Interview: Andrew Parsonage

Andrew Parsonage hosts Stood Up, a weekly show on Bristol Community FM featuring Bristol comedy news and interviews with both local acts and gig nights, and national talent passing through town. 

Tell us about the show: what’s the format and who is it aimed at?
Stood Up covers the city’s comedy scene live every Wednesday night on Bristol Community FM. We’re the only local radio show to offer writers, promoters and performers a platform to do their thing, plug gigs and take their chances with the BCfm drinks vending machine. We also regularly have touring comedians on the phone ahead of their Bristol gigs, and we wrap up the week’s listings.
Stood Up is a relaxed show – there’s an open agenda with a playlist as eclectic as the guests – and we’re here for those involved in comedy, the paying punters and anyone wanting an entertaining hour of midweek radio. 

How did you come to be doing the show?
Comedy and radio were destined to be part of my life from the moment Dad had The Grumbleweeds on every Sunday lunchtime back in the early 80s. Bristol Community FM came along in 2009 and, as life and work changed profoundly in the years to follow, radio offered the one constant with BCfm feeling like an extended family. The station covers just about every aspect of Bristol life, but the city’s comedy community didn’t have a profile. And so Stood Up came to be in autumn 2014 – and by some miracle is still going.

Any memorable on-air moments to date?
As all our guests have behaved themselves (so far), Stood Up hasn’t been taken off air yet – maybe that’s where we’re going wrong. I’ve had comedians phone the show live from the Edinburgh Fringe, their overseas holiday or simply the middle of nowhere, and occasionally chatted with some famous names (one of the great things about radio is that interview requests rarely get turned down). This year’s undoubted highlight was back in January when I found myself in the depths of Colston Hall interviewing Bernie Clifton (minus ostrich) while he ate a club sandwich – a particularly surreal moment. 

Tell us about some forthcoming guests…
January to March promises to be busy. We have a great relationship with the Slapstick Festival, so we look forward to the forthcoming instalment and a chance to interview some comedy legends. Bristol comic Stuart Goldsmith will also look in to talk about his new touring show, and BCfm celebrates its tenth birthday so I’m looking into a comedy spin-off. We’re aiming high in 2017… 

From your viewpoint, how does Bristol’s comedy scene look?
Healthy, I’d say. There’s a wide choice of quality gigs at an equally diverse set of venues, some charging less than a pint to see what could be the next big act. The fact that Bristol can sustain this range suggests an appetite to match, and promoters appear able to avoid diary clashes between gigs as far as possible. Bristol also performed strongly at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, with acts like Fin Taylor now achieving national recognition. I know, though, that comedy is still a tough business – and, like any business there are only so many customers to go round. If and when Bristol reaches saturation point, the comedy nights to stay the course will offer a winning combination of uniqueness, a good venue and consistently attracting – or cultivating – the best talent. For now, anyway, this feels like a golden period for Bristol comedy.

Listen to Stood Up every Wednesday night, 8-9pm on BCfm, 93.2fm or at bcfmradio.com