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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Don't Make Me Regret This

Jessie Nixon

NextUp · 2026 · 60 min

Bristol stand-up mixing dating stories, class anger, and short poems.

Released , on NextUp.

Jessie Nixon worked in recruitment, bra-fitting, and the Department of Business and Trade to save up the money for her Edinburgh Fringe debut, and she walks onstage looking ready to collect on every penny of it. Her hour mixes fast stand-up with lighting-cue poetry breaks about women who have wronged her, audience confessions, and a country hoedown dedicated to a persistent Texan in her Instagram DMs.

The set moves through dating-app psychology, how to spot a polyamorous person in the wild, why Gen Z cannot afford the sex their parents were having, and the specific breed of posh girl who insists she is not posh. Nixon grew up in Bristol with a single mother in what she calls impoverished bohemia, including a stretch of homeschooling, and she carries a real grievance about class and quiet nepotism on the UK comedy circuit. When the show turns toward catcalling and male entitlement, the goofy theatricality drops out fast.

Directed by Lauren Pattison, the 56-minute special was recorded in a shipping-container venue at Assembly George Square during the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe and released on NextUp in February 2026. By then Nixon had already opened on tour for Fern Brady, Lou Sanders, and Helen Bauer, landed a 2025 Chortle Hotshots spot, and picked up Best Newcomer nominations at the 2026 Chortle Awards and the Ish Comedy Awards.

Reviews across the Fringe and her 2026 UK tour gave the hour four and five stars while noting its rough edges. Broadway Baby called the delivery unpolished in a way that worked for her, and The List noted that a slightly disjointed structure never got in the way of her presence onstage.

Notable bits & set list

5 bits

  1. Turning unsolicited online direct messages into dramatic poetry

    Performs verses of a man's increasingly desperate messages with jazz music playing, dim lighting, and an air freshener spray used to simulate a smoky jazz bar atmosphere.

  2. Country song about weird men messaging her on Instagram

    Belts out a rollicking musical routine while wearing and intermittently choking on fibres from a false moustache.

  3. Envy over a friend getting catcalled

    Deconstructs the irrational craving for external male validation and societal beauty standards.

  4. Accidental criminal record for train fare evasion

    Recounts discovering a conviction during a background check, which barred her from jobs during the pandemic, and settling it under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889.

  5. Rejecting conventional self-help advice

    Concludes by telling the audience that they do not need self-help because they are 'already the best' and 'already hot', urging them not to live with regret.

How it plays

Tone
Warm, confessional, cheeky, and biting, weaving playful feminist critiques with candid personal revelations.
On stage
Flamboyant, disarming, and larger-than-life, balancing sunny confidence with messy egotism, self-deprecation, and a warm, best-friend dynamic.
Pace
Relentless, breakneck speed delivering high gags per minute with lively, near-manic momentum.
About
ambition and guilt, class and nepotism in comedy, body image and body positivity, unsolicited male attention and DMs, queer identity and lapsed Catholicism, external validation

What the critics said

Praised as a relentlessly funny, energetic, and charmingly unpolished debut hour distinguished by Nixon's punchy delivery, sharp writing, and dynamic hybrid of standup, poetry, and song.

In the room: Raucous, warm, and highly receptive room dynamic, especially engaging young women and LGBTQ+ audience members who assisted with stage atmospheric effects.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: sohotheatre.com, comedy.co.uk, gagreflex.co.uk, backstagebristol.com, chortle.co.uk, bingefringe.com, broadwaybaby.com, entertainment-now.com, edinburghnews.scotsman.com, beyondthejoke.co.uk.

Backstory

Nixon drew upon her upbringing in Bristol by a single mother, an 'impoverished bohemia' background with varied schooling, quitting her job in the civil service to self-fund her debut, and grappling with industry nepotism, body image, and a surprise criminal record for train fare evasion.

Details

Released
Runtime
60 min
Where
NextUp
Director
Lauren Pattison
Honors
The Comedians' Choice Awards Nominee (2025)Chortle Hot Shots (2025)Top 10 Essential Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Shows – Evening Standard (2025) and 1 more
Topics

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