The Comedy Hole: English Standup in Europe – Details, episodes & analysis

Syrian comedian Badr Laffar (@badr.comedy) joins Ariel (@ariel.bialski) and Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) to discuss truth in standup. How much of a standup story has to be true, if any? Can you lie about surviving 9/11 if it gets laughs? Does it matter that Bo Burnham was living with his girlfriend and dog while filming Inside? Does Ariel have diarrhea? The gang tackles these questions and many others in this titillating new episode. 

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland. The Comedy Hole hosts standup open mics on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Warsaw, and we also produce standup shows in English all over Europe.

In addition to standup, Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) DJs every week in Warsaw. Follow his instagram to find out about the next show.

Jordan is touring all over Poland and Europe forever. Upcoming shows include Warsaw, Ghent, Amsterdam, Krakow, Gdańsk, Lublin, Odense, Copenhagen, Aarhus, Dublin, Białystok, Łódź, Toruń, Zielona Góra, Szczecin, Wrocław, and more. Get tickets here: https://linktr.ee/jordanthomasgray

Ciao! This week Beatrice (@beatricerossano) joins Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) and Ariel (@arielbialski) to complain about standup being so very hard. 

Everyone thinks their job is the hardest job in the world and almost no one is right about that. But why is stand-up comedy in particular considered to be one of the most notoriously difficult pursuits to engage in? Is standup harder than basketball? Can you master standup comedy just by doing open mics? Why don't top-level standup comedians teach standup? Is writing harder than performing? Could Louis CK beat Chris Rock in a fist fight? Do you have to be delusional to be a standup comedian? How does the Dunning-Kruger psychological phenomenon relate to standup? We meander around these questions and many more!

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland. The Comedy Hole hosts standup open mics on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Warsaw, and we also produce standup shows in English all over Europe.

In addition to standup, Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) DJs every week in Warsaw. Follow his instagram to find out about the next show.

Jordan is touring all over Poland and Europe forever. Upcoming shows include Warsaw, Ghent, Amsterdam, Krakow, Gdańsk, Lublin, Odense, Copenhagen, Aarhus, Dublin, Białystok, Łódź, Toruń, Zielona Góra, Szczecin, Wrocław, and more. Get tickets here: https://linktr.ee/jordanthomasgray

Beatrice (@beatricerossano) is back from her tour! This week Bea, Jordan (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel (@arielbialski) are joined by Polish comedian and cringe powerhouse Kamil Maleszyk (@kamil.maleszyk) to talk about style, stage presence, and making the audience uncomfortable as a standup tactic. 

Kamil hosts and participates in shows all over Warsaw and the rest of Poland, so give him a follow on the ol' instagram to catch him on stage! 

https://instagram.com/kamil.maleszyk

ANNOUNCEMENT: Starting March 22, Wednesday 8PM Comedy Hole open mics will be held at Gatsby Warsaw in Elektrownia Powisle. March 15th will be the last open mic at Klar until outdoor shows resume in the Spring. Thanks Klar for an amazing year! We're excited to move out of the hole into a larger space, but we'll always have those hole memories! 

Beatrice will now be hosting monthly standup & Burlesque shows at Rakieta. Keep track of The Comedy Hole's instagram (@thecomedyhole) or Linktree to see when the next show is! https://linktr.ee/thecomedyhole

Jordan is touring all over Poland and Europe forever. Get tickets here: https://linktr.ee/jordanthomasgray

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland.

Ciao! Take off your shirts and get ready to shout "Where ya from?!" at the unsuspecting Polish children in the front row. Comedy virtuoso Andrzej "Andy" Sosnowski (@comedyandy) joins Jordan (@jordanthomasgray) and Ariel (@arielbialski) to discuss the art, science, and spectacle of CROWD WORK in standup.

Here are some topics the gang covers:

• How to take your first steps into crowd work and audience interaction
• How to ask interesting crowd work questions
• How to deal with the rare and dangerous "poison pill" - an audience member who wants to ruin the show
• What kind of crowd work to do if you're bombing
• Crowd work while hosting an open mic
• How to tell a story using crowd work over the course of a show
• Mind Maps and Logic Trees vs JUST LISTENING
• Asking "Why" questions instead of "What" questions
• Are "hack" crowd work questions ok?
• Where ya from?

Beatrice (@beatricerossano) has finished her Europe tour with Jimmy Pepperoni and will be back soon!

