Grouchy Club Podcast - Kate Copstick & John Fleming

The Edinburgh Fringe and changing comedy. PR guru Mark Borkowski joins comedy critic Kate Copstick and blogger John Fleming in Edinburgh… What is good, bad, changed and unchanged at the Fringe? Why agents not PR people are the downfall of the Fringe. Plus the return of The Establishment Club and Borkowski’s new search for comics, artists, musicians, poets etc for a new TV series on a channel you would not expect. And Copstick’s attempt to bring vaudeville back to TV. http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

The snooty sneering of the Oxbridge elite and some comics against popular humour. Variable opinions on The Weirdos and the Alternative Comedy Memorial Society. The talent of Luisa Omielan. The irresistible sexual attraction of Italian comic Giacinto Palmieri. The inability of comics like Michael McIntyre, Frank Carson & Matthew Kelly to stop being themselves. Copstick’s work with Basil Brush and her admiration for the Chuckle Brothers. Coughing John’s failure to visit Amsterdam’s red light district and his attraction to heroin + LSD. The success of one Malcolm Hardee Comedy Award. The BBC’s Appreciation Index. Plus Copstick sings.John’s quote of the week: “Beheading teddy bears! That’s what the public wants!… There was the man who used to eat his brain.”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

The brilliance of Alan Davies at Pull The Other One. The unfeasible tallness of Darren Walsh. The formidable talent and influence but silence of Richard Herring. How Jim Jefferies did not destroy Piers Morgan over Donald Trump’s ban. How Reeves & Mortimer ‘died’ in Basingstoke. How Rik Mayall & Ade Edmondson (not Ben Elton) ‘died’ on stage in Inverness. Plus Kate Copstick’s pet hates about stand-up comics, Ariane Sherine’s “Love Song for Jeremy Corbyn”, the meaning of Alt Right and Copstick & Fleming’s failure to get talent spotted.Copstick’s quote of the week: “He doesn’t lick media’s arsehole in an attempt to tunnel his way up to a series of his own. He’s a proper working, clubbing, stand-up comic.”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Comic Janet Bettesworth joins critic Kate Copstick and blogger John Fleming in the busy Mama Biashara emporium in London. They discuss the usefulness - or pointlessness - of having an MA course in stand-up comedy, being an aural voyeur and Facebook arguments. Plus Copstick on her plan to become a torch song singer, how she boil-washed her passport and the rules of butt-plug hoopla. John remembers how he took an elephant up England’s highest mountain and Copstick laments how someone partially stole her idea for killing herself with a rectal thermometer and a bomb. All this plus Johnny Depp’s $3 million to blow Hunter S. Thompson’s ashes out of a cannon and suggestions on what to do with your own dead body’s ashes.Copstick’s quote of the week: “Oh, Janet! What kind of woman do you take me for?”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Thom Tuck joins critic Copstick and an ineffectively interjecting John at Mama Biashara in London in a doomed attempt to plug The Penny Dreadfuls’ new project. Copstick passionately attacks the Alternative Comedy Memorial Society and a female comedian but is clearly now warming to Sarah Millican. Thom talks about his indescribable new show and his ambition to appear in Doctor Who while Copstick wants to play a villain. Thom talks about panel shows. Copstick talks about him performing in her porn movies.“The one thing comedy can never be is smug” (Copstick)“The times I have done it, I have both got completely naked and been in a dress.” (Thom Tuck)http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Italian comic Luca Cupani on representing the UK in worldwide comedy competitions. The problems of performing to US and Canadian audiences. Copstick on why English language comedy is more precise. Theresa May’s Brexit speech. New Edinburgh Fringe venues. Copstick offers to marry Luca if he eats her. The sins of the Catholic Church and why anyone who celebrates mass logically has to go to Hell. Plus Copstick and Cupani sing - sort of.http://www.grouchyclub.co.uk You can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883 John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Ariane Sherine, musical comedy performer, journalist and TV scriptwriter joins critic Kate Copstick and blogger John Fleming in London’s bustling Mama Biashara emporiumThey disagree about sex on a first date, discuss hairy men, why sex is like a cup of coffee and why Charlie Brooker is kind. Plus the joys of meeting famous comics on The Guardian’s dating site, Ariane’s upcoming novel, the Simon Singh-along with