The Comedy Store: The Mecca! The Comedy Store may have moved a couple of times since it was first started in the late 1970s, but it has now found a true home in Leicester Square. If I was to give you a list of who had played here it would take up most of the web! It would include everyone from Robin Williams and Mike Myers to Lee Evans, Eddie Izzard and through to Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmundson and French & Saunders, those caught up in the wave of alternative comedy in the 1980s.

The Comedy Store is a purpose-built comedy venue with terrace-style seating ideally situated in a semicircle around the stage, with a bar at the back. It is now a thriving business, but that wasn’t always the case – in its earliest days, the Store was a labour of love.

It is popular every night and can very easily sell out but the prices are very good; if you are only going to one comedy venue in London this year make it the Comedy Store.

Price: £13 - £18
Acts: The best in the business regularly grace this stage and even the unknowns have had to impress a few very important people to gain their 5minute trial. There are always household names mixed in with seasoned performers and you are guaranteed a laugh. Tuesdays is a topical comedy night; on Wednesdays the long-running Comedy Store Players troupe provide top-quality improv.
Atmosphere: Great set-up and venue, custom built for pure comedy. Atmosphere can buzz!
Website: www.thecomedystore.co.uk
Location: 1a Oxendon Street, SW17 4EE

Jongleurs: Ah, the Starbucks of comedy clubs! Jongleurs lacks the focused intensity of more straightforward clubs; expect stag nights, hen nights and corporate dos in this altogether less discerning audience. Comedy is a performance art and demands full concentration. The environment should feature bright lights, body heat, and an intense atmosphere; it shouldn’t come with dinner tables not facing the stage (allowing, people to chat among themselves during the act), and a post-show disco.

Don’t get me wrong, Jongleurs does attract some great comedians and as a place to go for an occasional laugh, it’s fine. But if I am being honest it is not for me.

You can use this review as a guide for all Jongleurs - because much like Starbucks, they stay very much the same.

Price: £17.00 per ticket – not always the best value when you look at some of the acts on the bill.
Acts: Usually 4-5 acts will do a set per night and if you are lucky you may have heard of two of them – if you are lucky!
Atmosphere: Corporate events, work parties and stag and hen nights are the norm.
Website: www.jongleurs.com
Location: Camden, 11 East Yard, N1 8AB – Bow, 221 Grove Road E3 5SN – Battersea, 49 Lavender Gardens, SW11 1DJ.

Comedy Camp: Comedy Camp, situated under gay bar Barcode, describes itself as a mixed lesbian, gay and straight comedy club – though my first time there revealed it to be a predominantly gay and lesbian comedy evening.

On the night I went, the majority of the acts were good and I thoroughly enjoyed – and can recommend - Simon Amstell’s set. Another regular worth catching is
American Scott Capurro, who offers bitchy and fun observations. Comedy Camp is a very good venue, it’s air conditioned with a large bar, the acts are usually
solid and it’s very reasonably priced.

The one big let down for me that night was the compere (which, presumably, was its regular host Simon Happily). He offered little more than stereotypical gay vs. straight banter. He had one funny joke, which involved him looking the tiniest bit like Jack from Will And Grace - but he used it all night and it got tired quickly.

Price: £8-£10
Acts: A real mix but most of the time its camp but good. Don’t bank on great compering.
Atmosphere: It’s comedy and it’s camp!
Website: www.comedycamp.co.uk
Location: Below Barcode, 3-4 Archer St, W1D 7AP

Filed under: London