Mark Simmons
The Comedian's Comedian Podcast
Stuart Goldsmith
4.8 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2025
⏱️ 79 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week I’m joined by one of the UK’s top one-liner comedians (and 2024’s Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe winner), Mark Simmons! Known for his razor-sharp wordplay, inventive misdirection and relentless punchlines - Mark’s new special, Quip Off The Mark, is now available to stream for FREE on YouTube.
In this episode we discuss why some jokes just don’t work, discovering underground comedy, the external factors that can affect a gig and the gentle balance between gut instinct and methodical joke development.
Join the Insiders Club at patreon.com/comcompod where you can WATCH the full episode and get access to over 20 minutes of extras including discovering new joke structures, the impact of performing with Crohn’s disease, early success in the lifecycle of TikTok and the difficulty in following other one-liner comics.
Support the Podcast from only £3/month at Patreon.com/ComComPod
✅ Exclusive access to full video and ad-free audio episodes
✅ 20 minutes of exclusive extra content with Mark
✅ Exclusive membership offerings including a monthly “Stu&A”
PLUS you’ll get access to the full back catalogue of extras you can find nowhere else, including:
✅ Russell Howard on the importance of the edit
✅ Lise Mayer answering your questions on The Young Ones
✅ Rhys James on how to succeed in a writers’ rooms
Catch Up with Mark:
Mark Simmons' new special, Quip Off The Mark, is now available to stream for FREE on YouTube.
You can also see him LIVE throughout 2026 with Jest To Impress, find out all the dates and more at marksimmons.co.uk.
Everything Stu's up to:
Come and help me figure out some NEW STUFF…
Discover Stu’s comedy about the climate crisis, for everyone from activists to CEOs, at https://www.stuartgoldsmith.com/climate.
Find everything else at https://linktr.ee/stuartgoldsmith.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the show. I'm Stuart Goldsmith and today I'm sitting backstage at a television studio, |
| 0:21.4 | not with my normal gear on microphones, which is why this sounds both resonant and tinny. |
| 0:27.1 | But nonetheless, it's exciting size, because today I'm joined by one of the UK's top one-liner |
| 0:32.5 | comedians and also 24's Dave's funniest joke with the fringe winner. It is, of course, Mark Simmons. |
| 0:38.8 | You'll know Mark for his length, his height, I should say, really. |
| 0:43.6 | His shock of ginger hair, his razor sharp wordplay, |
| 0:46.6 | his inventive risk direction and relentless punchlines, it says here. |
| 0:50.2 | I mean, that is absolutely accurate, as we'll discuss in this episode. |
| 0:53.4 | He is so watchable because it's a new idea every five seconds. |
| 0:57.2 | His new special, Quip Off the Mark, is now available to stream for free on YouTube. |
| 1:02.5 | So check that out. |
| 1:03.6 | In the first half of this episode, we will discuss his rival podcast. |
| 1:08.3 | We'll find out why some jokes just don't work. |
| 1:10.3 | We'll talk about the frustration |
| 1:11.6 | of continuing joke development after recording a special. That is something we all suffer |
| 1:17.1 | from. That's a fun thing to talk about. We'll talk about the joy of discovering underground |
| 1:21.8 | comedy, the external factors that can affect a gig, and the belief needed to succeed through times |
| 1:27.2 | of failure. |
| 1:28.0 | Remember, you can join the Insiders Club at patreon.com.com.com pod from three pounds a month. |
| 1:32.5 | You can watch the full episode there, and you can get access to over 20 minutes of extras, |
| 1:36.4 | including Mark's experience having Crohn's disease, combining with the stress of performing. |
| 1:41.4 | We'll talk about early success in the life cycle of TikTok, |
... |
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