Tim Minchin and Ariane’s “Love Song For Jeremy Corbyn”.Then... fear of a bad review by Steve Bennett on the Chortle comedy website; why Ariane is not playing the Edinburgh Fringe this year but is turning to online music videos, the cost of Jeremy Corbyn lookalikes and Ariane’s topless video with John.Plus Copstick remembers Ariane’s “Beautiful Filth” CD - “So clever. The lyrics were just clever, clever, clever, smart stuff.” And the two of them sing Tom Lehrer’s “Poisoning Pigeons in The Park” etc together, then swap nervous breakdown and prescription drug stories and talk about the benefits of self-harming: “I genuinely think,” says Copstick, “self-harming, up to a point, is a great coping mechanism.”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Nick Awde - critic, reviewer and author - joins Kate Copstick, John Fleming and a future gag writer aged 8½ in London’s Mama Biashara emporium for an even more-than-usually meandering and annoyingly interrupted podcast supposedly but only marginally touching on comedy amid discussions on linguistics, Ireland’s Black Lodge, Janey Godley’s family dog, Copstick’s family background, Brexit and the cultural influence of France - despite the fact that the French apparently do not have a word for “one man show”.But we do manage to discuss the comedy circuit in Flanders; the German version of "Allo Allo"; the closure of London’s Comedy Cafe; Eddie Izzard’s Franglais shows; comic Michael Brunström’s financial tragedy; and Ariane Sherine’s planned Jeremy Corbyn music video.PLUS Good news about the Malcolm Hardee Awards and the Grouchy Club at the Edinburgh Fringe.Kate Copstick’s quote of the week: “What is it about speaking French that turns people into absolute arseholes?”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Martin Soan, comedy promoter and creator of The Greatest Show On Legs, talks to critic Kate Copstick and blogger John Fleming in London’s Mama Biashara emporium. Has all the quirkiness gone out of the comedy business? Can Michael Brunström and Spencer Jones save British comedy? Did the Arts Lab start alternative comedy? Memories of The Browns’ double act, the influence of Germany, teddy bear torturing, walking on the ceiling and eating your own brain. Plus political correctness, sexism, the annoying thing about women, how Martin destroyed a kitchen every night at the Edinburgh Fringe and why he now turns down annual vagina requests… And then there’s a long discussion about the unique shape, colour and positioning of vaginas.Kate Copstick: “There is a fucking tsunami of under-talented people who fondly imagine they can be stand-up comics.. There’s too many people with absolutely fuck-all skill coming into comedy.”Martin Soan: “There’s something getting rather distasteful about the comedy industry”John Fleming: “You know when you’re sorry you asked a question?”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Comedy Cafe owner Noel Faulkner reveals the background to the club’s closure and possible re-birth in a perfect-sounding venue in February. Why a benefit show for the club would be “scandalous”. Why Malcolm Hardee’s Wibbley Wobbley is about to sink. The racism and sexism of club owners. How club owners schedule acts. The blame game played by comedians. Why booking women can be sexist. Why Friday night audiences are worse than Saturday night audiences. Plus rumours of a risk to the Comedy Store, the Night Czar of London and Copstick sings (again).http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

How Michael McIntyre succeeded in UK comedy. Why Louisa Omielan and Tom Binns are succeeding. The late Addison Cresswell’s talent. Five-year career plans. Copstick’s health, career and balls. The tragic closure of the Comedy Cafe in London. The effect of free entry clubs on pay-to-enter clubs in the UK. Is it necessary as a comic to play the UK comedy circuit or is there another way? The pointlessness of comics performing to comics and not ‘real’ audiences. And Copstick sings. Again.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Often controversial London comedy club owner Martin Besserman talks to critic Kate Copstick and blogger John Fleming in a noisy Mama Biashara emporium.Martin on being mugged in a Manchester hotel. Why running a comedy club is getting more difficult. The problem (or not) of ’free’ shows. Misleading advertising. Jack Whitehall’s virginity. Patrick Monahan’s hugs. PLUS... Is it impossible for women to be sexist? Flirting and sexism in comedy. Alison Moyet. The lack of any political correctness in Kenya. The talent of Jessica Martin. And Copstick’s shocking time in an underground room with Bobby Davro.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

