Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Lack of comedy venue in city branded a joke
DUNDONIANS are being urged to stand up and be counted to help with a bid to open a dedicated comedy club in the city centre.
Luis Alçada, 28, is working alongside venue owners from around the city to open the doors of a brand new comedy venue.
He’s currently scouring the city for the perfect location to open the club.
Luis, who stays i n the Blackness area, travelled to Dundee from Portugal 10 years ago to study finance at university.
After performing in standup comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival the past few years, he decided he wanted to continue with his comedy performances.
Luis told the Tele: “After I performed in Edinburgh I just absolutely l oved the feeling.
“When I came back to Dundee, though, I realised there isn’t a comedy scene here at all.”
Instead of putting the brakes on his comedy career, Luis set up a group called Icebreaker Dundee in January and began organising comedy events.
The group has since been running and promoting open mic nights at venues around Dundee.
Luis said: “We have had open mic nights in various venues around the city which have been greatly received.
“We have been getting amazing feedback from those who have came along.
“Everyone seems to be really enjoying the nights — we’re now even filling up rooms with 40 to 50 people.”
Icebreaker has also brought up-and-coming Scottish comedians to the venues in Dundee.
Luis said:“We have had a lot of comedians coming through from Edinburgh and Glasgow and a lot of comedians who have performed at the Edinburgh Fringe.”
The group is now calling on more local funnymen and women to sign up.
Luis said: “We just need more Dundee comedians.
“Not a lot of people seem to be coming forward and volunteering.”
He thinks the absence in comic talent from Dundee is down to the lack of dedicated events in the city.
He said: “For some reason comedy is absolutely dead in Dundee. We have no idea why, as all the infrastructure needed is there.
“Maybe it’s just because no one has done what were are doing before.”
Luis tests out some of his comedy material on wife Anna and their one-monthold daughter Ezra.
He admitted, though, that some of his jokes were beginning to wear thin with those around him.
He said: “The first time Anna saw my comedy routine she thought it was amazing — now, though, not so much.
“I see her in the back of the crowd trying to force out a laugh to the joke she has heard 100 times before.” Ourvoice PAGE 16