Sat 22 March 2025 will be a night I remember for a very long time. More than 13 years we have been running Taunton Comedy Club at the Creative Innovation Centre (CICCIC).

Huge shout out and tons of love to Andy and Richard from CICCIC and the gorgeous Joanne Knutt. I mention Joanne because her laugh is super loud and highly infectious! I’d love her to come to all of my comedy nights across Somerset!

So, what makes this one show so brilliant and memorable? I think it was the perfect comedy night for many reasons.

The Venue – CICCIC is around 90 seats, and our shows regularly SELL OUT. This is because audiences support the shows and return time and time again. Although, MCs regularly ask if people have been before, and it is gratifying that there is always a huge bunch of first time comedy fans. After Sat night I know they will all be back!

My skill as a comedy promoter is choosing the right line-up. Each act is very different so everyone in the audience will have a great time. This show was 100% spot on!

The Acts – Starting with Ian Murphy as our MC. It has been my personal pleasure to see Ian progress in comedy since he took part in Stand Up For Cider in 2023. He has blossomed into a great act and recently starting to be an MC. He interacted with the audience and timed everything perfectly. His cheeky Liverpudlian humour, twinkly eyes and silver fox locks and beard make him the whole package! 

Our opening act was Dawn Bailey – Dawn had travelled all the way down from Manchester. She reminded me of Sarah Millican in many ways. Cheeky storytelling, loads of audience interaction and endless call backs – YES DAWN!

Our middle act was Tim Biglow – I’m sure he won’t mind me mentioning he looks like a gorgeous hippy with flowing curly hair! He had perfect timing for his jokes, and they all landed perfectly. Lots of laughter in the room!

Our Headline Act was the incredible Matt Price! – Matt hails from Cornwall but now lives in London with a gorgeous and hilarious lady comedian called Martha! His impression of her Glaswegian accent is brilliant! Matt’s career has gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years. particularly since he joined a fantastic comedy management company called A Rush Of Laughter. AROL is owned by my great friend Adam Rushden and ably assisted by Danni K. Matt had everyone in the palm of his hands, they loved him so much! I’ve been booking Matt since the very beginning of the business. You must always expect the unexpected! This time when an audience member noisily got up to go to the loo. He had to walk through the audience to get to the toilet…. Matt followed him….the he got the whole audience to turn their chairs around so they were all facing the chap when he came out of the loo! The look on his face from priceless! He took it all with good humour, the chairs were turned around again and Matt continued to have everyone in stitches until the end of his set!

Finally – Our Audiences! – I have to say that you are all the best! You behave impeccably and give the acts your full attention! My acts LOVE coming to Somerset and feel safe that they are going to have a great time too. I had so many lovely comments on Sat night. From people I don’t know. Taking the time to say how much they enjoy the CICCIC shows. So, from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU.

We have our next heat for Stand Up For Cider on 11 April – Tickets HERE

And, our next Taunton Comedy Club is on 24 May – when we have the amazing Raymond & Mr Timpkins  – Catch them in Taunton before they retire next year! – Tickets HERE

Thank you all for your continued support for Genius Comedy! Remember, if you see the Black Cat in our logo you are guaranteed a night of fantastic comedy!

It was an utterly brilliant evening! This is one of my favourite photos of the night! It clearly shows all our awesome sponsors on our pop up banner! Also, as I had a broken toe I wasn’t able to receive the hugs so I told the winners to hug Wayne instead! I swear he actually puckered up!

Oh I should probably explain the lack of our resident MC the adorable David Arnold! David was away working his comedy magic on a cruise ship! Wayne stepped in to help me and was wonderful….David will be back for the final on 22 November. Wayne did a brilliant job of trying to blend in with the art at CICCIC….all we could see was his head!

First up was a chap called Chris Broadbent – He came from Oldham. His set was well rehearsed. When asked whether he wanted jam or cream first on a scone he replied GRAVY! He told a tale of a Russian Wife then swapped to a wife from Bridgwater called KIm….there followed some hilarious jokes about posh food. His set ended with a really good tale about Taylor Swift!

