Komedia is an arts and entertainment company which operates venues in the United Kingdom at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Pla ...

, and a management and production company Komedia Entertainment. Beyond hosting live comedy, the venues also host music,

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or ...

, theatre and shows for children, featuring local, national and international performers. The Brighton and Bath venues operate cinemas within their buildings in partnership with Picturehouse. Komedia also creates broadcast comedy and has most notably co-produced and hosted the live recordings of seven series of the Sony Award-winning Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

and is a co-producer on BBC1's sitcom Count Arthur Strong.

Programme

As well as its resident shows, the Krater Comedy Club, Ministry of Burlesque, and Bent Double, Komedia has a local, national, and international programme, spanning a range of entertainment that includes theatre, music, cabaret, comedy, and live literature.

History

Komedia is owned by Colin Granger, Marina Kobler and Richard Daws. It was formed in 1994 by Colin Granger, Marina Kobler and David Lavender, beginning as a theatre and

bar in a converted

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

-listed former billiard hall in Brighton's Kemptown area. Richard Daws became involved in 2001 when he partnered with the venue to form Komedia Entertainment, a management and production company set up after the sale of his production company Victoria Real to Endemol UK. The Komedia logo was designed by Nick Williams of the Matt Black design partnership. In the early days, Komedia promoted many young performers including

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comed ...

, Mel & Sue,

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes Dee (born 24 September 1961), known professionally as Jack Dee, is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter and writer known for his sarcasm, irony and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Lead Balloon' ...

, Al Murray,

Jenny Eclair Jenny Eclair (born Jenny Clare Hargreaves; 16 March 1960) is an English comedian, novelist, and actress, best known for her roles in '' Grumpy Old Women'' between 2004 and 2007 and in ''Loose Women'' in 2011 and 2012. Early life Eclair was born ...

Tim Vine Timothy Mark Vine (born 4 March 1967) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter best known for his one-liners and his role on the sitcom '' Not Going Out'' (2006–2014). He has released a number of stand-up comedy specials and has w ...

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in '' Brookside'', DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' and Jim Royle in '' The Royle Family'', and playing the titular ch ...

, Rhona Cameron and

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives o ...

. In 1998 the company moved into a former Tesco supermarket on Gardner Street in the North Laine area of Brighton. On its relocation in 2000, the Brighton Komedia grew to include three spaces: Komedia Upstairs, Komedia Downstairs, and the Studio Bar, as well as a street-front café and box office on Gardner Street.

The Dukes of Brighton

In December 2012, Dukes at Komedia (sometimes styled as Dukes@Komedia) opened a two-screen cinema operated in collaboration with the Duke of York's cinema and

Picturehouse Cinemas Picturehouse Cinemas is a network of cinemas in the United Kingdom, operated by Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd and owned by Cineworld. The company runs its own film distribution arm, Picturehouse Entertainment, which has released acclaimed films s ...

. Duke’s at Komedia replaced the original Komedia Upstairs comedy club. The main screen has 142 seats, and a smaller, second screen can seat 96 people. There are two bars, serving snacks and a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, as well as hot food which can be taken into the theatre. Dukes at Komedia was opened as a sister cinema to Brighton's Duke of York's Picture House, from which the name was taken, enabling a wider variety of film programming in the city. As such, the two venues enjoy a close relationship, sharing many of the same staff. This link is represented visually by the red and white striped can-can legs which can be seen on the Dukes of Komedia's marquee and which resemble the more famous black and white version mounted on the roof of the Duke of York's. The cinema frequently stages late-night

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

screenings, live filmmaker Q&As and a regular programme of alternative content, including live broadcasts from the Met Opera, National Theatre and

Glyndebourne Festival Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ...

. The venue has also been hired out as the venue for

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

ceremonies.

Brighton Festival

Komedia has a presence in the

Brighton Festival Fringe Brighton Fringe is an open-access arts festival held annually in Brighton, England. It is the largest annual arts festival in England and one of the largest fringe festivals in the world. The programme of 2018 included 1008 events at over 166 ve ...

every year. In 2007 it won "Best Venue at the Latest Festival Awards" in the Brighton Festival and Fringe.

Bath

In June 2008 Komedia was awarded the lease of the Beau Nash Picture House in

, a Grade I-listed neo-classical cinema previously operated by Odeon and known as the Beau Nash Picture House. Following extensive refurbishment, the cinema was transformed into an auditorium and live arts venue designed by architects Stubbs Rich, who have since been awarded The National

Constructing Excellence Constructing Excellence is a United Kingdom construction industry membership organisation created in 2003, the only such which draws its member organisations from across the industry supply chain, ranging from clients, through contractors and cons ...

Award for the Heritage Project of the Year for the scheme. The development project won The Building Excellence Award for The Best Renovation of a Listed Building in the UK. The venue opened to the public on 13 November. Komedia Bath has become an important element of the arts quarter in Bath and presents a programme focused on comedy, music, film, cabaret, spoken word and kids events. The programme includes the Krater Comedy Club, Ministry of Burlesque’s High Tease, and cinema screenings in partnership with The Little Cinema Theatre and Picturehouse. The venue has a 615 standing capacity and a 456 cabaret seated capacity which includes a balcony seating 168 people. Komedia Bath operates a daytime arts café, which includes a studio venue, displays local artists' work and is host to Affordable Arts Fairs. In 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015 Komedia Bath won The

Chortle Award The Chortle Awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK. A panel of reviewers draw up a shortlist, which is presented for public vote at the Chortle websit ...

for Best Venue in the Wales and the West of England.

Edinburgh Festival

Komedia has on occasion simultaneously operated up to three distinct venues at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. These are loosely split into a comedy venue, a drama venue, and one for theatre companies from around the world that Komedia had helped come to the festival. Komedia has roots in

physical theatre Physical theatre is a genre of theatrical performance that encompasses storytelling primarily through physical movement. Although several performance theatre disciplines are often described as "physical theatre," the genre's characteristic asp ...

, and was a co-founder of the Aurora Nova programme at St. Stephens, which runs during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Komedia Entertainment

Komedia operates a management and production arm which represents emerging and established talent. Komedia Entertainment has produced live shows, radio series and TV projects. These included Japanese Comedy duo Gamarjobat’s Edinburgh shows and their first run on Broadway, New York; the Fringe First winning Meeting Joe Strummer and Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!, which has completed seven series for

. Together with national and international tours, the company also produces comedy and music CD & DVD releases and other broadcast projects for the BBC including BBC1's comedy Count Arthur Strong, co-produced with Retort TV and Delightful Industries.

References

External links

Komedia website

Komedia Entertainment website
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Brighton and Hove Comedy clubs in the United Kingdom Theatre companies in England Music venues in East Sussex Entertainment venues in England Jazz clubs in the United Kingdom Cinemas in East Sussex Cinemas in Somerset Grade II listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Culture in Bath, Somerset