your best to diversify those influences to create something pseudo-unique to build and develop from.
I spent a lot of my early days being referred to as an Andrew O’Neill clone, largely because of similar appearances, interests and influences. It took me several years to shake that and carve out my own stage identity, but I don’t regret that era as a part of my comedy development in the slightest.
It’s a cop-out, but there isn’t really a shortcut. Just keep writing and performing, and also watching other comedy, find other influences to inspire you. Don’t be afraid to experiment and pay attention to what’s working and landing best from you. In my experience, audiences can tell when stuff doesn’t feel authentic. While it can still be funny it does just hit different when it feels like there’s an emotional truth to the persona, even if exaggerated/masked in certain ways.
As a promoter, Blizzard Comedy came about simply because I loved doing Quantum Leopard so much and wanted a version I didn’t have to trek to London for. From there it evolved into a utopia of alternative queer comedy that feels distinctly rooted in the Manchester scene. I don’t really know how that happened but it’s a blessing.
I will say the difference between Blizzard and my earlier attempts at running comedy clubs was the difference between having direction and goals of the night and just wanting to put my own night on to showcase my friends. The latter is still true, but having an idea of the audience we were pitching to, things I felt that the local comedy scene was lacking, and ways to market that was crucial to it taking off the way it has.
It doesn’t need to be as intense as our format, but try and figure out what a comedy night organized and run by you could do differently than anyone else. That hook is essential to stand out, because unless you live somewhere with no existing dedicated comedy nights, you’ll need a way to convince people you’re worth checking out as something other than another comedy club with a different MC in a different room. Once you’ve been going a while, that hook may be less prevalent as the club will naturally build its own identity if successful. But as a starting point, make sure you’re asking yourself “Why would I come to this club instead of/as well as any of the others locally?”
You can keep up with Jaycie Grace by following them on Facebook, Insta, & Bluesky.
You can also catch them hosting our next live show at Gullivers in Manchester on Thursday 27th August, featuring headline act Reese Wetherspoon. Find out more and book your free ticket here.