After a disastrous attempt to record a podcast with Kate Copstick in Kenya, John Fleming (with raging toothache) talks to double Malcolm Hardee Award winning stand-up Becky Fury sitting on a freezing dockside bench outside the Wibbley Wobbley boat in Rotherhithe, a few feet from where Malcolm Hardee drowned in 2005.With the wind loudly hitting the microphone and a helicopter appearing overhead…What does a relative newbie think about the UK comedy industry? Has she sketched-out the 5-year plan promoter Hils Jago recommends comics should have? Why did a film-maker want to make a documentary about her?Is she going to have to polish turds and play the game? Why does she re-write William Blake poems? What IS success if you are a Buddhist comedian? And will she reach a satisfying climax?http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Amid the drama of a very dodgy internet connection, critic Kate Copstick on the generosity of comedian Janey Godley and the Puppetry of The Penis man… on the screamingly camp men on British Airways… on the tasteless sexist posts of Britain’s mysoginist liberal Left attacking Donald Trump’s glamour model wife… on why Hillary Clinton maybe shows why women should not run for Presidential office. And I propose that New Jersey-born comic Jerry Sadowitz should stand as US President.At only 15 minutes - and despite the internet chaos - this could be the perfect taster for those who have not yet experienced the rants, inanities and insanities of The Grouchy Club Podcast.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Guest Chris Dangerfield and Kate Copstick attack social justice and political correctness and the Third Wave of Feminism. Plus the success of Andrew Lawrence, Richard Gadd and Doug Stanhope… Being a student with lots of sex, drugs and money. Plus is liking Robin Williams and Bob Monkhouse un-cool? The lottery of getting on television, the downsides of having an agent and how alternative comedy descended to the mainstream.Dangerfield on the Edinburgh Fringe: “I was terrified. I’d been in the Sun with this show. I’d got the whores to sponsor it. I’d built it up. But I didn’t have a show…”Dangerfield on political correctness: “Freedom of speech is over, because hate speech has been invented and hate speech is just the end of free speech because anything can be classed as hate speech if you nominate it.”Dangerfield on drugs: “I’ve done a lot of drugs in my time and I like a lot of drugs - they’re interesting, they’re exciting. If you don’t abuse them, I think they can add to your life… But, if you like heroin, there’s no drug effect. There’s no narcotic effect. It will just sedate you. And, if you like that, there’s something wrong, because life’s not about sedation; life’s about engagement and connection. Heroin is the opposite of both of them. If you like that, I would suggest you need help.”AND Dangerfield on uploading four YouTube videos every day and writing a novel.Chris Dangerfield’s YouTube channel is at:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSkC7KNQHSSeOfRGtKgDm4Ahttp://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Even more of a double act than a comedy podcast this week… In a Hallowe’en edition, we ramble on about Copstick’s health, Kenya’s unburnt witch, South Africa’s planned “pile of wank” to ban satire, a “spectacularly good” UK comedy club and Scotland’s White Heather Club. PLUS Are Sam Simmons and Spencer Jones suitable for Live at The Apollo? Ordering drugs from Chris Dangerfield. Comics faffing about at the start of their acts. What makes a good comedy MC? Comperes