Behind the Mic: The Humour Mill

Tell me about The Humour Mill...
The Humour Mill is a community network for comedy creatives – that’s comedians, writers, filmmakers, clowns, improvisers, drag acts, from complete beginners to seasoned pros – anyone at all who’s making anything funny is welcome to join in. We started off in Glasgow, but we now also run sessions in Edinburgh and occasionally online, too.

How did it come about?
When I was new to comedy, I got a lot of help and advice from more experienced comics. As I became more experienced myself, I wanted to create a space where we normalised and encouraged a collaborative spirit for making comedy. I also wanted to acknowledge all the work that goes into comedy and to dispel that feeling creative people sometimes get – that everyone else is effortlessly smashing it while you’re at home alone, staring at a blank page.

We now have a team of volunteers from the Scottish comedy circuit who help to run events in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and we run workshops where pros can share their expertise.

What was the first Humour Mill event like?
We ran our very first Material Mill – something between a writing session and a social – in February 2023. We book a big table in a pub and everyone gets a turn to share whatever they’re working on and get feedback from the group. It went exactly as expected – a bit weird and awkward at first, and then a lot of fun. It was clear right away how keen comics were for something like The Humour Mill. We still run these now, monthly in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

What would be your dream Humour Mill event and why?
The suggestion from our Glasgow events coordinator, comedian and all-round belter, Rory M. Spence, is a Q&A with Billy Connolly. I don’t think any of us could top that, unless there was also a free bar and scran.

What's been your best bit of advice from running The Humour Mill?
One thing that keeps coming up is the fact that an imperfect thing – a joke, a sketch, a script – being put on the page or out in the world is better than the perfect version staying in your head. We had a writing Q&A with the exceptional Elaine Malcolmson earlier this year. I hear her say “shit is fertiliser” in my head fairly often when I’m writing.

What should we look out for on the Scottish comedy scene? 
If you’re a comedy fan looking for something new and different, I’d really recommend trying out some new material or more experimental nights. The energy is buzzy and there’s a feeling of stuff being created live in the room that you might not get at big weekend shows. Open Comedy in Leith, Hot Comedy in Edinburgh, and Open Sauce and Gnash in Glasgow are all fun nights.

Who's the funniest comedian you've seen and why?
This is almost impossible to answer so I’ll give one of the funniest moments I’ve seen recently: Jack Traynor being picked up and powered through a table by Glaswegian wrestler Logan Smith during his Glasgow Comedy Festival quiz with Paddy Linton. It was properly mad laugh-out-loud nonsense. That’s the kind of (safely choreographed) experimental stuff we like to see! 

How do we make the Scottish comedy scene better?
We do well in Scotland helping each other out and sharing tips and advice – there’s a sense of collaboration and comics are always keen to help out newer acts. We need to make sure there are always friendly and inviting spaces to try new stuff (and fall on your arse without judgement). 

And there’s a tendency to think that someone has ‘made it’ when they get big down south, but Scottish comedy is its own vibrant and brilliant scene full of variety and really exciting acts. We need to recognise our own success and shout about it, to let the public and the wider industry know, then ideally, the wider industry will listen. 

What's next for The Humour Mill? 
Now that we have a bigger team we’re keen to host more regular events and drop-ins in Glasgow and Edinburgh. We’re currently making plans for a scratch night so that performers can test out new material in front of an audience and get live feedback – keep an eye out for that!

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Get in touch with and follow The Humour Mill on Instagram at @humourmill

Material Mill writing sessions take place monthly (second Monday of the month in Edinburgh, third Monday of the month in Glasgow, venues vary) with other workshops announced on The Humour Mill's socials

Follow Kathleen Hughes on Instagram at @kathleenwho_