Alan has cutting reason for creating Comedy Card Company’s own funny designs
Humour helps people deal with difficult situations and it was a hair-raising moment during the Covid crisis that prompted online retailer Comedy Card Company owners Alan and Lucy Auld to take the plunge into creating their own greeting card designs.
Since running their own shop where they loved buying funny cards and hearing customers laugh out loud, the couple took their business online, specialising in all greetings-related humour – from the gentle and inoffensive through classic cartoons and cheeky captions, all the way to the hilarious but downright rude.
And now, after the success of Alan’s first lockdown design inspired a whole collection, the Comedy Card Company will be debuting at PG Live in June, at London’s Business Design Centre.
“With my hair taking on the look of a 70s rock star having resisted my wife’s scissors,” Alan explained, “I drew a cartoon showing someone with wild, bushy hair having their first haircut since lockdown. The hairdresser was standing behind, firing up a hedge trimmer while urging the client to try and remain calm!
“That one sold really well and we were spurred on to create more. I guess our years of buying and selling humorous cards gave as a valuable insight to what sells, giving us a head start. That said, of course, not all our designs hit the mark! Our own website was a great test bed though, and helped guide us to what worked and what didn’t.
“Combining a warped sense of humour and some seriously dodgy drawing skills, we’ve had a lot of fun producing some of our own silly designs. We have been both delighted and surprised by the sales on our website so much so that, in a moment of utter madness, we booked a stand for PG Live!
“We might be experienced retailers but we are very much novice publishers. We are tentatively dipping our toes into the other side of the fence so to speak, but are excited to present a brand-new range of funny cards.”
The success of the business – where they supply branded physical greeting cards as produced by publishers including Rosie Made A Thing, Pigment, Paperlink, Kiss Me Kwik, Dandelion Stationery, Cath Tate Cards, Dean Morris Cards, Emotional Rescue, and Woodmansterne rather than print-on-demand – has allowed Alan and Lucy to move it out of the spare bedroom where it all started in 2011, and into proper offices where they work with their small team of Clare, Carla and Susie.
Lucy added: “We absolutely love funny cards and fully believe that, if you’re going to send someone a greeting card, it should at least try and make them smile!
“We think humour is very important as it helps us cope with many aspects of life, whether it’s the stress of work, the awful global news, or simply the depressing thought of getting older.
“We only sell humorous cards, albeit a wide spectrum of humour, but we think they are as popular as ever. Personally, we’ve found a slight shift away from cards at the ruder end of the spectrum – certainly, those cards with bad language need to be genuinely funny with it.”
The Comedy Card Company will be among the many exhibitors showing at PG Live on June 7-8 at London’s Business Design Centre. Retail buyers, international distributors and licensees are now being invited to book their free tickets to what will be the greatest greeting card show in the world. Click here to book your tickets and get a flavour of what the show will deliver.
Top: Hair today – Comedy Card Company co-owner Alan with their first design