who mess-up their introductions and entire shows. Susan Calman is irritating. Copstick nominates her funniest video line of the century. PLUS Barry Cryer’s colostomy bag and the BBC complaint. Lewis Schaffer described as a “dwarf planet”. And why are many comedians so self-destructive?http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Copstick, on OxyContin, in a wildly busy Mama Biashara shop, tries and fails to find UK comedy news. Her plan to become a nun. The joys and talent of Miles Jupp. The horror of the Donald Trump & Hillary Clinton election debate. Plus Copstick has a go at the “smug, self-satisfied” UK haters of US Trump supporters and “the castles of cunts that have been in power since time immoral”. Plus international airline chaos and the woes of flying charity goods back from Kenya to London. Plus Copstick forces John to sing.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Why middle class comics were so shocked by Brexit.After an interrupted start with Copstick in camp in Kenya, back to our normal disjointed style - on the decline of British comedy clubs, the collapse of the Invisible Dot and Chatty Man Alan Carr; the rise of Ivan Brackenbury and Bill Bailey.Plus the Centre for Comedy Studies Research, a threat to break Tim Renkow’s legs, Stephen Bailey rejected by the BBC for being ‘working class’ and the annoying failed Referendum Remainers who moan endlessly but do nothing.John’s quote of the week: “Comedians are sort of out-of kilter with the real public. They’re in kilter with the people who go to comedy clubs (who) tend to be middle class. But they are out-of-kilter with the mass of voters, which is why Brexit was such a shock.”Copstick's quote of the week: “The Twiterati don’t like the working classes. Brexit was, by and large, a working class vote.”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Tim Renkow’s new BBC TV sitcom A Brief History of Tim - comedy critic Kate Copstick pitches herself for a role...With Mitch Benn and Jon Holmes sacked from "The Now Show", a plea for more comedy and less PC on BBC Radio.Plus Copstick spurns the live Grouchy Club in London for a mercy dash to Kenya on the rumour of “a demon drinking blood”. And how she became the voice of British Railways.Copstick's quotes of the week: “I don’t think diversity for diversity’s sake is ever a good idea - certainly not in comedy”+"Estonia has the best-looking women in the world”And, eventually, Copstick sings again.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Sexism, Kate Smurthwaite, wolf whistles, Sarah Chew, Emily Hill, babes and FemiNazis. Are terms of endearment from men sexist? Are wolf whistles the equivalent of war crimes? Have I got tuberculosis? Kate Copstick gets her tits out in front of Jordan. Janey Godley and The Only Way Is Glasgow. Why a doctor thought it was a bad idea to treat Copstick. Porn films and the improvised children’s TV show No 73.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Political correctness and malicious intent. The Gazza PC hoo-hah and why we have to be upset about something. The English injustice system. Comedy MCs who become PC Heteronormatives. The changed acceptability of Harry Hill’s transgender joke. Plus Mama Biashara’s supplies to Syria. Is it impossible to have sensible comedians? And why Copstick reckons there is a lot of hate heading my way.Copstick’s quote of the week: “A heterosexual couple. What the fuck is wrong with that? I am not heterosexual and I am not part of a couple, but what is wrong with that?”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