Next up was Jessica Otterwell – She started with a Taylor Swift joke! Straight after the 1st contestant! A lady from Bristol who now lives in Brighton. She has some excellent material about dating apps and adventures. Her advice is to date someone with a great accent instead of a personality! She went on to have a go at people called Dave….my poor nephew Dave was in the audience!

Our third contestant was Joe Greenslade – An ex local lad! Lots of family jokes about his mum and dad and growing up. He is endearing and very likeable! Apparently only his mum laughs at his joke but not tonight. The audience warmed to him and his self deprecating material. Charming and a little unique.

Next up was Jack May from Devon. Full of energy and a full on stream of jokes! Quite dry material including mental health, child abuse and coming from a rich family. The audience really enjoyed his set!

Next we enjoyed a yummy beer break! The bar at CICCIC is fully stocked, quickly served and very well priced and affordable….it is a wonderful venue!

Following the break, next up was Tony O’Hara. He started at a very high joke rate! Being asthmatic and his greatest enemy being dust! An extremely polished performance. He is from Dublin but now living in Brighton. He called Twerking as Parkinsons for the arse! The audience adored him and he had plenty of applause breaks and huge laughter!

Next up was Christina Varga! A Romanian powerhouse. She was sparkly bright and energetic. She has had loads of jobs including an English Teacher in Barcelona! Very funny jokes about the things she taught the Spanish kids. She came across as super confident and with some excellent jokes! Everyone enjoyed her set. She also did some very good Brexit jokes!

Josh Whatmore was next up. Full of class distinction jokes. Confident and with great delivery. Some brilliant mother in law jokes that were fresh. I like the one about an Asda trolley in his nan’s garden that became a climbing frame and then a barbecue! Another popular act with out audience.

Next up was Capriella Monique – She has taken part before a few years ago, but was very welcome back. She showed a lot of progression since her first appearance. She writes some incredibly funny songs. I love the one about her ex boyfriend Tyrone! She also takes dating advice from her nan!

Last up was Chris Somerset – never an easy spot to fill. Lots of material about being an ex gambler.

Now to explain the scoring and winners – As we made Heat 3 a champions of champions show for the winners of the previous 10 years we had quite a few spaces for the final in November!

So the winners was Tony O’Hara – Second place was Josh Whatmore and third was Jack May. We then proceeded to offer Wild Cards to Capriella, Christina and Joe! We look forward to welcoming back all our finalists! This show is almost sold out already so if you want to be there please book quickly.

I want to give huge praise to our Headline Act from Friday! Ian Murphy! Ian actually took part in Stand Up For Cider exactly 2 years ago. His career is flying and to be in a competition and being a headline act is an incredible achievement! He is a loveable scouser! He is writing material all the time and honing his act. He told me it was because of Stand Up For Cider that he decided to pursue his comedy dreams! I feel super proud of this!

Heat 2 took place at the wonderful CICCIC on Friday 17 May. We were entertained by 8 contestants, our gorgeous David Arnold as resident MC and fantastic headliner Chris Brooker. Our audience were brilliant too! Thanks everyone….

First to the stage was Michael McMahon who performs as IRISH. We all loved him from the start as he leapt on the stage and dumped a rucksack! he has only been doing comedy for 10 months and has made a fabulous start – spoiler…he came 3rd! He had a very warm and engaging style with the audience.

Next up was Leslie Gold – A little firecracker with a New Jersey accent! Some brilliant jokes about Trump and American politics…..warm, friendly and likeable.

Our third contestant was Patrick Carmody – Young and very fit looking young fella – some material was based on when he was a lot heavier. Including a story about doing a charity sky dive where he was told he was too fat to do it by one company….so he tried another one with hilarious results!

Our next competitor was the adorable Sallyann Fellowes – Dressed like ‘Where’s Wally’ She delighted us with tales of her Cornish upbringing, being autistic and part time lesbian. Huge laughs ensued, the good ones, the ones that start in your belly! I was laughing so much I wasn’t able to take many notes.

We then had our beer break…..some naughty audience members took to the stage for some fab selfies! This one is my nephew Dave!

After the break our David Arnold welcomed everyone back…..what a first half!! We also discovered our youngest ever audience member…gently in a carrier, close to dad, who stood at the back and gently moved around to keep them calm and cosy…they also had little baby headphones on! Super cute!

