New dedicated purpose-built comedy club opens in Wales

A new purpose-built comedy club will officially open in Wales this weekend.

The Problematic Pub Comedy Club is a new dedicated comedy venue based in Swansea, only the second such venue of its type after The Glee Club in Cardiff which opened 25 years ago.

The venue, which will feature weekly bills starring national comics and rising Welsh stars is situated on The Strand in the city centre.

The club is the brainchild of comics and podcast stars Simon Emanuel and Sandro Ford who along with producer Jack Keylock launched the club with a sold-out trial run show this week.

The Problematic Pub Podcast, hosted by the two comics, has become a huge hit online and built up a massive following with millions of views.

The 120-seater venue will officially launch on Saturday evening, (February 28) which is a special date as it will be exactly two years after the duo launched their podcast.

A statement on the club’s website said: ‘You are now in Swansea’s home of live stand-up and the second ever purpose-built comedy club in Wales.

‘The Problematic Pub Comedy Club is designed for one thing… laughter.

‘You get sharp comics, tight shows, and the atmosphere you only get in a room built for comedy.

‘You sit close to the stage. You feel every beat of the night.

‘Acts from across the UK bring stories, crowd work, and big moments that hit harder in a packed room.

You walk in for a night out. You walk out talking about your favourite bit. It is quick. It is loud. It is live.

Cold drinks. Full rooms. Swansea’s new comedy club.

Weekly stand-up. Big names. Proper pub-style chaos.’

In an interview with WalesOnline last year, Sandro, admitted launching the club was ‘both exciting and scary’.

“All three of us have experience of working in bars, but it’s the first time doing something like this,” he said.

“We always book good line-ups of comedians and one thing we want to do is give back to Welsh comedy. We’ll always put at least one Welsh comedian on the bill, and there will also always to be a Welsh host MC, whether that’s myself, Simon, or someone else.”

Sandro, who heads out on his own UK tour later this year, added that the success of the podcast has led to the opening of the club.

“From the podcast, we started putting comedy nights on with the same name and they started selling out, and then we decided to do our first podcast live show at Afan Ales in Port Talbot, a 30-seater venue, which was the biggest help for us in the beginning. That sold out and a few months later, we put on a show at a rugby club and sold 200 tickets, and we ended up selling 450 tickets at a venue in Gorseinon. We then ran a comedy club once a fortnight in Pontardawe which was selling out.

“We then decided that we’d have a pop at opening our own comedy club.

“There has only ever been one full-time purpose-built comedy club venue in Wales and that’s the Glee club in Cardiff, which opened 25 years ago, and since that, there’s never been another in Wales.

“Swansea is on the up, with lots of independent venues doing good things.”

To book tickets and find out more visit: https://www.facebook.com/problematicpubcomedyclub and https://www.problematicpub.com/comedy-club-events