The “proper sexism” of the mid-1980s and earlier in Northern Working Men’s Clubs remembered by comedy critic Kate Copstick while John Fleming fiddles with his nuts. Copstick reminiscences about her days as a pantomime dame, touring the northern clubs and being pelted with sweets by 2,000 children. There is talk of BBC TV currently ‘desecrating' old sitcoms but not Peter Tinniswood’s “It Takes a Worried Man”. Plus women behind the throne in British TV sitcoms. Sexual social segregation. Sheena Easton’s ex-husband. The powerful women of old-time Music Hall and Vaudeville. And the lost honesty of old-style comedy audiences.Copstick’s quote of the week: “There is nothing wrong with a single-sex club.”http://www.grouchyclub.co.uk(Photograph by Stephen O’Donnell)You can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Unoriginal BBC TV sitcoms crucified by critic Kate Copstick. Why performers are entirely right to call her a bastard. John Fleming’s criminal background. The English and Scottish injustice systems. Copstick ‘outs' herself as a Corbynista and talks of her secret lust for her English teacher. PLUS Why Ariane Sherine wants Copstick as her mother and John Fleming as her father. And the “bundle of chaos” that is comic Neal Portenza.Copstick’s quotes of the week: “Why don’t they just put a sign on the BBC saying “Our commissioning execs don’t believe anyone can come up with a good idea or write anything original ever again, so we are just re-hashing?”+“I am very excited to discover that I am podcasting with a convicted criminal. You have risen in my estimation no end.”http://www.grouchyclub.co.uk(Photograph by Stephen O’Donnell)You can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Comedians’ careers: is it worth going to the Edinburgh Fringe? Which excellent Edinburgh venue’s press office was criticised? Richard Gadd’s shocking reaction to not winning an increasingly prestigious Malcolm Hardee Comedy Award. Plus Broadway Baby’s one-star review of a “quite creepy” comedian’s show. Tim Renkow’s brilliant online sitcom. Lorraine Bracco is not a town. Lynn Ruth Miller’s version of a soft shoe shuffle. And will comedians crowdfund to see critic Kate Copstick self-harm herself with a kebab skewer next year?Copstick’s quote of the week: “One of the worst things you can do is be a small show in a big venue.”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe. Before the 2016 Edinburgh Comedy Awards were announced, amid a noisy crowd in Assembly, a tired and emotional Kate Copstick and John Fleming babble and discuss comedy at the Fringe and how the Malcolm Hardee Comedy Awards winners were decided… Plus the brilliance of Richard Gadd and Phil Ellis, the million-pound baby, Becky Fury, Phil Jarvis, Peter Buckley Hill and the sexual allure of the Pillsbury Doughboy… And how Copstick, initially with nausea and diarrhoea, was recognised as “the anti-Christ of the Fringe”.http://www.grouchyclub.co.uk You can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883 John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Comedy gossip with critic Kate Copstick and blogger John Fleming in a very noisy Southside Social pub in Edinburgh. Why Copstick no longer wants to hear about Fringe comedy acts from PRs next year. Comic Candy Gigi’s horrendous experience with an awards judge. Why the comedy section of the Fringe Programme has become “toxic”. How Paul Currie’s comedy show moved from “slightly scary” to “much more fun” but Copstick now wants to “smack him in the face”. Why Copstick hates the word “lover”. Why she was second choice to co-host The Grouchy Club and its original conception as a ‘real people’ TV chat show.Copstick’s quote of the week on Fringe comedy PR: “It’s ugly and it’s wanky and it’s just horrible… I haven’t been to see one single great show this year because a PR suggested it or even because a PR alerted me to it”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Kate Copstick rants about people jumping the queue at Richard Gadd’s show and how greedy Edinburgh University are financially raping the Fringe. Plus Copstick’s X-ray shows a shadow on her lung: could it be her last Fringe?Plus how Tim Minchin’s UK career started. How “wonderful” Karen Koren of the Gilded Balloon venue has helped acts. Michael Brunström’s brilliance. Candy Gigi’s changes. Ariane Sherine labelled a pasty-faced Jewish Princess. The origins of The Grouchy Club. And news of the Increasingly Prestigious Malcolm Hardee Comedy Awards.Copstick’s quotes of the week: Lewis Schaffer - “He is not right in the head”Edinburgh University - “They’re absolute arseholes”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Sex at the Edinburgh Fringe. The most arrogant little prick of a comedian whose show critic Kate Copstick has ever sat through. The joys of Sweet venues. A woman being hit over the head by a wheelbarrow. Alfie Brown’s brilliance. Copstick nominates Twonkey for the Malcolm Hardee Comedy Award and raves about Michael Brunstrom’s surreal show and his sexually attractive legs. The perils of drinking too much Red Bull. The King of Clit Comedy. The Grouchy Club’s previews of 2017 Fringe shows. The perils of ‘papering rooms’. Marcel Lucont’s calendar. Malcolm Hardee: The Musical. And Copstick vividly shares one of her most memorable sex acts.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Comedy, teabagging, fisting, rimming, felching and threesomes. Kate Copstick announces her Edinburgh Fringe podcast without me and remembers a great fetish club. Copstick and Jim Jeffries’ sexual experiences with Doktor CocaColaMcDonalds. Ariane Sherine’s offensive songs. An alternative to the wastefulness of Comic Relief. The Underbelly venue boys in rubberwear. The best knock-knock joke. Previews of 2017 (yes 2017) Edinburgh Fringe shows. Islamic jokes. Eleanor Conway’s sex and cocaine. Comic David Mills reclaims the word faggot . Plus the Mama Biashara charity’s desperate need for a new accountant. The best Edinburgh Fringe poster, the new First Minute Awards and my hot date with Lynn Ruth Miller.Quote of the week from Kate Copstick: “I’m not saying a life is defined by threesomes, foursomes and sticking Class A drugs up your bum, but…”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com(Cartoon image of Copstick by Ellis & Rose)

