Look at some past shows as the Brighton venue turns 25

In exactly one month's time, Brighton's Komedia venue celebrates its 25th birthday.

It began on May 1, 1994 when the directors of a theatre group called Umbrella opened a cabaret bar.

The building they first chose, in the Kemptown area of town, was originally built in 1810 as a billiard hall for Jonathan Kentfield, described as 'a genteel sportsman' who was British champion for 24 years. It was later a music hall, several clubs and is now The Latest theatre.

Komedia's founders – Colin Granger, Marina Kobler, and David Lavender – modelled the venue on the cabaret theatres they had seen while touring in cities such as Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Berlin.

The venue's first season featured the likes of Graham Norton, Al Murray, Mel and Sue and Omid Djalili, while regular cabaret nights were stage by avant-garde theatre company Ridiculusmus and an improv trope that featured Graham Duff, who went on to write Ideal for Johnny Vegas and Hebburn with Jason Cook.

In 1998, Komedia to larger premises in the centre of Brighton, in what was Jubilee Shopping Hall, a former Tesco supermarket, on Gardner Street.

The following year Krater Comedy Club was born after the 'crater like' basement area was transformed into a cabaret space, with Stephen Grant installed as the regular compere of the weekend stand-up nights.

In June 2008 Komedia took over the lease of the Beau Nash Picture House in Bath to open its second venue, which has just gone into community ownership.

In 2012, the Brighton club closed its upstairs space, which was often used by touring comedy and theatre shows, and it became a Picturehouse cinema.

Komedia now also has a management and production arm, which primarily looks after Count Arthur Strong's tours and radio show.

Here we take a look at some of the shows gone by:

From the archives

1994: Mel and Sue – or rather Melanie and Susan as they were billed – present 'the Thinking Woman's Dick Emery Show'

1996: When Andy Parsons had hair!

1997: A fresh-faced Dave Gorman

1997: Matt Lucas is the big draw as his alter-ego Sir Bernard Chumley. David Walliams does show us his chest, though

1999: When Johnny Vegas performed with a potter's wheel

2000: Catherine Tate plays the Krater, but takes second billing to one Phil Davy (where is he now?). See a young Paul Foot here too…

2001: Ross Noble never did have conventional hair…

2003: When it cost as little as £5 to see Alan Carr, winner of the BBC New Act competition two years earlier.

Published: 1 Apr 2019