Machynlleth Comedy Festival

[philipsteak]

1 hour ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Yes that seems likely. I've actually never seen him in person but I think he's brilliant.

I've only seen him live once (Megadate, his last tour) and was one of my top shows that year

[Zoo Music Girl]

4 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

I've only seen him live once (Megadate, his last tour) and was one of my top shows that year

Excellent news!

[Zoo Music Girl]

Despite this thread being woefully inactive, I believe I did promise a review of the festival for those interested! In short it was absolutely bloody lovely and we will 100% be back. We had the best time from start to finish, with the only slight downside being the camping aspect (freezing cold on the first night and chucking it down the second), but even that was only down to the weather and me being a light sleeper! The camping facilities were fine and very good value, and we had tons of space. It was also really well located for everything, but I think we might look into an Airbnb or hotel next year, just to see....

Comedy wise we saw an absolute ton. The shows I had booked in were: Grace Petrie (her first stand-up show and wonderful!), Edward Aczel, Nish Kumar, The Death of Anna Mann, Rosie Jones, Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown, Tim Key (my favourite of the weekend but a close-run thing!) and James Acaster. We then also booked for one of Simon Munnery's shows and Sian Docksey, and then went to the showcases on Friday and Saturday as well (they were great value – £15 for well over 2 hours and around 10 acts each). The showcases were a great way to see a little bit of all the people we were missing elsewhere.

On top of that, the town itself is lovely and all the venues have their own vibe, which is really nice. The setting in the valleys is beautiful and all the food and cider options were bloody great (and I'm a veggie!). Everyone was super-friendly and the comedians were all in amongst it so you felt like you were all in it together. 

In short, if you're thinking of going next year: go for it. It's marvellous. Next time I think I'd book less of the big-name stuff and go for some more unknowns but that (and possibly upgrading from camping) are all I would change.

[Zoo Music Girl]

This thread didn't get much traction last year, but we are going back for 2023! Just booked camping tickets and have tickets for a couple of shows. Very excited to be returning and we have two others in tow this time 🙂

[Zoo Music Girl]

Oh and we were way too slow on the Airbnb thing. So camping it is! Glamping seems very expensive for what it is so didn't seem worth it.

[philipsteak]

On 1/19/2023 at 12:14 PM, Zoo Music Girl said:

This thread didn't get much traction last year, but we are going back for 2023! Just booked camping tickets and have tickets for a couple of shows. Very excited to be returning and we have two others in tow this time 🙂

What have you got booked?

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 hour ago, philipsteak said:

What have you got booked?

So far we have: Delightful Sausage, Jordan Brookes and Mr Swallow. One a day.

Seen more I'd like to book but wary of clashes so holding off for now! Also we had so much booked ahead last time that we didn't have much free time to take a punt on stuff so want to allow for that this time round.

Edited January 26, 2023 by Zoo Music Girl

[philipsteak]

42 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

So far we have: Delightful Sausage, Jordan Brookes and Mr Swallow. One a day.

Seen more I'd like to book but wary of clashes so holding off for now! Also we had so much booked ahead last time that we didn't have much free time to take a punt on stuff so want to allow for that this time round.

Nice. 

It's a tricky balance isn't it. Between worrying about things you want to see selling out and not leaving time for spontaneity. 

If it hasn't sold out or is coming near you I can heartily recommend Mike Wozniak's latest show, Zusa. One if the best shows I've seen for a long long time. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

Just now, philipsteak said:

Nice. 

It's a tricky balance isn't it. Between worrying about things you want to see selling out and not leaving time for spontaneity. 

If it hasn't sold out or is coming near you I can heartily recommend Mike Wozniak's latest show, Zusa. One if the best shows I've seen for a long long time. 

We have tickets to see it in May (ages away, I know!) otherwise I'd be all over that. When I saw it was back at Mach I was disappointed we'd bought tickets for London tbh! 

Last year some of the more spontaneous stuff we did ended up being a lot of fun so definitely want to allow for that. The late night showcases were brilliant too, so will likely do at least a couple of those.

[Mardy]

On 1/26/2023 at 9:01 AM, Zoo Music Girl said:

So far we have: Delightful Sausage, Jordan Brookes and Mr Swallow. One a day.

