#SNAPCHATZ Episode 14: An eclectic ensemble

I’m Steve Lee, massive comedy fan turned performer and creator of the comedy character Mad Ron performing Mad Ron: Crime School. In these uncertain economic times, why not take matters into your own hands and turn to a life of crime? At Mad Ron’s Crime School, you’ll learn all the tricks of the trade of a not-so-honest day’s work. This show was nominated for ‘Leicester Comedy Festival Best Show 2023’.

I like to think my comedy is different but still accessible to all age groups. A sprinkle of the surreal with real life opinions and lots and lots of jokes.

I’ve definitely got a fantasy front row, Daniel Kitson, Stewart Lee, Angela Barnes, Gary Delaney, Marcus Rashford, Bridget Christie, Josie Long, Terry Hall from the Specials, Steve Coogan, Bob Mortimer, Simon Munnery and my mate John.

I’m Charlie Vero-Martin and Picnic is a fun, funny, joyful one-woman sketch show full of surreal characters, puppets and stories with some pretty dark twists and turns.

Well, I doubt many other shows let you ask for advice from a sentient picnic basket… I’m also actually from Edinburgh! I was born and bred in Leith and when I’m not being a German marine biologist or a boring spy called Neville Nevilleson, I’m talking about growing up in Scotland and panicking about the world ending. 

I’d like Cookie Monster, Gene Wilder and Kathy Burke in the front row please. The room is full of people of all ages who maybe have a love/hate relationship with cryptic crosswords; are concerned about the environment; are fans of Inside No.9; know that A Muppets Christmas Carol and Treasure Island are the best literary adaptations of all time; like their humour a wee bit dark and very silly but most importantly, love to laugh and be curious about the world. 

Hey! My name is Sid Singh and I’m a stand up comedian and comedy writer performing since 2009! My show this year is called Table For One. It’s all about how to turn your desire to help into action! I’m a product of the 90s when kids were told they could change the world and fight to make it a better place. In 2023, it sure feels like that was a bunch of nonsense. My show is about finding out how to break past the cynicism and move towards hope! It can certainly feel tough sometimes. After two straight shows of raising money for amazing human rights organisations that used them to make a tangible difference, I’m trying to figure out how to keep going, where I should keep going, and why I should keep going. I want to take the audience on that journey as well without ever forgetting that we should keep fighting the good fight! 

So although my full time job is comedy, I volunteer as a human rights lawyer! So the biggest difference between me and the other shows is that I use the money donated at my shows to further causes that I believe in myself. In previous years that has meant donating to legal aid organisations like the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies. These orgs have then gone on to take the US government all the way up to the Supreme Court where they have won as either major participants or as amicus brief writers. The key however, is that the shows are also funny. I want my audiences to feel like they’ve found a way to fight back without feeling like they’re being lectured to. The show is a fun hangout with real consequences. Why wouldn’t you want to join?

I want a house full of people who cynically don’t believe in my show. People who think leftist comedians can’t be funny. People who don’t think we can change the world. People who have lost hope and want to hide. And then I want to prove them wrong.