First up after the break was Jack Allen – He has already taken part before. This time it felt much more mature, with added experience. A few jokes about his much married and mature dad. Good family material. I especially liked the fact he was once a debt collector, a bit rubbish, so he used to take his mum along as no-one can win against her menopause!

Second up after the break was Richard Beardmore. Richard has been an audience member for several years and had already taken part once before. This time he was so much more improved. Well practiced jokes and good delivery. He seemed to really enjoy himself this time!

Next up was Sue Carey – a local lady from Taunton. Sue had some good material. She was relaxed and confident. The audience enjoyed her performance. I hope Sue takes part again in the future.

Finally, Shane Oggz leapt onto the stage! Describing himself as a red-neck Bristolian. A bunch of council estate jokes, very self deprecating. Said he was great at colouring in at school but was a bit shit staying within the lines! Lots of laughter in the house. All right my luvver! he also had some great hairstyle material. You needed to be there.

In the next break David and I added up the score sheets from the audience. While we were working our headline act Chris Brooker topped off a brilliant evening with some fabulous jokes. He was very polished and entertaining. I was a naughty promoter and put my pen down to enjoy his set! And I really did. It is wonderful to relax and watch a pro do their stuff.

Now for the results! In third place and getting a Wildcard for the final in November is Irish! (Michael McMahon)…..our runner up is Patrick Carmody and our clear winner in this heat is Sallyann Fellowes!

A quick note to mention our fantastic sponsors! Sheppy’s Cider – Berrys Coaches – Walpole Dunn, Chartered Accountants – Sally at Design Bean – Our wonderful venue The Creative Innovation Centre – not forgetting our media partners Somerset County Gazette – Stand Up For Cider is only as good as it is thanks to the support from these amazing local businesses!

Heat one took place on Friday 23 February 2024. Due to a couple of last minute drop outs we had 6 competitors in this heat. But BLIMEY – what a night!

Our resident superb MC was David Arnold….he always rummages back stage and find something fascinating to bring onstage to start the evening with a surprise – This time is was a Christmas Tree which he decided to stick on his face!

Now it felt like it was going to be an awesome night!

First to take to the stage was Alfie Dundas – Son of an Irish mum and a footy loving dad! He presented his material in a very confident manner. Lots of private school jokes (he did look quite posh!) – A brilliant joke about vegan shampoo!

Next up was Simon Hall – A very energetic walk to the stage in his sparkly boots! Shouting at the crowd and slapping many hands! He was so loud he didn’t use the microphone! Great dust jokes (you needed to be there!) adding in a bit of Brexit!

3rd up was Lee Hudson – Had the crowd in howls of laughter describing his dad who was on his 5th marriage! On the stag night watching his dad shove his inheritance in the knickers of a lap dancer! He asked the audience to guess the age of this latest wife in a Play your cards right way – Higher or Lower! Ended up she was 28 and his dad was 65! He also did some fantastic material about his younger brother! Over 20 years younger!

Our 4th contestant was Martin J Dixon – Looked a bit shy and quiet at first but boy was I wrong….He is adorable and very camp! Talked about being born by caesarean and never having touched a vagina! He discusses ex boyfriends including one who went to Germany. He basically took the roof off the venue.

Our 5th competitor was Sam Love! He described himself as a fat Joe Wicks! Very confident delivery, great jokes inc the NHS – when he went to see his Dr about his mole…was told to go to the vet! Good material.

Our final competitor was Rob Auty – A slightly older gentleman, gentle delivery, quiet and humble. He says he’s single as he has a cold for 9 months followed by hay fever for 3 months! Ended the set with an unusual crotch ornament!

Once the votes were counted Dave and I settled down to enjoy our headline act the wonderful Stephanie Laing! I book Stephanie as much as I can because she is just soooooo good! The audience absolutely loved her act! I was lucky enough to be seeing Stephanie at The Regal Theatre in Minehead the next night too. If you see Steph’s name on a line-up make sure you get a ticket!

After each show I love to read all the comments the audience have written on the score sheets! We have the best audiences at Stand Up For Cider and Taunton Comedy Club! All performed at The Creative Innovation Centre in Paul Street. We’ve been working together for 10 years now.

