Directing

"Dec is a brilliant, smart, emotionally intelligent collaborator - he creates such a warm and kind environment for developing your show, whilst simultaneously pushing and challenging you to explore what you truly mean with a premise or routine, helping you clarify and present your comedy for the audience.

I know that I benefitted massively from his help and created an hour of comedy that was significantly more emotional, direct and honest than my previous ones, and got my first 5 star review of my career for this show. His notes on my previews (and shows in Edinburgh) were astute and vital - largely helping with tweaks that made jokes punchier and clearer, but also occasionally giving the hard but necessary note of when and why a piece of material didn't work (and offering fixes). Also a great vibe and a great laugh CRUCIALLY"

"Dec is really gentle but never lets you get away with being less than your best creative self. There are things he let me discover about my performing habits and blocks that I wish I'd known 15 years ago, and he's so humble in how he brings his enormous experience to bear on my process. I’d recommend him to anyone”

"Working with Dec was an absolute pleasure. I'd not done much stand-up before let alone put together an hour, but working with Dec helped me to not only create a show that I was incredibly proud of, but helped me to have the confidence to perform it to the standard it deserved. I was terrified to do my first Fringe show and then take it on tour, but Dec was always there to not only support me in helping to bring out the best material, but to be there to help with my fears/concerns, or even just for a chat. He really is an incredible comedy director and an even better person."

I hadn't ever worked with a director and was so lucky to have Dec as my first one. He really takes care of your ideas and he pushes for the things that matter to you. Talking to him about my hour (which I was lucky enough to do for about a year) gave it so much depth and all the changes it went through made me end up making something I was really proud of. He asks all of the questions that you need to focus your ideas, and on top of that he's very funny, caring, kind and very fun to play with. Overall, a really big recommendation from me. Thank you Dec x1000.

“I had the pleasure of having Dec direct my debut Edinburgh hour. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him and he was particularly helpful in establishing a through-line and structure for the show. Whilst always amicable, I particularly appreciated his honesty and desire to push me further, whether to writing better jokes or increasing the dramatisation of a segment. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again and I thoroughly recommend him too!”

“Dec directed my Edinburgh debut, BADASS at the Pleasance - a disabled-led Theatre show about my experience of Bowel Cancer.  He has an absolutely razor sharp eye for 'comedy gold' and is wonderfully collaborative.  Most importantly for me, this was an intimate story about a real life health battle I had had, with embarrassing and personal details to mine through - and I felt consistently comfortable and supported in that working with Dec.  To have a director who you can talk to openly about your body and the process of becoming disabled is really crucial for this type of story, and what we created together was really impactful - to the point where one reviewer said the show "would save lives".  So please do hire Dec if you want to make a life-saving show.”

“Dec is wise, kind and knows funny. We worked together on my first Edinburgh show remotely (phone calls, sending tape) and now I have a little Dec on my shoulder that notes me every show I do. Trust him, he’s good and will make you better.”

“I cannot recommend Dec Munro highly enough. He directed my 2017 and 2018 shows and they were both all the better for it. Dec has an incredible eye for structure and for teasing out the themes when you are lost in a forest of jokes and can’t see the wood for the trees. He is also such a positive influence to have around, helping to give you a realistic idea of where you are at and what you need to do to get your show to where you want it to be. His feedback is measured, insightful, never superfluous and ALWAYS useful, in fact it’s almost annoying how much he is right about things. He has not only a great sense of comedy, but a great sense of drama and storytelling that can lift a good show and make it a much better one.”

“Dec took my show when it was a formless lump of wet cement and helped me craft it into a soaring, art-deco monument that will last for centuries, providing the authorities see fit to preserve it for the sake of generations to come. I’d have him direct my commute to work if I had the budget for it.”