A comedy club that has hosted some of the biggest names in comedy over the years is celebrating 25 years of mirth-making. Last week Joe Lycett broke off from his set at Manchester's AO Arena to give a shout-out to “the best comedy club in the world” - the city's own XS Malarkey which celebrated 25 years of continuous Tuesday night comedy last night (September 27).
The club started out at Scruffy Murphy’s in Fallowfield in 1997 and is now at The Bread Shed on Grosvenor Street. It has over the years charged visitors a pittance to see the likes of Peter Kay, Jack Whitehall, Sarah Millican, John Bishop, Diane Morgan, also known as Philomena Cunk, Nish Kumar, Daliso Chaponda, Jason Manford and Stewart Lee.
Peter Kay once played there for a paltry £1 on the door and Justin Moorhouse and Alan Carr played their very first gigs there. “We charge as little as possible and we don’t let in stag dos, hen dos or office parties. It’s all about the comedy and creating a great atmosphere for all sorts of different comedians who can just do their stuff instead of having to waste their energy on crowd control.
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"People love playing it which is why big acts still make the journey to try out their new shows with us - our Edinburgh previews frequently feature those who go on to the best reviews of the subsequent fringe. There is a positive vibe means that some acts who are a little bit off kilter flourish - they’re able to be a bit more experimental under the more benevolent gaze of the Malarkey crowd” says resident compere Toby Hadoke, who founded the club when he was 23 and had been a comedian for just over a year.
On Tuesday a sold-out birthday show boasted a line up of five of the best acts in the country, all for XS’s legendarily small door charge - £3 for members and £6 non-members. The line-up featured five-times Edinburgh Award nominee James Acaster.
The Mock The Week star closed the show following sets from Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Jordan Brookes, Live at the Apollo's Helen Bauer, Comedy Central's Tadiwa Mahlunge and BBC's Funz and Gamez star Will Duggan. After founding XS Malarkey Toby has since become a Comedy Store regular, toured his one-man show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf to the West End and around the world, became resident presenter of the 7th Dimension on BBC Radio 4 Extra, and recently played traffic warden Fergus Dunford in Coronation Street opposite his real life partner, Izzy Armstrong actress Cherylee Houston MBE.
But he still never misses a Tuesday MCing at XS Malarkey which is co-run by a keen collective of comedy enthusiasts including Ros Bell who approaches the comedians and books the live shows, Jon Turner who does the artwork and mans the door, Joe Hollingsworth who scouts for comedians and does the tech, and Jay K who does tech back-up and plays keyboard on the night.
XS Malarkey didn't even miss a Tuesday during the Covid-19 pandemic, when its shows went online and showcased comedians from all over the world including Parks and Recreation’s Jon Glaser, 30 Rock’s Judah Friedlander and Australia’s Alice Frazer, as well as providing much-needed paid employment for more than 100 working UK comics during lockdown.
“Thanks to the support of some big names like Ed Gamble, Marcus Brigstocke and James Acaster playing the shows we were able to generate a regular online audience, who made voluntary donations, which meant we could pay 4 acts every week for the whole of the pandemic,” says Toby who continued hosting every show and didn’t always get paid.
“That’s the downside of us charging so little,” he adds. “But I get enriched by the club and the audience in other ways so it’s fine.”
On stage on Tuesday Toby, to a full house, promised to stick around for another 25 years - "when I'll be 73" he gulped, noting that he had now been presenting the show for over half of his life. The audience joined in the fun with one group of regulars providing a full sized cardboard cut out of the MC and another group made a customised slanket (sleeved blanket) so he doesn’t get too cold this winter.
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