COMEDY
‘t
he worst gig starting out was a
joint birthday party for three
18-year-olds where I died the
loneliest death of my career,”
Marcus Brigstocke says, dis-
cussing the perils of being a
26-year-old stand-up in 1999. “No one
laughed, and the mike lead went
through the DJ deck and wasn’t long
enough for me to stand upright. I had
to do the whole gig leaning to one side
— if I’d been more upright I guess I’d
have been a larger target.”
As comedy emerges blinking into
the post-lockdown light, young stand-
ups who have become used to perform-
ing on TikTok and Instagram are gear-
ing up for gigs and learning how to
handle hecklers. This year satire is
back, with a lot of political comedy.
So what else has changed? We asked
four previous winners of the BBC New
Comedy award — Brigstocke (1996),
Josie Long (1999), Nina Conti (2002)
and Tom Allen (2005) — to see what
they have learnt, what jokes they
wouldn’t tell any more and what advice
they would give their younger selves.
Jon Petrie, the director of BBC com-
edy, says: “Newcomer awards are usu-
ally a bit ahead of the curve. You can
tell what’s going to be mainstream in
the next few years.”
And the BBC New Comedy award,
which has been going since 1995, can
help to make careers. Shortlisted acts
and winners have included Peter Kay,
Lee Mack, Sarah Millican and Russell
Howard. Anna Thomas won last year
and is opening for Russell Howard on
his tour and developing a sitcom pilot.
She says: “There is still madness, and
my stuff ’s daft, but comedy is definitely
more conscious than when I first gigged
in 2017.”
“It was hard to be a girl in comedy
back then,” Conti says. “I had to take on
a male persona with Monkey. My win-
ning routine had my foul-mouthed
Monkey humping a pint glass. I had no
idea I’d be talking to Monkey for the
next 20 years. If I did I wouldn’t have
done it. It’s only since then I’ve post-
rationalised the sexual politics of it.”
Early gigs were brutal. Once, at a bar
in Soho, Conti had to go on after some
strippers. “I was a lost soul with a teddy
who had wandered into adult land,”
she says.
Allen did a gig in Birmingham and
left the stage after a man shouted out a
homophobic slur. “The booker told
me I’d only get paid half the money,”he says. “It taught me about standing
my ground.”
Long once had to follow a compere
whose whole routine was about oral
sex. “I had to walk on and try to make
a joke and I’d lost the crowd before I’d
opened my mouth. What I was doing
was odd and vulnerable and trying to
be weird. These days I’m more angry.”
Comedy has changed since they all
won the award. “Everybody’s finding
that the things they used to find funny
are kind of appalling when you look
again — even watching Friends is a little
uncomfortable,” Conti says. “I think it
is healthier and I’m not in mourning
for the old days.”
“There is stuff I used to do that I
wouldn’t do now,” Brigstocke admits. “I
feel differently about who the subject
of my jokes is: Conservative and Brexit
voters are hypersensitive. As for the
rest... you’ll only get in trouble for a
joke if it’s not funny.”
Long says that “younger comics are
getting smarter, more articulate and
more complex” and the risks of getting
cancelled are overstated. “Comedians
don’t get cancelled. Louis CK is an
actual sexual predator and he’s still gig-
ging.” She is “in awe of ” Sophie Duker,
a 32-year-old comedian who worked on
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and
Frankie Boyle’s New World Order and is
now doing solo shows.
“For me comedy is about laughing at
the world together,” Allen says. “Any-
thing that alienates a person in the
audience isn’t going to facilitate this.”
All of them miss the daft one-off acts
on the early circuit. “I once saw a man
walk out with a lampshade on his head,”
Allen recalls fondly. “Beyond that he
didn’t seem to have much to say.”
“There was a guy with a Hoover on
his back who did something with ping
pong balls,” Conti says. “I’ve tried
googling him. It’s no use.”
“The Chris Lynams of the world who
stick fireworks up their bottom and
sing [There’s] No Business Like Show
Business don’t get onto Live at the
Apollo,” Brigstocke points out. “These
days stand-up is a career choice.” cEntries for the awards open tomorrow
(bbc.co.uk). Six regional heats will be
screened on BBC3 from early September,
ending in the grand final shown on
BBC1 in the autumn. The winner takes
home a trophy, £1,000 cash and a paid
commission to write and perform in
a 20-minute audio pilotDAVE HOGAN/GETTY IMAGESITV/SHUTTERSTOCK SHUTTERSTOCKYounger comics
are getting smarter,
more articulate andmore complex
Josie LongtHe future’S funny
Satire is everywhere and a fresh generation of comics are ripping up the rules — the BBC
New Comedy award celebrates what is making us laugh now. By Stephen Armstrong
I once saw a man walk
out with a lampshade onhis head... he didn’t seem
to have much to sayTom Allen
I feel differently
about who the
subject of myjokes is now
Marcus BrigstockeMy winning routine
had my foul-mouthed Monkey
humping a pint glassNina Conti
22 May 2022 15