Find out more about Andy Sosnowski here:
https://linktr.ee/comedyandy

Jordan is touring all over Portugal, Spain, and The Netherlands in the next 60 days. Get tickets here: https://linktr.ee/jordanthomasgray

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland.

Put on your boxing gloves and square up for a tempestuously turbulent episode of The Comedy Hole Podcast! This week, Warsaw comedy veteran, crowd favorite, and all-around very funny guy Gaweł Feliga (@gawelf) joins Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) and Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray) for a discussion about comedy, comedy, comedy, and...some other stuff. Jordan is writing this description and he wasn't listening during the recording, so he doesn't really know what was discussed. 

Stick around until the end for some JUICY interpersonal drama between Jordan and Ariel. Will The Comedy Hole Podcast collapse into chaos without Beatrice (@beatricerossano)? Will Jordan and Ariel get married? Will Gaweł go back in time to hand Martin Luther King Jr. a Pepsi? Only one way to find out!

Gaweł has performed standup comedy for longer than he'd care to admit in both English and Polish. You might know Gaweł from Comedy Central Poland, or maybe from his hit podcasts "Did You Get That?" and "Nagrałeś to?!"

Here are some things the gang discusses:

• Gaweł comments on Jordan and Ariel's masculine physiques
• Who are Laurel & Hardy?
• ADHD & Polish sausages
• #methree
• Ariel gets angry
• Which mental disability does Jordan have?
• What's it like to bomb in two languages?
• Why doesn't Jordan ever listen and doesn't Jordan appreciate how much time it takes for Ariel to edit this podcast?
• What's it like to perform on Comedy Central Poland?
• Do comics need a union?
• How to negotiate absurd venue fees when booking solo shows (just use a free venue)
• Ariel gets even angrier
• Gaweł's pet peeves at open mics
• How has standup in Poland changed over the last 10 years?
• Ariel gets angrier than ever and cures racism!
• Gaweł talks about his first English open mic experience in Seattle
• Should comedians ever pay to perform at open mics?
• Is capitalism bad?
• A shocking resolution that ties the whole episode together!

Listen to Gaweł's podcast "Did You Get That?" (in English) here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/did-you-get-that/id1591294683

Gaweł's podcast "Nagrałeś to?!" (in Polish) is here:

https://www.nagralesto.pl/

Watch some of Gaweł's standup here:

https://www.youtube.com/@GaweF

Find out more about Laurel and Hardy here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_and_Hardy

Jordan is touring all over Portugal, Spain, and The Netherlands in the next 60 days. Get tickets here: https://linktr.ee/jordanthomasgray

Beatrice is also touring all over Europe with Jimmy Pepperoni (@filippospreafico)! Find tickets here: https://linktr.ee/thecomedyhole

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland.

"Patrice O'Neal said it's good to have half the room uncomfortable and the other half laughing. And I kind of agree, but mostly I get the entire room uncomfortable." - Rana

Warsaw's most talented female Muslim comedian that performs in English, the mysterious ray of sunshine Rana (@ranaa_brg), joins Ariel (@arielbialski), Jordan (@jordanthomasgray), and the newly built Beatrice substitute Robo Bea Bot (@beatricerossano) for a deep discussion about dark comedy. The gang covers topics such as:

• How to deal with hecklers in your first-ever standup set
• The difficulty of being a female comedian in a male-dominated field
• The folly and joy of intentionally making an audience uncomfortable
• Can you reliably do dark material in Poland?
• In terms of speech, has culture become more restrictive or less restrictive in the past few years?
• Why does Jordan hate Alabama?
• Ariel loves cold calling people to sell them cell phones through emasculation
• Jordan explains what the alphabet is
• Are jobs worth it?
• Do groans make you feel powerful?
• The gangs discuss Open Mic Pet Peeves
• Ariel does his first standup set in Polish and it goes amazingly!
• Learning English and setup-punchline structure from the Simpsons
• Doing bits for yourself
• Rana reveals her screenplay idea for an Arabic coming of age vampire movie

The Christopher Walken Googly Eyes SNL sketch that Jordan's mom used to do without explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc7qJE9Nzo8

Jordan is touring all over Portugal, Spain, and The Netherlands in the next 60 days. Get tickets here: https://linktr.ee/jordanthomasgray

Beatrice is also touring all over Europe with Jimmy Pepperoni! Find tickets here: https://linktr.ee/thecomedyhole

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland.

