Step into the surreal with Vic Reeves Big Night Out

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In the mid 1980s, long before the days where Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer became the well-known and much-loved surreal comedy duo they are today, Jim Moir was making a name for himself performing one man comedy stage shows in London. Such a name for himself, in fact, that he chose not to stick with his own. While Moir enjoyed varying his moniker frequently, he eventually settled on ‘Vic Reeves’, originally naming his show Vic Reeves Variety Palladium.

The show was a parody of the variety showcases so popular in prior decades, with Vic assuming the role of host (referring to himself as ‘Britain’s Top Light Entertainer’), introducing a variety of absurd characters (often also played by Reeves) and obscure performances. Reeves was often joined on stage by Fred Aylwood, playing his mute, eccentric, lab coat-wearing assistant, Les.

This stage show eventually evolved into Vic Reeves Big Night Out, which Reeves performed at The Goldsmiths Tavern in New Cross, south east London. It was here that he caught the imagination of a young Bob Mortimer, who was working as a solicitor at the time. It is told that Mortimer was transfixed by Reeves’s high-octane character comedy, going to see the show every week, and eventually taking part in the action himself.

© BBC

This article was originally posted on British Comedy Guide as part of their Comedy Rewind series. Read the rest of the article here…

Interview: Johnny White Really-Really (Lunchwatch

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© Hat Trick Productions

Hi Johnny, how is Lockdown 3.0 treating you?

Hello! It’s treating me in a way that I’ll look back on and think ‘in hindsight that wasn’t too bad.’ It’s like the first one, only without the tyranny of Zoom quizzes, and with more sighing and hopelessness.

Describe your podcast Lunchwatch to people who haven’t listened?

Lunchwatch is sort of a weekly lunch competition, where you can send in one lunch you’ve had between Monday and Wednesday, and one of them will win, based on criteria that are real and known only to me and kept a strict secret from myself. Also every week my better and more noble half Zoe does a coin toss. I pad out the rest of it with some chit chat and stories over the top of some relaxing and/or sad music which I make using a lot of long-reverbed pianos and that kind of carry-on.

How does the weekly Twitter competition work and how can people get involved?

Click on over to @lunchwatch and submit your lunch, with a picture or without. Remember to say what you had to drink. Or else don’t and then I’ll either ask you or else we’ll just presume it was water. You can also email lunchwatch@hattrick.com. Nobody ever seems to do this, mind you. Yet it remains as an option. Like Costa Coffee’s limited edition ‘Colombian Roast’.

What do you think the main attractions of podcasting are in this day and age?

I’ve been pondering this one for a while and just realised that I had been looking at it from a great height, sort of attempting to put myself into my own mind, in order to work out what attracts *me* to podcasting, and therefore what might attract others. But it turns out I’m already *in* my own mind, so I can just answer the question from my own point of view straight-off. I think being able to do it from home has to be the biggest draw.

What would be your perfect lunch?

I tend to just copy whatever Zoe says she wants to eat. Hmm. We have very good luck with tuna sandwiches. I would say a tuna sandwich, served on a plate. With Vimto (just saying that cos I’m currently drinking Vimto and can’t imagine anything else).

CATCH UP ON ALL EPISODES OF LUNCHWATCH HERE

Interview: Zoe Tomalin and Charlie Dinkin (SeanceCast)

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Hi guys, how is Lockdown 3.0 treating you lately?

Zoe: I’d point you to the fact we’ve just made a 10-part horror podcast.

Charlie: In my mind I’m on holiday in Hawaii, but also listening to the podcast we just made.

How did you two become comedy partners and what drew you to each other?

Z: The first time I saw Charlie we were both doing a stand-up gig (remember those?), and I was overwhelmed with this weird feeling that we were related.

C: Right, because we’re both short women with curly hair and glasses. How could we not be related?

Z: Charlie thought I was just being a creep, but then six months later she finds out she’s got a great great grandfather with the surname… Tomalin. So I guess the answer is: nepotism.