Seen more I'd like to book but wary of clashes so holding off for now! Also we had so much booked ahead last time that we didn't have much free time to take a punt on stuff so want to allow for that this time round.

Ah, just came on here to ask how last year's went, and here's my answer. Thank you! I'm looking to go this year, Edinburgh seems pricier and pricier, and I'm down in Cardiff on the 2nd/3rd May to see Richard Dawson so very very tempted to do this the weekend before. 40 quid for the camping seems more than reasonable. Anything I should watch out for/be aware of as a first timer?

 

p.s Delightful sausage will be great, saw Nowt but Sea (the show they're doing at Mach) at the Fringe and undoubtedly one of my highlights. Half tempted to go and see it again.

[Zoo Music Girl]

3 hours ago, Mardy said:

Ah, just came on here to ask how last year's went, and here's my answer. Thank you! I'm looking to go this year, Edinburgh seems pricier and pricier, and I'm down in Cardiff on the 2nd/3rd May to see Richard Dawson so very very tempted to do this the weekend before. 40 quid for the camping seems more than reasonable. Anything I should watch out for/be aware of as a first timer?

 

p.s Delightful sausage will be great, saw Nowt but Sea (the show they're doing at Mach) at the Fringe and undoubtedly one of my highlights. Half tempted to go and see it again.

Ah that's great to hear! I'm sure you'll love it. We had a great time last year. I think I wrote a little review post when I got back so I'll find that and requote below.

I'm impressed the camping price hasn't gone up despite inflation! Definitely reasonable, although it was bloody cold on the first night so will be seeing what we can do to mitigate that. Blankets probably! Showers were less impressive as one of the units wasn't working so there were big queues but I still managed to get one both mornings so not too bad (might only bother once this year).

I think you can pay for parking but we got the train and the campsite is like a 10-15-minute walk so very easy. The town itself is lovely and I kind of want to have more free time for exploring it this time.

Excellent to hear about Delightful Sausage - we saw Gledhill's solo show the other week and I like her a lot. Really need to think about buying some more stuff.

I'd recommend getting alerts on twitter if you're on that as they tweet when new stuff gets added and also when stuff is close to selling out so I find it very useful.

Go for it I reckon! 

Edited February 1, 2023 by Zoo Music Girl

[Zoo Music Girl]

On 5/12/2022 at 1:01 PM, Zoo Music Girl said:

Despite this thread being woefully inactive, I believe I did promise a review of the festival for those interested! In short it was absolutely bloody lovely and we will 100% be back. We had the best time from start to finish, with the only slight downside being the camping aspect (freezing cold on the first night and chucking it down the second), but even that was only down to the weather and me being a light sleeper! The camping facilities were fine and very good value, and we had tons of space. It was also really well located for everything, but I think we might look into an Airbnb or hotel next year, just to see....

Comedy wise we saw an absolute ton. The shows I had booked in were: Grace Petrie (her first stand-up show and wonderful!), Edward Aczel, Nish Kumar, The Death of Anna Mann, Rosie Jones, Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown, Tim Key (my favourite of the weekend but a close-run thing!) and James Acaster. We then also booked for one of Simon Munnery's shows and Sian Docksey, and then went to the showcases on Friday and Saturday as well (they were great value – £15 for well over 2 hours and around 10 acts each). The showcases were a great way to see a little bit of all the people we were missing elsewhere.

On top of that, the town itself is lovely and all the venues have their own vibe, which is really nice. The setting in the valleys is beautiful and all the food and cider options were bloody great (and I'm a veggie!). Everyone was super-friendly and the comedians were all in amongst it so you felt like you were all in it together. 

In short, if you're thinking of going next year: go for it. It's marvellous. Next time I think I'd book less of the big-name stuff and go for some more unknowns but that (and possibly upgrading from camping) are all I would change.

Here is my review if you didn't see it (only a few posts above so hard to miss!)

[Zoo Music Girl]

Bought Nish tickets today. WIP for £8 in a pretty small venue so couldn't resist!

