Press

The press sometimes say some lovely things about me, here’s a few!

“Beautiful comedy from the stand up who wears his life on his skin” – The Sunday Times

“wonderfully gritty … his struggles with mental illness and alcoholism make for impressive comic pickings” The Guardian

“It’s obvious that Jim Smallman is a natural-born compere. He has such an easy rapport with the audience and tells his tales with a fluidity and energy that keeps everyone attentive. He could talk the hind legs off a donkey, but you suspect the donkey wouldn’t really mind … he’s an instinctive storyteller who draws out the humour in every anecdote. On the comedy spectrum, he falls somewhere between Frank Skinner and Dave Gorman … his silver-tongued banter is likely to charm most audiences” Chortle

“a talented comic” TimeOut

“the second he focuses, he’s unbeatable … there’s an anger and sarcasm worthy of Jack Dee, Jo Brand, maybe even Bill Hicks. And all the time there’s this sense of impotent outrage, of righteous frustration, that’s up there with Basil Fawlty, the Blackadder dynasty, maybe even vintage Alexei Sayle” 4Laughs

“Jim Smallman is not just a comic who tells brilliant jokes, he is a heart-warming storyteller, and his experiences will have you captivated and laughing out loud” – Three Weeks

“Unapologetically, shamelessly life-affirming… a storyteller of warmth and humanity” – Fest Magazine

“Smallman’s a terrific presence, all effervescent charm and bounciness. Even the vague grunts offered by the audience are enough for him to spin into properly funny gags” – The Skinny

“Smallman has the crowd completely hooked… razor sharp jokes and observations come from his wonderful self-deprecating stories” – Hairline

“Smallman, as articulate as he is, is an unpretentious comic who takes real visible joy in provoking a laugh… he is very funny” – No Borders Magazine

“Smallman is an accomplished performer and a joy to spend time with… He deserves to be playing much bigger rooms” – Festival Journal

“A comic who has set a benchmark for this kind of comedy” – New Current

Here’s an interview I did with The Sun to promote my 2012 Edinburgh Fringe show… click here

Another 2012 Edinburgh interview, this time with The Skinny… click here

About

I’m Jim Smallman. I’m a stand-up comedian. I’ve won awards for it and everything.

If you’re here to download my DVD for just three English pounds, then click here. It’s called Tattooligan, it’s 80 minutes of me being silly and you can follow the links above for more info about it. Ta!

I’ve been performing since 2005 and I’ve been all over the world swearing at people and being daft for money. You can usually find me performing all over the country (and beyond) pretty much every night of the week. I work for all the major clubs and promoters in the UK, and if you want to find out where I’m performing next then feel free to check out my upcoming gigs page.

If you do come and see me then you’ll recognise me as being the chap with all the tattoos. My preferred description for myself (and if the Sun newspaper ever did some kind of report on me) is “heavily tattooed idiot”. I’m covered in them and yes, that is Ron Burgundy on my right arm. Told you I was an idiot.

In 2011 I took my second Edinburgh show up to the fringe and it got lots of lovely attention and great reviews – so much so that I then filmed a version of it for a DVD that you can now download through this very site. My first hour-long show was “The Boy Next Door Gone Wrong” which won two awards at the 2010 Hollywood Fringe Festival (Best Comedy Performance and Best International Show) and was nominated for Best Début Show at the 2009 Leicester Comedy Festival. In 2012 I was back in Edinburgh again with my third show “Let’s Be Friends” and my improvised advice show “Group Therapy”.  Once again, they got lots of good press and a plethora of four and five star reviews.

Away from comedy I have worked as a radio presenter for BBC Local Radio, appeared as a guest on BBC Radio Five Live’s “Fighting Talk”, record a podcast called “Squirrel on a Stick” with fellow comedian Kent Valentine and presented a weekly wrestling TV show for Sports Tonight called The Slam. I’m a voiceover artist too, with my dulcet tones featuring in a fair few adverts and my narration on National Geographic HD series Car SOS. I also make silly videos and write a blog, all of which can be found on this site. How considerate of me.