Past Events, Podcasts and Videos

Stand-up Philosophy is back for the new year – with Charlie back in the host’s seat (well, kind of perching by the window). And with 2016 now behind us, this month we look at HISTORY.

History is important. But why? And what even is it?

Are people who don’t know history really doomed to repeat it? Can we free ourselves from our personal histories? Can history be re-written? And was ‘HIStory’ really Michael Jackson’s worst album?

Joining Charlie to answer these questions will be…

ISZI LAWRENCE! (Stand-up comedian and host of hit history podcast ‘Z-List Dead List’)

BISHA ALI! (Brilliant stand-up)

ELLA AL-SHAMAHI! (Comedian and Archaeo-paleoanthropological legend)

HARRY HOUSEHAM! (Stand-up and Director of the Oxford Imps)

With host and philosopher/comedian CHARLIE DUNCAN SAFFREY!

After saving Democracy we’re back again for the last Charlie-less stand-up philosophy!

Alex is drunk with power and has shamelessly booked his favourite acts, all tied together under an implausibly nebulous theme. What are Tricks? Can tricks be philosophical? Will the acts save us from the promoter’s artifice?

To answer these questions and save the night’s reputation we have…

Stand-up
THOM TUCK

Philosopher
EMILY HARDING

Neuroscientist
LAURIE PYCROFT

Comedian
ESHAAN AKBAR

All duplicitiously hosted by last minute replacement
ALEX MASON

With only a week to go before the US Presidential Election we’ve assembled a crack team of philosophers and comedians to tackle the thorny issue of Democracy. Is Democracy is a good thing? Even if it results in Brexit? Really? Promise?

To answer these questions and presumably more we have…

Comic-philosopher
STUART BLACK

Philosopher and author of dissecting the frog blog (https://dissectingthefrog.blogspot.co.uk/) all the way from the University of Helsinki
DONNCHADH O’CONNAILL

Comedian
CRESSIDA WETTON

Standup
ED NIGHT

All democratically hosted by
AHIR SHAH

Charlie’s away but Stand-up Philosophy’s back, and this month we’ll be looking at intelligence. What is intelligence? Who is intelligent? When will the machines rise up and destroy us all?

To answer these questions and more we have…

Comedian and host of Quantum Leopard
JAMES ROSS

Writer, computer scientist, and low level prophet
ALEX MASON

Brilliant Stand-up
SIÂN DOCKSEY

Philosopher
CHRIS PIKE

All intelligently designed by host
ALEX FARROW

Why are some topics controversial? Why do things which seem so obviously awful to some people seem so obviously fine to others? And is Marmite *really* something worth getting so worked up about (it’s just a yeast spread, people)?

Answering these questions and others will be…

Top comedian and satirist
NATHANIEL TAPLEY!

Brilliant stand-up
BISHA ALI! (Replaced at the last minute by TIM RENKOW)

Philosopher
Dr. GABRIEL MARTIN!

And hosting, and actually doing a proper bit for once,
CHARLIE DUNCAN SAFFREY!

As the philosopher George Michael once said, you’ve got to have faith. But faith in what?

Does science involve faith? In what ways is faith in a person the same as faith in a God? And why do we keep putting faith in weather forecasters when they are so frequently wrong?

Answering this and other questions will be…

Top stand-up, writer and recent panellist on BBC Question Time
GRAINNE MAGUIRE!

Comedian and journalist
ADAM LINDSAY!

Philosopher
Dr. GABRIEL MARTIN!

Stand-up comedian
ANNA DOMINEY!

All hosted by CHARLIE DUNCAN SAFFREY!

We all make mistakes. (We’re not like one of those chess computers that beat Garry Kasparov). Mistakes are human.

But it would be a TERRIBLE mistake to miss the next Stand-up Philosophy show, where we’ll find out: Should we forgive people for their mistakes? Why do people make so many of them while they’re drunk? And why are other people’s mistakes so funny?

Answering this and other questions is a brilliant lineup starring…

The very exciting return of top stand-up
AHIR SHAH!

Comedian and star of the hit ‘Z List Dead List’ podcast!
ISZI LAWRENCE!

Stand-up, writer and computer scientist
ALEX MASON!

Philosopher
Dr. TIM CARTER!

And holding things together flawlessly, host CHARLIE DUNCAN SAFFREY!

For April’s Stand-up Philosophy show we’ll be talking about physics and metaphysics (and maybe even meta-metaphysics, if that’s a thing. Is that a thing?)

Is there anything beyond the physical world? What’s the point of gravity? Did anything cause the universe? And what exactly is a quark?

Answering this and other questions is a genuinely spectacular lineup, starring…

Comedian and star of Festival of the Spoken Nerd
HELEN ARNEY!

The triumphant return of Adelaide Fringe comedy award-winner and brill philosopher
DOUGIE WALKER!

Stand-up Paleoanthropologist
ELLA AL-SHAMAHI!

PLUS!
a special guest slot from comedy legend ROBIN INCE!

And pulling everything together a bit like gravity doesn’t, host CHARLIE DUNCAN SAFFREY!

People! Places! It usually helps to have the right people in the right places, although it’s not easy to know what that means. Why do some places mean more to us than others? What does ‘home’ mean? And why does it take so much longer to get there when you really need the toilet?

The place is the Jeremy Bentham pub; and the people will be…

Top Comic
KATE SMURTHWAITE!

Stand-up Comedian
RUSS MULLIGAN!

Comic and Stand-up Philosopher
ALEX FARROW!

and Philosopher and comedian
ANNA DOMINEY!

And making sure everyone is in their proper places, host CHARLIE DUNCAN SAFFREY!

Some people think that philosophy is nonsense. Some people think that doing philosophy is the only way to avoid nonsense. (The second group tend to be philosophers). So at Stand-up Philosophy, it’s about time we decided what actually is nonsense and what isn’t…

Featuring…

Comedian,writer and star of Radio’s ‘Infinite Monkey Cage’
ROBIN INCE!

Philosopher
HUW REES!

and Philosopher
EMILY HARDING!

All just about held together by host CHARLIE DUNCAN SAFFREY!