So, the scores on the doors! The first four acts scored the most points! Martin J Dixon was our outright winner! Simon Hall was in 2nd place and Alfie Dundas and Lee Hudson were just 2 points below. So…I’ve been very naughty and put all FOUR through to the Grand Final on 22 November! This show always sells out so if you definitely want to be at the final I would urge you to book now!

Also, I must take a moment to thank our brilliant Sponsors! Sheppy’s Cider, Berry’s Coaches, Walpole Dunn, Design Bean, County Gazette and CICCIC!

The next Heat is on 17 May and we have a big surprise for the 19 July show…..we are hoping to run a Champion of Champion’s Show! Inviting back all our previous winners! This show will be a part of Somerset Comedy Festival! More news will be available soon.

We arrived to a SOLD OUT show at The Creative Innovation Centre (CICCIC) The atmosphere was electric. Lots of smiles, chatter and energy in the room. The audience were milling around the bar before taking their seats for the show. The acts were gathering at the back of the room. Chatting and wishing each other luck.

I took the opportunity to hop on the stage to welcome everyone and announce some exciting news for 2024. More about that later…..

Thanks to my friend Sally Maidment for the photo above.

I handed over to our amazing resident host David Arnold. He is just the best. We all love him very much. Such a brilliant entertainer. Fresh, new material every time he performs on a Genius stage!

Stand Up For Cider is very grateful for the support of our wonderful sponsors – Sheppy’s Cider, Berrys Coaches, Somerset County Gazette, CICCIC, Design Bean and Walpole Dunn Accountants. Without their help there would be no shows/competitions. Last night Walpole Dunn were unable to be there so they donated their tickets too Reminiscence Learning, a wonderful local Dementia Charity! Their lovable Archie the scarecrow took to the stage and brought buckets for cash donations. Rem Learning are their charity of the year.

So, the show started. 1st onstage was Oliver Young – He made a great start. Fab material about his time working in Coffee Nero. Hilarious material from customer reviews. One describing him as a bug eyed Frodo and other daft names including square headed boy! Very strong performance.

Next up was the vivacious and beautiful Joanna Surowiec – A breath of sunshine in her bright yellow dress. Fab material about her Polish background and her new life in the UK. Her act is very warm and engaging. She did so well. We will definitely be booking her again.

3rd up was Potts! Very confident delivery. Good material. The audience enjoyed his time on the stage.

Our 4th contender was Barry Dunstall. A very different act. Dry humour. Deadpan delivery. A few prop jokes with made up greeting cards, dusted with a few ‘ur mum’ jokes.

Next up and last before the beer break was Billy James. Tall, with a warm personality and some absolutely brilliant gags and material. Ranging from people he’s been told he looks like…. Austin Powers, Sue Perkins etc! Mentioned he looked like the kind of chap to have their stag do in PC World! Lots of laughter and applause breaks. Brilliant gag about people with heated car seats….catch him where you can. He will definitely be on a Genius stage again.

During the beer break it was lovely to see everyone chatting and discussing the acts they had already seen. The atmosphere was fab.

First up in the second half was Stephen Catling. Almost impossible to describe this fella. He stolled down the aisle with a pug dog head on. Welcome to the church of dog! He shook hands with a few in the front row including my friend Steve Vellam. He used Steve a fair bit during the performance. Lots of dog conversations and leading on to a killer Titanic joke before Stephen stripped off and turned into a Bee! You should have been there.

Next up was the winner of Heat four – Gavin Harris. Lovable chap from Cornwall. He started with a song he had written on the drive up to the show! received very well. His jokes are impressive. Crowd work needs a little work, however, he is a natural comedian and should absolutely keep going!

Gilly Webb leapt onto the stage in her trademark tartan trousers! A real live wire. Full of energy. Rapid fire gags. Lots of laughter in the room.

Our final contestant took to the stage. Ben Ashurst settled quickly into a well practiced and awesome set. Lots of applause breaks and howls of laughter. Impeccable timing and delivered with confidence.

Now was the time to gather in the audience voting slips and for Laura and Alex Perry to count all the scores. I have done this myself for the last nine years. It is brilliant to have their support. Great team work.

Time to announce the winners – In 3rd place was Stephen Catling! In 2nd place Billy James….and the well deserved winner was Ben Ashurst! They were all presented to some gorgeous Sheppy’s Cider!

