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Tuesday 24 September 2024

Brighton Komedia Bucks The National Trend Towards Male-Heavy Comedy Line-Ups

In a recent article published by comedy website Chortle, Brighton's Komedia came out top for featuring more female comedians in their weekend Komedia Comedy Club shows than any other major comedy club nationally.
Credit: Charlotte Horton

Chortle's analysis compared the Friday and Saturday line-ups from now until the end of November 2024 at 12 major comedy clubs - Hot Water in Liverpool, the Frog and Bucket in Manchester, the Comedy Store, Banana Cabaret, Comedy Carnival, Up The Creek and 99 Club in London, the Glee in Birmingham, the Komedia in Brighton, the Last ​Laugh in Sheffield, the Comedy Box in Bristol and Just The Tonic.

They found that across the line-ups, the vast majority included just one woman on a four comic bill and that, very rarely, did women outnumber men. 

Past and upcoming female stand-ups, who have performed at Komedia Comedy Club include: 

Nina Conti, Jen Brister, Zoe Lyons, Maisie Adam, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Rachel Fairburn, Shazia Mirza, Olga Koch, Rosie Jones, Laura Lexx, Sara Barron, Helen Bauer, Jo Neary, Sikisa, Amy Gledhill and Thanyia Moore.

Komedia aims to provide diverse bills across all of their comedy shows and take an intersectional approach to line-ups, not just taking gender into consideration, but also racial diversity, people with disabilities, queer performers and acts from a range of socio-economic backgrounds and different ages. 

The venue also hosts Funny Women Live in Brighton which features a female only line-up.

Hal Branson from leading comedy production company, Little Wander, who programme Komedia Comedy Club alongside Komedia said:

"Little Wander is pleased that this important conversation is happening - while acknowledging that it's disappointing and frustrating that it needs to. 

"It has been a privilege to work with Komedia Brighton over the last few years and we would like to thank the incredible staff, artists and audiences that make the club so special. 

"There is still plenty to do and we will strive for continued improvement across all of our line-ups."

Find out more about Komedia and their shows on their website at www.komedia.co.uk.


by: Mike Cobley



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