C: We’re both professional gag writers, so we got to know each other properly last year after writing on a couple of topical shows together. We both agreed it would be nice to write about some horrible things that weren’t actually happening. And like a creeping sickness that tells you you’ve made a terrible mistake… it grew from there!

Can you describe SeanceCast to readers who haven’t had a chance to listen yet?

C: SeanceCast is an extremely haunted sketch show, which follows two beautiful women (spoiler alert: it’s us) as we hold seances in order to find otherworldly content for our podcast.

Z: Each episode has its own story, as well as four ‘scenes from the beyond’ performed by some of the best comedy talent in the UK… we’re talking Amy Gledhill, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Alison Thea-Skot, Kat Bond, Nimisha Odedra, Toussaint Douglass, Amy Sutton, Jen Ives and Mali Ann Rees.

C: We spent most of the budget getting our incredibly talented cast cursed with bursting pustules so they couldn’t do TV work and had to make our podcast.

SeanceCast features sketches specifically from female and non-binary comic writers, how has this decision affected the content of the podcast?

Z: Firstly, it’s made it fucking great. We were so lucky to work with brilliant writers including Olga Koch, Athena Kugblenu, Catherine Brinkworth, Jen Ives, Shelf (Ruby Clyde and Rachel Watkeys-Dowie), Siân Docksey, Tasha Dhanraj, Heidi Regan, Charlie V Martin, Kate Hinksman, Georgia Wagstaff, Jain Edwards, Atlanta Green and Emerald Paston. Follow them all on Twitter before they’re megastars!

C: From the start we wanted to do something by and for womxn that allowed them to be weird and gross. Too often, shows that are supposed to be ‘for girls’ flatten the female experience into this glittery girlboss thing. So we’ve made a show about ghosts and murder instead – stuff chicks are really into.

You’ve just been nominated for the BBC Audio Drama Award, what does this mean to you?

Z: I got into comedy because I was obsessed with the now defunct Radio 7 when I was a kid so it’s a real honour to be on a list with writers and performers who made you want to do the job in the first place. Basically when we saw the nominations we did a big fangirl.

C: … and then, of course, thanked Satan for delivering on his side of the bargain. 

What one episode of SeanceCast would you recommend people listen to in order to get the full spooky experience?

C: Episode 1, but our other favourites are 4 and 9.

Z: I hear episodes 2,3,5,6,7,8 and 10 are pretty good too.

CATCH UP ON ALL EPISODES OF SEANCECAST HERE

Podcast Picks: Cuddle Club

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Podcasting has taken on a life of its own in recent years, with vast swathes of comedians coming forward with new interview, anecdotal and improv show formats. As this medium has grown, it has become saturated with assorted comedic content. Podcast Picks is a place for MoodyComedy’s comedy podcast recommendations.

Podcast Picks is back and it’s back with good reason; to recommend Cuddle Club with Lou Sanders. Beginning in February this year, Cuddle Club is a podcast that is still in its infancy. Despite this, Lou has bagged a number of high profile comedy guests, including Katherine Ryan, Richard Herring and Aisling Bea.

With a premise that centres around the weird and wonderful world of cuddles, snuggles and hugs, Lou Sanders has understandably had to reconsider her approach during the Covid-19 pandemic. Switching to a video call interview format, Lou marches on undeterred, demanding her guests share their most intimate cuddle moments, regardless of how uncomfortable they may feel.

Rather Freudian in her approach, Sanders’ adopted pseudo-psychiatrist character serves to highlight the ridiculous nature of many of the conversation topics. The episodes vary massively depending on whether our host is close friends with the guest or not. Often the conversation borders on awkward, and this is something that Sanders relishes, seemingly enjoying making her interviewees squirm with her hyper-sexualised chat.

