Good Ship Comedy
at The Birds, London
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The 2024 Edinburgh festival Joke of the Fringe Award winner Mark Simmons has become one the nation's favourite comics. In the past three years he has catapulted himself to the top of the stand-up scene thanks to his wildly popular Instagram videos which showcase his highly popular on-the-spot improvised one-liners with audiences across the world. He has sold out a run at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, appeared on Mock The Week and BT Sport, and completed his debut tour that featured 200+ dates and sold over 30,000 tickets.
He has a podcast (Jokes With Mark) where he interviews other comedians such as Rob Beckett and Sarah Millican about Jokes they couldn’t get to work.
Please note that the artists appearing may be subject to change.
Mark Simmons
2009 So You Think You're Funny finalist and 2013 Leicester Mercury Comedian Of The Year runner-up. Rising star Mark Simmons is a consummate one-liner comic. If you love Milton Jones you are likely to adore Mark Simmons. Big hit on the UK circuit and supports some of the bigger names on tour, including Seann Walsh who he co-hosts a movie podcast with. Very clever writing combined with a quirky stage persona. 'To put it simply: if you like Tim Vine, you'll like Mark Simmons, who shares the same love of a tight, silly pun and crushes an admirable quantity into his solo debut, without sacrificing quality' (Steve Bennett, Chortle) 'Clever quips and elegant jokes@ (Standard).
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Louise Young
Hailing from Newcastle, Louise Young has quickly become one of the brightest new names on the comedy circuit. She is a regular at clubs up and down the country including the Glee Clubs, Komedia, and The Stand. Louise has supported the likes of Jason Manford and Alan Carr on their nation wide UK and Ireland tours. In 2020, she was nominated for Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year, and the following year was nominated for Leicester Comedy Festival’s Best Festival Appearance. Louise was also a finalist in the Funny Women Awards in 2018. Louise has presented a weekly comedy radio show on BBC Radio Newcastle, and at the 2020 Gillard Awards won a commendation for Newcomer of the Year on the station. Louise also wrote and acted in Channel 4’s Original Comedy shorts on three sketches, one of which gained over five million views and went on to receive North East RTS award. As heard on BBC Radio 4’s Fred at The Stand, and soon to be seen on Comedy Central Live!
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Ben Van Der Velde
Ben Van der Velde is a stand-up comedian, actor, improviser and presenter, who, over the past few years, has spread joy and nonsense to all four corners of the British Isles, as well as Greece, Switzerland, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Norway. He is a regular host and act for respected British comedy clubs such as The Comedy Store, The Stand, Komedia, The Backyard, Covent Garden Comedy Club, Outside the Box, the Frog & Bucket, Comedy Club 4 Kids, Off the Kerb and The Comedy Café, as well as hosting stages for Bestival, Festival No.6 and Sunday Papers Live. He has also founded the Church of the Holy Kazoo with comedy legend Mark Thomas, walked the entire London Underground network to raise money for The Refugee Council and even took part in experiments at The Royal Society that revealed him to have the most infectious laugh of any human, rat or monkey. Ben is a regular performer at the Edinburgh Festival, where he has performed four critically-acclaimed shows: Chain Letter, Strudelhead, Barbarians and Sidekick. In 2016 his most recent show received 5 and 4 star reviews, whilst several of jokes made it into lists of ‘Best Joke at the Fringe’ compiled by The Scotsman, i-News and The Huffington Post. Ben has amassed a few residencies as an MC; most notably at Really Lovely Comedy and the legendary Free Beer Show, where he has featured alongside acts such as Omid Djalili, Reginald D. Hunter, Sarah Millican, Jim Jefferies and Andrew Maxwell . Ben is currently helmsman of the Chortle Award-winning Good Ship Comedy Club in Camden Town, where he can be seen spinning webs of nonsense and good humour every Monday from 8pm. (www.goodshipcomedy.com) “A sharp and crafty gagsmith, with wittily obtuse takes on…an impressively wide range of topics…bringing flair and confidence to them all.” Steve Bennett, Chortle “Highly promising…an accomplished comic.” Time Out “Wonderfully improvised riffs showcasing his impressive spontaneity and sharp tongue.” Edinburgh Festivals Magazine “The perfect comedy club host – he is a master of audience interaction. The audience weren’t just warmed up, but pretty hysterical even before the first act of the night hit the stage.” Huffington Post “On flights of fancy, he pushes ideas to extremes and displays a crackling, spontaneous energy in which we’re swept up.” Fest
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The Birds
692 High Road
Leytonstone
London
E11 3AA
See all events at The Birds
The Birds
692 High Road
Leytonstone
London
E11 3AA
See all events at The Birds
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on Fri 12 December 2025