Mark Simmonds one-liner comedian and host of the podcast ‘Jokes with Mark Simmonds’

Talks about how he got started as a comedian and what it takes to get a comedic training, build your confidence and deal with the hecklers.

He also discusses developing his confidence and his experience as a martial arts fighter in this in-depth chat, providing a great insight into the world of professional comedians and how they have made it work during lockdown.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• I need to be able to interact with an audience, it’s the feedback I need
• I’ve always tried to make people laugh
• Every comedian has jokes that don’t work on stage and we usually talk about those on my podcast.
• When you start as a comedian the overnight circuit is the training ground for everything you need to learn.
• Everything is learning, you learn about jokes, analyse things and manage the audience
• You write the jokes and then go to new material nights to try them out.
• You take the best material to preview shows and then onto the actual shows.
• If you are doing one-liners you can adapt and change during the set.
• Knowing what you can do, is what makes you powerful.
• As a martial arts teacher, I’ve always gone with how it feels in the moment to make sure you are giving people what they need.
• You need to be prepared when you are fighting, I think that’s why I trained so hard.
• Heckling is something new comedians are frightened about but the reality is the adrenalin means you can come up with a comeback.

 

BEST MOMENTS

‘The overnight circuit is the training arena’

‘I’ve written enough now that I have something about most subjects’

‘With hecklers, you have to be able to think on your feet with a comeback’

 

VALUABLE RESOURCES

HKA Main landing page www.hastingskickboxing.co.uk/kickstartnow

YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/user/Hastingskickboxing

HKA Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Hastingskickboxing

[email protected]  

 

ABOUT THE HOST

Hi, my name is Carl Denne.  

I was born in Hastings in 1980. Married, father of two beautiful daughters, Bethany and Leigha. 

My daughters, the wife, and gym ARE MY LIFE.

IF I’M HONEST, I pretty much failed at school. Heavily dyslexic, I was dismissed for being a “naughty kid” that didn’t want to learn. I was heavily bullied for having shit clothes and ginger afro hair. I didn’t have many friends. 

When I say bullied I don’t mean called a “poo-poo head” and being looked at in a nasty way. I mean thrown downstairs, and hit with chairs and tables. Clothes were stolen whilst in the shower. That kind of bullying…

Oh, how things have changed… 

Martial arts, and specifically Kickboxing, have changed my life, and now I am much happier and change other people’s lives for the better on a daily basis. 

I am a complete adrenaline freak, so In my spare time, track days, jumping out of planes, sitting on top of them, rage buggies in the desert… The higher, the faster the better for me. I’m always looking for the next thing to get my blood pumping, so if anyone has a challenge I’ve not found yet, please feel free to share. 

I do like a Saturday night movie night, Chinese, Netflix, lots of chocolate with my three little ladies. I love being around my friends and family. This is why I love the crazy HKA family so much, as this is my extended family.   

I left school with pretty much nothing! A few sad GCSE’s C - D grade, BUT I did have a shit-ton of energy and passion to achieve, and to prove all the teachers and people that looked down on me for all those years, wrong. So, after a few jobs here and there, I settled on working for Openreach (BT) as a cabler/jointer copper and fibre optic multi-skilled engineer with HGV.

I left this in 2015 to chase my dream of running my own Kickboxing Academy and working with the future of today, rather than a job that just paid the bills. 

I’ve trained pretty much my whole life: Karate, boxing, Judo, from the age of 9, and of course, I’ve now done over 29 years of Kickboxing. I’ve passed many Instructors and coaches courses, attended many training courses and seminars, grading up through the syllabus. I passed my 4-hour hell-on-earth 3rd Dan black belt in July 2018 with the ICO.

If I’m honest my real passion and skills have come from learning the hard way; through being in the trenches. I know how it feels to be on your arse. I know how it feels to have to pull yourself out of the pit. I’ve been through

a divorce. I’ve lived through the pain and have worked with thousands of members, students, children, teachers and adults over the years, and the one thing I get told every time is how well I/we keep it very real, and that I have a complete understanding on most eventualities. 

Thank you for reading and listening. I hope you connect with myself and the team, take away some ideas, understand you’re not alone, and that it’s good to talk, listen and help others as and when you can.