> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.strangetourist.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Jordan Brookes: "The audience want dark stuff. They crave it" - URL: https://www.strangetourist.co.uk/jordan-brookes-stand-up-comedy-margate-chumps-where-else/ - Published: 2026-11-05T20:50:21.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-06T14:31:51.000Z - Description: As he prepares to perform in Margate, 'the Elvis of comedy' Jordan Brookes' discusses his latest stand up show The Part of You That's Always Screaming - Author: Andy Malt - Tags: Interviews, Comedy, Margate, Thanet, Things to do in Margate Critically acclaimed comedian Jordan Brookes is known for subverting the stand up format. Wildly experimental and often dark, his work remains accessible and shapely observational - he’s previously said that he would like to be seen as “the existential Michael McIntyre”. His 2019 show [I’ve Got Nothing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myOoRrMIyO8&ref=strangetourist.co.uk) was likened to Waiting for Godot and won him the Edinburgh Comedy Award (giving him the record for the longest holder of the prize, when the following year’s festival was cancelled). Under the conceit that he’d failed to write a show that year, desperately attempting to run down the clock, he actually delivered a sharply written hour of misdirection and false endings. [Fontanelle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwthuYaFQkk&ref=strangetourist.co.uk), in 2025, was an entirely different kettle of fish. Billed as “the world’s first stand up musical theatre comedy show about the Titanic”, it featured songs, a full cast and large scale props. Hidden among that was an intimate - and hilarious - examination of masculinity. His latest show, The Part of You That’s Always Screaming, cuts back to a more simple set up. Inspired by an incident on a train, he ponders what it is to be observed and how being seen changes the way a person behaves. As he prepares to bring the show to Where Else in Margate on Wednesday, November 11, Jordan discusses developing his on stage persona, the need to be constantly online, and keeping audiences on their toes. ### What’s the premise of The Part Of You That’s Always Screaming? I was on a train and a man watched me eat a croissant and I hated it, so the whole show is about that. Yes, the whole show. No more questions. ### In a show that deals with how we act when we’re observed, how much does it change from night to night based on the audience’s reaction to it? Okay, more questions. Oh, I love reacting to the audience’s reactions. Sometimes as a performer you can flake out when the audience don’t laugh, but I’m always interested to know why. What was it about that bit that made it not land? Tell me now or I’ll end the show I swear to god. At the Edinburgh Fringe a guy wasn’t laughing at all and I asked him why and he said his favourite comic was Jerry Lewis, so I made my stage manager try to find clips of Jerry Lewis to play underneath me to satisfy him. Watching her scramble in the tech box trying to work out how to do that was ridiculous. ### You’ve had some very high concept and technically challenging shows. Have you felt pressure to one-up yourself through your career and is this more stripped back show a response to that? I’ve always done stripped back shows - I started with a rule of not having any tech, sometimes not a mic, or even shoes. So, whenever I do a show with high concept and technically challenging bits it feels like it’s a deviation from that, rather than that being my ‘thing’. ![An oil painting of a bald man smiling](https://storage.ghost.io/c/06/39/0639efc0-b873-4e30-ac06-2893b029d0e0/content/images/2026/11/Jordan-Full-sized-1.png) Artwork for The Part of You That's Always Screaming. **Painting: Poppy Hillstead* ### As much as your comedy isn’t going to be for everyone and you often have the appearance of being antagonistic, you do a good job of keeping as many people as possible on board. How do you strike that balance of being both experimental and accessible? I think it’s just about grounding it in real world scenarios. So, while we might end up somewhere experimental or strange the audience fully understand the logic of how we got here. ### As your fanbase grows, does the fact that more people are on board from the outset present its own problems? Sometimes the audience are laughing just because they like me and while that can make me feel relaxed to play around a bit more, I do worry I’m not getting a ‘real’ reaction. So I’ll do work in progress shows where I know no one will know who I am, mixed bill nights where I’m just another random name. It’s important to not forget how to fight to make it work in front of a cold audience, I think. ## Sign up for Strange Tourist | Thanet culture guide Your go-to guide for culture, events and coastal life in Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs and beyond Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### The other big balance in your act is between darkness and absurdity. Is it difficult to get the level of each right and do you ever find you veer too much one way or the other? When I started I think I definitely skewed too dark sometimes and I had to learn how to soften that. But it’s also like, the audience do want dark stuff. They crave it. If you asked them ‘do you want to watch a dark or challenging thing tonight?’ they might instinctively say no, but then when they watch it they’re like ‘oh yeah, I’m glad I went through that, thanks for the experience’. I’d say ‘no problem, glad you enjoyed’. ### What was your first gig like? Can you remember the material you were doing then? I was obviously nervous and I prattled on for longer than my allotted time but the jokes were there, I think. I just hadn’t worked out who I was when being looked at by an audience. ![A bald man in a tight shirt wears a small sailor's cap and does a peace sign with his tongue out](https://storage.ghost.io/c/06/39/0639efc0-b873-4e30-ac06-2893b029d0e0/content/images/2026/11/jordan-brookes-fontanelle-1.jpg) Jordan Brookes performs his previous show Fontanelle. **Photo: Max Clendaniel* ### Your persona was there from the start. Do you remember a point where you felt you’d really nailed down who you wanted to be on stage though? A few gigs in I found that me being more desperate and on the verge of a breakdown helped sell things more, but also, that wasn’t an intentional choice. It just came about from the way the audience would react to my stuff. So I’ve never felt like I’ve nailed who I want to be on stage. I don’t really have a say in the matter. ### For many people, the only way they ever engage with your work will be through short form videos on social media. How do you feel about that? I don’t mind it. If it helps get people through the door then I’m happy. You won’t find a comic who isn’t resentful of the way things are now though. It feels like we’re having to be a Swiss Army knife of constant output and that can feel draining. I know most of us are fatigued by the pressure. I don’t want to be ‘on’ all the time. I’m a boring man. I like reading and playing video games and being left alone. Leave me alone. ### Alright then, one more question! You’ve performed in Margate a few times before. Is there anything you’re looking forward to when you come back? I really love the sea. I really love seaside arcades. I really love the constant threat of seagulls diving down to steal your food. If I could afford (career-wise) to not be in London I would definitely look at relocating to somewhere like Margate. *Jordan Brookes performs his latest show The Part of Your That’s Always Screaming at Where Else in Margate on Wednesday, November 11\.* [*Tickets £17*](https://dice.fm/partner/tickets/event/bb8kbm-jordan-brookes-the-part-of-you-thats-always-screaming-11th-nov-where-else-margate-tickets?dice%5Fid=8361126&dice%5Fchannel=web&dice%5Ftags=organic&dice%5Fcampaign=Chump%27s+Comedy&dice%5Ffeature=mio%5Fmarketing&%5Fbranch%5Fmatch%5Fid=1641946888096057451&utm%5Fsource=web&utm%5Fcampaign=Chump%27s+Comedy&utm%5Fmedium=mio%5Fmarketing&%5Fbranch%5Freferrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXz8nMy9ZLyUxO1UvL1Q81TDEzSU00TUkzSLOvK0pNSy0qysxLj08qyi8vTi2yDU5MSyzKBADn2vOjOwAAAA%3D%3D)*.*