Paul Jay

A tribute to Eugene Cheese

You'll have read here about Paul Jay aka Eugene Cheese, the comedy promoter who died last week aged 79. He ran a succession of small comedy clubs from the late 1980s, and while he wasn't there at the very start you can tell by some of the names on his bills including Lee Evans, Paul Merton, Jenny Éclair, Sean (then John) Hughes, and Trevor and Simon that he was way ahead of the pack.

Dave Cohen, Chortle, 22nd February 2023

Legendary comedy club runner Eugene Cheese dies

Cheese was famous on the circuit for running the Chuckle Club in Aldwych for many years.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 15th February 2023

Kate Copstick's diary: size doesn't matter

I was chatting with Simon Munnery about small audiences - not that he is an expert on that. He told me Eugene Cheese of the Chuckle Club would cancel if there were fewer than 30 in the audience. Unbelievable now.

Kate Copstick, The Scotsman, 13th August 2017