Sam and Matt have a wide ranging chat about the addictive nature of making people laugh, how a comic sees the world differently, the benefits of clarity in any communication and how a full diary can help you overcome any setback.

In this week's episode Sam and the brilliant Ria Lina have a lively discussion about how confidence is built over time (not something you're born with) how performers can quickly and effortlessly regroup when something goes wrong, the benefits on focussing on providing value to your audience and the strange link between parenting and controlling a room of adults.

Today's guest is the brilliant Ben Clover, a wonderful comic who now helps other comics with their shows- which means he's very much tuned in to the BDA vibe. Ben and Sam discuss the power of proper preparation, how that prep gives you freedom to ad lib and why listening back to yourself is rarely as bad as you think.  

Adam Green is a brilliant comic who's been going for years. Adam and Sam discuss the benefits of structured preparation that can be repeated easily and quickly, how audiences need reassurance they're in safe hands and how to simply analyse what worked and what didn't from a show to move on.

Dominic and Sam have a lovely chat about a range of topics, including the crucial role of clarity in communication, how the audience is the best editor, why people don't want or like perfection in performance and how talking beats reading to a room every day of the week.

Russell Hicks is a US comic now based in the UK who has a very unique style. His sets mainly involve riffing in a room with what and who he sees in front of him. Here's a short clip if you're unfamiliar with his work https://vimeo.com/944374484?share=copy&fl=cl&fe=ci

Sam and Russ discuss how he preps for shows with little pre-written material, how being empathetic to your audience helps your cut through, getting comfortable with discomfort and the craziest gigs he's ever done (and they do get pretty crazy.)

Enjoy.

In this episode Lenny and Sam discuss reframing nerves when you perform, the importance of authenticity, the craft of joke writing, stage persona and how pacing a performance affects your impact.   

Matt and Sam have a lovely chat about a range of topics, including how Matt found his comedy voice, how he handles hecklers, not 2nd guessing audience opinion and a great tip to help you listen to your own voice without dreading it.

Nathan and Sam discuss how he prepared for the biggest comedy TV show in the country, how he takes comfort in failure, the future of online comedy, working with comedy greats and the weirdest gigs he's ever done.

Nathan and Sam have a wide ranging chat, including topics such as his marathon run of Edinburgh Fringes, how he comes up with ideas for all of those different hour long shows, his pre-performance routines, overcoming doubt and how he draws on experience and pain.