Justin Freeburn: Standup Comedy, Podcast Producing & Roast Battles?

Stand-up comedian & podcast producer Justin Freeburn is making a name for himself both on stage & behind camera as he continues to grow his standup career alongside a successful podcast stable.

Justin first started his own podcast 'User Hectic' two years ago but was rather inconsistent until the addition of fellow comic 'Soupy' Stephen Campbell, whom became the regular co-host of the podcast.

"I had wanted to start a podcast for the longest time. About a year after starting standup I decided to buy the equipment but I already had microphones from when I did music ages ago so had most of the stuff anyways.

We took a break for about 6-7 months & we were making episodes every fortnight or so but it wasn't consistent. After the 7 month hiatus I had met Soupy & he had just started standup. We got chatting about music & thought he was sound so asked him on the podcast. Me & him ended up having class banter so he then became the co-host of it & it's been doing class & we're loving it."

Like any content in today's online world it's the short clips that 'reel' the user in. If you don't get the audiences attention quickly with the short form clips then you won't get them to sit & listen to the long form content, something Justin is very aware of from his podcast producing background.

"It's sort of the bread & butter of podcasting at the minute, it's hard to build a following without it. If TikTok & Instagram Reels weren't a thing you'd be standing like a robber out on the street handing CD's out, be like going back putting your mixed tape into someones McDonald's order.

It's very important but it's also the most annoying thing ever. Whenever I got into comedy I didn't think my biggest enemy was going to be an algorithm. I love doing the podcast & being apart of everyone else's podcasts but whenever some reels do class & some do nothing it gets out of hand sometimes."

Justin doesn't only produce his own podcast, he also produces two relatively new & very popular podcasts in: 'Meet The Parents' podcast with Diona Doherty & Sean Hegarty & also the 'Short Back And What's Happening' podcast with Cathal Harte & Adam Byrne.

The 'SBAWH' podcast is filmed down in the 'ats us nai' barber shop in Lurgan that has taken off recently.

"Adam is like my best mate so I started producing it as like a favour & then we've ended up doing really well with it & the clips have done really well too.

Diona & Sean's Meet The Parents podcast has been doing class numbers & they needed to move back home for the podcast for childcare reasons & I live literally only up the road from them so they were happy enough to do that. 

I've been gigging with Sean for a while now & gigged with Diona too. It sort of came about naturally & it's been going great, filming theirs every week & editing their clips."

Justin wouldn't limit himself to just three successful podcast's as the comedian come producer would love to create his own production company to add to his already growing roster of successful podcasts.

"I have the starting point of a production company with three podcast's under me now. It's handy with the other people being comedians because they understand if you have a gig & you can't cancel it so they are all flexible with me having gigs in and around the podcasts which is great."

The dream is still to be the arena selling comedian for Justin but alongside that the want to have a production company behind him & be his own brand is an equal desire.

"When you think of me you also think of this company who I'm the face of who's also producing loads of other podcasts, sketches or even in the future some short films.

If someone said you can sell out the SSE Arena but you can't do another podcast again I would take that."

Luckily for Justin his two dreams won't hinder each other but work hand-in-hand so one success will inevitably feed into the other which hopefully is the case for him down the line.

"I've been quite the advocate of not relying on anyone else. If I was to make it as a big comedian or even just keep building my career as it's going then I don't have anyone else to rely on or fall back on, it's just me. Anything to do with podcasting is me, it's my name on it. 

That's the goal, to be self-sufficient & not rely on anyone else.

There are a lot of that in comedy these days. Some comedians out there wouldn't be doing as well if they didn't have bigger comedians taking them under their wing, which there is nothing wrong with; I would love to be able to be self-sufficient that way."

Justin has recently just done his first work in progress show at the Portside Inn as he looks to do a bigger show later in the year.

"We had Adam Byrne & Soupy Campbell doing support for me & also Jack Magee who is another fantastic comedian at the moment, he's absolutely smashing it, one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life.

The show went well or was going well until a guy decided he had had enough of the show. Just a drunk guy who was at the venue that night anyway & bought a ticket that night & started shouting at some guy in the front row that his da was in Maghaberry with him.

I was like I don't know what to do about this it's not really a heckle, more of a threat. He eventually left but me & the crowd felt a bit weird afterwards, the last third of the show was a bit dry but before that went really well was really happy with all the material."

The comedian looks set to test out another work in progress show before booking a bigger show in a bigger room ahead of potentially taking it around some smaller venues around the country too.

As briefly mentioned in the interview with Tommy McCarthy last week, Justin is hosting a Roast Battle on June 7th which looks set to be a great night at the Oh Yeah Music Centre.

