Twenty Reviews, Four-and-a-Half Stars, and the Dangerous Smell of Potential
The Lion’s Den Comedy Club has 20 reviews and a 4.5-star rating. In the vast, competitive ecosystem of London comedy venues where institutions like the Comedy Store have over 3,000 reviews and the Top Secret Comedy Club has nearly twenty thousand this makes the Lion’s Den a very small animal indeed. But small animals in Soho have a history of growing into something significant, and the early signs from the Lion’s Den suggest a venue that is doing things right from the beginning, which is rarer than it sounds.
The Case for New Comedy Venues
London’s comedy scene is self-renewing in a way that its theatre scene is not. New venues open regularly, new promoters find new rooms, new audiences discover that the city is full of places to hear professional stand-up for less than the price of a main course in the surrounding restaurants. The Lion’s Den is part of this ongoing renewal a new entrant into one of the most competitive comedy markets in the world, operating from Soho, which is where you go if you are either very confident or very foolish, and ideally both.
With 20 reviews and a 4.5-star average, the Lion’s Den is establishing its credentials in real time. Each review is a data point in the argument that this venue belongs in Soho, that it is programming well, and that it has the capacity to grow into something more significant. The early returns are positive. The average is good. The sample size is small enough that a few outstanding nights could push it to 4.8 or 4.9 and small enough that a couple of weak bills could bring it down. This is the volatile, exciting phase of a comedy venue’s existence.
The Opportunity for Early Adopters
There is a particular pleasure in finding a good comedy venue before it becomes famous. The Comedy Store in 1980 was a small, chaotic club in a Soho rooftop. The Angel Comedy Club in its early years was an experiment in free comedy in an Islington pub. The best comedy venues in London all have an origin story that begins with a small room and a handful of believers, and the Lion’s Den is at that stage right now. If it becomes the next great Soho comedy club and the early evidence suggests it has the ingredients then being in the audience in 2024 is something you will tell people about in 2034.
Practical Details
The Lion’s Den Comedy Club is in Soho, which means it benefits from the best possible transport links, the widest possible pre-show dining options, and the most experienced comedy audience in the country. Shows run in the evening, prices are competitive with other Soho venues, and the fact that you might be one of 20 rather than one of 3,000 reviewers means you are getting the intimate, unpolished version of what might become something considerably larger.
The Verdict
Go now, while it is small, before the reviews pile up and the seats become hard to get. Twenty reviews is not a verdict it is an invitation to form your own. The Lion’s Den Comedy Club is a new Soho venue with good early reviews and all the potential in the world. That is enough to make it worth your evening.
Auf Wiedersehen, amigo!
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: editor@prat.uk
