Sussex comedian and promoter Stephen Grant receives prestigious award

The award which is voted for exclusively by the comedy industry is a huge recognition of the achievements which Stephen and his company “Funny That Comedy” have made this year.

Having previously ran the hugely popular multi-award winning Krater Comedy Club at Komedia Brighton for 23 years, he was a key promoter of Covid safe comedy throughout the pandemic when all the main venues remained shut down. When Komedia surprisingly changed direction at the end of 2021, Stephen and his team formed a partnership with the Pride organization to start the Forge Comedy Club at Ironworks Studios, bringing the very best names in stand up to Brighton.

In just 12 months names such as Romesh Ranganathan, John Bishop, Russell Kane, Sara Pascoe and Joel Dommett have come to the Forge and other Funny That venues across Sussex, alongside rising stars who Stephen continues to nurture due to his long term commitment to stand up comedy, with touring shows across 2023 from emerging names such as Suzi Ruffell, Charlie Baker, Paul Smith, Dan Nightingale, and Vittorio Angelone.

Additionally, 2023 sees Stephen bring Funny That Comedy to shows throughout Sussex, with regular gigs in Haywards Heath, Lindfield, Hassocks, Alfriston, and Peacehaven and their new venue in Kingston on the outskirts of Lewes, which launches in March.

The award recognises that the team is made up of event professionals entirely drawn from the comedy world, to provide a passion and focus unmatched in the South, and special attention was made to the Summer comedy festival Funny That curates at Brighton Open Air Theatre, which is a regular sell out and a much vaunted highlight of the comedy calender.

Business Manager Dave Fensome from Funny That, a key part of this success, said “Financially times have never been tougher, people need a laugh more than ever. Not everyone wants to add the expense of a trip into a metropolitan centre to their night out. So using our expertise and bringing absolutely cracking line up’s to unexpected places is a real passion”,

When asked about what winning the award means Stephen had the following to say “Absolutely made up to have won this award and honoured to be recognised like this – breathtaking when you consider how good everyone else is out there. No exaggeration to say the only reason I could do this was the people I work with – especially Lucy MacDonald, who is thoroughly deserving of this award also, and critically the incredible support of the industry itself, who have made The Forge something really quite spectacular indeed.”