Starting with Joe Wells and Wil Hodgson

Independent comedy label Go Faster Stripe is starting to release stand-up specials for free on YouTube.

It has started with Joe Wells’s hour-long show I Am Autistic today and will continue with Wil Hodgson's  Barbicidal Tendencies on Saturday November 4.

And the company promises ‘more shortly after that’.

Go Faster Stripe's Chris Evans said: ‘It’s a shame to work on something so good that's not seen by many people – so this seems like a good way to fix that.

‘We are hoping, of course, that anyone who likes what we are doing might pay it back by joining our club which will make future releases this way sustainable.’

The Go Faster Stripe Club costs £5 a month and gives free access to all future paid-for releases, among other benefits.

Wells recorded his show – which is about identity, neurodiversity, and the pressures of Joe finding social media fame – at The Bill Murray Comedy Club in London

In 2020, the comic’s video about having a non-autistic brother went viral, attracting 4.5 million views, making him something of a an unelected spokesperson for autistic people. The show follows Joe’s attempts to say something useful with his new platform while looking after his own mental health.

It is available here.

Cardiff-based Go Faster Stripe is not the only label to release specials for free on YouTube. 800 Pound Gorilla’s YouTube account hosts specials from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Damien Power, Dane Baptiste and Sean McLoughlin – and this week announced a future release for Jen Brister’s The Optimist.

Published: 27 Oct 2023