LOLSHEVISM

Lolshevism is a new socialist feminist comedy club in Leeds. Founded in 2016 by people who liked Jeremy Corbyn, bell hooks and terrible puns, we aim to provide a comedy club free from misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism and other things from the UKIP manifesto.

Held monthly just next to Leeds Uni, we offer new, original, topical comedy from both old and new faces and headlining sets from the best stand ups on the circuit.

What do we mean by “socialist feminist comedy”?

We want our comedy club to be open to all, a space for joy, celebration, bad puns, cheesy songs, a place where no matter who you are, you can get away from the horrible nature of society and have a damn good time. As long term performers, we've been shocked by how much casual sexism, transphobia, homophobia and bigotry acts throw out and call comedy. We've spoken to friends who avoid comedy clubs for precisely this reason.

We are socialists and feminists. We want to take the fight to the Tories, to structural misogyny, to bigotry passed off as just a joke, to people who punch down in comedy, and we want to have a damn good time doing it.

Jacob Rawcliffe is a stand-up, receptionist and Man of Leisure. Originally from Reading, but much prefers the North, having lived in Leeds for 6 years. He has been performing comedy for 6 years, having gone to university as an excuse to start. He has gigged all around the North, co-founded The Pigeon Hole comedy night and was one half of the legendary '90s double act The Mad Bishop & The Bear. He is currently in Leeds, dividing his time between working for the university and watching snooker.

My name's Rosie Dent-Brown and I'm from Hull (which I like to add because it keeps you on your toes after the double-barrelled surname). In my past life I was an actual honest-to-god academic studying AKB48, a terrifying Japanese pop band that I don't even like. Now I work in IT because I wanted a break from all the anime nerds but don't have very good decision-making skills. I think feminist comedy is important because I am human female who lives in the world and also because I discovered like fifteen years ago that the best way to make all the mean boys in Year 8 feel like shit was to make people laugh at them.

Chris Waugh was born in Manchester but sounds quite posh because he spent a long time in the South, trying to learn about their ways, higher salaries, and inabilities to afford a round at the bar without a small bank loan. He has been performing comedy for seven years, and has gigged in Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Cardiff, London, Norwich, and, for some reason, Oslo. He is the co-founder of No Fixed Abode, a Cambridge based feminist comedy collective, and the co-founder of Newnham Smoker, a feminist and queer comedy club in Cambridge. He is currently in Leeds doing a PhD in Gender Studies, where (as a straight cis man) he spends most of his time apologising for patriarchy. Outside of comedy, he likes brutal death metal and kittens.