That is not to say, however, that this podcast is all fluff. Each conversation goes in depth into topics such as relationships, family, childhood and romance, all accessed through the lens of cuddles, past and present. Lou’s candidness encourages immediate openness from her guests. Aisling Bea and Pope Lonergan’s conversations are particularly thought-provoking, with Lou’s close friendship with both comics allowing her to ask direct questions whilst remaining empathetic, yet always cheeky.

Cuddle Club is a collection of laid back chats with comedians that presents humanity realistically, with no polish or filters. Lou Sanders celebrates the real human condition, with all our ugly parts, guilty secrets and messy histories.

SERIES TWO OF CUDDLE CLUB HAS JUST BEGUN. CATCH UP ON ALL EPISODES HERE.

Interview: Kevin James Doyle, The 30 Year Old Virgin

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© Sarah Cobb/Jeremy Stanley

Kevin James Doyle’s debut show The 30 Year Old Virgin is now available as a comedy special to stream into your own home. MoodyComedy chats to Kevin about the origins of the show…

Hi Kevin, how has 2020 been treating you lately?

I live in New York and March, April and May were really, really terrible. I rarely left my apartment and you heard ambulance sirens all day. Now people are taking the virus seriously but there is less heaviness hanging over the city. Also, Autumn is my favourite season and there is outdoor dining at most restaurants which is nice. And it was just my birthday a few days ago. So lately, it’s been ok.

You recently filmed your comedy special The 30 Year Old Virgin; how and when was that recorded?

I recorded it at a beautiful church in NYC called Calvary St. George’s back in January. I knew they were friendly to the arts but I was a little nervous because the content of the show is not what I would call church appropriate. The room had a comedy-club-in-Game-of-Thrones feel which I thought fit the vibe of the show. The first night a reverend with the collar and everything was in the front row and I was just crossing my fingers he didn’t shut the taping down as I was talking about blow jobs.

What is the premise of this show?

I grew up in a Christian home, I was saving sex for marriage, I got engaged, called off the engagement a month before the wedding and found myself living in New York City a 30 year old virgin. A lot of the stories and jokes I had been working on fit within similar themes and then without spoiling anything, once I had sex for the first time it was quite a medical and emotional roller coaster and I thought… there it is… I have the ‘climax’ for my show.

Will your ‘TalkBack’ interview events be covering topics you discuss in your special? What can people expect from these interviews?

I was excited to discuss my show and the work of other people I respect. I wanted some way to bring people together to talk about the themes from the show because I think they are things everyone has experienced… love, guilt, pleasure, break ups. Even though the story is specific to me, I think everyone relates to 90 per cent of the show. Even if most people aren’t virgins at 30, they are fascinated by it and everyone has something unique about their sex life. Hopefully it wet your appetite to go watch the special. The most exciting thing about these interviews is that they are not recorded, they are happening live and we take questions at the end, so you can put me on the spot.

Have you been working on any other comedy projects during lockdown?

I host a podcast with a few friends called The Bradshaw Boys. We are three guys watching Sex and the City for the first time and we are approaching the end of season six now. It has been an amazing journey and a great thing to do in quarantine because it gives us a chance to watch TV and hang out for a few hours each week. We transitioned to Zoom calls for the podcast pretty easily. Since Covid we have had on Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker and a few other cast members. I think moving to recording with Zoom has made the podcast even better because it makes scheduling stars like them much more easy.

THE 30 YEAR OLD VIRGIN IS AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON AMAZON PRIME AND APPLE TV

Ania Magliano: Funny Women Awards 2020 finalist interviews

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The finalists for the Funny Women Awards 2020 have been announced. This year the competition has been held virtually, and this also goes for the final which will be streamed live from the Comedy Store in London on Tuesday 22nd September at 7.30pm. MoodyComedy is chatting to this year’s finalists. Next is Ania Magliano.

Hi there! How are you feeling about being nominated as a Funny Women 2020 finalist?

I’m so, so excited and grateful. Even doing this interview is making me feel like the most successful person in the world. When I’m typing this answer in my pants whilst procrastinating from changing my sheets.

