A unique comedy club experience

ALTHOUGH stand up comedy has been around for a while, it's only recently that people have started to realise that a comedy club can provide an excellent night out.

The amount of stand up comedy on TV and radio, plus the shows that become DVD must-haves, have all led to this increase in people's thirst for stand up comedy. The success of festivals across the country, including the world-famous International and Fringe Festivals in Edinburgh, has given stand up comedians newer audiences.

It is very difficult to turn on the TV or radio without hearing or seeing stand up comedians. They may be presenting their own shows, be guests on panel shows or chat shows, or even part of specific comedy programs that showcase the best of this country's comedy.

The knock-on effect of this is that viewers want to go and watch live comedy more than ever. Just like watching a band on TV pales into insignificance compared to seeing them in concert, comedy on TV can't recreate the same atmosphere that a live gig can; everything is much rawer with large amounts of improvisation and audience participation. Each show is, in other words, unique.

Highlight is fully immersed in this stand up resurgence. With 10 venues dotted across England and Scotland, highlight has made an effort to make comedy nights as varied and full as possible.

There are two highlight venues in Scotland; Edinburgh and Glasgow. There are also eight in England; Leeds, Leicester, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Reading, Watford, as well as the two London venues: Camden and Clapham Junction. In the eclectic neighbourhood of Camden comedy is always a good night out.

Essentially, these highlight venues are geared towards offering an entire night of entertainment, and that means more than just comedy. Comedy clubs can quite often be small venues, with a bar but not much else. These can still be great venues for nights out, but once you're in and out, it is time to move on elsewhere or back home. Even at the top end, with high profile comedians in massive arenas, the same thing quite often happens.

Highlight has created venues that can cater for customers all night. This means that each venue has at least one bar (if not several) and all serve food with staff waiting on your table. Once all the comedy acts have performed, the music starts and DJs take to the turntables.

If a show starts at 20:30, for example, the doors will open at 19:00. You can then grab some drinks and get a table and set up camp right the way through to around 23:00, when the headline act will be finishing up. Rather than head off somewhere else after this, the club comes to you.

This means that highlight comedy clubs are ideal for parties. The size of the venues also makes them a great place for corporate events. Most venues can cater for around 300 to 400 people; so Christmas parties, awards ceremonies, fashion shows and product launches can all be accommodated.

Highlight will lay on DJs and stand up comedians for the night, and the food and drink can all be pre-ordered. Venues can provide straight stand up, cabaret and even dancing; there is a flexibility that allows customers to discuss with staff the different possibilities and try to make them happen.

The highlight venue in Portsmouth sits in the city's popular Gun Wharf Quays development, on the waterfront. There are plenty of designer shops and factory outlets located nearby so it can offer an evening and night's entertainment after a day spent hitting the shops. The club has a capacity of over 700 and there is seating for nearly 500.

Ninia Benjamin is one of the acts performing in Portsmouth during January. Ninia gained critical acclaim as one third of the BBC series Non Blondes, and has gone on to perform internationally. Her infectious humour, explosive energy and delivery are not to be missed.

As well as Ninia, highlight will also welcome Sean Meo to the stage. Sean is a former snooker player turned professional comedian who has been a previous recipient of Time Out's Comedian of the Year. He has performed all over the world including festivals in Montreal, South Africa, Singapore, the United States and New Zealand.

His slick, sardonic humour has led him to work prolifically on TV and radio and the speed in which he can turn over witty jokes is terrifying.

In Scotland, highlight has a venue that ranks among the best comedy clubs Glasgow, and has also opened one in arguably the home of British comedy, Edinburgh.

In the city's Omni Centre development, the 300-capacity venue plays a big part in the city's comedy scene. The nights, like most other highlight venues, are on Fridays and Saturdays, and the adjoining bar provides the party afterwards.

The New Year will see John Gavin perform; the 2009 Scottish Comedian of the Year. For John to win this title is an impressive achievement given that he only started performing a year beforehand.

His tales of his masculinity being sucked from him by his wife and three children are effortlessly hilarious. These are no-nonsense parenting stories from the tattooed man that has been over exposed to the delights of childish fluffiness and bad TV.

Edinburgh highlight will also host Stu Who?, one of the most versatile acts working in the UK at the moment. Stu is rapid and infectious in his delivery and is a regular on the circuit and on TV as a compere or as a performer. Stu is also a regular at international comedy festivals, as well as working with Jonathan Ross and even Hollywood stars Robert Duvall and Michael Keaton.

The renaissance of stand up comedy, and the public's appreciation of it, has been helped in part by comedy clubs such as highlight. Its venues host some of the best comics working in the country at the moment and also offer complete nights for their guests.

The emphasis on parties and big events is a great example of the fun that highlight aims to provide; with the constant party atmosphere and variety of entertainment, its venues offer a unique experience.