PunchUp Comedy is a night of live stand-up, new material, and festival previews based in Hastings, East Sussex, UK. Founded by Juliet Brando in 2016, PunchUp has hosted numerous new and established comics across a range of local venues, and collaborated with other organisers to create the Laughing Stag (Stag Inn, All Saints St) and Right Royal PunchUp (Fountain on Queens). Compered by Juliet Brando, PunchUp creates an inclusive and enjoyable experience for audiences and acts alike.

We operate a NO SCHOOL BULLIES policy.

“Punching up” or “punching down” in comedy is defined by who the butt of your joke is. If you target a person or group who is already oppressed, marginalised or generally having a harder time than you are as a result of race, sexual orientation, gender or a whole bunch of other factors, you’re punching down.

There are articles discussing the concept of punching up/down here, here and here and, like most things in life, it’s complicated, as opined here, here, and in a couple of rather confused Urban Dictionary examples here.

You have every right to joke or laugh about anything you like. I’m not censoring your free speech or saying that humour can’t be found in any subject. There are plenty of clubs that will welcome you and you can punch down to your heart’s content there. However, PunchUp Comedy isn’t the place to do that.

It’s not that we’re offended by comedy that some consider “edgy”. We’re just exhausted by it, and it only caters to a small portion of the audience, leaving others feeling excluded and sometimes unsafe. Another straight, white, open-spot guy does another dead hooker rape joke, the same crowd of straight white guys in the audience laugh, and we feel so very, very tired. We’re not the only ones. Many people long for something different.

The ethos of PunchUp Comedy is not to invite the school bully, whether the act on stage or hecklers in the audience. We try our best to make this a welcoming night for all. We may not always get it right, but we try.

We regret that some venues are not wheelchair accessible, and hope to rectify this whenever or wherever we have the opportunity.

Check the front page for the latest gigs.