New podcast celebrates diversity in UK stand-up comedy and examines barriers to inclusion.
Head of the School of Arts Dr Oliver Double and Senior Lecturer Dr Sophie Quirk have produced the Stand-Up Diversity Podcast as a part of a research project. In the podcast, they interview diverse comedians about their experiences. The idea is to celebrate their contribution to British stand-up and to explore barriers to inclusion.
It’s been brilliant talking to such amazing diverse performers who have been involved in the UK live comedy scene any time between the early 1980s and today. All of them have brilliant things to say, and are hugely engaging and amusing.
The first two episodes are out now, and more will come over the next few Fridays.The interviewees include Elf Lyons, Tanyalee Davis and Kai Samra. Some are less well known, like Bernard Padden, who hasn’t done stand-up since the 1990s, but was one of the first openly gay stand-ups in the UK, had one of his routines turned into an animation, and also appeared in a Tom Baker Doctor Who serial.Here are three places you can find it:
Want to find out what comedians have to say about diversity in British stand-up? Then listen to the Stand-Up Diversity Podcast!