"Don't f*** with the universe...No matter how good you are, standup has a way of tuning down your ego to exactly where it needs to be." - Filip Brymora

Ciao guys! This week, the insightful Polish standup comedian Filip Brymora (@filipbrymora) joins Jordan & Ariel to get metaphysical and talk about flow states in comedy, opening in arenas for the most famous comedian in Poland, radical acceptance, and the process of filming a standup special.

Filip has been featured on Comedy Central and routinely shares the stage with the biggest names in Polish comedy such as Rafał Pacześ, Peter Szumowski, Cezary Jurkiewicz, and Janek Pierogi. He also has a master's degree in European Law and a killer joke about mosquitos.

See Filip's brand new Polish standup special "Happy" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlWH8059Q2s

Listen to Filip's podcast "Macie Czasami Tak?" here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1874751

Beatrice is in Italy for the next few weeks, but she loves you and she'll be back soon!

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland.

Ho ho ho! On this episode of the Comedy Hole, Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano) regales the gang with her tale of traveling to London to see UK standup and improv, then the gang waxes philosophical on city siloing in standup, whether standup is like martial arts, and Bea and Jordan's first show abroad in Lisbon.

Other topics discussed:

• Are there any good YouTube standup tutorials?
• Ariel's Toronto Donald Krumpers story
• The role of confidence in standup
• Should you ever laugh on stage?
• Are electric wine openers hot?
• Why does Bea hate QR codes?
• Jordan rambles about crowd work
• The gang does some ill-advised improv
• A heartfelt moment from Beatrice, who will be touring until February 2023
• The gang heads off to go to the Holiday Market in Warsaw

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland.

Beatrice, Ariel, and a very tired Jordan get together to discuss touring! Jordan is fresh off his 7-city "Why Poland?!" tour and the gang discusses all that goes into setting up, marketing, and executing on a profitable solo standup comedy tour. We also have a special guest named Charlie at the top of the show, but don't worry he doesn't stick around for long!

BIG NEWS: The Comedy Hole will be performing at the Brighton Fringe Festival on May 28-31 2023!

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland.

To discuss setting up your own tour, contact Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano).

"Everything can be joked about. But with this war, you can't be in the middle in terms of the side you pick. And you have to be very clear about the side you are on."

Ukrainian comedian Elin Davydova (@elinwrites) has lived all over the world and speaks 6 languages including Chinese, Japanese, Ukrainian, and Russian (bleh). She joins The Comedy Hole gang to first tell a very disturbing story about being drugged by a gang in China, but then we start discussing comedy eventually! Stick around for the last 20 minutes where the gang discusses how to handle difficult topics in comedy like the war in Ukraine, racism, and anti-semitism.

"The first comedy show I went to, the host made me so angry, he embarrassed me...and I knew immediately that I wanted to make other people feel this way." - Elin Davydova

Some topics we cover:

● Is turtle soup delicious?

● Is Jordan bragging?

● Is your first comedy gig always better than your first s3xual experience?

● Elin's first-ever jokes about therapy.

● The role of mentors in comedy.

● The gang talks about the jokes that they kept from their first-ever sets.

● Do you have to be sad to be funny? (You don't)

● Is Beatrice's comedy about "funny little stupid things"?

● Is Jordan an @sshole?

● The worst show of Elin's life was in front of 20 Japanese women and her Tinder date.

● The trauma of growing up as an ethnically Armenian person in post-Soviet Ukraine.

● Going from being bullied to being on billboards thanks to the power of puberty.

● Can comedians joke about Ukraine? And if so, how?

● Beatrice would like to make it very clear that she is not fat.

● Jordan recounts the worst bomb he's ever seen in Warsaw.

● Elin talks about her own personal Brexit.

"Everyone has to admit that life is not honey. It's not sweet. It's just terrible. And you just have to live through life being terrible. Do not go to therapy." - Elin Davydova

"Hey look! A dog." - Beatrice Rossano

The Comedy Hole (@thecomedyhole) is run by Beatrice Rossano (@beatricerossano), Jordan Thomas Gray (@jordanthomasgray), and Ariel Bialski (@arielbialski) - three standup comedians and comedy show hosts based in Warsaw, Poland.