The rise of YouTube videos. Critic Kate Copstick & blogger John Fleming are joined by comedian Diane Spencer. Do comedians HAVE to play the Edinburgh Fringe or even play the London circuit? Getting fined £20,000 for bad taste jokes. Plus Lewis Schaffer’s dirty protest poster; the joys of morphine; the new FirstMinute Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe; how to start a 55-minute comedy show; the liars of Facebook and are small audiences better than talking into a mirror?Copstick’s quote of the week: “It’s hard to follow a really good, graphic wank joke”Diane Spencer’s website: http://www.difunny.co.ukhttp://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Exclusive revelations: Piff The Magic Dragon’s dog and Game of Thrones. Ed at Last’s new firstminute.com awards. Bob Slayer’s new immensely-long show. Why coming second is better. What exactly ARE the increasingly prestigious Malcolm Hardee Comedy Awards? Do funnier comedians die younger? Plus cunning stunts at the Edinburgh Fringe by Malcolm Hardee, Barry Ferns & Mark Borkowski.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

How to get comedy shows reviewed at the Edinburgh Fringe. How to extract good quotes from bad reviews. The highly influential and currently very ill comedy reviewer Kate Copstick on how, why and when she decides to review shows for The Scotsman during the Edinburgh Fringe. Plus Copstick sings. Plus famous people’s semen. http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

John Fleming tries to get a word in while comedy critic Kate Copstick talks about the most impressive press release she has seen for an Edinburgh Fringe show this year and her mooted return to stand-up comedy.PLUS her admiration for Boris Johnson, Angus Deayton, Lady Colin Campbell, Tanya Lee Davis, Janet Bettesworth (“the best hair in comedy”) and David Mills (“uber queen of this parish”).PLUS her bowel movements, genitalia, Jeremy Corbyn, sex with prostitutes in Manchester, the return of “Radio Active” and, finally, the amazingly likely reason why current comedy is so very bland.Best Copstick quote this week is arguably: “I do not regard having sex as an intimate relationship. Having sex is not intimate at all.”http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Britain votes to leave the EU - plus homosexuality and devil worship in Kenya; comedy critic Kate Copstick vomits, shits blood and is threatened with arrest; Scotland’s terrible weather; a future Scottish referendum; Copstick says: “I’ve got an arse on me like a Harrier jet” and she sings with John.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

On a bad line from a noisy internet cafe in Nairobi, critic Copstick talks to sleepy blogger John in London about...political tension and facial pus-filled spots in Kenya; sectarianism in Scotland and Kenya; the killing of MP Jo Cox in Britain; interviewing comedian Stewart Lee; this year’s Malcolm Hardee Award judges; John having half his beard shaved off on stage; comic Ariane Sherine’s love for Jeremy Corbyn; and the Bullshit Awards.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Is comedy a vocation or a desperation?(NB THERE IS SOUND BREAK-UP 14’40”-16’20” BUT IT RECOVERS!)From a Nairobi cafe, critic Kate Copstick talks to blogger John Fleming in London about...Being homeless in Kenya, racist jokes, a new Malcolm Hardee Comedy Award judge and the hypnotist who creates comedy improvisers.Plus John says there are only two sexes, Copstick inspires a show which literally takes the piss, John turns down the stage role of God and Copstick recalls what a terribly shallow stand-up comic she was in the 1990s.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

NB CONTAINS LANGUAGE THAT SOME MAY CONSIDER OFFENSIVE (but I think they’re wrong) - Is there a difference between racial and racist jokes? Are racially-descriptive words in themselves offensive?PLUS Kate Copstick on observational comedy, “the industrialisation of comedy” in the UK and attacks three Channel 4 Comedy Gala performers for losing their originality and replacing it with formless “mush”.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

The Fanny & Johnny Craddock of comedy podcasting - critic Kate Copstick and blogger John Fleming - talk about having sex, Gilbert & Sullivan, the new Angel Comedy club in London, Edinburgh Fringe comedy previews in the Mama Biashara performance space, the Jeremy Corbyn video, Clowns Without Borders, sending comedians to combat ISIS and Saddam Hussein’s creative idea plus…Comic David Mills’ major Hollywood movie, Copstick promotes Donald Trump and distrusts "raging lezzer" Hilary Clinton while John defends Bill Clinton's honesty…And then there is the origin of the legendary banger-up-the-bum routine and why (in Copstick’s opinion) "British comedy is going down the tubes”.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

IN A TRAGIC CYBER CATASTROPHE, the start of this podcast was accidentally erased. The background is that John Fleming had been ill with flu and Kate Copstick had been in bed in agony for two days. Now listen on...The Canadian comic being sued for a non-PC joke. The children’s cartoon series with a cure for cancer and the lure of immortality. How to fuck-over dodgy Edinburgh Fringe venue The Gilded Balloon. Why comedians should never invite Kate Copstick to a preview. A list of free Edinburgh Fringe previews in London. Copstick’s history of using butt-plugs. And her booking to appear at the Edinburgh Fringe this year singing “There’s No Business Like Showbusiness” with a firework stuck up her arse. All this and more.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

