New series about the most terrifying night of Edd Hedges's life

One of Edd Hedges’ stand-up routines has been turned into a six-part podcast described as ‘part comedy special and part true crime documentary’.

Wisecrack tells of the night in 2015 he woke to a banging at the door to find a woman standing at the end of his bed who told him: ‘Whatever you do, don’t turn on the lights.’

It turned out there was a murderer at large in the sleepy Essex town of Saffron Walden, where he was staying in his childhood home.

Hedges subsequently turned the most terrifying night of his life into a stand-up story, which he performed as part of his Edinburgh Fringe show in 2017.

In the audience one night was Jodi Tovay, a maker of crime documentaries, who was at the festival on holiday. She said: ‘The moment I heard his set, it stopped me in my tracks. My curiosity took over and I left vacation early and got to work, knowing that everyone needed to hear this immediately.’

She has produced the new podcast and also provides true-crime style narration, which is combined with Hedges’ stand-up material about the people and places that shaped his childhood, including his school bully.

The comic, who won the  So You Think You're Funny? talent hunt in 2013, said: ‘Stand-up was my escape. Having been the butt of the jokes growing up, I was able to use the same material to now have audiences laughing with me, not at me.

‘So if you want to hear about my father with eight fingers, how my mother became an accidental meth dealer, and uncover why my neighbour became a murderer, then Wisecrack is for you.

‘I tried to deal with the trauma of that night through comedy, but I wasn’t willing to fully drop my guard. This podcast faces it all, head-on.’

The series – dubbed ‘Baby Reindeer meets Adolescence, wrapped in a true-crime documentary’ – was made by Atlanta-based  Tenderfoot TV, whose CEO Donald Albright said: ‘When you think you have heard every type of true-crime story, Wisecrack proves you haven’t.

‘Comedy and crime are a proven recipe for success, but Wisecrack uses the art of stand-up comedy as a device to tell a narrative story, where every punchline hides something darker. I don’t think podcast listeners have ever experienced anything quite like it.’

The first episode has been released with new episodes out each Wednesday on all platforms, distributed by iHeartPodcasts. Here it is on Spotify, Audible and Apple Podcasts.

Published: 2 Sep 2025