Stephen Frizzle is next comedy quiz kid

One of the North East’s top musical comedians is hoping to strike a chord with stand-up fans – when he headlines the next Giggle Beats Comedy Quiz.

Stephen ‘Friz’ Frizzle will close the Giggle Beats Comedy Quiz – a show that combines stand-up with a pub quiz – at The Stand Comedy Club, Newcastle, on Sunday 6 April.

He joins Ideal and Hebburn star Seymour Mace, who hosts the quiz night every first Sunday on High Bridge.

Described by Viz co-creator Simon Donald as “a British entertainer in the finest tradition”, Frizzle started writing parodies from the age of seven.

“It was of Wet Wet Wet’s ‘Love is All Around’, said Frizzle, who is originally from Lincolnshire but now lives in Newcastle.

“The first lyric was ‘I feel it in my wellies / I feel it in my toes. It feels a bit like jelly / or just a flock of crows’. I peaked young.”

Frizzle performing his material in university dorm rooms before he was introduced to Pink Lane Poetry and Performance, a monthly night at The Jazz Cafe on Tyneside.

“That introduced me to performing to an actual audience, and I’ve never looked back since. The regular shows sadly had to finish after [owner] Keith Crombie passed away.”

Frizzle has been singing reworded versions of pop classics up and down the country, and pointing out the bizarre world of fandom under the alias “Harry, My Cat Died”.

Frizzle’s work has appeared on Radio 4, and in sell-out shows at the West End.

“Comedy has always fascinated me,” Stephen said.

“When I was about nine, I was an avid reader of the Calvin and Hobbes anthology of cartoon strips by Bill Watterson. I remember the library had about five collections, which I consistently read back to back.

“I grew up listening to Chris Moyles’ parodies and trying to record them onto a cassette. Luckily, I grew out of that before all hope was lost.

“A friend introduced me to ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and I started collecting his albums and then performing his songs ad verbatim on the back of a bus to various friends.

“Looking back, I’m pretty sure I was being annoying as hell.”

Tickets for the show are £2, with prizes including a three-course meal for two at The Stand bistro, tickets to the best comedy shows in Newcastle, comedy merchandise courtesy of Baby Cow Productions and Channel X, and more.

Doors open at 6.30pm, and the quiz starts at 7pm.

You can reserve your team by calling The Stand Comedy Club box office on 0844 693 3336.