[philipsteak]

On 2/1/2023 at 12:54 PM, Zoo Music Girl said:

Bought Nish tickets today. WIP for £8 in a pretty small venue so couldn't resist!

You did well to get those, bet that sold out in no time

[Zoo Music Girl]

52 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

You did well to get those, bet that sold out in no time

Yeah it did! I'm wondering if they might move him to a slightly bigger room but I guess the tiny room is half the point for this kind of show.

[DeanoL]

We got ourselves booked up with accommodation a few days ago (staying at a B&B in Aberdyfi) - so far got tickets for Isy Suttie/Chris Neill, Rob Auton, Stuart Goldsmith, John-Luke Roberts and Nish.

 

@Zoo Music Girlmust have been mere feet from you at Ed Aczel last year, given the size of that room!

[DeanoL]

Had our first clash already as Alex MacKeith was the best thing we saw there last year and this year he clashes with the Nish show we got tickets for...

Highly recommended though - musical comedy in the Bo Burnham mode.

[Zoo Music Girl]

13 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

We got ourselves booked up with accommodation a few days ago (staying at a B&B in Aberdyfi) - so far got tickets for Isy Suttie/Chris Neill, Rob Auton, Stuart Goldsmith, John-Luke Roberts and Nish.

 

@Zoo Music Girlmust have been mere feet from you at Ed Aczel last year, given the size of that room!

How much did the B&B set you back if you don't mind me asking? We were going to look at non-camping accommodation but left it too late (we don't have a car so are limited to the town itself really).

Ha yes, that Ed Aczel show was nuts. And a tiny room as you say!

Saw John-Luke Roberts' show last year and it was wonderful. Highly recommend that.

Not heard of Alex MacKeith so thanks for the recommendation! 

[DeanoL]

Was £285 for the three nights. Not cheap but compared to Edinburgh it feels like a bargain. Last train into Aberdyfi is 9.47pm so you're fine for the main shows but would miss the showcases - we intended to split between driving and train but ended up just driving all three days. Alex was a total punt for us last year and we were blown away!

Saw Ed a few nights ago at my gig and he was really on form. "I'm working on a new show but all I've really got for it right now is one word, but we'll start with that and see if it goes anywhere"

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 hour ago, DeanoL said:

Was £285 for the three nights. Not cheap but compared to Edinburgh it feels like a bargain. Last train into Aberdyfi is 9.47pm so you're fine for the main shows but would miss the showcases - we intended to split between driving and train but ended up just driving all three days. Alex was a total punt for us last year and we were blown away!

Saw Ed a few nights ago at my gig and he was really on form. "I'm working on a new show but all I've really got for it right now is one word, but we'll start with that and see if it goes anywhere"

Yeah that's not too bad. We loved the showcases last year so train wouldn't be an option for us really.

I saw he's doing a gig in London but wasn't sure if it would be the same as the Mach fest one - sounds like maybe not!

[DeanoL]

Few more acts announced. Eric Rushton is well worth checking out.

[Zoo Music Girl]

3 hours ago, DeanoL said:

Few more acts announced. Eric Rushton is well worth checking out.

Cheers for the recommendation! We've just booked Anna Mann's closing party for the Sunday which should be a lot of fun. Not long now!

[DeanoL]

Had an ace weekend at this - got to see a nice mix of big acts (Kumar, Acaster) and plenty of smaller ones. Certainly felt busier this year though!

[Zoo Music Girl]

On 5/3/2023 at 11:29 AM, DeanoL said:

Had an ace weekend at this - got to see a nice mix of big acts (Kumar, Acaster) and plenty of smaller ones. Certainly felt busier this year though!

Glad you had a good one! I don't really post here any more but got a notification from this thread so thought I'd chip in.

We packed in so much stuff and agree it was good to get mix of both big and small. Nish, Felicity Ward and Delightful Sausage were highlights but also loved Anna Mann and Jon Osborne.

We will be back next year for sure. Dealt with the camping better this time around as wasn't so cold but we are thinking of staying at a nearby caravan site.

[philipsteak]

Was Nish a new show? WIP? If so, how was it? Loved his last two.

Currently got a Twickets alert for James Acaster at the Lowry. Sold out before I could confirm I could do it.