The Comedian's Comedian Podcast

Nearly 12 years since his first appearance way back in episode 6, Adam Bloom joins us to celebrate the publication of his book “Finding Your Comic Genius” - an absolute treasure trove of his original and deeply technical comedy writing techniques. We talk about how his writing for and with huge comedians and celebrities over the years has honed his ability not just to write perfect punchlines, but also to share his knowledge with warmth and clarity.

It’s destined to be on every comedian’s bookshelf worldwide, and in this episode he shares some examples of its secrets including "balls and cubes", "see-saws", "balloon-pops" and much much more!

Co-host of The Dollop podcast and a superb comic and improviser, Gareth Reynolds is touring the UK right now! In this gold-standard episode we talk about his improv characterisation, the history of his collaboration with Dave Anthony, and how taking “The Dollop Pill” has gradually changed everything he thought he knew about America.

We also get into the “robust mental health triumvirate” of improv, sports analogies and regular income, and explore his YouTube series “Ga’riffs”, in which he heroically improvised stand-up on previously-unseen audience suggestions to camera, alone in the room.

25 mins of unmissable extras available only to the Insiders Club include Gareth going deeper on the techniques and structures he employs while riffing, and exploring the fertile parallels between theatre sports, improv on-stage and crowd-work.

Nish Kumar is one of the most powerful and provocative voices in British stand-up comedy, and his debut special “Your Power, Your Control” is streaming now on Sky On Demand & Now TV, for those in the UK & Ireland.  He returns to the podcast to talk in depth about the creative process behind the writing of that show, the inciting incident in which a bread roll was thrown at him at a charity gig, and how that led to a media frenzy, terrifying death threats, and ultimately a total re-evaluation of his mental health.

We talk about making serious things funny, and the phenomenal rise of The Mash report, as well as “Birbiglifying”, “Frankensteining”, and phantom pooping…

23mins of extras exclusively available to members of the Insiders Club include Nish on his therapy journey, writing topical stuff for The Mash Report, and the rollercoaster of creating a stand-up show, from first scribblings to the marathon of the Fringe.

Catch up with Nish:

Nish’s first stand up special is streaming NOW on Sky On Demand & Now TV for those in the UK & Ireland.


TW/IG: @MrNishKumar

Most recognised for her role on Meet the Richardson’s, writer and creator of To Hull and Back (BBR4) and co-writer on C4’s Hullraisers, Lucy Beaumont is about to embark on her 2023 stand up tour. Despite her massive success, she feels like she’s only just getting started. We discuss her honest and frank writing style and processes – both in writing for herself whether it be stage or TV and for other characters – who come through to her via dead peoples’ spirits. We also delve into her love/hate relationship with stand-up and the prejudice and misogyny she experienced early on in her career, leading her to take a hiatus from performing. Living much of her life on screen, she explains how she feels more prepared than ever to step back on the stage and she gives us some interesting insights into her next steps and future goals.  

15 mins of extra content available exclusively to the Insiders Club including Lucy’s experience with ADHD and the impact it’s had on her career, a cracking tip about how to think about jokes, and how she’s preparing for her tour

Catch up with Lucy:

Tickets for Lucy’s 2023 tour ‘The Trouble and Strife’ here:

Trigger warning: Discussion of child sexual abuse.

Jonny Pelham has become one of the most disarmingly hilarious comics in the UK by building his punchlines on a bedrock of unflinching honesty. There’s a big difference between the comedy cliche of “saying the unsayable”, and being able to find the humanity and authenticity in a subject that people don’t want to talk about. 

We talk about his new Edinburgh Fringe show “Optimism Over Despair”, and he leads us through the experience at that show’s core: his reflections over using his set on Live At The Apollo to discuss the sexual abuse he experienced as a child. We also learn about his clinical “maladaptive daydreaming”, and what it’s like to always come with a trigger warning.

20mins of *double trigger-warning* extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include Jonny on a joke that he’s always found too dark to make work, but which says something very important about his experiences; how he makes the personal political; and how to make biographical work what you want it to be in the face of algorithmic soup!