Hot Water Comedy to launch purpose built club in Liverpool

Hot Water Comedy Club is launching Liverpool's first purpose built comedy club. The new venue in Seel Street will open its doors this December.

Co-founder Paul Blair says: "It's so exciting to be bringing something like this to my home town of Liverpool. It's the first time the city's had a venue that's a full-time comedy club. I believe we can go on to become one of the largest comedy promoters in the country."

Hot Water Comedy Club has been running in various venues in and around Liverpool for the last six years, with headliner bookings including Russell Kane, Paul Sinha and Gary Delaney. Now the club has found its own home, it is setting its sights on bringing even more famous names to the city.

Paul says: "We want to bring the best acts in the world to Liverpool, but we're also committed to grass roots comedy and supporting new talent. For me personally, this represents more than just a comedy club, we're building a community."

More information about the club can be found at hotwatercomedy.co.uk

The organisers have launched a Kickstarter campaign today to try and raise additional funds to allow them to set up the new version as a creative 'hub' for comedy, where people can work on projects such as podcasts and YouTube videos.

Hot Water Comedy Club's story

Here, those involved in the club explain how it started and what their plans are for the future...

Six years ago, two brothers from Liverpool began a small open mic comedy club which would become not only one of the major players on the Liverpool comedy scene but also arguably the most valuable resource in growing and progressing new talent Liverpool comedy has seen in decades. In that time, the flagship Sunday open mic night has given rise to full pro line-ups every Friday and Saturday and a massively popular Wednesday night new material show.

All of these shows, whilst different in style, maintain the core underlying ethos of progressing new talent, supporting live comedy and providing an affordable, friendly, familiar place that comedy lovers can go to see talent from all over the world.

This progression hasn't been an easy one. The hard work that the two brothers, Paul Blair and Binty Blair, put into this club can be seen in all aspects of the club. From the effective branding and marketing right down to the face-to-face greeting of guests on the door, Paul and Binty throw themselves completely into providing the experience Hot Water fans have come to expect from the club. Their personal approach enabling them to make venues which, on the face of it should not have been very suitable for live comedy, work very well.

It is this exact drive and passion that the two brothers hope to bring to their exciting new venture. A new, purpose built, standalone comedy venue, right in the heart of Liverpool city centre, with live comedy every night of the week. With this move, Hot Water should become Liverpool's premiere comedy venue, but with this it will not lose sight of its core values: progressing new talent.

Paul Smith, long-time resident host of Hot Water, says: "The new venue is so exciting, it's what we have been working for all these years. We can hopefully continue to grow and progress, not only new stand-ups but Liverpool comedy in general. If we look at the wealth of talent that our nights have been instrumental in producing over the last six years, this new venue, and the facilities Paul and Binty want to provide, should really take it all to the next level."

It is these new ideas that perhaps make this new venture most exciting. Not only do Hot Water want to give a platform for new stand-up to grow, but all facets of comedy in 2016. They recognise that, while live stand-up is their first love, there are a lot of talented comedy minds who would prefer a different creative outlet. YouTube, podcasts, sketch and screenwriting. These are all things that the new home of Hot Water will hope to provide the facilities for creating. Elevating it beyond a comedy venue to a complete hub for comedy in general, where people from Liverpool, the UK and even internationally, will congregate and create projects that will change the landscape of comedy. A grand vision indeed.

In order to enable this vision, the brothers have decided to run a Kickstarter campaign to raise the additional funds necessary to provide these community facilities. Elder brother Binty comments: "When we were planning the new venue, obviously our first thought was to get the performance space right, but the we just kept having ideas: podcast booths, green screens, photo studios, writing workshops, all great things which will help us to give anyone interested in creating comedy a chance to do so. This has also been the way we have approached stand-up and that approach has been really successful so far. So it seemed like the next logical step to provide all this extra good stuff."

The Kickstarter campaign will enable members of the general public to pledge money in return for rewards. It will also give long-time fans of the club a chance to feel like more of a part of this project. A project which, if the past six years is any indication, has the potential to dramatically change the face of UK comedy and quite possibly give rise to the stars of the future.

Hot Water's Kickstarter campaign