Angel Comedy

Angel Comedy is a free comedy night that runs seven nights a week at two pub venues in London, England; above the Camden Head and in The Bill Murray.[1][2][3] The club was founded by Barry Ferns, Sarah Pearce, Rachael Warnes and Dec Munro, and describes itself as "making comedy more accessible for audiences and comedians".[4]

The Camden Head
The Camden Head

The comedy night was started in 2010 by comedian Barry Ferns as a weekly show with the intention of giving stage time to newer acts and allowing established professional comics to test new material.[5] In 2012 the club was extended to run three nights per week. In April 2013, Angel Comedy held London's first[6] week long free comedy festival, and then began running nightly.

The comedy night has hosted comedians including Dara Ó Briain, Tommy Tiernan, Eddie Izzard, Russell Howard, Daniel Simonsen and Holly Walsh.[7] In January 2015, Ferns launched The Angel Comedy zine and podcast, featuring interviews with comedians who have performed at the club. Celia Pacquola was the first guest on the programme.

In February 2015, the club announced that it was collaborating[8] with the US and Canadian comedy troupe The Second City and UK comedy blog Comedy Blogedy to bring Second City to the United Kingdom.[9][10]

The Bill Murray

In 2016 Angel Comedy launched a Kickstarter campaign[11] to purchase and renovate a pub in Islington, a second space running on the same Angel Comedy Principle. The pub opened as The Bill Murray in 2017.[12] Angel Comedy contacted comedian Bill Murray to seek his blessing for the pub's name, and in the absence of a response the pub is said to be officially named after William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart.[12]

The Bill Murray hosts Angel Comedy's workshops and courses, and serves as a place for comedians to test material with a more eclectic programme of shows. It is their base for future expansive projects.

References
  1. "Islington stand up at its best: Barry Ferns at Angel Comedy - Islington Now". islingtonnow.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  2. "50 free things to do in London". The Evening Standard.
  3. "The Barry Experience". chortle.co.uk.
  4. "About Angel Comedy". Angel Comedy.
  5. "Opinion: Free Comedy – Too Good to Be True?". Beyond The Joke.
  6. Barry Ferns. "Free comedy festival in London - April 2013". comedy.co.uk.
  7. "The best free comedy in London". Time Out London.
  8. "Why is Improvisation the most important creative skill?". The London Economic.
  9. "The Second City – 50 Years of Funny". The Second City - 50 Years of Funny. Archived from the original on 2015-03-12.
  10. Inveterate (27 March 2015). "Second City 2015: American Comedy Institution Announces London Dates". Inveterate. Archived from the original on 30 March 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  11. "Update 17: WELCOME TO…THE BILL MURRAY · Angel Comedy Club". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  12. "A comedian walks into a pub, buys it and turns it into a comedy club. It's no joke..." The Independent. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
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