This week's guest is Merit Kahn. Merit wrote, produced & performed an inspiring one-woman comedy show. She took all the painful stories of her life and re-wrote her story through the lens of stand up comedy. She also works in sales and marketing where she is the CEO of SELLect Sales Development. We discuss how some of the tools she has used to be successful in business has contributed to her approach to standup. Merit details how some important techniques for getting into and staying productive in the comedy world and discussed in depth some of the topics that she covers in her one woman show.

With tensions escalating on the Ukrainian border, we welcome back to the show Russian comedian and actor Denis Nikolin. Denis is back to tell us Russians aren\'t scary, they do like to laugh and he even set up a course to teach people how to make other Russians laugh. Bizarre!\r\n\r\nWe also discuss, Netflix Comedy Specials, cancel culture and we discuss war, yes WAR! The war that the Australians went to with ... emus.

This episode we are joined by writer, John Vorhaus. John has published a number of books based around comedy, The Comedy Toolbox, the little book of SITCOM and Comedy Writing 4 Life. John recently published his new book the little book of STANDUP.\r\n\r\nWe discuss John\'s new book, stand-up, cancel culture and whether or not there should be comedy cover bands and the Bulgarian remake of Married with Children.

We are delighted to welcome New York born, but Califonia residing improv artist Nicole Matarese. Nicole explains some of the concepts used in the improv world. All stand-ups should do at least one improv course to help with your crowd work. We also discuss the grown-up pain for trying to find a new place to live that comes with parking and producing content in the lockdown, online world.\r\n\r\nNicols is also hosts her own podcast called \"Totally Recommend This, Dude\" and she cohosts the podcast \"Totally Toonular\".

This episode we cross borders and cross promo. Joining me from another country but also about a 100 kms up the road is Northern Ireland based comedian and podcaster Nathan Smyth.\r\n\r\nAs a world traveller from Ireland I am often asked \"What is the story with Northern Ireland?\", I was always terrified to tell people the honest truth, \"I haven\'t a clue!\"\r\n\r\nIn this special episode, I interview Nathan and then get the shock of my life when Nathan interviews me. We discuss and clear up a lot of confusion on this small isle, will there be a future Unified Ireland following Brexit, again I haven\'t a clue, but at least we know there will be comedy and I will be trolling for gigs on both sides of the border.

Returning to our show we have Award-winning Irish comic Sean Begley. Sean is currently touring his one hour show, Tragic, around Ireland and found the time to come on the show and have a chat about starting back touring a show, the demands of negotiating rooms when putting on your own show. We also reminise on what it was like gigging back in 2019, fun times!\r\n\r\nIt\'s a great chat! Chat-tastic even!

This episode we have Monaghan based Stand-up Gerard Ryan. Gerard was only early into the start of gigging when lock down shut down all the comedy rooms on the island of Ireland.\r\n\r\nWe discuss what it has been like to have a creative urge to perform while being stuck away from audiences. Also the comedy gold that is created in Ireland when you move to a different county than you are actually from. Also, when recorded, the Dave Chappelle special, The Closer, had just come out. It has led to some animating discussions on the likes of Facebook and what is and isn\'t acceptable topics for comedy.

In this show we are very fortunate to have Dublin based comedian Alex J Byrne.\r\n\r\nAlex didn\'t wait around for too long during lockdown before starting his own talk show, Le Chats, on Thursday Nights\r\n\r\nAlex discusses the challenges of started a remote chat show and also of his return to perfoming comedy, now that the periwinikle world is slowly coming out of its lockdown shell, Yay!

Paul Marsh is a Dublin based Comedian (Though he is from Tipperary, where the Keeshan Clan also hails from). During the early days of the lockdown he set up a page on facebook called \"Irish Dad Jokes\". It started as a small page to comment on cheesy jokes, but it\'s membership has grown to over 7,000 and has become a Gladiator school to train the next generation of comedians and writers.\r\n\r\nPaul discusses the page unusual success, the impact of lockdown and the now reopening of comedy rooms in Ireland, getting back mmatch fit and getting a tour under way. He also talks about being a Fireman.

This episode we are delighted to welcome Benjamin Bello. Benjamin recently wrote an article for Chortle describing an aggressive audience member while he was performing on stage. We discuss what it is like to be onstage when something like that happens and what if anything can be done.\r\n\r\nBenjamin is well known for his character President Obonjo. He descibes what it is like to perform as the character and as himself, he also goes into some detail on his experience when his character was lifted by BBC to create a new TV Show.