How does a writer know their material is good? Is there such a thing as pure funny? Does mass appeal always mean bland not brilliant? +The end of the Malcolm Hardee Comedy Awards, Jimmy Carr v Michael McIntyre, John Lloyd’s new show, Radio Times and the new restrictive Scotsman contracts for freelancers.THIS PODCAST WAS RECORDED ON 6th MAY BUT, DUE TO ILLNESS, NOT POSTED UNTIL 13th MAY.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Comedy critic Kate Copstick goes on one of her moanalogues, then explains why she is an ‘easy lay’ and talks about the man who chatted her up last week, the small African who disappeared between her legs, how to spot a large penis, her time in a jacuzzi with a poodle and her failed attempt to cut her pubic hair into a heart shape and dye it pink. Plus the comedian who is planning to get audience members up on stage to have live sex.And comic Tanyalee Davis’ clothing for dogs, her floating bottom, dead diminutive singer Prince and the availability of the Mama Biashara stage area for Edinburgh Fringe previews.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Sexual harassment by a male comedian to a female comedian. Critic Kate Copstick thrown out of her home for alleged sexual activity. Internet Fascists. Critics crowdfunded to review shows. Eamonn Holmes and Kelvin MacKenzie on dead stars.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Comedy critic Kate Copstick’s change-of-heart over Ross Noble. What comedians should NOT do on stage. Doug Segal drowning kittens in a bucket. Lewis Schaffer’s 0-star review and comedians’ attacks on reviewers. The shift to online PC cabals. How a double bass made Jim Tavaré successful. Ariane Sherine’s strange success. The first 15 seconds that make audiences like performers. And how the Malcolm Hardee Awards gave Kate Copstick “a greater appreciation of the crazies” of comedy.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Comedy critic Kate Copstick on why comedian Stewart Lee is “unique”. Plus Richard Herring’s £100,000, Lewis Schaffer, Ang Lee, the Spank heckler and how Edinburgh venue the Gilded Balloon has 'cocked up’ and probably destroyed a planned Lady Colin Campbell Edinburgh Fringe show. All that plus Copstick’s crusty breasts.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Kate Copstick gives the background to the anti-Semitic posting on Facebook and the Twitter s***storm.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

In a noisy Nairobi internet cafe, critic Kate Copstick takes a break from comedy and talks to John Fleming in London about witchcraft and drug-taking in Kenya... and the FemiNazis in London.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

On a difficult FaceTime link from Nairobi, comedy critic Kate Copstick talks to John Fleming in London about how comics ruined the Edinburgh Fringe, “Mother fucking Teresa”, her drug taking in Kenya, the late magician Paul Daniels, comedy in Africa and anarchic comedian Malcolm Hardee being reincarnated in Kenya.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

“Comedy is often a defence mechanism... You learn a way or survival and, if it works for you, you carry on. And, if you are a comic on the circuit now, you carry on whether it’s working or not.”With Kate Copstick away in Kenya, John Fleming talks to therapist turned comedy promoter Arlene Greenhouse and journalist turned stand-up comic Ariane Sherine about...The change in the UK comedy circuit over the last 13 years. Dirty sexual comedy. Jeremy Corbyn’s eroticism. The creation of a new comedy circuit. Are therapy and comedy the same thing? And the chance for John of naked-from-the-waist video stardom.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at: http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

“I don’t wear a bra and I don’t wear knickers,” reveals the Edinburgh Fringe’s most feared comedy reviewer. Plus the outrageous poaching of the Counting House by the Gilded Balloon and The Freemasons enter the Fringe. Plus Lewis Schaffer’s breasts in Harpenden and bouncing breasts in Kenya. Plus Kate Copstick prepares to go to Syria and sings. Plus Jennifer’s Robot Arm. Ariane Sherine and Darius Davies’ prank on TV news.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883John Fleming posts occasional blogs at:http://blog.thejohnfleming.com

Edinburgh Fringe news - digital shows, virtual reality and new performance spaces. The Gilded Balloon controversially poaches another venue. How to stage a good show without losing money. The comedian with bigger tits. Good news for a good comic. A sex-change performer’s new show. Grouchy Club news. We Are Thomasse. Knitting for Syrian refugees. Sex kinks plus sex with insects and earthworms. You heard it first here.http://www.grouchyclub.co.ukYou can also download this audio podcast from iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/grouchy-clubs-mostly-about/id977279883