Frustrations flare at Chortle conference

Tensions flared at the Chortle conference when rival comedy club owners challenged Jongleurs boss Marios Lourides over his business practices.

Comedy Cafe owner Noel Faulkner and the Comedy Store's Don Ward were particularly scathing about their competitor, accusing him of being a money man who 'knew nothing about comedy'.

And the accountant was mocked for having to look up the capacities of his venues, claiming it showed the size of the Jongleurs empire meant he couldn't be a hands-on promoter.

Faulkner said that the stag-and-hen parties that had were the chain's bread and butter had 'ruined comedy'; and that he had banned corporate and pre-wedding groups from his venue.

However, the decision has cost him. The Comedy Cafe recently converted its main room into a nightclub, which subsidises the stand-up now held in a smaller venue upstairs.

In contrast, Jongleurs has plans to expand its network of 16 club nights even further by the end of the year.

Lourides – a founding partner of accountancy firm Sears Morgan – insisted he 'loved comedy' and had invested heavily in Jongleurs to stop it going under after problems such as the collapse of Momo Leisure, which operated several Jongleurs clubs under licence.

The issue of money the company still owes to its comedians also proved a flashpoint, after James Woreniecki from the 99 Club raised the issue.

Lourides said that the backlog was now just £60,000 – from an annual budget spent on comedians' wages of more than £2million. Although the total figure seems small in comparison, Lourides said it was a balancing act with the companies' other creditors to keep the chain in operation.

But Faulkner said that Lourides didn't understand the financial hardships the comics were under, citing it as another example of him being out of touch with the circuit.

The panel was divided over the issue as to whether the club circuit was in trouble, with Ward saying early summer was always a difficult time, but was confident things would pick up; while others including Faulkner and Downstairs At The King's Head promoter Peter Grahame a little less optimistic.

Elsewhere during the day:

• Alexei Sayle paid tribute to fellow founding father of the alternative comedy scene, Rik Mayall

• David Baddiel was astonished to hear how difficult it was to get paid slots at comedy clubs now, compared to when he was starting out. When he said it took him a year to get his first paid Comedy Store gig, the audience laughed with incredulity.

• Comics and writers pitched their ideas to a panel of TV and radio commissioners, getting instant feedback on the flaws and strong points of their ideas.

• Edinburgh best newcomer John Kearns told delegates they were 'idiots' if they went into comedy for money, revealing he earned just a few hundred pounds from comedy last month, but was still delighted he was able to give up his day job to be a comic. And on the same panel Tony Law was heckled by his wife for giving contradictory statements – saying that it was a bad idea to play clubs as they compromised the art; but also conceding that they tightened up delivery and made him a sharper act.

• Further panels discussed the ins and outs of Edinburgh; the pros and cons of staging your own tour as a comedian; and the nuts and bolts of sponsorship.

Published: 16 Jun 2014