Comedy club turns to crowdfunding to build a new space

A London open mic club has launched an ambitious project to set up a purpose-built comedy venue – using crowdfunding.

The We Are Funny Project is about to lose its main venue, so has turned to comedy fans in a bid to raise £90,000 to build a new one.

Promoter Alfie Noakes says he wants to set up 'a genuine comedy hub; not a pub basement or a nomadic weekly theme night, but a comedy mainstay'.

And he says he wants to run workshops and a podcast studio out of the venue to get full use of the space – as well as offering a bar and coffee shop during the day.

He said: 'We wish to create a space where we are set up for podcast recording and streaming. We hope to be fully wired for sound and vision in order to deliver comedy content across any platform.

'I have brought some TV show production value to the open mic comedy scene. One way in which we have achieved this is by creating/producing a number of comedy formats, which forces the stand-ups to generate new material and deliver the freshest comedy shows in town.'

These include 'Hecklers' where the audience is invited to abuse the acts, 'Swapsies' in which two comedians write sets for each other, and cross-dressing character comedy night 'Sexes'.

These free nights have been running at the Dirty Dick's pub near Liverpool Street Station for five years, but the We Are Funny Project has now been told they can no longer continue there, although a second venue in Putney is unaffected.

Noakes, who has been a professional promoter for two years, is seeking the money for advance rent and deposit on a venue that could accommodate around 150 seats - plus installing lights, sound, cameras, computers and networking, a kitchen and bar as well as advertising the venue and professional fees.

So far £6,000 has been raised – primarily from four donors who have contributed £1,000 each. And the crowdfunding model is such that the project will receive all pledged funds even if it doesn't hit the £90,000 target by the deadline – 34 days away.

And if they raise more, Noakes said: 'Then we would hope to have a second, smaller room' in the venue.

Although the We Are Funny Project is primarily a new act platform, it also books established headliners and runs an Edinburgh preview season.

The Indiegogo fundraising page is here.

Published: 4 Jun 2015