Every time I see a show at the Roundhouse in London’s Camden I’m impressed with its long legacy with comedy.
I remember seeing Graham Norton perform stand up there in the early days – this feels like a hundred years ago now and possibly even longer to him! This was just before his TV stardom really took off and today the Roundhouse is still playing host to a new generation of TV’s biggest comedy names as the Roundhouse Comedy Festival returns to the iconic multi-arts venue for the third year running.
I eschewed the opening night, even though Funny Women alumni Rosie Jones and Celya AB were on the line up. Instead I opted for the Sunday evening showcase with TV’s Katherine Ryan, fresh from baby-making and a facelift, and the most successful ever winner of our Funny Women Stage Award !
Katherine hosted a line up of her comedy friends, which included other faces from off the telly: Judi Love exuding frustration of life in a middle-class neighbourhood; Michelle de Swarte equally frustrated with life and showing us why she’s TV’s latest hot property; Lou Sanders reminisced about her TV appearance on Dancing on Ice and attempted some couple-counselling, and ‘token man’ Jack Skipper threw some testosterone into a line-up where the vibe was overwhelmingly perimenopausal! His ‘cheeky Chappy’ charm provided a welcome diversion!
I rounded up a three-strong team from our Funny Women non-executive board to attend on Sunday as this was a female heavy, diverse line-up and the draw of TV names had attracted a sold-out audience.
Heartwarming though this is, it’s tricky times for live comedy and I would urge you to support your local comedy club – that’s where you’ll see the ‘Katherine Ryans’ of the future and we need to keep grassroots going. The big names all started somewhere.
I love a mixed bill showcase and this was a memorable and relatable night out of comedy. Most notably, a curious running theme on personal hygiene and ‘skid marks’ emanated from Katherine who told us about her husband’s lack of fastidiousness when wiping their toddler’s bottom. This triggered each act to recount their own scatological experiences.
The audience groaned with the familiarity and horror of the grown up version of skid marks and more, abiding images that will long live in the minds of those who attended I’m sure! There was a lot more to laugh about and the hilarious material about perimenopause as described by Michelle and Judi was really crowd pleasing.
The show certainly set the tone for the promised ‘ambitious, genre-spanning programme featuring some of comedy’s biggest names’, and it was great to see so many people supporting live comedy. The legendary Camden venue celebrates 20 years since reopening as an independent multi-arts space and youth charity and The festival combines commercial objectives with great entertainment to support its valuable community outreach.
This is a value close to our hearts here at Funny Women – maybe next year we will be invited to programme a celebration of female identifying comedy to celebrate our 25th Anniversary?
The Roundhouse Comedy Festival was launched in 2023 and is co-programmed by acclaimed comedy production company Berk’s Nest, expanding its scope across stand-up, live podcasts, theatrical comedy and interactive shows.
The current festival runs to the 18th August featuring major headliners including Joe Lycett, Sam Campbell, Ed Gamble, Sara Pascoe, Vittorio Angelone and Jack Rooke, creator of Big Boys.
Tickets are on sale now, with limited availability remaining for selected performances www.roundhouse.org.uk.
Pictures by Corinne Cumming.
