26 Aug
19:48
How to film a comedy clip that bookers actually watch
“We love hosts, but not in your clip.” That line is sitting in a festival submission guide written by Ariel Julie. It exists because so…
Reporter
River Leanox
River Leanox edits Open Comedy's newsroom. Coverage runs across stand-up's full ecosystem: comics on the rise, club owners booking the rooms, festivals, specials, and the working-comic economics behind the laughs. Tips, corrections, and counter-arguments welcome at river@opencomedy.com.
The running order
26 Aug
19:35
Comedy bookers could need a £10 licence, MPs told
Ten quid to be a booker “I think a licence would be good and just make sure it’s very accessible, like maybe 10 quid to…
26 Aug
08:42
How to handle a heckler without losing the rest of the room
Sally Holloway spent over a decade on the circuit braced for one particular shout out of the dark. When she added it up for Chortle…
26 Aug
08:42
Crudi Dench takes the £1,500 Bannerett Award at Bannerman’s
The deal Crudi Dench offers an audience at the Iron Belly is simple. They’ll crowd-surf naked if the show manages to solve one caller’s problem.…
25 Aug
15:59
Writing a tight five that survives King Gong’s three red cards
Thirty comics, five minutes each, three red cards The Comedy Store’s King Gong runs on the last Monday of every month. The club’s own listing…
25 Aug
15:51
Garry Starr puts £1,600 in so every ISH nominee gets £100
The hundred quid only exists if you’re standing in the room There’s a £100 note with your name on it at the Counting House on…
24 Aug
08:29
UK comedians earned £21,143 in 2025, down £5,635 on 2024
Seventeen per cent of them made nothing at all Seventeen per cent of the comedians who filled in the UK Live Comedy Sector Survey earned…
24 Aug
07:51
Birmingham’s Breaking Talent Award 2026 pays the winner in a mug
The prize is a mug. An actual one, the Mug Of Victory, handed over on stage at the Glee Club in the Arcadian. Five West…
24 Aug
07:35
How to compere a comedy night without losing the room
Geoff Whiting carries ten minutes he might never use Geoff Whiting has compered literally thousands of comedy shows and events. The first thing he does…
23 Aug
05:03
Leicester Comedy Festival owes £215,000 and the list is wrong
The Live Comedy Association is owed £103 by the charity behind Leicester Comedy Festival, for an event the LCA itself produced as part of the…
