Chortle's Opinions section is an arena for fans to share their views on any aspect of comedy.
We invite general comment pieces about particular aspects of the comedy scene (although reviews of individual shows or performers tend not to be suited to this section except in very rare circumstances). Contributions should be at least 500 words in length, in a similar tone to something you might read in a broadsheet newspaper, and emailed to steve@chortle.co.uk
We reserve the right to edit pieces – although we will be careful not to change the meaning of anything – or not to use them at all. By submitting an article you grant Chortle indefinite licence to use it freely; though you retain the copyright on it to use it elsewhere.
Emma Sullivan celebrates the lo-fi
27/04/2020 … A huge amount of comic material is being produced in response to the pandemic and far from being professionally produced, much of it is emerging directly from the…
Old-school comic Jeff Stevenson tells how he joined the alternative circuit
14/04/2020 … In the 1990s, Jeff Stevenson was a journeyman ‘old school’ comedian, performing on cruise ships, doing TV-warm-ups, panto, and the occasional bit of…
Jemma Bennett explains why she is such a fan of Chris and Rosie Ramsey’s podcast
01/03/2020 … Chris and Rosie Ramsey are to break a world record for the world's biggest live podcast audience – and I’m not surprised.
Toni Kent on translating her material for the deaf
15/01/2020 … As a 15-year-old hell-bent on oblivion, I spent a lot of time with my good friend Laura.
By Venezuelan stand-up Ivan Aristeguieta, currently performing at the Soho Theatre in London
07/01/2020 … If you ask me about what I watch online in terms of comedy my answer will be: Patton Oswalt, Mike Birbiglia, Sarah Silverman and Jerry Seinfeld.
But John Beuhler says he's finally rediscovered the joy
12/12/2019 … The first laugh I ever got was at age three, and we were sitting around the campfire.
Dave Cohen tries to answer a simple question
31/10/2019 … What is a joke? Considering this is key to comedy, there are remarkably few attempts to answer this question.
© Ricardo Liberato/CC BY-SA 2.0 25/10/2019 … How do you like the following joke from Sumeria in about 1900BC? "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her…
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