Here are some of the things I've done in my life (that I can mention on a public forum) before I took up comedy (apologies for the over-use of lower case in this bit):
Shoe shop salesman, drama student (kicked out), DJ, double glazing company wages clerk, liaison officer, barman, RAF (bought myself out), barman, doorman, kissagram (I looked a lot better in those days), call centre guy, sales manager, call centre guy, music promoter, DJ, call centre guy, teacher...
The comedy bit of things...
I did my first gig* back in late 2012; a five minute set, which, through my nerves, I ran through in about half the time. I hadn't even planned going into comedy as was too busy being all angsty as a tediously tortured poet. However, after a chance conversation with a gentleman genuinely called John Smith, I flew off at tangent comedy.
Highlights so far have been being runner-up in Leicester Comedy Festival's UK Pun Championships twice on the trot (I know) in 2017 & 2018 and being featured on Radio 4's 'Ross Noble's Newcastle'. I was invited to be on BBC Newcastle's 'Jesting About' for two successive years. I also reached the heats of the BBC New Comedy Awards in 2015. I took my first show, Jokebox, to Edinburgh in 2018. Later on this year I'm doing a short run of gigs in Berlin which is something I'm really looking forward to.
I have played some lovely gigs at The Stand, Hot Water, The Comedy Store (Manchester), The Glee Club, Buzz Comedy, Monkey Barrel, Hilarity Bites, Comedy Lounge (Hull), Cottingham Comedy Club, Downstairs At The King's Head, Laughing Penguin, Ten Feet Tall, Coast, Shoe Cake Comedy, Laughing Pug and Fat Lip, among many others.
I have been fortunate enough to gig alongside people like Gary Delaney, Scott Bennett, Jason Cook, Andy Askins, Carl Hutchinson, Noel James, John Hastings, Alistair Barrie, Mary Bourke, Dan Nightingale, Sindhu Vee, Will Franken, Danny Posthill and a load more funny men and women.
Testimonials & Industry Quotes:
He's got jokes that make me hurt laughing - Jason Cook (pro comic and writer of Hebburn and Murder On The Blackpool Express)
So good I was quoting your jokes to my wife last night - Duncan Oakley (pro comic of 20 years)
Sharp and droll one-liner merchant, Lee is a formidable talent - Giggle Beats
His clever word play had people howling. He served them up in quick succession and the audience ate them up - The Shields Gazette
Julian Lee, meanwhile, is a wordsmith of real invention - The Crack
Pay-offs that you couldn't see coming - Beyond The Joke
Clever word play, sharp observation, near the knuckle vignettes, puns aplenty, cheeky asides, confident performance, easily created rapport, yet also a sense of a humility - Fringe Review
One of the best one-liner comedians we've ever had at Cottingham - Cottingham Comedy Club
You were electric, the best comic I have seen since Ken Dodd at the Town Hall. You belong on television - Barry Windsor
* My first ever gig was circa 1996; a one-off gig I did at the old comedy cafe at the bottom of Westgate Road. I was much more of a hedonist then. I took to the stage, let's say 'worse for wear' and leave it at that, and made an absolute dick of myself. I was on after Simon Pegg (yes, I know; whatever happened to him?) and before Rich Hall. When he tried to get on stage, as I had overstayed my welcome, I told him, "Don't be so fuckin' impatient." As I was a body builder with bleached hair at the time, I must have presented quite the sight for our North American visitor. I stayed away from comedy for nearly two decades after that.
Shoe shop salesman, drama student (kicked out), DJ, double glazing company wages clerk, liaison officer, barman, RAF (bought myself out), barman, doorman, kissagram (I looked a lot better in those days), call centre guy, sales manager, call centre guy, music promoter, DJ, call centre guy, teacher...
The comedy bit of things...
I did my first gig* back in late 2012; a five minute set, which, through my nerves, I ran through in about half the time. I hadn't even planned going into comedy as was too busy being all angsty as a tediously tortured poet. However, after a chance conversation with a gentleman genuinely called John Smith, I flew off at tangent comedy.
Highlights so far have been being runner-up in Leicester Comedy Festival's UK Pun Championships twice on the trot (I know) in 2017 & 2018 and being featured on Radio 4's 'Ross Noble's Newcastle'. I was invited to be on BBC Newcastle's 'Jesting About' for two successive years. I also reached the heats of the BBC New Comedy Awards in 2015. I took my first show, Jokebox, to Edinburgh in 2018. Later on this year I'm doing a short run of gigs in Berlin which is something I'm really looking forward to.
I have played some lovely gigs at The Stand, Hot Water, The Comedy Store (Manchester), The Glee Club, Buzz Comedy, Monkey Barrel, Hilarity Bites, Comedy Lounge (Hull), Cottingham Comedy Club, Downstairs At The King's Head, Laughing Penguin, Ten Feet Tall, Coast, Shoe Cake Comedy, Laughing Pug and Fat Lip, among many others.
I have been fortunate enough to gig alongside people like Gary Delaney, Scott Bennett, Jason Cook, Andy Askins, Carl Hutchinson, Noel James, John Hastings, Alistair Barrie, Mary Bourke, Dan Nightingale, Sindhu Vee, Will Franken, Danny Posthill and a load more funny men and women.
Testimonials & Industry Quotes:
He's got jokes that make me hurt laughing - Jason Cook (pro comic and writer of Hebburn and Murder On The Blackpool Express)
So good I was quoting your jokes to my wife last night - Duncan Oakley (pro comic of 20 years)
Sharp and droll one-liner merchant, Lee is a formidable talent - Giggle Beats
His clever word play had people howling. He served them up in quick succession and the audience ate them up - The Shields Gazette
Julian Lee, meanwhile, is a wordsmith of real invention - The Crack
Pay-offs that you couldn't see coming - Beyond The Joke
Clever word play, sharp observation, near the knuckle vignettes, puns aplenty, cheeky asides, confident performance, easily created rapport, yet also a sense of a humility - Fringe Review
One of the best one-liner comedians we've ever had at Cottingham - Cottingham Comedy Club
You were electric, the best comic I have seen since Ken Dodd at the Town Hall. You belong on television - Barry Windsor
* My first ever gig was circa 1996; a one-off gig I did at the old comedy cafe at the bottom of Westgate Road. I was much more of a hedonist then. I took to the stage, let's say 'worse for wear' and leave it at that, and made an absolute dick of myself. I was on after Simon Pegg (yes, I know; whatever happened to him?) and before Rich Hall. When he tried to get on stage, as I had overstayed my welcome, I told him, "Don't be so fuckin' impatient." As I was a body builder with bleached hair at the time, I must have presented quite the sight for our North American visitor. I stayed away from comedy for nearly two decades after that.