"Shoutout to TMIKE who is a local music artist from East Belfast & we've done stuff together music & comedy based & he has a connection in the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast. He asked me if I wanted to run another gig in it & I was like I'd rather do a roast battle & he got Tommy McCarthy on it to headline.

We've some mental comedians going on like Ian Thompson & Alan Irwin who's been blowing up recently going on all the podcasts like No Blasters, Tea With Me & Lavery's every week. He's one of the funniest men on the planet, he's like the Northern Irish Bill Burr, he'll just go on an absolute uncle rant so I can't wait to see what happens."

How did you get into stand-up?

"I had wanted to do it from 2017 & I was in a toxic relationship beforehand, she didn't like the thought of me doing it because she thought it was cringe or whatever. I had then texted William Thompson one day, about a month after a breakup & said you know what let's see how it goes or how to begin because I had no idea how to go about it. So William Thompson pointed me in the direction of The Pavilion Comedy club in Belfast & told me to message Luke McGibbon who is now my Obi-Wan-Kenobi of comedy; the go to guy for any advice.

So he put me on my first gig within about a month so I had literally 2-3 weeks to write a five minute set. Went up & got hooked on it, it was like a drug then it just has been since. There hasn't been a gig that I've done that I have walked away from & thought this isn't worth it like even the terrible ones & you come away from it losing money or dying on your hole. It's always a good feeling even if it's shite, it's a good laugh.

Luke McGibbon is the unsung hero. There are comedians who are doing really well for themselves now like Ciaran Franco, Sean McAleevey maybe was one, Mark McCarney too but Luke has done so much for the comedy scene in NI & without him it probably wouldn't be as big as it is today.

It was back when the only gig you could get was the Empire & if it wasn't the Empire you had to put your own night on. At that time the Empire was saved for people like Colin Murphy & Tim McGarry so Luke & there's a hundred other guys who started comedy gigs that have been going for years & without them we wouldn't have a comedy scene."

What would you say your favourite venue is to play?

"I've done Lavery's a couple times & loved it. It's like the perfect comedy club; the shape of the room, the green room, the vibe, the crowd is always great but if I had to pick one it would be the Sunflower on the last Sunday of every month.

Darren Matthews runs the gig there & I have literally never had a bad gig in it & I think I've done it 10x now. Every time I do it I walk away thinking this is the best room ever, it is always consistently good & Darren runs such a tight ship with it."

Have you/do you intend to play gigs over in the UK?

"I've had options to like a lot of guys in around my level like Pete Giffen & Adam Byrne have all done gigs over there but I just never have. I might head over to the Edinburgh Fringe & hop on some other peoples gig's but other than that like the comedy scene is so strong here that you get enough of them to keep you happy. 

Whenever you gig down south there is a very different standard of comedy down south that it sort of puts you off going anywhere other than here because the standard is so high here. 

I'll perfect whatever shows I have here first then maybe try some over in England but I would rather go over to do support on someones show. I don't want to go over to do unpaid open mic nights over there so will probably leave that for a while yet."

What would you say your dream venue is to play?

"An immediate one would probably be Limelight, I'd love to do something like that. A more long-term one would be the SSE that everyone wants & would also love to do Vicar Street in Dublin. The all time ones are ones like the Red Rocks or big stadiums in America like MSG if I'm dreaming.

More realistic dreams would be something like the SSE in the next 10 years all being well & not being delusional about it.

Who would you say is currently the best comedian in NI?

"I would have to say is either Aaron McCann or Mark McCarney I think their ability to write a joke is completely unmatched & a lot of comedians could only dream to be as funny as those two. My all-time personal favourite & I've had the pleasure of gigging with a few times is Mickey Bartlett.

I think his energy on stage, his stage presence, his way of thinking & his mind is absolutely hilarious & he speaks in jokes, it's crazy how well he does it."

Who would you say is the most underrated comedian in NI?

"I think it's Alan Irwin but he has been getting his flowers recently & getting opportunities that he deserves because he is absolutely hilarious. Another one would probably be Jack Magee who did support for me on my show 'Cheeky Wee Boot' & he smashed it. Anytime he has a new joke he runs it past one of us & we're always in stitches at it so I think he's class."

Texas BBQ Pringles or Flame Grilled Steak McCoys?

"I'll go for flame grilled steak McCoys but I am more of a sweet tooth guy anyways. I'll take a wee pavlova or something, I'm a dessert guy like a wee fudge cake or something I'll die on that hill."

Must say thanks very much to Justin for the chat despite the technological difficulties that were had in the process. Real funny guy & hugely talented not just in his standup which I've seen myself live but his impressive stable of success podcasts speak for themselves in terms of his producing abilities.

If you would like to see Justin perform live check out his socials below: