About Me
My name is Mark and I have spent much of my life being fascinated by comedy.
I’ve always been a bit of a comedy nerd. In fact, that’s become the most appropriate description of me.
Not necessarily making people laugh myself—although I’ve certainly had a go—but watching, listening to, talking about and trying to understand what makes good comedy. Over the years, that curiosity has taken me into some rather unexpected places: alternative music, independent films, obscure comedy clubs, podcasting and, on one occasion, a recording studio with people who were considerably more musically talented than I was.
I’ve seen some fantastic comedians, from famous faces off the telly that you will be familiar with, to fresh-faced newbies stepping out into the spotlight for the first time. I’ve seen some glorious moments from superstars at their height, and some of the worst crash-and-burn on-stage deaths. I’ve seen comedy in theatres, halls, community centres, function rooms, pubs, cellars, on a boat and on a bus.
What do comedians say about me?
Listen to, or watch my interview for Richard Gill’s blog and podcast A Rich Comic Life, in which I talk about my earliest memory of comedy, when I was in a band and the new alternatives.
As a young boy I would watch avidly as Eric & Ernie would be in the plays wot Ern wrote. Every Christmas I and a third of the UK population would gather around their coal-fired televisions to watch Eric slap Ernie in the face long before Chris Rock was afforded that distinction. The tween me would howl derisively as Michael Palin would slap John Cleese in the face with a fish, and as a teenager, I would guffaw noisily as Adrian Edmondsen would hit Rik Mayall with whatever was at hand. It was obvious that I adored comedy and extreme violence with a passion.
Purveyors of preposterous pop
Before podcasting and before becoming known as The Comedy Nerd, there was music.
Like most teenagers I wanted to be in a band and be beloved by adoring fans and snogged by girls. Instead I became involved with The Dylan Rabbit, an eccentric pop group whose approach to music was considerably less conventional than most people’s idea of a pop band. We had more props than instruments and someone usually ended up lying on the floor in their underpants. The joke that venues closed after we played there was not without foundation, but it was a fun time and we laughed a lot so I regret less than 80% of it.
The Dylan Rabbit was never really about trying to fit neatly into a particular musical category. It was about having fun, being ridiculous and seeing what happened when you mixed music with comedy, performance and a healthy disregard for convention.
One of my happiest days was recording our CD, Musikali Obskura 1: Das Chimp, with Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band legend Rodney Slater. The inside cover design was hand-drawn by “Psychic” Uri Geller for some reason. The album is currently available nowhere, and some would say rightly so.
Looking back, the whole Dylan Rabbit experience was an early indication of the direction my life would eventually take. I was drawn to people who were prepared to do something different, to embrace the absurd and to create something simply because it seemed like a good idea.
Apes, Plumbers And A Bit Of Sauce
Music wasn’t my only excursion into the world of the unconventional.
I’ve appeared in and worked on a number of decidedly unusual films courtesy of childhood friend and filmmaker Jan Manthey and Kino Karno, including Teenage Ecstasy, Mutant!, Cult of the Planet of the Apes and The Adventures of a Plumber in Outer Space.
These weren’t Hollywood productions, and that was part of their charm. Independent filmmaking gave me another opportunity to be around creative people who were willing to experiment and make things happen without waiting for someone else to give them permission.
Becoming The Comedy Nerd
I found myself spending more and more time around comedians and comedy clubs. I started to realise that I had accumulated something that was perhaps slightly unusual: a huge amount of knowledge about comedians, comedy nights, performers and the live comedy circuit. I wasn’t a traditional critic. I wasn’t really a performer either. I was simply someone who genuinely loved comedy.
And so The Comedy Nerd was born.
In 2020 I applied to join the awards panel for the Leicester Comedy Festival, was accepted, and so began a journey into earning my new epithet. I’ve been a panel judge for LCF until it folded in 2026. My association with this and my constant attendance at comedy shows meant that I was invited to join the inaugural ISH Edinburgh Comedy Festival awards panel in 2023, as well as other awards, big and small, each of which I hold dear and take enormously seriously. I’m always surprised and delighted to be asked to be involved and am open to future invitations… just saying.
I launched the True Crime Diary podcast 2020 with. my friends Jed Leicester and Rue Turner, looking at historical crimes and criminal events tied to particular dates in history. At first glance, true crime might seem like a strange direction for someone primarily associated with comedy, but I’ve always been fascinated by unusual stories and the people involved in them. But I didn’t want to make another relentlessly grim true-crime programme. My approach has always been to tell interesting stories while allowing room for humour, personality and conversation. A dry wit and a few choice sound effects resulted in a true-crime podcast that doesn’t always sound like a conventional true-crime podcast.
We’ve covered everything from spectacular robberies and heists to strange, obscure and sometimes almost unbelievable episodes from criminal history. The Antwerp Diamond Heist, the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, the Gunpowder Plot, the Charlie Chaplin grave robbery and many other stories have found their way into the programme.
In 2022 I created the Comedy in a Nutshell podcast. The idea was straightforward: I wanted to talk to comedians and other people involved in comedy about comedy itself. I wanted conversations that went beyond the standard “tell me about your new show” interview. I wanted to know what comedy meant to the person sitting opposite me.
I’ve spoken with comedians, performers, promoters and comedy enthusiasts, exploring their experiences, influences, careers and ideas about humour. Every guest brings something different to the conversation, which is precisely what makes the project interesting to me. The title Comedy in a Nutshell came from the idea of asking people to somehow distill all of that experience into something simple. Of course, comedy isn’t simple and that’s what makes it fascinating.
Why comedy?
People sometimes ask why I’m so interested in comedy.
The honest answer is that I don’t think I’ve ever really had a choice. I’ve always been curious about it.
Comedy is strange. It’s one of the few things that can make a room full of complete strangers react simultaneously. It can challenge people, comfort them, offend them, surprise them or make them laugh at something they never expected to find funny. And the people who create it are often just as interesting as the comedy itself. That’s what keeps me going.
I’m interested in the performer who walks onto a tiny stage in front of twenty people just as much as the comedian performing to thousands. I’m interested in the newcomer trying out five minutes for the first time and the veteran who has spent decades refining a routine. Every comedian has a story. I want to hear those stories.
The professional appreciator
People often ask if I’ve ever wanted to do comedy myself, or ever would.
After I’ve talked about my days with The Dylan Rabbit, I’ve described myself as a “professional appreciator”. It’s a slightly tongue-in-cheek description, but there is some truth in it. I don’t need to be the person on stage to be involved in comedy. I enjoy discovering comedians, watching them develop, asking questions, recording conversations and telling other people about the performers I’ve encountered. In some ways, everything I’ve done has led back to that.
The Dylan Rabbit taught me that creativity doesn’t have to follow rules;
Kino Karno films taught me that you don’t need a huge budget to make something;
True Crime Diary allowed me to combine storytelling, research, humour and my fascination with unusual human behaviour;
Comedy in a Nutshell gave me a way to explore comedy by talking directly to the people who create it;
And The Comedy Nerd gave me a name for the thing I’ve probably been all along.