Brighton a great testing ground for rising comics ahead of Edinburgh Fringe

Brighton is a great testing ground for a show, says Phil Jerrod (pictured above). The local comic is one of 58 trying out new material at Komedia in June and July before heading up to Edinburgh for the world’s biggest fringe festival.

He says, “Brighton is great to do a work in progress because the audiences are very patient and giving. If they like a bit of the show they’re not shy in letting you know. I love Brighton audiences and I always try out new material here before anywhere else.

“In many ways a work-in-progress show is more fun and interesting for an audience because all those jagged edges and weird non-sequiturs haven’t been smoothed out.”

A performer at Brighton Fringe in the past, including his first in 2013 called Humans, this year saw Jerrod supporting Crawley’s Romesh Ranganathan on his Irrational tour.

He sees Edinburgh as an opportunity to perform night after night but added: “Edinburgh can be a bit of a wasp in a jar – so many performers, so many people, so many wasps. It’s difficult to gauge what you’ve achieved. It’s a great place to get noticed because the whole industry is there in one place – and drunk.

“If I can stave off the inevitable nervous breakdown I’ll have won as far as I’m concerned.”

His new show Hypocrite, which gets an airing at Komedia on Monday, July 11, looks at the good and bad parts of his nature, drawing on his high verbosity to bring things to life.

“As I’ve been writing it the bad parts of my nature seem to have taken over, bludgeoned and suffocated the good parts and stood over them laughing like a maniac.

“It’s a show about thinking you’re one sort of person while demonstrably being the opposite.”

Jerrod, alongside his co-performer for this show, Paul McCaffrey, is a top tip by Komedia itself, the venue that has hosted hundreds of comics over the years.

Elsewhere, Patrick Monahan returns to Brighton (Thursday, July 7) with That 80s Show, based in the 1980s when Patrick’s Irish-Iranian family arrived in Teesside from the Iran war, while Lucy Porter (Thursday, July 28) tries out her new show Consequences, with heart-felt personal revelations and cultural observations.

ELLIE TAYLOR

"Why does everyone want to know my age?" asks Ellie Taylor.
"Every time I read my name in the press it says Ellie Taylor, 32... Ellie Taylor, 32. It reads like my name should just be Ellie Taylor 32."

Taylor, 32, has been slowly making a name for herself since appearing on ITV's Show Me The Funny, a reality show for new comics that aired in 2011.

She has since gone on to perform in Brighton numerous times with her first hour-long show, called Elliementery, at the Fringe in 2015.

That particular stand-up set focused on getting married and garnered rave reviews. Now her new show, called Infid-Ellie-ty, looks at staying married. It comes to Komedia on Thursday, July 14.

She says, "As a nation we hate people who have affairs but, good god, do we like a sex scandal - we're a bit strange like that.

"If you are coming to see a show about infidelity it's probably not a great start to be having an affair but I'm not going to be chastising people."

Taylor is not fazed at the prospect of producing a whole new hour of material, saying that first hour-long effort a comedian produces is their biggest challenge.

She says, "It's a whole different hour but I think if people saw my last show about getting married they will like it.

She admits the show was little more than a name when she submitted for this year's Edinburgh programme but is hoping it will have a good shape to it at the Komedia.

"It will be all new stuff - by the middle of July it should be on its way to not being dreadful," she says, "I have always really had lovely gigs at the Komedia."

She says, "I think people assume you get heckled a lot more than you do. You can count the actual incidents of proper heckling on one hand."

Her first TV appearance meant having to quit her job. She says, "I was working in an office and I liked the job but it was a case of what do you actually want to do? I wanted to show off professionally.

"My style is very autobiographical because I'm an extremely vain comedian."

HOLLY BURN and STEPHEN BAILEY

Tuesday, June 21

Holly Burn (pictured) is a stand-up and character comedian who also classifies herself as an actor and clown.

