The Stand Comedy Club is a chain of three stand-up comedy venues in the cities of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, and

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

History

The Stand hosted its first regular club night on Thursday, 21 September 1995, in the small basement of W.J. Christie's Bar on the West Port in Edinburgh's Old Town. Seven people came and the total box office was £22. The founders, Tommy Sheppard and Jane Mackay, (along with working circuit comedians Gordon Brunton, Bill Dewar, Viv Gee and Reg Anderson) wanted to create a platform for emerging Scottish comedians, as well as a place for people who enjoyed comedy "that looks at the world from a slightly different perspective". Sheppard had lived in London in the early 80s at the time of the alternative comedy boom and had seen

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...

and

Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English comedian, writer, presenter and actress. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satu ...

when they were just starting out in small alternative circuit venues. On his return to Scotland in the 1990s, he had been surprised to discover that there were no equivalent venues there. When The Stand opened a week-round venue in Edinburgh's York Place in 1998, it was the first dedicated comedy club in Scotland. The Glasgow venue was opened in 2000, located in the basement of an old secondary school in

Woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

in the West End of the city. The Stand runs live stand-up comedy shows every night of the week in both venues, with a programme of contemporary comedy from Scottish and international comedians. They also stage weekly open mic nights; Monday night in Edinburgh and Tuesday night in Glasgow. The Stand Comedy Club has a mailing list of 22,000 people. In 2009, 10,000 tickets were sold to events between both the Glasgow and Edinburgh venues and roughly 600 acts a year are performed at these clubs every year. Between the two clubs an average of 1600 tickets are sold to events every week.The Stand Comedy Club
/ref> The venue has banned stag and hen parties, and talking during the performances, in an effort to minimise disruptive behaviour so that the comedians can concentrate upon delivering their crafted material.

Edinburgh Club

The club ran weekly when first set up in 1996 and relied on local talent. Expansion meant a second weekly venue in the Moscow Bar and by the end of 1997 a third weekly club had started. In April 1997 Tommy Sheppard and Jane Mackay formed Salt 'n' Sauce Promotions Ltd. to develop the club on a commercial basis. After two and a half years of moving around and staging shows in different pubs, the club finally settled and moved into a new purpose-built venue on the edge of the city's New Town. The Edinburgh club now stages up to ten shows per week and with its connection with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe it is the fourth largest comedy venue in the world's largest arts festival.Fringe Festival 2010 Programme

Glasgow Club

The Glasgow club opened on 14 April 2000. Initially the Glasgow club was open five nights a week and by 2003 it had joined the Edinburgh club opening 7 nights a week.

Newcastle club

The Stand opened a venue in High Bridge in

on 27 October 2011. The Stand invested £750,000 in fitting out the basement venue, part of the former Waygood complex. As the Newcastle club prepared to open, Tommy Sheppard said that he expects this venue to be the last Stand to open.

Famous acts

Since becoming a year-round dedicated comedy club, The Stand has been a platform for comedians such as

Fred MacAulay Frederick MacAulay (born 29 December 1956) is a Scottish comedian. For 18 years, until March 2015, he presented a daily BBC Scotland radio programme '' MacAulay and Co''. He has appeared on numerous TV shows. Background Born in Perth, MacAula ...

Kevin Bridges Kevin Andrew Bridges (born 13 November 1986) is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series '' Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' was based on his stand-up routines. He has appeared on many television panel shows including '' Would ...

,Daily Record Kevin Bridges Interview
/ref> Des Clarke and

Frankie Boyle Francis Martin Patrick Boyle (born 16 August 1972) is a Scottish comedian and writer. He is known for his cynical, surreal, graphic and often controversial sense of humour. A stand-up comedian since 1995, Boyle first gained widespread recogni ...

Fundraising events

Over the year The Stand Comedy Club holds around ten benefit evenings which raises money for various charities such as the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

and Amnesty International. Since 2005, the club has been able to raise money for these charities as the acts performing don't receive a fee and the money is then donated to the selected charity.

New performers

The Stand's programme contains an event called Red Raw beginners' night, where new comics can request to be on the bill. When asked about changes to the club over the years the original founders have noticed that comedy has become more popular as thousands will now go out weekly to see a live show compared to dozens many years ago when The Stand was set up. As a result of the growth in the audience more performers have come through to try comedy out which has seen a three or four-month waiting list to get a spot on the Red Raw bill.

Recognition

Tourist guides and websites recommend The Stand as a tourist attraction.Visitscotland The Stand Comedy Club Glasgow West End Stand Up Comedy Welcome
/ref> and the clubs are recognised as contributors to the economy.

References

External links

*
Edinburgh Fringe FestivalGlasgow Comedy Festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stand Comedy clubs in the United Kingdom Entertainment in Glasgow Entertainment in Edinburgh Culture in Newcastle upon Tyne Entertainment venues in England Entertainment venues in Scotland