About Us

 About us

Big Jack’s Laughter Club was born on Wednesday February 9, 2005 at Afroba in Reading.  Intended as a one-off comedy-fest, it proved so popular that after the first night it became a fortnightly event.

Big Jack's was also meant to be a vehicle for trying out new material for Big Jack and co-founder Anthony Simmonds, but that quickly fell by the wayside because the venue proved far too popular with other comedians!

The name Big Jack’s was a joke name - Anthony thought Jack was a lard-arse northern bar steward.  Unfortunately for lard-arse northern bar stewards the name stuck.

Anthony quit the club in January 2006, but the club kept going every two weeks on a Wednesday up until the end of May last year. The combination of work involved running the club, other commitments and the affect of Wednesday night international football on audiences meant the club became a chore for Jack.

When Big Jack’s closed in early summer 2006, it was meant to have been for the last time. But, as the old Chinese proverb says: "man who gets braces caught in revolving door keeps coming back" – so it was with Big Jack’s.

After shows in August 2006 for the Reading Fringe Festival and the Reading Comedy Festival, Jack remembered how much he enjoyed it all and Big Jack’s was back with a vengeance – now on a Thursday.

Beth joined the team in December 2006 after Big Jack’s arranged a comedy night for her work mates. Resident sound man and comedian James Mason linked up in January 2007.

The club - non-profit making, with the door money going to the acts - now runs every second Thursday of the month. We think it’s pretty special. We hope you do too.

For more info:

Email:   

Tel:

07770 370 221