The Comedian's Comedian Podcast

Eshaan Akbar has an extremely diverse comic portfolio. This former wealth manager and government policy maker is now a successful TV comedian with a significant career in the making. We talk about his very precise ambitions and his fascination with the absolute freedom of the stage, as well as his disappointment in finding out that comedy is no longer anti-establishment and that comedians are “a precious bunch”. We also touch on Eshaan’s suicide attempt, and get stuck into the tremendous difficulty of exploring a serious emotional topic using comedy.*Content warning: mention of suicide*In 30 mins of extras available only to the Insiders Club, Eshaan outlines some fascinating and unique parallels with comedy from his former careers. He portrays different types of jokes by comparing them to bitcoin, treasury bonds and investments (which if you already know about jokes works neatly as a primer in finance) and explores links between policy making and comedy, via analysis of two very different ideas about “audience”. Quintessential ComCom, available now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiderswww.eshaanakbar.com | @eshaanakbarCatch Eshaan at Soho Theatre, 7th-11th April 2020:sohotheatre.com/shows/eshaan-akbar-infidel-ityGet tickets for Stu's tour:28/02/20Cambridge Junctionwww.comedianscomedian.com | @comcompodSee Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seann Walsh is an extraordinary observational comic, with a phenomenal talent for getting to the heart of the funny in the most everyday topics, and enlivening a routine with act-outs.We talk about how his persona changed from open mics to big rooms, and how he strove for authenticity, despite the looming feeling that something was missing from his impressive TV career. Just when this outsider among outsiders seemed finally about to break big, in 2018 he appeared on Strictly Come Dancing (BBC) and pictures surfaced of him kissing his dance partner. We discuss the tabloid uproar and the accusations that followed, and the effect they had on his life and work.40mins of extras available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club include Seann on being unsettled by the aggressive environment on panel shows, getting kicked out of college and the cosiness of melancholy; his unique DIY technique for ridding oneself of nervous energy pre-show; and why any future set on Conan (TBS) will be very different to his first one...Join today at www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders@SeannWalsh | seannwalsh.comGet tickets for Stu's tour:28/02/20Cambridge JunctionSee Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A man on a mission, comedian and academic Dr Matt Winning is an expert on climate change and on making the apocalypse funny. We explore how to make a show educational without being worthy, finding purpose in struggle, and how to survive as a comic when you’re not motivated to quit your day job. We also dig into the maintenance of optimism when your crises are about something a little more meaningful than comedy, and gloss over the difference between polar bears and pall-bearers…25 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Matt on “coming out” as a scientist in comedy, how his love of the surreal clashes with the mainstream direction of his mission, and we get a morsel of the inside story on the infamous “Bearpit Podcast Podcast”. Join now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insidersmattwinning.com | @mattywin85Get tickets for Stu's tour:28/02/20Cambridge JunctionSee Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twins Randy and Jason Sklar blow audiences away with their extraordinarily layered stand-up, weaving their delivery alongside, through and around each other’s voices; sparring, arguing and then dropping into perfect sync on a punchline.  We get stuck into their writing process, the difficulties of working as a team when their family lives don’t sync as easily as their creative lives, the challenge of identifying a target audience when you straddle mainstream and alternative, and why the “ball don’t lie”…25 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include how Randy and Jason approach Roast Battles, why they love tagging jokes and the TV pitch it inspired, and we find out which twin is the happiest. We also get an insight into their episode of NPR podcast “This American Life”, when they were made aware of a genuinely mind-blowing possibility about their identities as twins. Join now at www.comedianscomedian.com/insidersTW: @SklarBrothers | IG: @SklarBrothersGet tickets for Stu's tour:07/02/20Farnham Maltings11/02/20York – The Basement12/02/20Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club28/02/20Cambridge Junctionwww.comedianscomedian.com | @comcompodSee Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A juggernaut of charisma and filth, Ninia Benjamin has a supernatural connection to her audience and a mind like a firework display. We discuss why she won’t ever explain her race or size, only her point of view, and how she moved beyond the onstage anger that used to motivate her.  We also dig deep into her career rebirth after an ‘annus horribilis’ brought about by professional struggles and her own impostor syndrome.  