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. 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".

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. In 2012 the club was extended to run three nights per week. In April 2013, Angel Comedy held London's first week long free comedy festival, and then began running nightly. The comedy night has hosted comedians including

Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the W ...

, Tommy Tiernan,

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

Russell Howard Russell Joseph Howard (born 23 March 1980) is an English comedian, television presenter, radio presenter, and actor. He was known for his television show ''Russell Howard's Good News'' and is currently doing ''The Russell Howard Hour'', and his ...

Daniel Simonsen Daniel Simonsen is a Norwegian comedian and actor. Career Simonsen has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 2009. As well as his Newcomer Award, his show "Champions" received positive reviews, he supported Simon Amstell on his UK tou ...

and

Holly Walsh Holly Dione Walsh (born 8 November 1980) is an English comedian and comedy writer. Early life The daughter of an Anglican vicar, Walsh attended Christ's Hospital School, before going on to read History of Art at Gonville and Caius College, Cam ...

. In January 2015, Ferns launched The Angel Comedy

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

and

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

, featuring interviews with comedians who have performed at the club.

Celia Pacquola Celia Pacquola (born 12 February 1983) is an Australian comedian, writer, presenter and actor who performs predominantly in Australia and the United Kingdom. Early life Pacquola is a third child, and her parents separated when she was eightee ...

was the first guest on the programme. In February 2015, the club announced that it was collaborating with the US and Canadian comedy troupe

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

and UK comedy blog ''Comedy Blogedy'' to bring Second City to the United Kingdom.

The Bill Murray

In 2016 Angel Comedy launched a Kickstarter campaign 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. Angel Comedy contacted comedian

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

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 William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart (1600? – December, 1655), was the childhood whipping boy of Charles I of England and later, an adviser to the king. Early life Born about 1600, Murray was son of William Murray (1561?–1616), minister of D ...

. 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

{{reflist Comedy clubs in the United Kingdom Free goods and services