Wrestle mania!
From the comedy circuit to the wrestling ring – Phil Wang takes on Ed Gamble in a fight for glory. But how do the two stages compare?
U&Dave
- Robin Parker
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For comedy fans, it was the grudge match they’d been waiting for as two titans of the UK scene faced off in front of a 3,000-strong crowd at the Hammersmith Apollo in London last month.
But the night, billed Clash of the Comics, was not the verbal jousting of a stand-up roast battle: the usually mild-mannered Phil “Kill” Wang was defending his title as British comedy’s top wrestler against Ed “the Gambler” Gamble.
“It was my lifelong dream to be a professional wrestler,” says 35-year-old Wang, who grew up in Borneo watching international stars of the sport like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, “The Rock” and Japan’s “Último Dragón”, and then imitating their moves in the school playground. “I never liked boxing, but this sort of performative fighting, where each character has their own special moves, was like playing the video game Street Fighter.”
Ed Gamble and Phil Wang in Clash of the Comics. U&Dave
Out of fashion with mainstream broadcasters, wrestling’s golden era might be a distant memory for fans of 80s colossi like Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, but there remains a thriving scene on both sides of the Atlantic with millions of ardent fans, Wang among them.
As well as the main event, contemporary wrestlers like “Bullit” and Nina Samuels rub up against the likes of Maisie Adam, Rosie Jones and Max Fosh in the show, while James Acaster takes on The Celebrity Traitors star Joe Marler.
Ed Gamble and Phil Wang in Clash of the Comics. U&Dave
Wrestler-turned-comedian Max Olesker and his double-act partner Ivan Gonzalez first persuaded pals to enter the ring at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2011. While he and Gamble are huge wrestling fans, Wang’s not surprised that their peers have taken to it so readily. “It’s basically a violent panto,” he explains. “Wrestlers and comics have strikingly similar lives, touring our respective circuits with our own routines. They call their moves ‘spots’, which we’d call ‘bits’. They’ll run through a sequence of spots that make up a match, saving the biggest ones to the end, just like we might do with our biggest jokes. You’re building the audience up to hopefully some big, cathartic, explosive moments.”
It’s basically a violent panto – you’re building the audience up to big, explosive moments
Phil Wang
The difference being that unlike in his debut fight against Gamble back in 2023, Wang probably wouldn’t crash through a table in the middle of his touring show. But did he worry that the professionals might object to a bunch of clowns muscling in on their turf? “It’s a learnt craft but it’s not taken very seriously,” says Wang, who adds he’s learnt a lot about the art of public performance from trying to deliver fourth wall-breaking, self-referential humour while landing the perfect move. “Everyone’s in on the joke.”
For all the tongue-in-cheek bravado on display, it’s not about being competitive. “It’s not up to you whether you win or not. We want to put on the best show and pull off the coolest moves.”
Wang remembers learning a move called a hurricanerana, which involves getting up on your rival’s shoulders with your legs, flipping backwards and throwing them down. “I suggested that as a joke, because I’m such a big guy, and Max said, ‘Right, you’re doing it!’”
Ed Gamble and Phil Wang in Clash of the Comics. U&Dave
After being put through their paces by pros at a wrestling school in south London, Wang and Gamble built up their routine with Max and Ivan: “They’d ask what moves we’ve always liked, what the set pieces would be and how we’d get there. We’d get on our feet in the ring and mess about – ‘Maybe it’d be good if you chop me here?’; ‘Here, I’m going to twist your nipples…’”
On the night, there are no rehearsals. “The professionals told us there’s no point practising, because you’ll just use up what’s in the tank.”
Wang says the nerves were overwhelming, closer to the high wire of improvisation than traditional stand-up. “As an experienced comedian, you still get butterflies before a show, but you don’t get that adrenaline-pumping fear of your first gigs. Here you have that, with the added bonus of thinking in the back of your mind: ‘I hope I don’t break my arm.’”
Ed Gamble and Phil Wang in Clash of the Comics. U&Dave
The comics inevitably took the odd bump – but, he says, the pain never strikes where you’d expect it to. “The previous show, I was practising a drop kick and whacked a bone in my foot, and that hurt for months. Run up against a rope too hard and you can have bruised vertebrae for weeks, but going through a table feels fantastic.” (Don’t try this at home, kids.)
But Wang almost came a cropper, thanks to his costume, a remodelled version of the notoriously tight Bruce Lee tribute yellow jumpsuit he wore on Taskmaster, which left little to the imagination. “It turns out having frills down the side of the arms isn’t practical when you’re fighting, because you keep getting caught on them, kneeling on them and stumbling over them.”
Ed Gamble and Phil Wang in Clash of the Comics. U&Dave
Would he bring it out of the wardrobe for a rematch with Gamble? “I’m always up for another wrestling show, though recovery takes longer as I get older. I hope this finds an audience on TV – it’s a big, fun format, and an all-star comedy thing feels quite special. You don’t often get this number of people in one place.”
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And the rivalry with Ed? “It’s friendly – but it will continue, always. In and out of the ring.”
Authors
Robin Parker
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