This far into her career, can she finally accept herself as a “proper comedian”?Extras include Ninia on writing for Aladdin and what she sang to Will Smith, a deep-dive into why she identifies writing comedy with “homework”, and a full on pep-talk from Stu about exactly how she should attack the Edinburgh festival… Access them, and all other extra content, by singing up the Insiders Club at  www.comedianscomedian.com/insidersIG: @ninia_benjamin | TW: @ninia_benjaminGet tickets for Stu's tour:01/02/20Newcastle Stand (early show – 5pm)02/02/20Glasgow – The Stand07/02/20Farnham Maltings11/02/20York – The Basement12/02/20Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club28/02/20Cambridge JunctionSee Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A master of "pulling back into the wide angle", Jamali Maddix thrives on big routines about big subjects, letting his innate comic ability run riot. We talk about the pressures of keeping up hit-rate within routines, and get technical about top-lines, and why he wants the premise of a bit to be more intelligent than he is himself. But what happens when you lose sight of your goals in the process of following the next apparently logical step?30 mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Jamali going deep into the production of his Vice TV smash "Hate Thy Neighbour", which saw him write an hour of comedy in three days, sixteen times, whilst avoiding being killed by neo-Nazis. We also cover how to extract laughter from horrific things, and find the fertile ground between outrage and consensus...Join now at comedianscomedian.com/insiderswww.jamalimaddix.comTW: @jamalimaddix | IG: @jamalimaddixGet tickets for Stu's tour:25/01/20Corsham – The Pound Arts Centre01/02/20Newcastle Stand (early show – 5pm)02/02/20Glasgow – The Stand07/02/20Farnham Maltings11/02/20York – The Basement12/02/20Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club28/02/20Cambridge JunctionSee Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The only comic ever to have consecutively won Best Newcomer and Best Show at the Edinburgh Fringe, John Kearns is a master at finding pathos in the prosaic, combining clowning and standup in a way that makes absolutely no sense written down. With influences from Jacques Tati to Neil Hamburger, we explore his sense of place within himself, overreaching in his writing, and ambition in his career...Thirty minutes of extra content available exclusively to members of the Insiders Club includes John's brilliant technique for underpinning all his material with genuine pathos, and delves into writing for Harry Hill, meeting Chris Morris, and how the spotlight can burn...@johnsfurcoat Get tickets for Stu's tour:04/12/19Aldershot – The West End Centre25/01/20Corsham – The Pound Arts Centre01/02/20Newcastle Stand (early show – 5pm)02/02/20Glasgow – The Stand07/02/20Farnham Maltings11/02/20York – The Basement12/02/20Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club28/02/20Cambridge Junctionwww.comedianscomedian.com | @comcompodSee Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A semi-forensic vivisection of my Conan appearance and LA junket; a small reward for those of you inclined to learn more about the experience...See Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Returning to stand-up this month with a run at Soho Theatre, after many years working on other projects including his sitcom Plebs, Tom Basden is inventive and prolific, also handsome. We talk about the parallels between the superb musical comedy that won him Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh fringe and his new stand-up, discover Tom's English middle-class-ness and why he's very suited to telling some "guys" to "calm down", and explore whether his work ethic is pathological...Extras exclusively available to the Insiders Club include some really specific insight into the structuring and writing of Tom's sitcom "Plebs", and the dangers of mining real life events for comedy, and Stu railing at the injustice of how the TV sketch show "Cowards" didn't become better known. Join the Insiders Club at www.comedianscomedian.com/insidersFind details and tickets for Tom's imminent Soho Theatre run:13/01/2014/01/2015/01/2016/01/20 17/01/20 18/01/20 tombasden.comGet tickets for Stu's tour:04/12/19Aldershot – The West End Centre25/01/20Corsham – The Pound Arts Centre01/02/20Newcastle Stand (early show – 5pm)02/02/20Glasgow – The Stand07/02/20Farnham Maltings11/02/20York – The Basement12/02/20Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club28/02/20Cambridge Junctionwww.comedianscomedian.com | @ComcompodSee Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Christmas Special, we speak to the actual Santa Claus, via his little helper and confidant, consummate clown Herbie Treehead. Herbie is a phenomenal street-performer, known around the world for his joyful daftness, silly songs and funny bones.We talk about what his first Santa season means to him, and discover an enormously rich and respectful seam of kindness and good cheer. We also dive into Herbie's origins as a performer and his maverick work within vaudeville troupe Slightly Fat Features; learn how to steal a lorry; and reflect on the nature and cost of real performative risk...www.herbietreehead.infowww.slightlyfatfeatures.comGet ad-free new episodes, bonus content from interviews and much more by joining the Insiders Club at www.comedianscomedian.com/insidersGet tickets for Stu's tour:25/01/20Corsham – The Pound Arts Centre01/02/20Newcastle Stand (early show – 5pm)02/02/20Glasgow – The Stand07/02/20Farnham Maltings11/02/20York – The Basement12/02/20Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club28/02/20Cambridge Junctionwww.comedianscomedian.com | @ComcompodHappy Christmas one and all.See Stuart live on tour - www.stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.