This epsiode we welcome back to the show London based stand-up comedy MC and room runner Alfie Noakes. Dave started his comedy career via a 4 weekend comedy course with a graduation night, and so began a great career! Alfie has run a number of workshops and courses over the years and recounts some of the experiences he has seen and now that lockdown in the UK are lifting is starting to run them again.\r\n\r\nAlfie runs the We Are Funny Project, which provides comprehensive online courses and 1-to-1 coaching sessions for stand-up comedians at all levels of experience. \r\n\r\nAnd content can also be found on their YouTube channel.\r\n\r\nAlfie was on previously to discuss open mics

Delighted to welcome to the show, Lu Williams. Lu is a Londoner who now calls Chester in the Noth of England home and it is also where she performs and runs a room or two through CSHQ, which organises rooms in the Machester/Wales area.\r\n\r\nLu gives her experiences of how comedy works in the UK and how she finds performing up North instead of her native London. Unlike Ireland, performing rooms have reopened in the UK and people there are making their tentative steps back into the small, intimate rooms where comedy roars! Dave tries to blag a gig, as usual!

This episode we have guest, Adam Freeman, President of Creative at Thinkfactory Media, to discuss his experiences producing unscripted TV for MTV. What is unscripted TV, well we get into it! Adam helped produce TV shows including Total Request Live, Mama June: From Not to Hot and Gene Simmons Family Jewels.\r\n\r\nAdam is also a standup and is venturing out back into the world of live performing ... Indoors!

This episodes we welcome back to the show Mark Williamson. We discuss Australian sketch shows which were responsible for launching the likes of Eric Bana and Kath and Kim\r\n\r\nDave and Mark get distracted by Sydney property prices, it just happens!

This episode we are joined by London based stand-up comedy MC and room runner  Alfie Noakes.\r\n\r\nWe discuss what is an Open Mic in the comedy world, from the beginners starting out to the training ground of the big comics.  Why it is a controversial, but also a very important space.  Both Alfie and Dave have spent many years plugging their trade around the open mic scene and bring some fascinating insight into that world, every lesson learnt the hard way, a room full of people staring back blankly when what was supposed to be funny, wasn\'t!\r\n\r\nAlfie also runs the We Are Funny Project, which provides comprehensive online courses and 1-to-1 coaching sessions for stand-up comedians at all levels of experience.\r\n\r\nAnd content can also be found on their YouTube channel.\r\n\r\nAlfie has just released a teaser of his new course \"How to be a Brilliant Stand-Up Comedy MC\" on his channel, until May 4th. It will be available again later in the year with the course for aspiring or new comedians with a £60 discount for the bundle.\r\n\r\nAlfie has also promised to release a long lost Bill Hicks interview when the channel reaches 1000 subscribers, lets get subscribing.

In this episode we welcome to the show New York based stand-up Shaun Eli.\r\n\r\nShaun tells us about the New York stand up scene both pre and post covid.  He also discusses writing for Jay Leno opening monologues back in the 90s, perfoming in 5 continents (not 7, yet), the ripeness Netflix specials, auditioning for the first Last Comics Standing, Woke/Cancel Culture and his views on the Simpsons recasting.\r\n\r\nWe also consult with Shaun on his Irish sounding name, at least it is not Declan and you can find him on his website, BrainChampagne.com.

This episode we go old school, literally. We are joined by comic Mabel Slattery to discuss medieval comedy and Mikhail Bakhtin and his Carnival Theory, we get into some interesting ideas like Humour Theory, Robin Hood, Sumptuary Laws, Secular Lyrics of the XIVth and XVth Centuries, Richard Hill Commonplace Book, Chaucer\'s Knight Tale and just having a bit of craic!

After a hiatus WE\'RE BACK!\r\n\r\nIn this episode we are delighted to welcome back to the show Russian comic, Denis Nikolin.\r\n\r\nWith pandemic lockdowns and worldwide vaccination drives, it is even crazier in Russia, where there are protest and people being detained over the handling of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.\r\n\r\nDenis discusses how it is getting harder to write comedy when the world decides it wants to get crazier than the punchlines he\'s writing.\r\n\r\nDenis is also working on some comedy videos released online, you can find him at \"Buttfuck Russia\", careful googling that, I wasn\'t!

On this episode we got two Icelandic comedians, Eyvindur Karlsson and Þórhallur Þórhallsson, also just known as Thor as Dave was too confused by the first one. The guys come on an explain how a country as small of Iceland can have a volcano that no one else on the planet can pronounce.  They also discuss the state of comedy in Iceland and explain to Dave what a Belly Brother in Law is ...