Aaron Wood: ‘I’m not the sort of comic that can sit at a desk with a quill and hope something hits me’
Young, up-and-coming Mancunian comedian Aaron Wood has been praised by the likes of Tim Vine and Tom Stade, and he will soon be appearing again in Cambridge.
If he’s good enough for the great Tom Stade (the Canadian master of stand-up previously said Aaron had “a very big future in this business”), then he’s good enough for me!
“I worked with him [Tom Stade] a little while ago, I opened for him on his tour,” says Aaron, 28, speaking to the Cambridge Independent from his home in Hyde, Greater Manchester.
“It was a lot of fun; we went up and down the country and we did Cambridge actually as well – we did the Junction.”
Aaron, who worked as a barber for around seven years, is set to headline the Big Deal Comedy night at Town and Gown in Cambridge on Friday, 11 July.
What can we expect from his set?
“It’s a mix really,” he replies, “so some stuff that I’ll say won’t be in the tour, but primarily I’m trying to make sure that the hour’s tight.
“So a lot of what I do will be in the tour show, for sure.”
Aaron’s latest tour show is called More to Life, and he’ll be bringing it to The Portland Arms in September, after first taking it up to the Edinburgh Fringe.
“It’s my first proper tour show,” he explains, “I’ve done a couple of smaller 45-minute shows at the Fringe over the last couple of years, and then this is what’s considered my debut hour.
“It’s been fun; I had good feedback last year so I’m just trying to make it better and tighter and we’ll see how it goes.”
Aaron enjoyed a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023.
He reveals how he works when preparing material: “I just make notes of things that I think are funny, and I talk to myself a lot – people must think I’m insane!
“I go out for walks and mumble to myself… I’m not the sort of comic that can sit at a desk with a quill and hope something hits me.
“I need to be out and living life and drawing inspiration from that. All the stuff I talk about is things that have actually happened to me.
“I’m not really political or anything like that. I don’t really talk about world events, it’s all just my life and what I think’s funny.”
As well as Tom Stade, Aaron has also provided tour support for the likes of Carl Hutchinson, Danny McLoughlin, Eshaan Akbar, Ignacio Lopez, Connor Burns, and Hayley Ellis.
He was a runner-up at the Chester New Comedian of the Year competition and co-hosts the Spread Negativity podcast with Liam Tuffy, which has more than 100 million views online.
On how he first came to do stand-up, Aaron states: “I started in 2019, and I’d wanted to do it from around 12 years old – but I could never pluck up the courage!
“I officially started when I was about 21 and just fell in love with it from there. I do it all the time now and have done since 2019.”
When he was first becoming interested in comedy as a youngster, Aaron enjoyed watching Jason Manford and Russell Howard, but notes: “We didn’t really watch a lot of stand-up in the house”.
These days, he’s a big fan of Scottish comedian, actor and writer Daniel Sloss.
“He credits a lot of his success to Tom Stade actually,” says Aaron. “He’s brilliant – I like the way he’s able to make you feel something as well.
“Not only is he funny throughout, he gets you thinking afterwards and I’ve always gravitated to shows like that...
“I think anybody can be funny but I think it takes a real skill to make the audience come away feeling something as well.”
Joining Aaron in the line-up at Town and Gown on Friday, 11 July, will be Jay Handley and MC for the night, Ash Frith.
Tickets, priced £16 (plus booking fee), are available from bigdealcomedy.co.uk. For more on Aaron, go to facebook.com/ AaronWoodComedy/.
