London's first permanent LGBTQ+ comedy club opens its doors in Archway next month.
Located downstairs at the Siorai Bar in Junction Road, The Queer Comedy Club is a supportive 70-seat space where up and coming queer comics can cut their teeth, and LGBTQ+ audiences can hear "relatable" gags.
Launch night on May 11 features a line-up of queer comedians including Dee Allum, Kathy Maniura, and Josh Jones, who was nominated best new comer in Dave's 2022 Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
The club was dreamed up by three comedians; David Ian, Jeremy Topp, and Kate Dale after sharing their experiences on the "very straight and macho" stand-up circuit.
They started running a comedy night, but felt a permanent venue sent an important signal that stand-up was for the queer community too.
"We were uncomfortable inviting our queer friends to watch us perform because we were taking them into what was essentially a very straight and macho environment, with no guarantee about the type of material they’d hear," says Ian, who takes his debut solo show (Just a) Perfect Gay to the Edinburgh Fringe in August.
"It’s not the sort of place we’d usually socialise in. It made us realise there was a gap in the market - and our community - for a comedy club that would feel like their space.
"Seeing our own lives and experiences held up for delighted, joyous, celebratory ridicule can be incredibly cathartic, bonding and hilarious. We wanted to bring that to the LGBTQ+ community at the same time as giving new and established queer comedians a chance to perform to their own people."
For Dale, who takes her one-woman show Up To Scratch to Edinburgh this year, performing at QCC nights played an important role in coming out.
"Talking about your sex life on stage is one way of telling your friends and family, but being able to make jokes about all aspects of our lives to an audience you know will understand has helped me process it all," she said.
Topp, who has been performing stand-up for five years, adds: "After meeting Kate and David at a gig, we clicked immediately and discussed the gap we had all felt in the comedy circuit. I love all comedians, however queer performers have a brutal honesty, and life stories I can resonate with. Helping newer acts feel welcomed into the scene has been a passion of mine for years, and I knew their goal of establishing a permanent queer comedy space was something I had to be involved with."
The weekly 'Big Thursday Show' will feature both established comics and emerging talent with Jessica Fostekew, Stephen Bailey, Jen Ives and James Barr already booked to appear. Mondays and Tuesdays showcase new acts and new material, with QCC Raw for queer comedians, and Not Totally QCC for allies and friends too. The club will also host one-off events and works in progress.
The Queer Comedy Club opens Downstairs at 114 Junction Road, London, N19 on May 11. https://queercomedyclub.co.uk/
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