Dabbers: Opening your eyes to the world of bingo

Ali Brice, comedian, winner of the Dabbers Comedy Caller Contest 2025, performing as Eric Meat 

Congratulations on your win here at the Comedy Caller Contest 2025. How does it feel to win?

It feels mad. Surprising, because I thought all the other acts were strong, and I didn’t expect to get the audience vote. I thought for sure someone else was going to get it. But, pleasantly surprised, more than pleasantly, I’m genuinely very happy.

You’ve been doing comedy for about a decade, but bingo is a slightly newer thing for you. How does traditional stand-up comedy differ from doing bingo as comedy?

Well, the audience is louder! There’s a lot of riling the audience up and, between balls, it feels like a very long silence. I was very aware that I had to keep this going. I didn’t want the energy to drop. It seems more fast paced. When you’re doing comedy, you can ebb and flow and feel the rhythms, whereas this is just full-on. I was going to do a really bad pun about juggling a lot of balls, but there’s literally the balls, the calls, the dances, talking to the audience, keeping track of everything. There’s a lot going on… The first time I did it I had no idea what was going on.

Bingo has changed in terms of its perceptions. Years ago, it was seen as an old person’s hobby. Now, we’re here.

When I turned up at the venue for the first heat, I wasn’t expecting it to be a purpose-built bingo venue. When I went downstairs, I thought, oh wow, this is bingo all the time. I just had no idea. I’ve seen adverts for bingo halls, and you think of old people. So, my eyes have been opened to the world of bingo and how crazy it is.

Why do you think people are coming to bingo rather than other entertainment options?

They have permission to be loud and I think that is fun, isn’t it? It’s just genuinely good fun. You can be loud and raucous and win prizes.

If you are a comedian, an entertainer, and you want to dip your toes into bingo, what is some advice you would give?

Get on the Dabbers website and talk to Johnny Unknown. Go and watch some bingo. But also, enter the Comedy Caller Competition 2026, because I hadn’t done any bingo on stage live before, so anything can happen.

Johnny Unknown, Managing Director at Dabbers Social Bingo

We’re at the Dabbers Comedy Caller Contest 2025. Can you tell me a little bit about the origin of this event? What inspired you to create this in the first place?

Because I’m mad [laughs]. I’m really excited by new talent all the time. Comedians on the circuit, cabaret, drag, why are they doing it, what’s funny about it. Bingo has such a connection with that, and especially Dabbers. We like performers to bring their flair and ideas to bingo and to what we do on stage.

The concept was, let’s open this up. We work a lot with Pernod Ricard, which is our drinks brand partner here at the venue. We do brand activations with their drinks. Malibu is obviously in their portfolio, so they were keen to partner and do something. Also, British Comedy Guide got on board two years ago as our media partner. So, things just got bigger and bigger, which is great. The show and the talent that comes through has just gotten better every time.

This area of London, the Shoreditch/ Liverpool Street area, there’s so many places where talent is emerging. Places doing drag, stand-up comedy. How do you stand out in the sea of entertainment in the city?

You’ve got to know what’s funny, your audience, and what’s going to land. It’s not just about the performance; the venue, the service, everything. When people go out, they want value for money and they want great value across everything. It’s not just about the production and the show. Everything needs to be amazing and taste good, smiles with service, etc. It’s on a bigger scale, of how you compete and how you get people through the door.

Bingo has had a revival in the past five to 10 years. You see it from drag bingo all the way to Mecca Bingo doing line dancing. Was that something you were aware of and were trying to capitalise on when you created Dabbers and the Comedy Caller contest?

I started with a show called Musical Bingo 15 – 16 years ago, which was songs instead of numbers. It’s still going now and it’s a big interactive London bingo night. I could see not just bingo, but how younger audiences wanted something more than just going to a pub. They wanted to have an experience, to have something where you’re bringing everyone together and everyone’s got memories they can create from that show. They were a part of it all, and that’s always been my thing.

Everything led up to Musical Bingo. Then I thought, there is no modern purpose-built bingo hall in London for this contemporary idea of bingo. Everything led up to it whilst everything else was going on.

Then, getting into this competition. Once we opened, the first summer we wanted to have a new idea. We said, let’s bring in some talent and see where the next wave can take us… Where can we go next? How can you keep reinventing? You don’t just stop.

What is brilliant about this competition is that you see ideas from contestants and when they join us – the winner will get a contract and work here, but all these finalists will work here, because they’ve all got own take on things and bring those elements in. Working with them keeps making it fresh.

Is this the hardest job interview in the world?

You know what. There’s a lot to do on stage today. You have to MC and host, you have to manage everybody and it’s busy tonight. It’s a sold-out show, everyone is drinking. You’ve got to do the admin. People don’t want to get the wrong numbers marked off. You’ve got to make sure you’re all over that machine and the balls. Then, you’ve got to bring your own calls and they’ve got to be funny, you’ve got to be entertaining. All around, you’ve just got to bring the magic. It’s really tough… It has to be fast, sharp, punchy and a good time.