Ben Van der Velde

Ben Van der Velde is a stand-up comedian, actor, improviser and presenter, who, over the past few years, has spread joy and nonsense to all four corners of the British Isles, as well as Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Norway.

In 2009, he starred in improvised hit Scenes from Communal Living alongside Rob Broderick of Abandoman and Carly Smallman for both its Edinburgh Fringe and London transfer run. A year later Ben shared a bill with James Acaster and Andrew Doyle in Sex and Hugs and Forward Rolls. He continued to gig all over Britain, earning himself a good reputation with audiences and comics alike. His consistency and persistence were rewarded when in 2011, he was crowned Comedy Café New Act of the Year. Ben then went on to host Just the Tonic’s Big Value Comedy Showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012, impressing industry and punters alike across the month.

A year later he took on his biggest challenge yet: Ben Van der Velde’s Chain Letter, an attempt to rescue the beloved handwritten letter by turning himself into a human chain letter, which was nominated for Best Comedy Show at the Buxton Festival. In 2014 he had another successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe after performing his second show, Strudelhead.

Ben has amassed a few residencies as an MC; most notably at Really Lovely Comedy and the legendary Free Beer Show, where he has featured alongside acts such as Omid Djalili, Reginald D. Hunter, Sarah Millican, Jim Jefferies and Andrew Maxwell . Ben is currently helmsman of the Chortle Award-winning Good Ship Comedy Club in Kilburn, where he can be seen spinning webs of nonsense and good humour every Monday from 8pm. (http://www.thegoodship.co.uk/comedy/)

Ben can be seen in most clubs across the UK and has done paid work for the likes of The Stand, Komedia, Just the Tonic, The Backyard Comedy Club, Covent Garden Comedy Club, Comedy Club 4 Kids, Off the Kerb and The Comedy Café, as well as hosting stages for Bestival, Festival No.6 and Sunday Papers Live. On top of that, he has taken commissions to perform a voodoo re-marriage ceremony, founded the Church of the Holy Kazoo with comedy legend Mark Thomas, visited almost every Embassy in London on food and taken part in experiments at The Royal Society that revealed him to have the most infectious laugh of any human, rat or monkey.