Grin Up North: Leeds comedy scene

Image: Pigeon Hole Comedy @ Brudenell Social Club

In the first in an occasional series, Giggle Beats take a look at the burgeoning, albeit unconventional, comedy scene in Leeds.  “It’s a hotbed of experimentation and new acts”, writes Edy Hurst. “It’s certainly not possible to gig every night, but the gigs are run by people who care for people who want to watch real live comedy.”

Leeds was the economic capital of the north back in the days of the industrial revolution. And while the revolutions changed into a stiff turning – and then to an oil-clogged wheel – Leeds has become a major university city, holding a transient population of over 30,000. Geography lessons aside, it is a city with a quickly growing grass roots comedy scene.

Whilst there are notable exceptions, such as the House of Fun Comedy Club that has been running for over ten years, the old capital of the north doesn’t have a great deal of consistency with comedy venues.

Leeds currently has no venue dedicated solely to live comedy.

Mr. Ben’s has been on a hiatus since December, the Leeds Comedy Store closed after only 8 months of business, and Jongleurs moved across the road into a Highlight that now functions on a weekend basis out of the Maluko Bar.

Besides what appears to be an annual shuffling of brand names vying for would be club-goers attentions, it shows that Leeds is an area that, despite a large population, resists the grasp of these comic institutions. That’s not to say it can’t succeed, but history is not on the side of the full time comedy club.

Instead, what you get is a sort of independent ephemeral series of independent comedy nights built from individual interest. With the death of the last club that had an open mic night – Mr Ben’s – so ended the open comic community around it. More or less everyone I know from stand up in Leeds and the North East I met at Mr. Ben’s.

There has been a gaping hole waiting to be filled, and as is the case across all the north, if you want a gig where you can get a ten and actually work on material, you have to set up your own night.

Pigeonhole started like this. It is possibly the biggest comedy night currently in Leeds, at the Brudenell Social Club. Simon Munnery and Silky (who runs a Kill for a Seat at the Hifi Club) have both played there in recent weeks, and it is possibly the first gig to truly raise the interest of the Leeds student body, a transient but grand population.

Set up by students from the University of Leeds, it marks a shift towards the growing alternative comedy scene in the Leeds area. Stand-ups from the university, who moved after their degrees have realised that if they want a gig where they can do the comedy they want to do – not having to cater for gong show club crowds – they have to set up their own nights.

Pigeonhole started in the backroom of the Brudenell; the dark and eclectic Wrong Show is upstairs in The Fenton, a small pub just next to the university; and Mutant Comedy nights (which, in the interest of transparency, I co-run) work within intimate coffee shop venues.

There is a distinct departure from the ‘northern’ observational style of comedy associated with comedians like Peter Kay; here it is confessional, surreal and pushing social norms. Nights are starting up all over the north, and Leeds is no different. What is different though is how often these circles mix.

The division between the ‘alternative’ (a contentious description within local comics) nights and mainstream nights is vague and blurred, and you’ll frequently see an act that you wouldn’t presume would suit a venue.

If you’re doing comedy in Leeds, you probably need all the help you can get. But as long as you’re funny (and not morally poisonous) there’s nothing stopping you getting gigs.

Right now, Leeds is a hotbed of experimentation and new acts. It’s certainly not possible to gig every night, but the gigs are run by people who care for people who want to watch real live comedy.

The lack of ‘professional’ industry means that Leeds doesn’t have a great deal of local progression, but with the talent and nights here right now – and what’s happening around the north in York, Sheffield, Manchester, Hull and Newcastle  – promoters should perhaps start looking up north for the next wave of live comedy.