Freddy Quinne on a lazy journalistic shorthand

Perhaps my least favourite phrase in the whole of comedy is 'smashed it'. It implies that the sheer ferocity of your jokes was enough to break an entire audience made of of people, who are generally known for being quite malleable.

Of course, nobody really means they smashed actual people, that'd be silly. When people say 'smashed it', they're referring to the intangible hypothetical entity of the collective hopes and expectations belonging to a group of people. They've smashed something with no physical properties whatsoever, which is obviously much more reasonable.

Recently there has emerged a rival to the coveted crown of 'Comedy Saying I Hate The Most Because Of Its Connotations', and that's the term 'northern club comic'. Typically used by reviewers who should know better, 'northern club comic' is technically an accurate description of any comedian playing in clubs, who just so happen to be from the north of the country.

My problem is that it's not used in a literal sense. You seldom hear the term 'southern club comic' being banded about. My issue lies with what 'northern club comic' represents. It's journalistic shorthand for lazy comics who've been going two decades with the same thinly-veiled racist or misogynistic garble about fat mother-in-laws and people from overseas. When you hear the term 'northern club comic' you think of Bernard Manning. Or if not Bernard Manning, someone with all of the characteristics you'd associate with him. But, and this cannot be overstated, not all northern club comics are 'northern club comics'.

Whether intended or otherwise, 'northern club comic' is a derogatory term. And what's worse, it's banded about to some of the best acts in the country. Alex Boardman, Justin Moorhouse, Tony Burgess, Mick Ferry, John Warburton, Dave Twentyman, Steve Shanyaski, Smug Roberts – all incredible acts who fall under this blanket term for no other reason that they're from 'up norf' and regularly play in the biggest clubs in the country.

There's probably plenty more fantastic acts I've missed off. While there's an accuracy in the literal sense, if you think about what 'northern club comic' represents then none of these comedians should be falling into this bracket, and it's an insult to say they do. They have nothing in common with the 'northern club comic' stereotype from a performance perspective, and yet they get tarred with the brush anyway.

In Edinburgh it gets even worse. 'Northern club comic' is said with a sneer to denote an act with lazy, derivative material. Just because an act is enjoyed by the majority doesn't automatically make their material hack. Surely it can also mean that, such is their skill as a comic, they're able to appeal to a larger demographic. I feel as though in Edinburgh, 'northern club comic' is said as a more acceptable way of saying 'comic with little or no artistic merit who's just happened to find a venue'. They spend all year playing the most difficult gigs on the circuit, yet they come to the Fringe and find themselves enormously undervalued.

There's too much of a focus on perceived artistic integrity. For whatever reason, 'northern club comic' carries with it very little kudos. There seems to be this idea that 'club comics' are incapable of good Edinburgh shows because Fringe comics are incapable of good club shows. Which, I'm happy to go on record saying, is a load of bollocks. I've seen great Fringe shows from club acts and great club sets from acts who you'd normally only associate with the Fringe. The best acts transcend the labels they're given, whether we recognise it or not.

If anything, 'northern club comic' should be a badge of honour. These are people who regularly play the toughest crowds in the country – stags, hens, birthdays, pissed-up groups, disinterested office parties – and they come out not just surviving, but thriving. They win the battle time after time after time. Being a 'northern club comic' should be a huge accolade bestowed upon those with the skill, stagecraft and material to play to any audience in any room. It should be the Victoria fucking Cross of comedy.

Published: 4 May 2014