Labelled a "silly and exciting renegade" who "breaks all the rules", the Independent chose her as their One To Watch in 2013. Harry Hill named her Best Comedy Newcomer in Radio Times and Eddie Izzard described her as “sexy and bonkers like Twin Peaks”.

She was most recently seen supporting The Mighty Boosh and has just completed filming the new ITV2 comedy series Bad Bridesmaid.

Also featuring is Stephen Bailey, who has a black belt in Tae Kwon-Do and a degree in languages.

In 2015 he was nominated for the Amused Moose Comedy Award (Best Show) at the Edinburgh Fringe and is due back this year.

JOHN HASTINGS and JIMMY McGHIE

Thursday, June 23

Canadian turned Londoner John Hastings (pictured) takes a new show called Integrity to Edinburgh and gives us a look first.

In the show, he spins the story of a single disastrous day filled with terrible acquaintances, a meltdown at the airport and a late-night booty call that ends in calamity.

Hastings has been a stand-up for ten years (about right before comics start to break through) and was one of the stars of Brightonian Sean Walsh’s Late Night Comedy Spectacular on BBC Three.

Jimmy McGhie has toured Asia as well as trawling around the UK, getting nominated for Chortle Best Compere in 2011. A regular at top clubs in the country, he has also supported Chris Addison and Simon Bird on tour.

GARRETT MILLERICK and ANDREW MURRAY

Friday, June 24

Garrett Millerick (pictured) has rocked Komedia in the past with a frantic set that drew from his experiences overseas entertaining the British and American military. His bellowing and occasional accents make for a strong performance in small venues.

He regularly opens the UK's comedy clubs and, as a writer, his debut sitcom Do Gooders, a comedy about mid-level charity workers, was commissioned for radio last year.

Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer, improviser and performer. He is one of the QI Elves and part of the team of writers at satirical magazine Private Eye. He also contributes regularly to BBC radio shows such as The News Quiz and is co-host of the award-winning QI podcast No Such Thing As A Fish.

ANNIE McGRATH and ADAM HESS

Tuesday, June 28

In his latest, "even better show," Adam Hess (pictured) discusses the masks we wear, being brought up in an extremely Catholic household and the time he got stranded on the Thames in a fishing boat wearing a leotard when he was 17.

No stranger to either Brighton Fringe or Edinburgh, last year's Scottish debut saw a sell-out and an invite to perform at London’s Soho Theatre and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Annie McGrath is a comedy writer and performer who has written and appeared on ITV2's @elevenish as well as Channel 4's Girls Go Trolling. She has also featured on BBC Radio 4 Extra and BBC Radio Wales.

Annie has been shortlisted for the Funny Women award and is a two-time finalist for the Tickled Pig stand-up competition.

JOE WELLS and GORDON SOUTHERN

Sunday, July 24

No stranger to Brighton, Joe Wells (pictured), performed his show Ten Things I Hate About UkipTen Things I Hate About Ukip at our Fringe. Now he takes it to Edinburgh Fringe for the first time on his return up north.

Wells believes in creating a kinder, more tolerant and equal society. Despite this, he spends part of his show sneering at people he disagrees with and, in his words, is everything that’s wrong with the political left.

Joining him is Gordon Southern, described as an “international word clown” with observational, energetic comedy and quick-witted improvisation.

ZOE LYONS and WILL DUGGAN

Sunday, July 31

Regular on the local circuit and farther afield, Zoe Lyons (pictured) has appeared on Live At The Apollo (BBC2) and The John Bishop show (BBC1) and won the Chortle Best Comic Award.

Despite this, Lyons has said she "never really felt part of the gang" and was "the awkward gay kid at school with a different accent and quite a severe bout of alopecia". Her show, called Little Misfit, goes up to Edinburgh this time after a year's hiatus and Komedia-goers get to see it first.

Will Duggan has been performing comedy since 2009 and since then has cemented himself as an interesting performer mixing stories and gags with a "cheerfully cynical view of the world".

Visit komedia.co.uk/brighton for all the acts.