The Giggle Shack: Runcorn’s newest comedy night

It’s true that us scousers are always up for a laugh, so when we heard about Liverpool’s newest comedy night; The Giggle Shack, we asked the founder, Colin Havey, to tell us more!

Tell us about The Giggle Shack

I set The Giggle Shack Comedy Night up as I wanted to add a decent comedy night to a comedy circuit that had been on a bit of a decline in recent years.

As a performer myself I was frustrated by the lack of opportunities there were to perform, so I thought I’d take a bit more control of my own destiny and put on a show that acts would enjoy as much as the audience.

I started off by putting on one show in a sports club in Helsby just to see how it went.  The night completely sold out and was a roaring success, since that first night it’s grown so much that I now have four venues, including the beautiful Brindley Theatre in Runcorn.  I was lucky enough to book scouse Comedy Legend; Paul Smith, to come and perform on the opening night and we had a sell out crowd of 420 people, which was absolutely amazing.

What got you into comedy?

I’d always loved comedy but, like most working class people, I thought that those kind of jobs weren’t for the likes of me, so never thought I’d ever get a chance to do it.  Then one day, I’d decided I was bored of my life and didn’t fancy the thought of spending all my working life doing something I hated.

So one day, I tweeted Sarah Millican, saying I fancied doing stand up but didn’t know where to start.  To my amazement, she replied with a link to a new act night at a club called The Frog in Bucket.  So I put my name down, tried it, I died on my backside but I knew from that first time on stage that stand up comedy was something I was born to do. 

Where do you get inspiration for your material?

My material just comes from my everyday life; my family, friends, work mates.  Just those everyday things that can happen, the crazy things people say and do.  Things that don’t seem like much at the time, but when you sit down and write it out, takes on a life of its own and becomes a routine or one liner.

How do you deal with Hecklers?

I’m very lucky with my Giggle Shack Nights because I have such lovely audiences.  So, whilst I get heckles, I never get anyone saying anything really nasty, (which can happen).  The way I deal with hecklers is to make sure whatever my response is, I say it with a smile on my face to keep the audience on my side.  That way you can be pretty cutting with someone, but if you’re smiling it looks like you’re not losing your cool, (even though deep down, you’d like to take them outside and chuck them into a Biffa Bin.)

If you would like to find out more about The Giggle Shack, check out their Facebook page all upcoming events and links for tickets.