Best Debut Show, Leicester Comedy Festival 2009 - Nominee

Jim Smallman has been a comedian for nearly 4 years, and in that time has established himself as one of British comedy’s most intriguing young comics. After reaching the final stages of both the Laughing Horse and Leicester Mercury new act competitions, he is now a regular face and voice on local TV and radio around the East Midlands (for both his comedy career and his sporting affiliation with Leicester City). Jim has in recent times become something of a comedy ambassador for all things Leicester, and is a stalwart of the city’s annual comedy festival. His first solo show, ‘The Boy Next Door Gone Wrong’, was nominated for Best Debut Show at the 2009 Leicester Comedy Festival, and Jim will be taking that show to Edinburgh this August.

He’s performed in front of 2,000 people at De Montfort Hall, compered to a sold-out crowd at the Amnesty International ‘Comedy Heaven’ Show, and made the news this year by previewing his solo show in people’s kitchens and living rooms.

"It's obvious that Jim Smallman is a natural-born compere. He has such an easy rapport with the audience and tells his tales with a fluidity and energy that keeps everyone attentive. He could talk the hind legs off a donkey, but you suspect the donkey wouldn't really mind … he's an instinctive storyteller who draws out the humour in every anecdote. On the comedy spectrum, he falls somewhere between Frank Skinner and Dave Gorman … his silver-tongued banter is likely to charm most audiences" Chortle

“the second he focuses, he’s unbeatable … there’s an anger and sarcasm worthy of Jack Dee, Jo Brand, maybe even Bill Hicks. And all the time there’s this sense of impotent outrage, of righteous frustration, that’s up there with Basil Fawlty, the Blackadder dynasty, maybe even vintage Alexei Sayle” 4Laughs

“fluent, slkilful prose aside, compere Jim Smallman is quite simply funny … silly, sarcastic, audience-baiting humour” Hinckley Times

"Anarchic and matey in equal measures, Smallman boasts a masterful rapport with the audience and clearly takes much delight in pushing the comedy boundaries … his manic energy was easily picked up by the punters" Coventry Evening Telegraph

"Jim Smallman also shone … he looked completely at home in this lofty company. A laconic, sarcastic gag machine, he's certainly a comedian to keep an eye on" Lincolnshire Echo

"Jim Smallman is rapidly making a noise on the comedy circuit and for all the right reasons" - Geoff Rowe, Director, Leicester Comedy Festival

“There is something intriguing about him … his outlook is sarcastic and frustrated, which he can focus into a perfect gag. His bad taste Pussycat Dolls is an instant classic” Chortle
 

Live Work

The Boy Next Door Gone Wrong

August 2009 / Edinburgh Fringe

Leicester Comedy Festival 2008, 2009