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About Tom Stade
Cool Canadian émigré Tom Stade has been earning an exciting reputation on the UK comedy circuit with his magnetic stage presence and first-class story-telling. After years topping the bill and playing at international comedy festivals around the globe, comedian Tom Stade is now established as a leading touring act in his own right. Since 2011, he has been on the road in the UK every year with a new show, playing to packed houses and garnering rave reviews.
Star of BBC1’S Live At The Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and The John Bishop Show, Tom’s inimitable style and sharp observations have been well recognised – after years of dedicated gigging, he scooped a nomination for Best Headliner at the Chortle Awards. A permanent fixture at the Edinburgh festival, his hit show What Year Was That? firmly cemented his reputation as a distinctive and formidable live act. Tom Stade returned to the festival in 2012 with Tom Stade Totally Rocks, receiving rave reviews and subsequently touring the show to over 100 theatres across the UK. In response to popular demand, Tom Stade performed a greatest hits show at the Edinburgh festival in 2013, and has taken his shows there each year, and on tour, with Decisions, Decisions, You’re Welcome, I Swear…, and I Swear To… which has now been nominated at the 2019 Scottish Comedy Awards.
Remaining in great demand internationally, Tom Stade has been invited to notable comedy festivals worldwide including New York, Aspen, Montreal, Toronto, Amsterdam, Kilkenny, Adelaide, Melbourne and New Zealand. We’re sure it won’t be long until Tom Stade finds himself well on the road to being a comedy household name!
WATCH TOM STADE: I SWEAR TO…
Canadian comic rebel Tom Stade tackles cross generational conundrums in this swaggering hour of rock and roll comedy. Armed with his usual playful sense of mischief, join Tom as he attempts to figure out exactly where he fits into this emerging new world of feelings, FaceTime, and discovering you’ve become somewhat…vintage.
Reviews and Awards
Tom Stade’s show I Swear To… has been nominated for Best Festival Solo Show at the Scottish Comedy Awards 2019. He has previously been nominated for Best Headliner at the Chortle Awards.
‘Every inch a star…super confidence and charisma. If comedy is the new Rock ‘n’ Roll, then Tom Stade is Keith Richards’
Scottish Daily Record
‘Gloriously funny, silly and smart’
Scotsman
‘Fresh and endlessly funny. Slick, intelligent, sparkling charm’
Independent
‘Absolutely boxfresh. Nothing is staid about Stade’
Evening Standard
‘Master of hardcore comedy’
List
Tom Stade Tickets
Information on comedian Tom Stade’s upcoming gigs and live shows can be found here
Can’t wait to see him live? Stream his full show now
Biography
Brought up in the backwoods of British Columbia, Tom Stade first earned his comedy stripes in Canada, where he went on to record his own one-hour TV special, Stade And Confused, for the Comedy Network. Tom Stade spoke to Broadway Baby about his beginnings there: “I worked a lot in Canada. I’ve been up and down that country a few times, from Newfoundland to Vancouver City. There is only one circus there but if you’re in it you will travel. You can only go so far in Canada…Most of my life is an accident. A proper accident. I went to the States and had my moment there and that was fun, and when I came [to the UK] things fell into place. I mean when God laughs at your plans… that is true for me, I’m not religious or anything but the universe…That’s where am at right now. I’m not planning anything. I’ve tried to plan so many times before and its left me broke so fuck it.”
So does he remember when and where his very first gig was ? He reveals to FringePig that it was back in 1988 “….in an awesome little club in Gastown Vancouver called Punchlines. It was an amateur night and I went up as a character I called Fish…real grungy guy… ripped jeans and shit like that… I’m kinda laughing right now cause I don’t know why I called him that… I miss being 18 not needing a reason for anything… but I got a couple of good laughs… I seem to recall a joke about farting in an elevator… before it was hack of course… and never looked back..”
Tom Stade was encouraged to move from his hometown of Vancouver to the UK in 2001 by his friend and fellow comedian, Craig Campbell. Now largely based in Wolverhampton along with his wife and two kids, Tom Stade is a circuit stalwart who has appeared on stand-up shows at The Comedy Store , The Live Floor Show and The World Stands Up. After making his Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2006 with the show, And Relax, Tom Stade has never looked back. As well as on the live circuit, his irrepressible charm has translated effortlessly to UK television. In the past few years, Tom Stade has been invited onto every major stand-up TV show in the country including The John Bishop Show and Live At The Apollo, and has performed to his largest live audience to date as part of the star-studded line- up on Ch4’s Comedy Gala at London’s 02 arena. He has also been seen on MichaelMcIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Lee Mack’s All Star Cast, BBC 3’s Edinburgh Comedy Fest Live and Ch4’s The Boyle Variety Performance. He has performed twice on Ch4’s Stand-Up for the Week, and was given an extended set on Dave’s One Night Stand. If that wasn’t enough, Tom Stade was also the co-writer and co-star of Frankie Boyle’s Ch4 series Tramadol Nights and starred as a spoof chat-show host in Come Fringe Yourself with Tom Stade, which was recorded at the Edinburgh festival, gathering a cult online following.
Back in his native Canada, Tom has appeared in the critically acclaimed sitcom The Newsroom, and the award-winning feature film My Own Private Oshawa. Alongside the more glamorous screen work, comedian Tom Stade has not been afraid to roll up his sleeves when it comes to performing his work. He has regularly been seen entertaining British troops overseas, braving the freezing cold Falklands, and coming under fire in Afghanistan and Iraq. So, with all this incredible work under his belt, it’s a wonder if he ever envisioned his career panning out with such broad success. When Voicemag asked what first motivated Tom Stade to enter the industry, his response is, as always, effortlessly cool and sharp as pin: “Oh, we’re calling it an industry now? I remember when it was called art… We are not making cars in a factory…I got into it for love…have you heard of it…and the grand play of human existence is my inspiration.”
Get More Tom Stade
Want more of Tom Stade? You’re in luck – his full stand-up comedy special is available to watch on NextUp – a digital comedy club where you can stream instantly over 120 comedy specials from some of the exciting names in comedy. Start watching free, no credit card needed.