This Saturday, 7 December, a new comedy show comes to town and there’s not a stand-up comedian in sight. Sketchy, by Best Before Productions is a combination of sketch and musical comedy and takes place in the Spread Eagle. We catch up with Sketchy producer and Croydon local, Amber Ash, to find out more.

Croydonist: Firstly Croydon native or convert and what area do you call home?

Amber: Croydon native! I was raised in South Croydon and returned here a year ago after almost seven years away.

Croydonist: How did you become a comedy producer?

Amber: In the summer of 2023, I took my first trip to the Edinburgh Fringe, as Publicist for the Cambridge Footlights and Assistant Producer for a narrative sketch show by comedian Will BF. What was initially just a tick-off-the-bucket-list trip reignited an old obsession with comedy and introduced me to the world of alternative comedy (no stand up!!). I’ve been working on shows ever since, alongside other freelancing. This year I supported four productions in Edinburgh, took one to the Croydonites Fringe, and last month I celebrated a year of producing Sketchy.

Croydonist: When did you start Best Before Productions?

Amber: I set up Best Before in October 2023 with my friend Maya, who I met on a master’s course that year. Having developed a play together, which we also took up to Edinburgh, we returned from the Fringe knowing that we wanted to continue making things and that we made a strong team. We started reaching out to our favourite performers, pooled our profits from the Fringe run, and Best Before was born.

Our first project, Sketchy, was born from the fact that most alternative comedy nights are hosted in North or East London, and very few are consistent with their programming. We wanted to establish something that brought alternative comedy south of the river, with line ups that consistently prioritise forms such as sketch, musical, and character comedy. Alongside that, we’ve recently wrapped on our first short film, which is currently in post-production.

Croydonist: Tell us more about Sketchy.

Amber: Sketchy is an event we’ve been running regularly in Stockwell for a year now, and we’re so excited to be able to bring it to Croydon!

The night consists of seven sketch, musical, and character comedy acts, hosted by an MC who can do anything other than regular stand up. We’ve had hosts who have improvised songs about audience members, given the night a murder mystery narrative framing, and even a caveman host who entered over the seats of the audience. We look forward to seeing what future forms it might take!

Croydonist: Who are the comedians performing?

Amber: Croydon’s Sketchy will be hosted by musical and character comedian Su Mi (BBC New Comedy Awards nominee). It features Andrew Doherty (Brighton Fringe Best Comedy 2024 winner); Hudson Hughes, who in January will be taking a crazy Dr Dolittle show to Soho Theatre; and Croydon-based comedian Dick Denham, who will be experimenting with musical comedy elements.

Alex Franklin and Nikola McMurtrie (‘weird’ – The Telegraph) will be debuting a snippet of a comedy musical they are developing; Oscar Matthews will be making his solo debut; Will BF will be bringing their usual whimsy, and Jake Detenber (Leicester Square Sketch Off Finalist) will be presenting new sketch material. It’s going to be a great mix!

Croydonist: A percentage of your ticket sales are going to Croydon Night Watch – why did you choose this charity?

Amber: It means a lot for me to be able to produce this event so locally, as Croydon is a borough that is often overlooked, and we wanted the charity we chose this month to reflect our commitment to invest in South London communities. Croydon Nightwatch is an amazing charity that works tirelessly to support homeless people in the local area. The team is out every night in the town centre, to offer food, clothing, warm bedding, and more. We hope that this event will both highlight and support the work they do, at a time of year in which it is needed more than ever.

Croydonist: What are you most looking forward to about Saturday?

Amber: I’m really looking forward to getting a different crowd along to Sketchy… especially those who haven’t seen any alternative comedy before!

Croydonist: Funniest thing about Croydon?

Amber: Its unusual approach to marketing 😉

Thank you to Amber for chatting with us.

Sketchy takes place this Saturday, 7 December 2024 at The Spread Eagle. The event, which is supported by Culture Croydon is Pay As You Feel – grab your tickets here.

Keep up to date with events by Best Before Productions on their Instagram.

Images courtesy of Best Before Productions.

Posted by Julia