Ben will have his name engraved on the Cider barrel trophy. He will also go on to perform with a TV level act in April with Laura Lexx at a Genius show in Chard. Keep an eye on the website about all our future shows.

Finally, the exciting news I mentioned at the beginning…..Next year in July – I (Genius) will be bringing Somerset Comedy Festival! With shows all across the county. I have started a new business called Somerset Comedy Festival and it is a CIC company! Watch out for the launch coming shortly!

Oh my goodness! Friday 19 May 2023 will go down as one of my favourite Stand Up For Ciders! The main reason being I now have two new Crew Members who helped run the show, count the scores etc…allowed me to watch the acts properly, make better notes etc…. very happy to introduce Alex and Laura Perry!!

also massive thanks to my friend Sally from Design Bean – Sally produces all the artwork, posters, banners for Genius PR & Events! Such a pleasure to work with!

We really felt the buzz when we arrived at CICCIC – Richard on the door checking guests in..Andy and Sam behind the bar! It just felt like it was going to be a great night! Our awesome audience began to fill the venue…..lots of regulars and a bunch of people who had never been before!

A quick mention here of our incredible Sponsors – without their help Stand Up For Cider wouldn’t be able to function!

Sheppys Cider – Berrys Coaches – Walpole Dunn – Somerset County Gazette – and Design Bean!

David Arnold (our resident and amazing MC) opened the show with his usual, hilarious style and charm! We love you David!

First Act was Tim Dennis – Bounded onto the stage! Full of youthful energy! Story telling material about trying to get married during COVID…how long he had to wait etc…very relatable!

Next up was Billy James! Billy described himself as looking like Austin Powers – Absolutely brilliant set. The audience loved him talking about hairy legs and heated car seats! You needed to be there!

The third act was Walter Jack – Slightly more mature! Very confident, great material – especially about twins! His final bit was about Cat insurance…..I almost lost a lung, I was laughing so hard!

Our final act of the first half was Tim Cole – Very good act, great material and confidently delivered. Lots of Dad jokes! Very popular!

A welcome beer break – CICCIC have a well stocked bar, they serve quickly and always with a smile!

The second section kicked off with Sam Michael – Birmingham references, a bit about a stag dooooo…thought they looked like the Peaky Blinders but thought they were probably more like Last of the Summer Wine! A mention of a strip club – Free drink and a Free lap dance…sexy dance! Again, you needed to be there!

Next up was Peter Hose – Lots of plays on his name, clever wordplay! A story about moving to the West Country and being a Grockle! Some fabulous stories. Take a peek at the artwork under his left arm…..David made a few cheeky references to the boobies! Naughty David!

Richard Beardmore was next up – A bit of a story with this gentleman! He has been an audience member many times before – At the last SUFC an act didn’t make it on the evening and David asked if anyone in the audience wanted to have a go…..Richard kept quiet at the time – he emailed me afterwards and said he would actually love to have a go! So we popped him on this heat – He had clearly taken a lot of time to write, practice his material. A lovely surprise. He is much braver than me! With my awful memory I would never make it to a punchline! I’ve just realised I didn’t get a photograph! I’ll ask if Richard has any and I will update my blog.

Our final act of the evening was Matt Alford – He took to the stage with a clipboard and delivered some awesome material in a Q&A style – loads of audience participation! Very assured stage presence. A joy to watch!

After Matt left the stage my crew collected all the score sheets and started adding up the scores. This was the first time in 9 years that I didn’t have to do it! Such freedom to chat to friends in the audience and the acts. So grateful to Alex and Laura and Sally who taught them the ropes!

While the votes were being checked our headline act the fantastic Andy Roach took to the stage! Andy drove all the way from Liverpool to entertain us! Andy has already MC’d Taunton Comedy Club for me. He was so good I couldn’t wait to get him back and he will be on a lot of Genius stages in the future! His set was absolutely brilliant!!

So who won?? Well the audience chose the winners and they were as follows (in reverse order)

WILDCARD – Hopefully get a place in the final – SAM MICHAEL

RUNNER UP – MATT ALFORD

WINNER – BILLY JAMES!

