Playing it for laughs in Inverness as the Chieftain Comedy Club goes from strength to strength
Inverness’s newest comedy club has gone from strength to strength since its formation earlier this year.
Chieftain Comedy Club, which was started following the demise of a previous club in the Highland capital, has had a number of gigs arranged in recent months.
Chairman Gary Campbell, who has been performing as comedian Gary Aye since 2018 and is 57, says: “The purpose of the club is to promote comedic talent across the Highlands and Islands, including those who want to write as opposed to perform on stage.
“There is a rich history of people who have come through the Inverness comedy club scene not only going on to perform across the UK but in continental Europe as well.
“The club has gone from strength to strength attracting talent from as far away as Aberdeen and even audience members from Canada.”
A gig last Thursday featured four main comedians – Inverness-based club committee member “Shogun” Joe Sweeney who introduced the acts, Nick “Mumbles” Trumble, The Mad Old Punk and Matthew Black – and Mr Campbell says they were all well-established performers.
He adds: “‘Shogun’ Joe Sweeney is about to undertake a three-week run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and hosted by Hazel Urquhart, a veteran of the Scottish comedy scene and founder member of the club.”
‘The Mad Old Punk’ is a comedy writer, performer and singer based in Sutherland and Nick ‘Mumbles’ Trumble both performed at Belladrum on Saturday (July 30) and are heading for the fringe.
Mr Campbell says: “Matthew Black is a new comedian on the scene, all the way from Invergordon, made his club debut and there were two other new debut acts who tried out their first ever five minute slots.”
And he says things changed from month to month and adds: “We’ve had Aberdeen comedian Joe Gilhooly perform twice and a stalwart is Inverness-based ‘The Taxi Man Donnie Shovlin’ but it’s really about getting people to come along, see what it’s like in a non-critical environment and encouraging them from there.
“It’s better than we could have hoped for – to attract people from across the country to perform and to have our own guys go on to appear at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe is really encouraging.”
He says the recent appearances at Belladrum gave the performers a chance to enjoy some larger audiences. “At the end of the day it’s exposure to a potential audience of thousands of people,” he says. “As with everything in the creative industries, it’s about getting yourself out there and performing to as many people as possible – you never know who might be in the audience.
“While we’re kindly hosted by the Chieftain Hotel in Inverness, we’re here for the Highlands and Islands.”
• The club meets once a month and for more details visit the Chieftain Comedy Club Facebook page.