Tell us a little about who you are as a comedian?

I do stand up comedy about my life, growing up as a bisexual half Polish half Italian Aquarius – a heady mix. Even though that sounds very specific, I think my stand up style is relatable, relaxed and chatty. And hopefully funny as well.

What does the Funny Women competition mean to you, considering the current comedy landscape in 2020?

I mean, considering the comedy landscape for the majority of 2020 has been completely barren with a couple of tumbleweeds (Zoom gigs), this is genuinely incredibly exciting. I usually find competitions super anxiety inducing and stressful, but it’s so lovely to be performing again that I’m too grateful and hyped to be consumed by nerves.

Are you prepared for a final without a live audience?

It’s going to be weird, absolutely, but I did a zoom gig to an audience of six bald men, so I think I’ll cope.

What are your hopes for the future of your comedy career?

I’m really looking forward to doing my debut show at Edinburgh and seeing what that leads to. I love Edinburgh so much, and seeing how much craft and hard work goes into amazing shows is really inspiring. I would also like to make money.

You can get your ticket to the live virtual final here. Follow Ania Magliano on Twitter here.

Izzy Askwith: Funny Women Awards 2020 finalist interviews

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The finalists for the Funny Women Awards 2020 have been announced. This year the competition has been held virtually, and this also goes for the final which will be streamed live from the Comedy Store in London on Tuesday 22nd September at 7.30pm. MoodyComedy is chatting to this year’s finalists. Next is Izzy Askwith.

Hi there! How are you feeling about being nominated as a Funny Women 2020 finalist?

Confused but very up for it. Everyone involved is so talented and funny so it’s very cool to be on the same list as them.

Tell us a little about who you are as a comedian?

I started stand up after my work sent me on a comedy course to help with my confidence, and I just kept on doing it. I’m very low energy and awkward on stage so I think I might be a character act? But then some people have told me I’m like that off stage too, which is very rude but potentially true.

What does the Funny Women competition mean to you, considering the current comedy landscape in 2020?

It’s so nice to be taking part in something with so many great comics, and during a year where things have been so tough for comedy, it’s great to have an opportunity to gain exposure doing something I love.

Are you prepared for a final without a live audience?

Yes, I’m just going to look straight into one of the lights right at the beginning so I can’t see anything for ages after, and hope for the best.

What are your hopes for the future of your comedy career?

In the hopefully not too distant future, I’d like to start gigging regularly again, to the point that every other aspect of my life suffers. And in the long term, I’d like to do my first hour long show.

You can get your ticket to the live virtual final here. Follow Izzy Askwith on Twitter here.

Christina O’Sullivan: Funny Women Awards 2020 finalist interviews

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The finalists for the Funny Women Awards 2020 have been announced. This year the competition has been held virtually, and this also goes for the final which will be streamed live from the Comedy Store in London on Tuesday 22nd September at 7.30pm. MoodyComedy is chatting to this year’s finalists. Next is Christina O’Sullivan.

Hi there! How are you feeling about being nominated as a Funny Women 2020 finalist?

I am excited to be back on stage. Also a little nervous but overall excited.

Tell us a little about who you are as a comedian?

I guess I would say I am a feminist comedian, I started doing comedy after I went home to Ireland to canvas for the abortion referendum so a lot of my material focuses on sexism with an occasional sprinkling of other fun topics such as climate change.

What does the Funny Women competition mean to you, considering the current comedy landscape in 2020?

It feels great to have an outlet for comedy and to feel like there is a future for live comedy.

Are you prepared for a final without a live audience?

Eh I hope so; nothing is normal in 2020. I didn’t think I would have as much fun as I did performing the semi-final on Zoom. I think my excitement at being back on stage outweighs any worries.

What are your hopes for the future of your comedy career?

I just want to get grow and get better – be more experimental and continue to push myself.

You can get your ticket to the live virtual final here. Follow Christina O’Sullivan on Twitter here.