Huge congratulations to the winners and thanks and well done to all the acts on the bill!

The next Heat is on 21 July – Make sure you book your tickets now before they sell out! BOOK HERE

Also, Taunton Comedy Club is on 10 June with an absolutely fantastic line up – including local chap Luke Honnoraty Luke is being joined by Steve Day! UKs deaf comedian who is absolutely incredible and regularly tours with Gary Delaney! Our headliner is Danny Posthill! An amazing Comedy Impressionist and a really lovely chap too! BOOK HERE

Here are some more random photos from Heat Two!

Our resident MC – the glorious David Arnold welcomed everyone to this year’s competition.

He showed our gorgeous cider barrel which is engraved with the winner’s name each year! Last year’s winner Keefy will be presented with his trophy at a show at Wookey Hole on 24 March by Steve Bugeja (off the telly!) – David is so loved by the Stand Up For Cider audiences! I always get the dates in his diary as early as I can – This show wouldn’t be what it is without our Dave!

First to take to the stage was Ben Ashurst! Very confident performance, great material! Fab tee shirt….especially when the head judge loves cats!

Next up was Ava da Costa Maia – Gorgeous flame haired lady from Swansea. Told some great stories.

Next up was Jack Boland – Local lad from Taunton. Lots of gritty and edgy political stuff.

Following a break for comfort and lashings of Sheppy’s Cider – we opened the 2nd half with Joanna Surowiec – A vision in bright yellow! She literally leapt onto the stage and took the audience on an hilarious journey of her experiences as a Polish woman in the UK! Excellent performance, lots of great local references to Bridgwater! And her journey to become a British Citizen. This lady is going to climb the comedy ladder very quickly! A very worthy WINNER!!

Stephen Catling was next up! We loved his audition reel and he lived up to what we were looking forward to! He walked to the stage with a Dog head on! Honestly! Then he handed out dog treats and shook paws with the front row….

Then he got a member of the audience to lean his head back so he could balance a treat on his nose…..yes he did! And left him like that for such a long time!

Then he stripped off and turned into a bee!!

Unique act and straight through to the final!

Next up was Emma Coyne – I must apologise I totally forgot to get a photo of Emma on the stage! Confident delivery of Dating Apps material. Very edgy material!

Finally Abhishek Morye took to the stage – he described himself as a Cornwall Brown Man! Lots of Indian references, family stories etc….always hard to be the last one onstage!

During the next break, myself and Sally counted the score sheets….

I wanted to count really quickly so I could enjoy our headline act Jon Wagstaffe! Waggy has taken some time off comedy but is coming back. Bloody hell! He took the roof off the CICCIC – Quick witted, full of energy, so loveable! So many applause breaks and I am pleased to say that Waggy will be appearing on plenty of Genius stages this year!!

Then we announced the winners! In 3rd place and having a wildcard through to the final in November is Ben Ashurst – or “Ben’s ass hurts” as he was announced! (You needed to be there!) – In 2nd place was Stephen Catling – Then our WINNER Joanna Surowiec!!

Our next heat is 19 May and tickets for the final are selling very quickly!

Stand Up For Cider are incredibly lucky to have such wonderful support from our sponsors!

Sheppys Cider – Berrys Coaches – Walpole Dunn – CICCIC – Design Bean – Somerset County Gazette

Thrilled to have hosted so many brilliant shows at the home of SUFC The Creative Innovation Centre (CICCIC) – https://www.creativeinnovationcentre.co.uk/

Four sold out heats throughout the year culminated in an amazing final on 25 November. The finalists brought their best material to the show!

We are so grateful to our sponsors for their fantastic support.

Sheppys Cider – https://www.sheppyscider.com/

Berrys Coaches – https://www.berryscoaches.co.uk/

Walpole Dunn Chartered Certified Accountants – https://walpoledunn.co.uk/

Somerset County Gazette – https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/

Design Bean – https://www.designbean.co.uk/

Delighted to announce all our sponsors are sticking with us for 2023.

9 acts were in the final – 5 in the first half and 4 in the second half. During the interval I presented an emotional thank you speech to my comedy partner in crime Tim O’Connor. Tim is retiring from managing the admin of the competition. He also helped in so many ways from day one of SUFC. He will be sadly missed but welcome to return at any time.

