Who Are Birmingham's Best Comedians Part Two

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Who Are Birmingham's Best Comedians? (Part Two)

Several years ago, we asked Who Are Birmingham's Best Comedians?

Since then, there's been an explosion of great comedic talent in and around Birmingham, with many acts going from Birmingham Comedy Festival's annual Breaking Talent Award onto win other awards, head out on tours and make the trek up to Edinburgh for the annual Fringe.

So using that original article as a starting block, here (in no particular order) just a small selection of some of the other great comedians from in and around the city currently causing a stir ...



DARREN HARRIOTT
The Black Country comic cut his teeth playing open spots in Brum, which gave him a great grounding when he eventually headed to London to try and make his name.

And make his name he has, with a series of live shows that often explore his upbringing - absent father, the influence of gang culture - and his struggle with finding (and accepting) love.


THE GOOD KIDS
Commended in the Birmingham Comedy Festival's 2018 Breaking Talent Award, musical duo The Good Kids are two teachers whose sketches and songs have an originality and energy.

Catch them hosting regular nights at The Station in Kings Heath where they kill it every time ...


CELYA AB
Winner of the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award 2019, Celya is of French/ Algerian origin.

Despite English not being her first language, the Parisian, who resides in the Jewellery Quarter, has developed and subtle and clever style of comedy that has also wowed Funny Women judges.

Having opened for Fern Bridges, she can also often be seen with Irish comic Mary Flanigan, who was Commended in the 2019 Breaking Talent Awards.


JOSH PUGH
The comedy festival's Breaking Talent Award winner from 2015, Warwickshire's Josh went on to win English Comedian Of The Year in 2016 and perform in Australia.

He has a likeable stage persona, with material that often takes you in completely unexpected directions.

Josh's last one-man show was entitled Maybe The Real Comedy Awards Are The Friends We Made Along The Way. A must-see act!


Gary Powndland confesses he's not a hacker (note - contains swearing)

GARY POWNDLAND
The creation of comic Jack Kirwan, Gary is a unique character. Just ask him about those foxes! Often accompanied by Breaking Talent 2014 winner Andrew McBurney, he's been packing out venues around Brum and the Black Country, and it's only a matter of time before he extends his reach ...


DANNY CLIVES
Often spotted at Cherry Red's monthly Cherry Bomb Comedy nights is finding himself increasingly in demand.

He might not have many obvious, straight-forward gags, like some comics, but he's a funny fella for sure. Quirky? Yeh ...


LINDSEY SANTORO
Since being nominated for a Breaking Talent Award in 2014, Lindsey's gone from strength to strength to become one of the best (if not THE best) young female comic in Brum.

She's been slowly building up her material over the years and is already wowing crowds at The Glee Club and MY Comedy with ease.

Equally madcap and down to earth, she's already inspiring younger female comics.


Guz, from season one of Man Like Mobeen, available via BBC iPlayer and Netflix

GUZ KHAN
A former Coventry school teacher, Guzzy (as he used to be known) has exploded across out TV screens.

It's all down to his own BBC3 TV series, Man Like Mobeen, which is actually shot in Brum. Away from the sitcom, he's an excellent stand-up - funny, engaging and a little cheeky.

Other acts well worth investigating include gag merchants PHIL PAGETT and LOVDEV BARPAGA, HANNAH SILVESTER, and ROB KEMP, whose Elvis/ Evil Dead mash-up is already an established cult classic.

Keep an eye out too for JAY DROCH, ERIC RUSHTON who picked up best new act at the Leicester Comedy Festival in 2020, having picked up a Breaking Talent nomination back in 2017 (when he was beaten by Leamington Spa's KAI SAMRA), and LAURA MONMOTH, who won the Breaking Talent Award in 2018 with a clever multi-media presentation that mixed geeky themes with those on identity and gender.

Or if you're a fan of improv, see FAT PENGUIN, who are a real hotbed of improv' talent; THE IMPROLECTUALS; and JUMPROV, whose line-up also includes Jay Droch.


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