Howard Read (aka Big Howard) Guest Blog

As a stand-up comedian it’s always great to play Glasgow, and as a festival performer, it’s always lovely to go to Scotland and come home with your shirt.

My festival act, Big Howard and Little Howard, is almost exactly the same age as the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.  Both started ten years ago and both seemed like a ridiculous idea at the time: Glasgow was trying to start a comedy festival in Scotland that wasn’t the Edinburgh Fringe, and me trying to make a cartoon perform stand-up.

Over the years Their Stupid Idea has always been incredibly supportive of My Stupid Idea. The GICF (not sure I should call it that; sounds like a porn acronym to do with gimps) has always given me a stage to play on, paid me (which is surprisingly rare in the business of comedy festivals) and come up with great ways to let people know my show is on. 

Last time we came, the GICF Team arranged to for us to appear on STV’s The Hour (I can confidently say I’m the only cartoon boy Michelle McManus has ever interviewed) and this year they’ve come up with a doozy.  To celebrate the Glasgow International ComedyFestival’s 10th birthday and Little Howard’s 10th 6th birthday (it’s complicated) we’re doing something really cool at 10am on the 10th of March at the Apple Store, with my 10-year-old 6-year-old cartoon boy, and 10 ten-year-olds.  Full details aren’t confirmed yet but we did a test-run last week of the various ground-breaking bits of technology involved, and it worked a treat.  I’m actually looking forward to that stunt almost as much as I’m looking forward to the show itself, which is on the 24th of March at the King’s Theatre.

If you haven’t seen Little Howard have a look at www.littlehoward.co.uk, for kids we’ve done three series of Little Howard’s Big Question for CBBC and for adults we’ve been on The Royal Variety Performance, This Morning and Jay Leno amongst other things.

Little Howard will be recording a special Video Diary for the festival every week running up to our appearance.  The first one is here: 

Little Howard's BIG Question will be on at the King's Theatre on 24 March at 2.30pm. For more information and to book tickets, click here or call 0844 395 4005.

Late Night Gimp Fight Guest Blog

Performing in Scotland has always been a memorable experience for us, for many different reasons. We've encountered some of our loudest, drunkest, but best audiences of all time in Scotland and we hope this continues when we make our Glasgow International Comedy Festival debut at the Tron next month.

It was in Scotland that we got our best ever heckle. A heavily intoxicated Scottish gentleman had stumbled into the venue we were performing in, probably more in search of somewhere to sit rather than due to his penchant for gimps. He fell asleep within five minutes of the show starting, and when he woke up we were in the middle of a sketch set at a funeral. He was so drunk and disorientated at this point, that he believed he was at an actual funeral, so when he saw us 'performing a sketch' in his context he shouted 'Have some respect!'… and then passed out again.

So, the benchmark for audiences has been set... we can only hope Glasgow steps up to the plate! We're really excited to be bringing our show to Glasgow as we've not performed at the festival before. We haven't even been to Glasgow. Actually – that's not strictly true, I once drove through it and saw someone driving a bed down the street.  An actual bed. True.

For those of you not familiar with the gimps, this video should give you a little idea of what we're about. You can expect plenty of dark sketches, big theatrical set pieces, and a surprisingly moving sketch about Henry the Hoover. We look forward to seeing you there!

Late Night Gimp Fight will be performing at the Tron Theatre on 30 & 31 March at 10.30pm. For more information and to book tickets, click here or call 0844 395 4005.

Vikki Stone Guest Blog

I've only actually been to Glasgow once before, so I really am looking forward to getting to know it better when I come for the Comedy Festival in March.

In 2010 I was doing a Scottish mini-tour with a few other comedians, and we were playing Inverness, Edinburgh, Dundee, Findhorn and Aberdeen (not Glasgow curiously). Ahead of the tour I came up a day early on the sleeper (I hated the sleeper; shared a berth with a noisy weirdo) to record an appearance on the now defunct chat show The Hour. I was to be interviewed about the tour, and then sing a little ditty about the then X Factor winner, Joe McElderry. To my delight I was being interviewed by the one and only Michelle McManus, herself a product of the TV talent show mill, who was everything I'd hoped she'd be and more (I shan't  say what though, I wouldn't like to offend!). Needless to say there were some wonderfully prickly questions in our interview. Such fun!

I then got to spend the rest of the day pottering around Glasgow, heading immediately for the Apple store (forgot my charger), and yes Glasgow, you display your Apple products in an exemplary manner, congratulations. If my memory serves me, I think I may also have taken in a Dixon's (to compare prices) and a museum (not in search of a charger).

I can't remember what the museum was called, nor can I find any evidence of having ever visited it. Maybe the good readers of this blog might help me identify it? All I can remember is that it was off a side street, had a rooftop viewing area, possibly an escalator, some nautical exhibits, and a glass front. I think I enjoyed myself, but I can't be sure. I have a terrible memory for tourism. I may have also had a cup of tea somewhere, but again the details escape me. I am aware all this looks a bit like I'm lying about having been to Glasgow, and desperately trying to make up banal detail in absence of facts, but I assure you, it's all true. Ooooh, I remember now, I also had a swim in the Virgin Active somewhere on the outskirts of town.

Anyway, I am very excited about bringing myself and my new show to the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, but I think I need someone to show me around this time! Any volunteers?

Come to Brel on Saturday 31 March to see Vikki Stone: Songs and Jokes. For more information and to book tickets, click here.

Get Set, Stand Up!

'What do you mean I get to stand on a stage and people have to listen to me? No matter what? ...cool!'

Giving teenagers free reign with a microphone can be a rollercoaster ride, but it's always worth the trip. Impact Arts are delighted to be working in partnership with the Glasgow International Comedy Festival for the third year running to provide young people aged 14-19 with the opportunity to break into comedy.

Currently in Scotland you may think that our young people don't have a lot to laugh about; high unemployment, lack of training and lack of opportunity dominates the newspaper  headlines. They could let this doom and gloom get to them, but that's not the Scottish spirit is it? No, not when we can make a sarcastic quip or spin a yarn about the 30th trip to the job centre. Smile and the world smiles with you. Impact Arts - Get Set, Stand Up workshops focus on introducing young people to stand-up comedy, boosting their confidence and giving them the opportunity to try something new - and who knows, perhaps the next Kevin Bridges or Daniel Sloss will be discovered.

The free workshops are tutored by Jay Lafferty, who was nominated for Best New Scottish Comedian at the Scottish Variety Awards in 2011. Jay says 'tutoring the Get Set, Stand Up workshops is one of the biggest highlights of my year - teenagers telling it like it is... how they see the world, no holds barred. The emotions are raw, they are very truthful and truth is far funnier than fiction. It's brilliant to be able to work with the participants building their confidence before seeing them get on stage for their first gig.'

Alongside Jay there will be a host of guest comedians dropping into the workshops, including Capital Radio's Des Clarke and the author of The Top 50 Greatest Scots Of All Time Ever Vladimir McTavish.

Last year 16-year-old Ryan Hughes took part in the course: 'Comedy has always been close to my heart and to get the chance to do it with Jay and the guys at Impact Arts was a chance I had to take. I'm so glad I did because it's helped me in so many ways; comedy has given me the chance to prove to audiences that the stereotypical view of someone being in a wheelchair isn't true. When I began the course it opened my eyes; here was something I could enjoy doing whilst learning new skills and making new friends. Basically comedy is now a big part of my life, I wouldn't have it any other way.'

This year's course starts on Thursday 1 March and runs every Thursday until the showcase performance on Thursday 29 March. For more information, or to apply, please contact msummers@impactarts.co.uk.