'The Midlands has a special place in my heart': Phil Ellis talks comedy and his love for the region

The West Midlands has produced a lot of comedians and comic figures over the years, with the likes of Jasper Carrott, Lenny Henry, Joe Lycett and Frank Skinner born and bred in the region.

Additionally, it has also become a breeding ground for comics from across the region, with many big names getting their big break in the West Midlands.

One person who is thankful for his time learning and crafting his comedy in the West Midlands is Phil Ellis.

The Lancastrian comic has been on the scene for more than 20 years, playing shows all over the country and becoming a regular at the Edinburgh Festival, as well as being on series 20 of Taskmaster.

He has also been one of the headliners at the Midlands Fringe in Wolverhampton, putting on a very funny show at the Arena Theatre on July 22, and said that he was thankful for all the time he’d spent coming to the Midlands to get into the industry.

He said: “My career started here in the Midlands as when I started comedy, I didn’t know how you got gigs and so I just rang up every venue while I was living in Congleton and working in an airbag factory.

“I wanted to started comedy, so I rang up venues like the theatre in Stoke, because they had Jimmy Carr playing, and ask if I could do a gig, but they’d say no.

“Eventually, the town hall in Stourbridge got in touch and said they had an open sport and I’d have to do a course, which I said I couldn’t really do because I lived three hours away, but that was the only way I could get the gig.

“I did the course over 12 weeks, doing a gig every second week, and then my first ever gig was in the Midlands and, over the next two years, I did eight one year and 12 the next and they were all in the Midlands.

“The artistic director here at the Arena used to run a brilliant gig called Juice Comedy which I did regularly, so the Midlands has a very special place in my heart for comedy as it’s where I started.”

Phil admitted he hadn’t really heard of the Midlands Fringe before being asked to do it, saying that outside of comedy, he didn’t really pay attention to the scene, but said he’d been impressed with what he’d seen since arriving at the festival.

He said: “This is my first year being aware of the Midlands Fringe, but I’ve come to this venue and I think it’s a beautiful venue and all of the team have been incredible.

“I turned up not having told them what I needed and within, I reckon, 15 minutes, everyone had gone everything sorted out beyond the point that I could imagine we’d be ready to go.

“I’ve been excited and there’s lots of great acts as I’ve read the brochure, so it seems to be growing and becoming more of a major player.”

Phil said his show at the Midlands Fringe was very much a work-in-progress show, condensing his “Bath Mat” show down from two-and-a-half hours to an hour ahead of his run in Edinburgh, but said he hoped people would enjoy it and spoke about his hopes going forwards.

He said: “My one hope for this evening is that maybe a millionairess who thinks I’m a lord and wants an English title will marry me into money, but, failing that, I’d like everyone to have a good time.

“That’s the only reason I ever do these shows and I just want people to have a good laugh for an hour and there’s no particular narrative and you’re not going to leave having learnt something.

“I just want you to have fun for an hour and, hopefully, everyone will have a good laugh and we’ll have a nice time and then we’ll all go our separate ways and never talk about it again!”