Christian Russell-Pollock

Stand-up is undoubtedly one of the hardest forms of comedy to truly master. It’s intimate, intimidating, and there’s nowhere to hide if it all goes wrong!

One thing’s for sure… you’ve got to have bags of confidence, not to mention pretty thick skin to stand in front of a room full of people and try to make them laugh.

Thick skin is undoubtedly one of the reasons why Christian Russell-Pollock is making such huge waves in the ‘Plymouth Comedy Scene’ and beyond.

Christian is an award-winning stand-up comedian who moved to Plymouth a little more than five years ago and decided to take up comedy at the same time.

As well as gigging nationwide, he performs a lot in Plymouth and is currently the resident MC at both the monthly B-Bar Comedy Night at The Barbican Theatre and the Watershed Comedy Night at Soapbox Children’s Theatre.

Christian says: “My first stand-up performance was at a cafe in Totnes to a room of puzzled poets. I hadn’t realised it was a poetry night and I was the first on!

“Since then, I’ve worked hard at the craft and now get booked to perform at comedy clubs and festivals all over the country. I’ve won a couple of awards and been lucky enough to support some of comedy’s biggest names.

“As cliche as it sounds, the inspiration for my jokes comes from simply living life. I never sit in front of a blank piece of paper and try and write jokes. I find that quite restrictive.

“Instead, when I see or hear something in everyday life that I find funny, I just make a note of it. Later on, I try and mould that into a piece of stand-up and then I take it to a new material night and perform it. If it gets a laugh, keep it. If not, it’s back to the editing room!”

When they’re not on stage, what does a stand-up comedian do when they’re not thinking up jokes?

Well, Christian has been using his ‘spare’ time to set up a new business called Plymouth Comedy Tours – which he says, “provides walking tours with a difference!”