BATH INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL LIMITED - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Associate Director, Live Streaming & Videography

Adrian has a very colourful, (and some may say chequered!) history. He's had many years of experience putting on shows, having started lighting school productions at the age of 11. He's an ex-street performer, has stage managed shows at Edinburgh Festival, booked bands for West Holts back stage bar at Glastonbury Festival and currently manages a local Facebook Group with over 2,600 members. From 2000 to 2004, Adrian ran the legendary Fez Comedy Club in Bath, and exported the club into Europe with monthly shows in Prague, Warsaw and Budapest. It was here that he discovered Russell Howard, giving him his first paid work, employing him as The Fez's regular compere and sending him on tour with the likes of Phil Kay. Adrian also has 40 years experience behind the camera, developing at home his black and white medium format films shot through his rather heavy Mamiya RB67 camera. Adrian recently started LiveStreamTeam.net, which live-streamed Bath Comedy Club shows during the Covid years, and produces top quality videos of comedy performances.

Job Titles:

• Co - Organiser, Bath Plug Award

Jem is co-creator of the Bath Plug Award, and is an author and historian with an encyclopedic knowledge of comedy. Born in Ludlow in 1978, Jem first earned money as a writer at the age of 13, reviewing NES games out of five Christmas puddings for N-Force magazine. After graduating from Aberystwyth University in 2000 with a BA in English Lit, Film & TV, Jem began performing comedy professionally from Edinburgh to Brighton and back, while editing games, kids and film magazines in the daytime. All these pursuits came together when Barry Cryer suggested he expand articles written for comedy fanzine Kettering into the full first ever I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Bible, which was published by Preface in 2009. Given carte blanche to decide his next title, The True History of The Black Adder followed in 2012, and in 2014 Jem became of the official biographer of Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide, when the Adams estate invited him to write his third book, The Frood. Jem lives in Bath, hopes to write a fourth work of comedy non-fiction as well as as a huge collection of British folktales, still performs comedy when he can't not perform comedy (both solo and with his troupe The Unrelated Family), and occasionally has the honour of interviewing comedy royalty on stage.

Job Titles:

• Director - Bath Comedy Festival, Bath Comedy Clubs
• Festival Director

Nick took over the fledgling Festival as Director in 2010 having been involved in the organisation booking the comedy acts since it began. Nick also runs other comedy events throughout the year, including regular Bath Comedy Club shows in different venues, various tour shows and one-off productions, and tour manages US comedian Doug Stanhope's UK dates. Outside Bath Comedy, Nick wears a few different hats - he runs his own Web and Systems company, Xerophon, and has had several other entertainment roles not least as co-organiser of the now legendary big Widcombe Rising street parties, and the associated fund-raising Bonbon Cabarets. Nick has also played Hammond Organ, Mellotron and other vintage keyboards in a Prog Rock band, and DJs with wind-up gramophones as The Wind-Up Merchant. He is proud of his local area - he was instrumental in designing the new Widcombe Social Club venue, ran many shows there and was licensee for a number of years when it was open regularly. He is usually involved in local happenings, including organising Widcombe's Christmas Trees for 20 years. Nick also books top class bands for his local pub The Ram in Widcombe, and can often be found serving behind the bar too! Festival Director Nick Steel says "it's great to have Adie as my 'right hand man' - it's rare that one finds such a sensible, competant and knowledgeable A-team member!" Festival Director Nick Steel says: "It's been a tough time since the pandemic, but I'm immensely proud of the Festival's resilience - we managed to present 65 shows in 2020 when most other events were unable to run, produced a two week 'Permission To Laugh' festival in 2021 and two full springtime festivals in 2022 and '23, as well as continuing our year-round programme of Bath Comedy Club and other shows, Edinburgh previews, creating new venues and supporting new talent.