BBC Kent Radio

Pat Marsh Breakfast Show

Chatback on the Radio!

On 30th January 2010 Chatback did our first ever radio interview on Pat Marsh's Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Kent!!!

Review 29.01.2010

Canterbury Times
Ryan Fletcher

Sam and Lucy are having a laugh

  Students Lucy Danser and Sam Gardner are up to some funny business. They have decided we need more laughs and so have launched a new monthly comedy club for Canterbury.
  The first Chatback Comedy night was on Tuesday in The Parrot, the city's oldest pub, and starred Norwegian comic Daniel Simonsen.
  Lucy, who is studying drama at the University of Kent, said: "There is huge amount of comedy in London but I noticed there was a definite lack of it in Canterbury. I go as many gigs as possible and find the best new performers...To be good at stand-up you have to be confident and have something to say...You have to make the room come alive with your presence and get an immediate response from the audience. A good comedian is also able to cope when something happens out of the blue."
  Certainly Daniel fitted the bill. The Guardian has tipped him as this year's "next big thing" and The Scotsman wrote: "He was funny even before he opened his mouth". The 27 year old cracked the audience up with his everyday observations and geeky mannerisms. Afterwards he said: "England can be a rough place to perform but I could tell before I went on that people really wanted to laugh. I think the club will be a bit hit. Lucy really knows how to make a successful night".
  The Parrot was packed with customers of all ages watching five comedians. Lucy, who seeks out comics on the London circuit, said: "I didn't expect so many older people to be there. It was a really broad audience. At £5 it is really cheap for two hours of comedy and it's a different night out from the usual".
  Canterbury photographer David Cater, 22, was at the show. He said: "All the comedians were really good. I couldn't stop laughing. My cheeks hurt I laughed so much".

Review 20.01.2010

Your Canterbury
Jenny Armstrong

You're having a laugh, aren't you? Thanks to UKC's Lucy

THE first regular comedy club in Canterbury opened its doors for the first time last night – thanks to an unusual degree being offered in the city.
Lucy Danser, who is studying for a degree in theatrical production, has teamed up with Kent University colleague Sam Gardner, who is doing a masters in stand-up comedy.
Miss Danser said: “I have always wanted to open a comedy club and I go to a lot of comedy clubs in London.
“Whenever the big names come to the Gulbenkian or the Marlowe they are always sold out.
“Canterbury Festival held a one-off fringe night with ordinary comedians, from the university mostly.
“Tickets were £5 and it was sold out in advance, even though it was hardly advertised.
“I thought if that can sell so well, even though the comedians are largely unknown, a big comedy night with London acts will probably create huge demand.
“I have been at Kent University for four years and because I work with other comedians thought it will be a good place to do it.”
The stand-up course at the university has been running for several years and in the first term a free weekly gig is held by students for students, so they can try out new material.
Miss Danser said: “Having this club means everyone at the university can come and see comedians who are working at a much higher level than we are.
“The acts I’ve booked are all at the level in London just before they hit the big time, just before we all start hearing about them.
“Headliner Daniel Simonsen was named in The Guardian newspaper as the one to watch this year and one of the other acts has been scouted by Channel 4. Catch them before they
are big.”
The first of the monthly comedy clubs was held in The Parrot pub in Church Lane, just off St Radigund’s Street, Canterbury, and featured, among others, Daniel Simonsen, finalist in the Comedy Store Gong Show 2009 Robert Commiskey, Julia Clark and Alex Marion.

Review 15.12.2011

Grace Beard
Inquire Magazine

COMEDY GOLD: CHATBACK COMEDY AT THE ATTIC

There is possibly no better way to shelter from the chill of a November evening than to warm up your laughter muscles with some first class comedy. Chatback Comedy Club returned to The Attic on Saturday evening boasting a fantastic and eclectic line-up of up-and-coming comics.

