It Is Better is a brand new show by John-Luke Roberts, with music by John Chambers. It’s been created specifically to be listened to – ideally in the evening, in a comfortable chair, by a warm fire, with a nice drink, while long-thought extinct beasts rampage through the streets outside.

Brought to you by the team behind the award winning Monkey Barrel Comedy, Monkey Barrel Records is the new home of exclusive comedy vinyl records, showcasing some of the best shows from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and beyond. “It is Better” is the fourth release from Monkey Barrel Records, and the first to be conceived, written, recorded and scored specifically for vinyl.

Plans to record a live LP were scuppered by the pandemic. John-Luke says “I realised my favourite comedy records didn’t have an audience. So I sat down thinking of albums like Sir Henry at Rawlinson End and Ivor Cutler’s Dandruff and grew more and more excited at the prospect. Without an audience, a comedy record can achieve a startling intimacy.”

To help achieve this Roberts teamed up with John Chambers, a composer whose work in theatre includes collaborations with Steven Berkoff (Biblical Tales and Oedipus) and John Cleese (Bang Bang), and  who scored BBC Drama on 3’s critically acclaimed new version of The Cherry Orchard.

The album artwork is by photographer Natasha Pszenicki, featuring a doll’s house scale comedy club built by Roberts during lockdown. He says “they closed the comedy clubs and the theatres, so I built one as a not-entirely-successful coping mechanism.”

You pledge and support will hopefully enable us to reach our target and get these albums produced in the new year. Estimated delivery date is end of March 2021. Thank you!