A pleasure to have Gary Le Strange back - after a decade away from the stage!? HOW? - with an almighty epic about baked beans, last Monday. Giving the people what they want, ie 10+ minute serenade to a food factory nightmare.
Why look! It's ACMS co-founder and the Board Member our audience just won't let leave, @jlukeroberts ! Gee, but if you like looking at him in the past but wish you could hear what was being said, maybe you'll enjoy checking out Go Faster Stripe right now! We sure did. They have a downloadable John-Luke-A-Palooza; £45 for all ten of his shows! Release schedule as lovingly copied & pasted below...
01 - 14th May 2026 - John-Luke Roberts Distracts You From a Murder
02 - 21st May 2026 - Broken Stand-Up
03 - 28th May 2026 - Stnad-Up
04 - 4th June 2026 - Stdad-Up
05 - 11th June 2026 - John-Luke Roberts Builds a Monster
06 - 18th June 2026 - Look Upon My Works, Ye Mighty and Despair! (all in caps)
07 - 25th June 2026 - All I Wanna do is [FX: GUNSHOTS] with a [FX: GUN RELOADING] and a [FX: CASH REGISTER] and Perform Some Comedy!
08 - 2nd July 2026 - After Me Comes the Flood (But in French) drip splosh slash drip BLUBBP BLUBBP BLUBBPBLUBBPBLUBBP!!
09 - 9th July 2026 - It is Better
10 - 16th July 2026 - A World Just Like Our Own, But...
Look, sometimes you book @catlingstephen and you get a clownfish who inveigles an audient into speaking for him, before taking the mask off to explore the reality of a chimpanzee with musical aspirations, and then reveal the meat beneath the man. Yes. #YES
Look, there are RUMOURS going round that our first act on Monday night was two kids in a trenchcoat trying stand-up and struggling with the Hokey Cokey, and that's clearly NOT TRUE, Timmy Niblets is an absolute WHIZZ at putting his right arm in. Just because our show shares a producer with @comedyclub4kids , who also run kids comedy workshops in this space, and every child we've ever had on at #ACMS has come through her & her classes, well that's just CIRCUMSTANTIAL, cos this is a normal man. An innocent man!
An act arrived in the first break yesterday, and asked what they'd missed. "Definitely not two kids in a trench coat*, a clown fish, some funny poetry and a 10 minute song about beans." "Aaah, of course." ACMS! Where you can be booed for not treating audient Shaun with the respect he deserves, urged to Morris dance, pelted with crisps, asked to help find a swan, and challenged to Say The Unsayable even if you didn't buy the Say The Unsayable ticket.
* Like David Cronenberg directing Simon Munnery, was how Thom put it, shortly before the clownfish revealed self to have a strong facial resemblance to Stanley Kubrick & Peter Jackson. Ooh, we get ALL the celebrities down at @thephoenix_w1 !
An #ACMS veteran @machcomedyfest is it? Very yes. Much excellence here. Almost all of whom are taking these shows to the Fringe, go see:
Andrew White - Monkey Barrel
Cerys Bradley - Hoots Nicolson Square
Spencer Jones - Pleasance Dome
Kemah Bob - Pleasance Courtyard
Rob Kemp - Hoots Apex
David Hoare - Hoots Nicolson Square
Ozzy Algar - IF YOU HAVE A TIME MACHINE YOU CAN SET TO 2025
Ali Brice - Hoots Potterow
Your semi-regular reminder to come see us at #edfringe (@monkey.barrel.comedy , 23:55-laaaaate, Sun-Wed)!
And all our faves too (current count, 200+), as found on noblefailure.org/ed26, in helpful time order.
Stand-up! Storytelling! Sketch! Songs! Silliness! Satire! Whatever genre it is when you're lamenting your life in a big papier-mâché head!
A banger of a gig, despite one of the co-hosts being trapped on a train for almost all of it. Regicide! Jelly-wrangling! Collaborative comedy! Brontosaurus chorus! Informative lectures! Music! Art! Quiz! Being absolutely RINSED by a panda! Maoams! Roman Empire chat-up lines! Absolutely no Thom, despite his best intentions!
Join us in May for, among other things, further outings of the new Permitted Heckle: SAY THE UNSAYABLE!
![Why look! It's ACMS co-founder and the Board Member our audience just won't let leave, @jlukeroberts! Gee, but if you like looking at him in the past but wish you could hear what was being said, maybe you'll enjoy checking out Go Faster Stripe right now! We sure did. They have a downloadable John-Luke-A-Palooza; £45 for all ten of his shows! Release schedule as lovingly copied & pasted below...01 - 14th May 2026 - John-Luke Roberts Distracts You From a Murder02 - 21st May 2026 - Broken Stand-Up03 - 28th May 2026 - Stnad-Up04 - 4th June 2026 - Stdad-Up05 - 11th June 2026 - John-Luke Roberts Builds a Monster06 - 18th June 2026 - Look Upon My Works, Ye Mighty and Despair! (all in caps)07 - 25th June 2026 - All I Wanna do is [FX: GUNSHOTS] with a [FX: GUN RELOADING] and a [FX: CASH REGISTER] and Perform Some Comedy!08 - 2nd July 2026 - After Me Comes the Flood (But in French) drip splosh slash drip BLUBBP BLUBBP BLUBBPBLUBBPBLUBBP!!09 - 9th July 2026 - It is Better10 - 16th July 2026 - A World Just Like Our Own, But...](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6727282452206838576125_0_bdfe288faa7031b8af8e35ceec3ee95b.jpg?o=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&h=fabb9a73f13aa0829ea0d101c8e14926)