Eryn Tett: Funny Women Awards 2020 finalist interviews

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The finalists for the Funny Women Awards 2020 have been announced. This year the competition has been held virtually, and this also goes for the final which will be streamed live from the Comedy Store in London on Tuesday 22nd September at 7.30pm. MoodyComedy is chatting to this year’s finalists. Next is Eryn Tett.

Hi there! How are you feeling about being nominated as a Funny Women 2020 finalist?

I’ve entered the awards a few times so I was pretty stoked to get to this stage! Really looking forward to the final and excited to tell some jokes.

Tell us a little about who you are as a comedian?

Hey, I’m Eryn. I’m an alternative comedian born and raised in Singapore, now living in Manchester. I do stand up comedy, host and produce a webseries/gig called ‘Unpaid But Great Exposure’ and make silly videos. Described as “fast moving…and absurd” (Diva Magazine), my stand up is made up of word play, short jokes, odd observations and surreal storytelling set to a charmingly uncomfortable rhythm.

What does the Funny Women competition mean to you, considering the current comedy landscape in 2020?

Competitions are always a great way to be seen and Funny Women is perfect for showcasing female talent. The Funny Women Awards have been particularly amazing to have around this year. They’ve given me something to work towards, and a sense of achievement at a time where I’ve otherwise been (occasionally) spiralling head first into pandemic-induced existentialist dread. I’m so grateful they decided to fight against the odds and push forward this year!

Are you prepared for a final without a live audience?

As prepared as I’ll ever be! It’ll definitely be strange, but I’d be lying if I said I’ve never performed without a live audience before. I do comedy, it’s always a luxury to have anyone around… especially if they’re paying attention.

What are your hopes for the future of your comedy career?

In the near future I hope to develop my solo show ‘Eryn Tett Finds Her Audience’. With a style that toes the line between straight stand up and absurdism, it can be hard to find my place. As a newly proactive misfit, I’m creating an alternative stand up comedy show which takes a more literal, ‘data collecting’ approach to the common advice to comedians – ‘find your audience and build from there’. Hopefully I’ll be taking it to some Fringes- Covid allowing! I suppose this leads to an even higher goal of a mine: when I’ve actually ‘found my audience’ and get to invite them to my future touring stand up shows, and we can all be oddballs together.

In the meantime I plan to continue writing and producing sketches, as well as finishing the first season of my sitcom I’m writing. The dream is to spend my life making comedy with talented groups of people. Nothing sounds better than that.

You can get your ticket to the live virtual final here. Follow Eryn Tett on Twitter here.

Katie Green: Funny Women Awards 2020 finalist interviews

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The finalists for the Funny Women Awards 2020 have been announced. This year the competition has been held virtually, and this also goes for the final which will be streamed live from the Comedy Store in London on Tuesday 22nd September at 7.30pm. MoodyComedy is chatting to this year’s finalists. Next is Katie Green.

Hi there! How are you feeling about being nominated as a Funny Women 2020 finalist?

I am super excited and very grateful for the opportunity! It is truly an honour to have made it this far in the competition and I am really excited for the final!

Tell us a little about who you are as a comedian?

I am originally from San Francisco, California, and I grew up in a Salvadoran and English household so I incorporate a lot of different aspects of my bicultural background in my set. My material is based on my life, and I aim to be as bold and unapologetic as I can.

What does the Funny Women competition mean to you, considering the current comedy landscape in 2020?

It means a lot, especially being a foreigner. It feels really cool to be a part of something that other North American standouts in the scene have been a part of, like Desiree Burch and Katherine Ryan. 

Are you prepared for a final without a live audience?

I think so! LA open mics have definitely prepared me for gigs with no audience.

What are your hopes for the future of your comedy career?

I want to continue doing stand-up and eventually move into sitcom writing and comedic acting. I also want to start doing more stand-up in Spanish and Portuguse.

You can get your ticket to the live virtual final here. Follow Katie Green on Twitter here.