The founding father of America lived at Benjamin Franklin House for almost two decades
A night at Benjamin Franklin House, concedes comedian Nik Coppin, may be the antithesis of his recent Edinburgh Festival Show. “It was called Shaggers, and it stuck two fingers up at the high-brow,” he declares, mounting a muted defence by arguing that the founding father of America may have approved of the gig.
Afternoon performances at festivals full of kids also leave him in a quandary (“do I swear, don’t I swear? You’ve got to address it really quickly and get the swearwords out of the way, then everybody laughs and you move on.”) But he’s determined to lay on a show which won’t disgrace an academic backdrop on Wednesday, when he’s responsible for putting on the first ever comedy night at the museum.
Canadian comedian Tony Law
“We had a chat and both seemed to like the idea,” he recalls of the negotiation process, initiated after an ex-girlfriend who worked at the House suggested it to him. Franklin lived and worked at the landmark, set within cackling distance of Trafalgar Square, for 16 years on the eve of the 18th century US revolution. “It’s not exactly your normal comedy venue – there’s no bar or people getting lively. It’s a pleasant little room in the house, so that’s it.”
With a capacity of around 40 and licensing laws preventing a pay bar, it makes sense for Coppin to be concentrating on luring comedians who are “less your Saturday night at Jongleurs types, more thoughtful and wordy and experimental.”
He wanted Robin Ince, but ended up with “weird and interesting” Canadian Tony Law, Andrew O’Neill and compere Mike Manera, who looks “a bit like a cross between Oscar Wilde and a camp vampire.”
Andrew O'Neill
“There were no ultimatums or restrictions,” says Coppin. “They were concerned about the drinking arrangements, and they said to me ‘don’t worry, it’s not like it’ll be illegal, we won’t get raided by the police.’ Of course I said ‘I was hoping you would,’ because it’d make for a good story.”
The aim of the night, dubbed The Comedy Experiment, is to attract more visitors rather than make a profit, and Coppin has an open mind about the outcome. “You’re not going to get a load of comedians in there swearing and cursing when people might be a bit more high-brow and intellectual and not so pissed,” he predicts. “After this we shall see. Promoting isn’t my forte, it just came my way. I’d be an idiot not to try and get it a bit right.”
The Comedy Experiment takes place at Benjamin Franklin House on Wednesday at 7.30pm, tickets £5/£3. Call 020 7839 2006.
