2nd Row Comedy, “a team of obsessed comics based in London”, runs a variety of events showcasing some of the best up-and-coming talent in the comedy scene, both from the UK and abroad, every week, every month.
1st Row Comedy (monthly) has big TV comedians on stage – next up is Nabil Abdulrashid on 2 Apr at Hoxton Underbelly, 7pm – tickets here (£5).
2nd Row Comedy (Tuesdays) has a different line-up of comedians (new acts/material) at each Tuesday night show. Next on 31 Mar at Piehole, Shoreditch. Free tickets here.
Luke Ditchfield tells us more about what’s coming up.
Tell me about 2nd Row Comedy – how did it start, and how has it been received?
I started doing comedy at London open mics in 2024, and fell in love. I just wanted to be more involved, and to surround myself with people that loved it as much as I did. So, 2nd Row Comedy was a space for that. Once a week I get to bring a pile of people together and have fun.
From what I’ve heard, it’s being received well. There’s generally really good energy in the room, and the whispers that get back to me are all positive. That being said, if there is negative feedback, maybe people are just hiding it from me to protect my feelings. And that’s very sweet of them!
You also run comedy nights at Piehole in Shoreditch. How did you get involved with that?
Piehole is the room it all started in! I basically went into every venue within 10min walk of Hoxton station asking for a cellar or an attic that needed filling, and Piehole said yes. They’ve been amazing to us, week in week out.
What’s coming up at April’s showcase?
On April 2 we’ve got the first official 1st Row Comedy. The idea here was to give some of the headliners from 2nd Row a bigger audience, by having them support professional comedians. We did a test run at Gigi’s Underbelly in Hoxton with BBC New Comedian of the Year Eli Hart, and it was fantastic fun.
This time around, we’ve got Nabil Abdulrashid (Live at the Apollo, QI, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and more) headlining, supported by Jordan Brookes (Edinburgh Fringe Main Award Winner) and four more fantastic comics.
On top of that, it’s being run in support of St Mungo’s fight against homelessness. The goal of these nights is to promote the acts rather than turn a profit, so any profit we do manage to turn will be going to causes that we care about.
What would be your ideal line-up?
If we’re talking dream line-up, anything that ends with John Mulaney would be incredible. Or Pete Holmes, who just has this relentless positivity that I can’t get enough of.
But if we’re talking within the realms of 2nd and 1st Row, what I like the most is getting my mates on board and supporting cooler smaller acts. Ania Magliano would be amazing, but that might be a bit harder with her now behind the SNLUK News Desk. Or Sam Campbell, I’ve seen him live a couple times and would love to see him on a 1st Row line-up.
Josh Johnson, Gianmarco Soresi, Catherine Bohart, Horatio Gould, Olga Koch. Honestly there are so many that would be 10/10, it’s hard to pick an ideal group, ya know?
Also John Robertson is absolutely nuts, and a good Aussie fella, so having him MC would be just the cherry on top. But I think that’s a pipe dream, he’s a busy man.
What’s the best thing about the comedy scene right now?
There’s just so much going on. I think I’m a bit too fresh to be having grand opinions about the comedy scene and if it’s better or worse or different to 5 or 10 years ago. But I love it. I’m meeting so many interesting, talented, good people. Couldn’t ask for much more!