Guest blog from Patrick Turpin, organiser of Laughter Lines | Leeds Comedy Festival
In March 2011 we ran the first comedy festival as a four-day eleven-show event based in venues around the University. Having some experience running comedy shows in Leeds and at the Edinburgh Fringe, we had an idea of what we wanted to create, but inevitably we made some mistakes. Despite all of the festival’s successes, we marketed the festival too heavily to the student population, we didn’t do enough to differentiate ourselves stylistically from Leeds’ current roster of comedy nights, and I don’t think we engaged enough with the cultural outlets that help define the city. Significant lessons were bound to be learnt by a team that was essentially training on the job, and so it is extremely satisfying to be able to correct some of those mistakes and implement new ideas that came up last year into this year’s festival.
One thing we have realised in the last few weeks is that a large part of our promotional effort is about, in some quarters, trying to redefine what live comedy means to a lot of people in Leeds (and I don’t mean that to come across as arrogant or patronising). One of our collaborators and supporters recently commented that, to many, the idea of watching live comedy is an uncomfortable and worrying one. Whilst we were conscious of the need to create a broad and varied programme that would appeal to lots of different types of people, it is sometimes easy to forget the need for that message to be communicated clearly. I’m sure that for many, the unpretentious manner in which live comedy is often presented (in the back room of a pub with a pint in hand) is one of the main attractions, and for that it is an incredibly non-discriminatory and welcoming art-form. This is not something we have tried to shy away from. However, for some this makes the experience seem less attractive, and classic images of vicious comics, aggressive hecklers, and inebriated stag and hen parties immediately spring to mind.
This stereotype is one that some of the city’s comedy nights have very successfully overcome, but for us as a new organisation it is important that our audience clearly understands which side of the fence we fall on. I’m not suggesting bringing a dumbed-down, nauseatingly inoffensive, hybridised version of live comedy to the city. For me stand-up (and comedy more generally) is all about transgression, and in some cases, saying the unsayable. The reality is that not every show will appeal to everyone, and whilst we’re not trying to persuade anyone that it will, we want to demonstrate to people that the variety out there in the live comedy world is incredible, and just because they’re turned off by what they see on TV doesn’t mean there isn’t something that they’ll be taken with. Ultimately, it would not be a Leeds comedy festival if we didn’t make an effort to have events going on across the city, shows that will attract a broad and varied audience, and tickets at a price people can afford. Some of our shows are in pubs, some are in night club venues, some in theatres, one in a cafe/restaurant, and one in a cinema, with acts carefully selected to perform in rooms that will best suit their act.
One show we’re thrilled to be bringing to Leeds for the first time is Comedy Club 4 Kids, as it feels like a statement about creating a festival that lots of people can enjoy, and it immediately opens the festival up to an age-group (and their parents) that would be otherwise marginalised. Comedy Club 4 Kids has been taken to the Edinburgh Fringe for the last six years, to critical acclaim. The line-up changes every day with big stand-up acts known for their regular “child-unfriendly” material coming in, doing routines without rude bits, and proving to be a hit with children. Kids aren’t stupid, and Comedy Club 4 Kids represents a bold answer to the overtly childish, over simplified, “have you all been good boys and girls!?”, kids’ entertainment that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to. We’ve got it at The Carriageworks at 4pm on Saturday 28th April.
We really hope that Leeds enjoys Laughter Lines | Leeds Comedy Festival 2012. For us, this is a long term project and a large part of that is establishing a healthy dialogue between us and our audience. Just as much as we want to put on comedy we really believe in, we also want to programme comedy that Leeds wants to see. Ideally, the two can go hand in hand for years to come.