Written by: Maff Brown
Published: Friday 1st August 2014

I've been doing stand-up comedy for 8 years now. 6 years professionally. This is my 4th Edinburgh show. Each year it's been something different.

The first year I tried to play Edinburgh at its own game and I lost. I tried to do something that wasn't natural to me. I tried to do a true story telling show with an arc and all that bollocks. It wasn't really what I wanted to do, but I unrealistically had one eye on the Perrier (it will always be called that in my eyes) Newcomer Award.

I say unrealistic, it's not because I don't think I'm capable of being nominated, but because there's a lot more to it that I couldn't control. The type of show was not something that I was known for, but I thought if I mention stuff about my mum dying and my dad going a bit mental, well that's bound to get nominated isn't it? Of course it wasn't, because it wasn't funny enough.

The second show I did was purely to try and catch the zeitgeist of what was being put on the TV at the time. I did mainly observational comedy and wore a suit. Thing is, I never told the people who make the stand-up TV shows, so how were they to know? My arrogance, that's how. It's bound to get noticed and then they'll come to see what the hype was about.

Wrong again. Why? Because it wasn't what I do. So what did I do? If someone asked me to describe my style back then (I say back then, it was only 3 years ago) I wouldn't be able to say. My style wasn't defined. My voice still was only a little bit found. I was confusing the audience who may have seen me two years in a row. So what did I do with my third Edinburgh? Well obviously, I wrote a sketch show and got my mates in it.

Honestly, it was the most fun I have ever had in Edinburgh and I've shared a flat with Edward Aczel and watched him argue with BT for 25 minutes. The sketch show was actually the beginning of me finding out what my strengths were. It was fast paced with short jokes. Some of the best stuff I have ever written. Without sounding arrogant, it did pretty well. GQ magazine put it in the top ten things to see at the Fringe. Audiences were enjoying it. Even comics were coming to see my show (which, as any comic will tell you, is the biggest compliment we can pay each other).

So what happened next? Exactly nothing. I took the next year off to try and really think about how I want to do comedy. The trouble I have is that I think the industry sees me as a bloke who runs a club who also does compereing. Adam Bloom assured me this is my neurosis on a recent overseas gig where he said "I see you as a comedian who happens to run a club". Most of my work at present is as an MC. I now know why. Having done more sets this year, a bad MC really sticks out and makes the gig harder for every one else. So when you know an act who can MC well, that's the first place they put you.

Why am I telling you this? Because this is the important bit to make you understand why my style has changed for this year's show. The show is called Born Again Comedian and is reference for people to see that I have actively changed my style to suit what I am best at, which is short jokes. I've spent the last few years writing quick one-liner jokes for TV shows and other comics and thought "wait a minute, just do that!"

When I look back at the sketch show, that's all it was. Quick jokes. Just lose the others from the sketch show and I just do my own quick jokes. I recently did a 20 minute set of quick jokes/one-liners and got bigger laughs and more claps than I ever have in 8 years of doing it. All from jokes I've written from scratch over the last 6 months.

It took a while, but I think I've finally found my voice. Just got to lose some weight and get a nice suit from Merc in Carnaby Street and I'll be the picture of the comedian in my head that I want to be.

See the new Maff Brown at the Gilded Balloon at 9pm from 30th July to 24th August (not 11th). Listing