This May, much-loved Brighton institution Komedia will celebrate its 30th Birthday!
From humble beginnings at a small venue on Manchester Street in Kemptown in 1994 and weekend Jazz cafes (remember them, am I that old?!), to their home for the last 26 years on Gardner Street in the North Laine area of Brighton, Komedia has certainly been through its ups and downs but has managed to weather the storm, in an ever-changing landscape, where multiple independent venues are lost each year. Komedia has won a whopping 25 Chortle awards over the years including the award for Best Venue in the South a record 18 times.
To celebrate their birthday, Komedia are putting on a week of special events running from Sat 4th May to Sun 12th May, Full programme here. They are also launching Komedia branded merchandise, featuring a custom illustration by Emily Wallace, which will be available to purchase in the venue from May onwards.
Komedia are also giving one lucky person a ‘Golden Ticket’ to access any Komedia event for free for a full year (with a friend/family member too). Head over to their competition page to find out how you can win before the end of the day today (30th April)!
To see what Komedia has coming up, visit their website at www.komedia.co.uk/brighton
A potted Komedia History:
Komedia was born from the minds of the directors of ‘Umbrella Theatre’, Colin Granger, Marina Kobler, and David Lavender. The company modelled the venue on the cabaret theatres they had seen while touring in cities such as Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Berlin. Lavender stumbled across the name Komedia in an international theatre magazine chose it as it had ‘echoes of both comedy and media, and a sense of crossing boundaries.’
In the early nineties Komedia was a pioneer in this type of venue and their first season saw many brilliant new talents hit the stage for the first time, including the likes of Graham Norton, Al Murray, Mel and Sue, Sean Lock, Mel & Sue, Armstrong & Miller, The League of Gentlemen and Omid Djalili.
Komedia soon outgrew the Manchester Street venue and were soon on the hunt for new premises, which at one point even included a venue in Churchill Square. After much searching, in 1998, Komedia moved to Jubilee Shopping Hall (a former Tesco supermarket), the opening show was Disco Pigs featuring Cillian Murphy and in June 1999 Krater Comedy Club was born after the ‘crater like’ basement area was transformed into performance space.
The larger venue has attracted a variety of established and up-and-coming acts over the years, often acting as launchpad for new talent. Comedy acts have included: Catherine Tate, Stewart Lee, Ross Noble, Alan Carr, Harry Hill, The Mighty Boosh, Johnny Vegas, Dave Gorman, John Bishop, Lee Mack, Jimmy Carr, Michael Mcintyre, Micky Flanagan, Rob Beckett, Alex Horne, Rob Delaney, Eddie Izzard, Greg Davies, Flight of the Conchords, Jack Whitehall, Dara O’Briain, Sarah Millican, Bridget Christie, Armando Ianucci, Zoe Lyons, Angela Barnes, Maisie Adams and Jen Brister. Music acts have included: Lewis Capaldi, KT Tunstall, Tom Odell, James Bay, IDLES, The XX, Kate Nash, Anna Calvi, Ghostpoet, Bonobo, Bat for Lashes, Arctic Monkeys, Foals, Mumford and Sons, Mulatu Astatke, James Blake, All Saints, Alabama Shakes, Shakaba Hutchings, Black Midi, AJ Tracey, Anish Kumar and The Mary Wallopers.
Sister company Komedia Entertainment was founded in the year 2000 when Richard Daws, joined Komedia. Komedia Entertainment manages and produces new comedy acts and promoted Count Arthur Strong’s shows at the Edinburgh Fringe as well as developing and co-producing the award-winning Count Arthur Strong’s Radio Show. Komedia also co-produced the hit BBC1 TV sitcom Count Arthur Strong. Count Arthur is currently doing his farewell tour.
In 2008 Komedia expanded, opening a second venue in the impressive Grade l listed former Beau Nash cinema in Bath. In 2017, the owners chose to take the bold step to offer to cede control of the business to the local community, ultimately becoming one of the first community owned venues in the country. In 2019 Komedia Bath became a Community Benefit Society.
Following arts funding cuts in 2008, the large upstairs performance space became difficult to sustain and so, in 2012, Duke of York’s Picturehouse converted the space into a cinema, creating two screens and a café/bar, naming the venue Dukes @ Komedia. The cinema operates completely independently from the Komedia venue.
In 2020 when COVID struck, the venue closed on the 18th March 2020 and didn’t re-open until the 22nd May 2021. It was a time of ups and downs, as it was for many venues across the country. Despite being closed for over a year, shows having to move online, three floods, two new floors and a rollercoaster ride of emergency funding bids, Komedia managed to come out the other side, with a renewed sense of determination, rebuilding their programme from the ground up.
Komedia has a charitable arm ‘Komedia Productions’. Founded at the same time as the venue, the charity works under the umbrella ‘Komedia Kids’. Their vision is for a community in which everyone can enjoy affordable, meaningful opportunities in the arts, including children, young people, and the wider community in Brighton and beyond. Find out more about their work here.
Komedia Founders Marina and Colin said; “It has been an incredible journey these past 30 years. The venue we created in Brighton in May 1994 was inspired by European Café Theatre venues and was something entirely new for Brighton and the rest of the UK; and it is thanks to all the brilliant staff and performers who have worked and still work for us, that we remain an independent, self-supporting venue which offers a wide choice of live entertainment, good service and welcomes people of all ages and from all walks of life. We look forward to seeing Komedia develop and thrive in the future.
