So You Think You're Funny

What's On NE

Recognized as the UK’s most prestigious new act comedy competition, ‘So You Think You’re Funny’ returns to Newcastle in conjunction with The Grinning Idiot Comedy Club following a 3yr absence from the city.

The competition which is sponsored by Sony Pictures, Sunday Mail & Comedy Demon is in its 19th year and aims to find the next comedy superstar, previous winners / finalists include the likes of: Peter Kay, Lee Mack, Ardal O’Hanlon, Johnny Vegas, Alan Carr, Ed Byrne, Russell Howard and Rhod Gilbert.

Regional heats are held around the country but following a number of years of poor audience attendance in Newcastle the heat in the region was pulled 3yrs ago, however thanks to the recently formed Grinning Idiot Comedy Club the lovely people at ‘So You Think You’re Funny’ have been persuaded to give the people of the city another chance to prove what a supportive bunch they are.

The heat to be held at The Grinning Idiot’s Ouseburn venue on Sunday 21st June will feature 12 of the region’s top new acts each performing between 5 -8 minutes of original material and include Viz’s Simon Donald, Finalist of Laughing Horse New Act of the Year KaiBosh and the incredibly funny Al Key.

Tyneside is seen as a real hotbed of comedic talent these days and in recent years has spawned soon to be household name Sarah Millican (Runner up in the 2005 SYTYF, winner of best newcomer in Edinburgh 2008 and appearing on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Road Show on 13th June 2009)), Seymour Mace (Johhny Vegas’s TV Sit-Com Ideal) and Jason Cook (Best International Show at the New Zealand Comedy Festival Awards 2008) amongst others so there’s a good chance you could see the next big thing at The Grinning Idiot heat this month.

The graduates of the heats get to perform in the semi-finals at The Gilded Balloon venue as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August with the semi-final winners each getting a place in the final held towards the end of the festival. The final will be hosted by a big name with previous MC’s including Eddie Izzard, Graham Norton and Bill Bailey.

The winner will receive a cash prize and gets to perform at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal which is where all the top TV / Film Execs go to spot new talent.

John Smith of the Grinning Idiot was quoted as saying “We have an incredible amount of fantastic talent in the region, we want to give these acts a platform to help them further their careers and get them noticed, participating in So You Think You’re Funny is a brilliant way for them to achieve this”.

The heat will be MC’d by Radio Newcastle’s Alfie Joey who was nominated for best MC at The Chortle Awards in 2006 and tickets are only £2 to ensure a good turn out so it’s not another 3yrs before the next heat is held in the region.

Venue

The Grinning Idiot Comedy Club
Retreat @ St Dominic’s
Crawhall Road,
Ouseburn,
Newcastle,
NE1 2BX

Tickets £2

Doors Open 7pm, Show Starts 8pm Prompt

Tickets and further information available at http://www.thegrinningidiot.com or by calling 07525 163 717