Pledge to Angel Comedy's Kickstarter and re-name the MC

When the Angel Comedy Club in Islington, London, turned to Kickstarter to raise money to help renovate the dilapidated pub it has acquired to become its new permanent home, it didn't expect to raise the full £20,000 in just 10 days. However, comedy fans did indeed pledge that much money that quickly, thus allowing the club to get to work on fixing the many issues the old Victorian pub has.

The forthcoming move for the club, which has been operating in a room above a pub for six years now, is part of a plan to allow it to continue to grow and flourish. Angel Comedy's 'pay what you want' pricing structure means it's now running free shows 7 nights a week, and is regularly packed out.

The club has now revealed the 'stretch goals' in its Kickstarter campaign, which include setting up a comedy training space, building a podcast and filming studio, and launching community projects. The ultimate aim is to create London's "first ever community comedy hub". To meet all its aims, it needs to raise another £40,000 in the next month.

The project is being overseen by Angel Comedy founders and comedians, Barry Ferns and Sarah Pearce, award-winning comedy director Dec Munro and experienced pub manager, Rachel Warnes.

Talking about the backing they've had from fans for their new venture already, Sarah Pearce says: "The support we've received from audiences and comedians has been incredible. Our dreams for the new venue are starting to seem like a reality."

Their next challenge is to raise funds for creating a training room and podcast studio - "essential for fulfilling the role as a community hub". In return for their support, Kickstarter backers can name almost anything in the venue: chairs, beer pumps, even the urinals.

Barry Ferns, talking about their new extended aims, explains another goal they're now aiming for: "In a borough with some of the highest rates of child poverty in Britain, we want to offer free and subsidised comedy courses for kids."

Whilst Ferns will no doubt be delighted if the Kickstarter campaign can indeed raise the full £60,000, it does come with a personal cost to him. His name. As the regular MC at the club he too will be in the frame as something that can be named, or re-named in this case. He explains: "Part of the campaign is that people can name things in the venue - so I thought it only fair that we commit as much as our funders and so - if we 'make it' to our goal - they can go as far as to name me too. I'll probably be called BarryMcBarryFace by the end of July!"

Help re-name Barry by heading to the project's Kickstarter

The below campaign video introduces the ethos behind the club, the success it's had so far, and its plans for the future: