Birmingham comic James Cook has been at the heart of the region’s comedy scene for over 20 years. In that time, he’s performed alongside the likes of Gary Delaney and Paul Sinha, presented radio shows on major networks, penned a couple of books, played board games at an international level, and done plenty more besides. He currently hosts the monthly Jackpot Comedy Club in Bearwood, produces a deep-dive music podcast with fellow comic Andy Robinson, and also trains the next generation of Midlands comedy talent via his popular stand-up courses. For 2026’s Birmingham Comedy Festival, James unveils his latest live game/comedy show, The Saboteur, and comperes the festival’s annual Breaking Talent Award. What’s On recently caught up with him to find out more...

You took part in the very first Birmingham Comedy Festival back in 2001, James. Any memories of that festival?
Despite being only two years old in 2001, I remember running a New Act Competition - despite being a new act myself - with the final at the old Bier Keller in Birmingham. There was huge controversy over the final vote tally. Let’s just say that a comedian who has since become a regular presence on our television screens was not happy that they came second to an act who has since given up comedy and now drives a taxi in Washington DC.

This year you’re bringing your new live game show, The Saboteur, to the stage, as part of the festival’s Free Half-Dayer. What can people expect?
It’s a cross between Taskmaster and The Traitors, but legally distinct enough from both so that we don’t get into trouble. A bunch of comedians will play some games in order to build up a prize fund... but one of them will secretly be ‘The Saboteur’, who is incentivised to play badly. ‘The Saboteur’ can only win if they remain hidden - and no-one else in the room will know who they are; not me, not the audience. The show ultimately boils down to the question ‘Who is being rubbish on purpose, and who can’t help it?’ We’ve done some trial runs at other, lesser festivals, and they’ve all gone really well, so I’m excited.

You and Andy Robinson also dissect past pop singles charts for your podcast, Shooby Dooby Doo Wop. With over 150 episodes, you must know plenty of obscure pop facts by now...
I’ve learned what superstar rapper Drake and Boycie from Only Fools And Horses have in common, that there’s only been one UK number-one single with the same name as a Hitchcock movie, and that the smallest whale is smaller than the smallest Chrysler [car] - so technically every Chrysler is as big as a whale, whether you’re headed to the Love Shack or not.

You’ve been MC at the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award for many years now - how important is the competition to the region’s comedy scene?
Every year, five new-ish - but not brand new - acts are nominated by a panel of industry insiders, and they each do 10 minutes of their best stuff in a big show at The Glee Club. There is a competition element to it, but that’s secondary to the real purpose of the show, which is to highlight some of the brilliant talent that’s knocking around the West Midlands comedy scene. Also, the first prize is a mug. Past winners include Josh Pugh, Celya AB and Hasan Al-Habib, and past finalists include Lindsey Santoro, Eric Rushton and Gary Powndland. Tom Towelling, who won the award a couple of years ago, was just nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe.

The local scene is stronger than ever right now, and I don’t think there’s another scene in the country that comes close to us for exciting and diverse talent. By the way, ‘diverse’ doesn’t just mean what background the acts are from; it also means the different styles of comedy.

Who’s in the line-up this year?
This year we have sardonic one-liners from Naph, character comedy from Tarik Badwan performing as ‘Rik Goodman’, nerdy Dave-Gorman-style pedantry from Andy Bucks, silly whimsical joy from Nina Semple and no-holds-barred confessional stand-up from Eden Voss. It’s another brilliant line-up. I genuinely have no idea who’ll ‘win’ on the night, because they’re all really funny.

When did you start running stand-up courses?
It’s been 20 years. The course is designed to get you from zero to five minutes of stand-up over a couple of months. We cover working out what kind of comedy you want to do and how you generate your own material, then give you the confidence and performance skills to actually do a stand-up gig - there’s an optional showcase at the end of the course. Ultimately, it’s a bunch of comedy fans talking about jokes and mucking about. No-one is made to do anything they don’t want to do. The atmosphere is really friendly, relaxed and supportive. I really enjoy teaching the course - and seeing people who are convinced they’d never be able to get up in front of an audience and tell a joke, actually surpass their own expectations and have a great time is a proper thrill.

Have any of your former students gone on to successful comedy careers?
There have been a few. Lindsey Santoro has appeared on Mock The Week as well as lots of other TV shows. Jay Handley is a professional comedian who runs the Fat Penguin Comedy Club in Moseley and is a regular performer at the Edinburgh Fringe. Danny Clives has performed at the London Palladium. Tal Davies and Hannah Weetman, who met on the course, have just won an award for a sitcom script that they’ve written. But most of the people who do the course don’t want to be full-time comedians; they want to tick something off their bucket list, or they’re comedy fans and are interested in how it works.

Birmingham Comedy Festival runs from Friday 2 to Sunday 11 October. Full details can be found at bhamcomfest.co.uk