As normal all the audience are given voting slips to choose their winner and runner up. All the acts were brilliant. All contestants in the final will also be given paid spots on future Genius shows across Somerset over the next 12 months. The winner will get a paid spot on a line-up with a TV level comedian over the next year as well. This looks great on their comedy CVs.

The final was hosted by our resident MC David Arnold! David is superb and so loved by the SUFC audiences. On one of the score sheets a member of the audience wrote “David is utterly the BEST – He should WIN!” This comment made me smile.

Actually some of the comments on the score sheets make me howl with laughter! One year someone asked if one of the acts was single as she thought he was gorgeous!

So, who won? In 3^rd place was Phil Wathen – his cheeky style won over the audience, and he got a lot of laughs!

In 2^nd place was the hilarious Chris Yates – An audience member wrote Chris was a Hippy who looked like he worked in IT! Another said he was absolutely awesome!

The worthy WINNER was Keefy – Described as (rude word) hilarious and a bearded Morris dancer – you needed to be there!

So that’s it for 2022 – Here are the dates for 2023 – Tickets available on the CICCIC website – link above.

Stand Up For Cider 2023

Friday 24 February

• Friday 19 May
• Friday 21 July
• Friday 29 September
• Friday 24 November – FINAL

These shows are unique and incredible and regularly sell out so do get your tickets quickly! In the meantime, Genius has Taunton Comedy Club at CICCIC on 17 December – some tickets still available so grab yourself some Christmas chuckles?!

A sell out audience, some wonderful regular guests but also a large number of newbies too. It was also an awesome night for our fabulous sponsors. Representatives from Berrys Coaches, Walpole Dunn Accountants and Sheppys Cider too. Plus our gorgeous Sally from Design Bean who also helps with the scoring and judging, along with our lovely Ges. Dream Team. Trish and Tim O’Connor ran the night and kept the acts to the schedule.

We had 9 Acts at this heat. First up was Richard Jay, Richard has taken part in SUFC a couple of times before. Very funny, old-school material. Charming and popular. Next up was Troy Orchard, a young Bristolian told a fab joke about his Jamaican/Irish roots!

Chris Yates jumped on the stage, dressed in black…. ginger hair and introduced himself as an influencer on the dark web! Very clever material and he held the audience in the palm of his hand and delivered some killer jokes in a fab style!

Keefy was next up. Very good material including jokes about a Rugby Team Morris Dancing as the UK version of the Haka! Followed by a very naughty joke about Peppa Pig.

Ridwan Hussain took to the stage. He had travelled all the way from London on the train. Some confident material and one to watch in the future.

We had a beer break and time for the audience to rest their chuckle muscles and fill up their glasses. The CICCIC bar staff are wonderful. This venue is the home of Taunton Comedy Club too…. The original and BEST!

First up after the break was Kris Davies from Swansea. Kris has taken part before and I really noticed the improvement since last time. Very assured presence and great jokes. Including one about Thrombotic Piles that made me spit my drink out!

Next up was Jacqui Doherty. She is a TV extra and has popped up in lots of telly shows. Lovely joke telling style and some great material.

Jacqui was followed by Mo Clarke – this was only her 10^th time on stage! She ought to keep going and keep learning and gigging. It takes enormous courage to do stand up comedy.

Finally, our 9^th act took to the stage. Phil Wathern, very tall and cuddly! At the beginning he did an awkward joke by staring for an uncomfortable amount of time into the eyes of a lady on the front row! Luckily, she has a fantastic sense of humour and was without doubt our best laugher of the whole night! She also happens to be one of my best friends and she got tickets for 4 and didn’t tell me she was coming. Back to Phil….he talked about being an unhealthy person and I wish I could remember the joke about a kebab and a fox! Hopefully he will repeat this joke when he appears in the Final on 25^th November.

