The Sequel Nobody Asked For That Everyone Loves Anyway
When the Top Secret Comedy Club near Covent Garden had accumulated enough goodwill, enough reviews, and enough evidence that its model worked, the logical next step was to do it again somewhere nearby. The result is the Top Secret Comedy Club at 23 Kingsway the franchise extension that has managed, in considerably less time than its parent venue, to accumulate nearly 2,000 reviews at a 4.9-star rating. This is either a testament to the strength of the brand or compelling evidence that Holborn was desperately underserved by quality comedy venues and the market was simply waiting to be filled.
Why Kingsway?
23 Kingsway sits in Holborn the slightly unglamorous strip of central London that connects the West End to the City and is primarily famous for being the bit you walk through to get somewhere else. It is home to law firms, accountancy practices, the LSE, and a surprising number of people eating meal deals on the pavement at lunchtime. It is not, historically, a comedy destination. It did not have a comedy identity. It was simply a street with good transport links and reasonable rents by central London standards.
The Top Secret Comedy Club has changed this, somewhat, by establishing a venue that draws from the enormous working population of the surrounding area as well as from the West End comedy audience that already knew the brand. The result is a room with a slightly different character from the Covent Garden original more office workers, fewer tourists, more people who have just finished something and decided that comedy was the answer but the same quality of programming and the same astonishing value for money.
The Same Formula, Another Postcode
The Kingsway room operates identically to the Covent Garden venue: professional circuit acts, a strong compère, shows running from around 8pm, prices that begin at the sort of level that makes you question whether you have misread the ticket. The no-frills basement aesthetic is consistent across both locations this is not a venue trying to create an Instagram moment. It is a venue trying to put good comedy in front of an audience and get out of the way.
Double bills on Friday and Saturday nights give the Kingsway location an edge for people who want a full evening’s entertainment without paying West End headliner prices. The acts on double bill nights span the full range of the circuit from newer acts building their set to experienced performers who could fill a theatre but choose to work the club circuit because it keeps them sharp.
Reviews and Reputation
Nearly 2,000 reviews at 4.9 stars for a venue that has been operating for a fraction of the time of the Covent Garden original is a remarkable achievement. It suggests that the Top Secret formula is genuinely transferable and that the Kingsway audience has adopted the venue as enthusiastically as the Covent Garden crowd adopted the original. The reviews consistently praise the value, the quality of the acts, and the unpretentious atmosphere three things that, taken together, suggest a venue that knows exactly what it is and has no interest in being anything else.
The Verdict
The Top Secret Comedy Club at 23 Kingsway is the rare sequel that matches the original. Same prices, same quality, different postcode and a location that makes it especially convenient for anyone working in or around Holborn, the City fringes, or the LSE. If the Covent Garden location is full on a Friday night, Kingsway is not merely a consolation prize. It is, in almost every meaningful respect, the same prize with a slightly different tube stop.
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