Introducing the acts was the boisterous Tiernan Douieb, who easily relaxed his audience in with effortless humour and engaging interaction with the audience throughout the night. Asking the unlucky students in the front row (why people sit at the front at a comedy show will always baffle me) the dreaded question of their choice of course, audience members prepared to be slated. However, upon hearing that his targeted audience member studied Drama, Douieb enthused, ‘You’re looking at your future!’ This light-hearted self-deprecation gave Douieb an incredible likeability- and a burning desire to buy the bloke a pint.

Next on stage was Celia Pacquola, whom can only be described as comedy gold. Her hilariously awkward anecdotes, about realising she has truly settled into British life when laughing at people running for the bus, asking when the right time is in a relationship to poke your boyfriend’s bits and explaining how to sleep talk strategically, had your sides and cheekbones aching from an uncontrollable onslaught of laughter from start to finish.

The humour then turned from conventional stand-up to the charming daftness of sketch comedy act Pappy’s Fun Club. With sketches ranging from singing Justin Bieber at the Olympic games to musical tributes to gloves and vending machines, their insatiable energy was infectious.

We were then greeted with the handsome grin of Joel Dommett, the final act of the evening. A delightfully camp and warming performance, Joel has undeniable charisma: even when ambushed by a heckler, Dommett showed his comedy credentials and kept his cool.

To summarise? Think before you heckle: with comedy as good as this, you will lose.

Lowri Stafford

The Canterbury Times
08.03.2012
 
A raucous night which left us all with aching cheeks
 
Songs about Sooties, shoplifting and postmortem passion provoked raucous laughter at the Parrot pub in Canterbury when Chatback comedy presented its homage to Musical Comedy. Despite offering an arguably niche form of humour, the top floor of the modest venue in Church Lane was packed to the rafters.
 
Opening the show was compere Jay Foreman, a cheerful chap whose personable demeanour would not be out of place on children’s TV - albeit on mute. His technically complicated guitair-led ditties eased the unsuspecting audience into an evening which quickly descended into the darkest depths of black comedy. He won the crowds over with a cheeky tune called Stealing Food - which, as he playfully pointed out, was a concept the student-dominated audience could no doubt relate to.
 
The hilarious host punctuated each performance perfectly, ensuring a steady stream of belly laughs between acts which inclued the likes of self-confessed “ukulady” Carys Nia Williams. This disarming blonde had heads nodding happily along to the twee strumming of her ukulele, named Kitty. That is, until an X-rated version of Kimya Dawson’s All I Want Is You promted gasps from the audience - induced by equal measures of sheer shock and uncontrollable laughter.
 
But her act was positively tame in comparison to Anthony Dewson, who played his keyboard with the aid of a song sheet, only to reveal it was nothign more than pictures of his “inspiration”, Carol Vorderman. But it wasn’t until the final line of a song about necrophilia that he alientatd some audience members completely, while securing him fans for life in others.
 
Expectations were sky-high for headliner Kev Orkian, and the British-Armenian funnyman did not disappoint. His conversational style, delivered in a thick Armenian accent, had me expecting him to switch to a Cockney drawl mid-way through his routin, a la Iranian comic Omid Djalili. But by feigning broken English in a style presumably inspired by Borat, he was able to pointedly mock one pour soul in teh second row without causing offence. A highlight of his act was a scratched CD version of Elton John’s hit, I’m Still Standing, which had previously received the royal seal of approval from none other than Prince Charles.
 
It was easy to see why the event, organised by former University of Kent students Lucy Danser and Sam Gardner, was so popular. With mismatched chairs arranged in a haphazard way, a wonky curtain barely concealing the backstage area, a compere who introduced himself and lighting wires which repeatedly came loose, it was by no means a pristine and polished affair. But these quirky features merely added to the charm of an up-and-coming comedy night, which sources raw talent directly from London’s comedy circuit. The high calibre of the acts - which would rival the likes of musical comedy geniuses Bill Bailey and Tim Minchin - ensured the crowds filed out with aching cheeks.