My Sally and Ges gathered in the audience score sheets and Tim and I counted up the scores. While we were counting the club was treated to an outstanding performance by our headline act Ricky Balshaw. Ricky is an ex-para-Olympian and has cerebral palsy. He made a big deal of the steps up to the stage and had a funny dig at me for making it difficult for him! Cheeky! His self-deprecating material is some of the best jokes I have ever heard. I have booked Ricky at several gigs over the last few months across Somerset. Even though I have heard some of the material before I look forward to hearing it again. He has added and improved everything. Every audience have loved Ricky as much as I do. This night he had them on the edge of their seats with anticipation of what was coming next. I love to watch the audience laugh and react to Ricky the way I do. A whole room of smiling faces and massive laughs! Ricky travels all across the UK to get stage time. We will be seeing much more of him on future Genius stages. If you see his name on any comedy posters, get tickets, you can thank me after!

David brought the night to a close in his usual, charming, funny way! We love David and are delighted to say we have managed to contract him to do all the Stand Up For Cider shows in 2023! We will be announcing the dates soon.

The next Taunton Comedy Club is on 3 September at CICCIC – Grab your tickets quick! Then the next heat of SUFC 2022 is on 30 September. See you then!

So, 27 July was our first heat of Stand Up For Cider for 2021.

It felt amazing to be back at our spiritual home CICCIC – The Creative Innovation Centre in Paul Street, Taunton. The chaps at CICCIC have invested in some awesome new technical and stage equipment.

The stage was all set up before the audience and competitors arrived. Our new pop-up banner, designed by Sally from Design Bean took pride of place on the stage. Proudly shouting out the names of our fabulous sponsors!

Berrys Coaches                

Walpole Dunn Accountants        

CICCIC                                  

Design Bean

ToneFM

Harry’s Cider

The room was buzzing and full of happy, smiling people. After such a long time away from the shows this feeling was immeasurable.

First to take the stage was our resident MC David Arnold. He was as brilliant as always and like the last year hadn’t even happened! I had a feeling it was going to be a fab show and it really was!

George Willoughby

Greg Winfield

Jaleelah Galbraith

Mark Dennett

4 very different styles! George had some good material, it is always really hard to be the first on stage, I liked some of his silly jokes! Greg was like a mustard whirlwind! Fast paced and a bit filthy, had the audience in stitches. Jaleelah had some great material and was certainly not shy, powerful delivery. Last in the first half was a stalwart of SUFC, Mark Dennett, I have had the pleasure of watching Mark develop over the last few years. Very polished and with superb delivery.

We then had an interval to get more drinks, go to the loo, have a chat etc. The bar is quick and efficient and very well priced!

The second half kicked off with David walking back on stage dressed as a Deliveroo Driver! His lockdown home delivery jokes were hilarious! I loved it and so did the audience….

David Arnold

Our second group of contestants were Jake Banford – Brendan Common – Lucy Orchard and Matt Macaulay.

Jake Banford

Brendan Common

Lucy Orchard

Matt Macauley

All 4 were very different again! Jake is fairly new on the scene. He specialised in one-liners and linking back to a catchphrase between them. Next up was Brenan Common, a tall, goth like fella with a very strong stage presence. Clever, funny and original, very popular with the audience. Then Lucy Orchard leapt onto the stage, a beautiful, glitterball of a woman! Turns out she is a HGV driver in her day job! Unique material and went down very well. Last up was Matt Macaulay, described by one of the audience in their notes as a sexy teacher! Good fun and some good material.

We then gathered in all the audience’s voting slips. They always choose the winner and runner up acts who will go through to the final on 10 December. Tickets are already selling fast for the final and in fact for all the heats so if you want to go, please buy your tickets quickly as numbers are limited.

Suzy Bennett

While Tim and I were counting up the scores our headliner Suzy Bennett took to the stage! We love Suzy! A local lass from Plymouth who has some incredible material and always coming up with new, topical stuff. Everyone loves Suzy! You can look forward to seeing Suzy on lots more Genius stages across Somerset!

Now, drum roll please…….

WINNER – Mark Dennett

Runner Up – Greg Winfield

Wild Card – Brendan Connor

Our next heat is Friday 27 August at CICCIC – Grab tickets quickly as it will undoubtably sell out! Tickets HERE

ALSO – BIG News!! Our first Taunton Comedy Club bi-monthly shows starts at CICCIC on Friday 24 September! A stonkingly amazing Line-Up and I will be marketing it over the next few weeks. Thank you to all who support live entertainment. Please continue to buy tickets and turn up for big laughs! We really do appreciate it!