Prepare to laugh your way through autumn at Storyhouse Chester as the leading city arts venue stages its first ever Comedy Weekend.
Ribs will be tickled and funny bones tweaked across 48 hours of fun on Saturday, October 27 and Sunday, October 28 – from stand-up and sketch to characters and songs.
From household names to new discoveries direct from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, there’s a chance for comedy fans to see a huge range of top talent.
Take your pick, or stay for the day – there’s a 20% discount if you book a full day of Garret shows at the same time. See some of the country’s best-known acts and stumble across the next big thing, all under one roof.
On Saturday, October 27 the laughs start in the Garret Theatre at 1pm when Matthew Crosby performs his solo show Let’s Be Friends and his audience can discover what it’s like to become pals with a real-life comedian.
Matthew is a member of sketch heroes Pappy’s (two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominees) and wrote and starred in BBC 3’s Badults. He’s been on 8 Out of 10 Cats (both Countdown and the normal one), he also writes on Channel 4’s The Last Leg, Mock The Week, and Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule.
The comedy continues at 2.30pm with Brett Goldstein’s What Is Love Baby Don’t Hurt Me.
Sex. Porn. Love. Addiction. Can Brett tell the difference? Brett Goldstein, award-winning comic, actor and writer, returns with a new stand-up show about relationships, psychology, living in a post-porn world and the hell that is being in love. Come help him through this difficult time.
Join Edinburgh Fringe’s favourite housewife Barbara Nice at 4pm for an afternoon of proper good fun in Raffle. As an added bonus, entry includes a complimentary raffle ticket!
Barbara Nice, aka Phoenix Nights’ actress and comedian Janice Connolly, was all-conquering in her four-part BBC Radio 2 sitcom broadcast in March 2017. Now’s the chance to experience this critically acclaimed tip-top character comedy live – and to win a prize off Barbara’s table.
Multi-award winning comedy trio Sleeping Trees present World Tour at the Garret at 5.30pm.
Sleeping Trees have been scuba-diving at the Great Barrier Reef and trekking the ancient Inca trails of Peru. But what starts as an innocent journey of discovery soon leads to an intricate series of events, culminating in the secret mission to end all missions. Expect a story of love, revenge and friendship, and by friendship, we mean revenge.
Then at 7pm it’s the turn of Lou Sanders and her live stand-up show Shame Pig.
Sanders has met some pigs – and been a mucky little pig herself – and now she’s rolling around in her own filth for your delight. As seen on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, Red Nose Day and heard on Radio 4’s The Unbelievable Truth. Lou has written for Mock The Week and Miranda Hart.
Saturday’s comedy cavalcade comes to a close at 8.30pm with The Horne Section.
Following their hit BBC Radio 4 series, and many years of sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London’s West End, don’t miss everyone’s favourite Dictionary Corner regulars on 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and the first band to ever host Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC Two)!
Expect a heady mix of spontaneous stand-up, spectacular performance and outlandish musical talent led by the brilliant comedian Alex Horne, the creator and co-host of Taskmaster which was Bafta and Emmy nominated in 2017, and won Best Entertainment Show at this year’s Broadcast Awards.
The laughter continues throughout the day on Sunday, October 28, starting at 11am with The Story Beast and Myths, Monsters & Mayhem.
After a sold out run at the Edinburgh Fringe multi-award nominated wizard, The Story Beast arrives in Chester with a show of hairy and ever-so-slightly scary tales for kids helped (but mostly hindered) by Mandy The Witch Who Lives Under The Sink and Colin The Genie.
Recommended for ages six and over.
Evelyn Mok takes over the Garret with Bubble Butt at 1pm.
After an eventful year, Evelyn is feeling the paradigm shift and trying to figure out her place in this brave new world. In this much-anticipated second hour, the sharp-witted comedian explores her own agency, the third-culture-kid-experience, weight loss and what this shift may mean for her as a woman of colour.
She is followed at 2.30pm by comedian, TV personality and writer Stephen Bailey who brings his gossipy humour to Storyhouse in Our Kid – a story that is full of Northern warmth, has some working-class guilt and a bit of blue.
Along with being host of C5’s Celebs on the Farm, you will have seen Stephen on ITV2 on Safeword and CelebAbility, ITV’s Weekend with Aled, Comedy Central’s Live at The Comedy Store, Celebrity Big Brother’s Bit on the Side and supporting Katherine Ryan on tour.
Tom Rosenthal: Work in Progress at 4pm sees the beaky young man from Plebs, Friday Night Dinner and Drunk History try out a new comedy show with the best of intentions.
At 5.30pm, and fresh from a sell-out international tour and smash-hit Live at the Apollo debut, it’s the turn of Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee for Best Show 2018, Larry Dean and his show Bampot, an hour of thoughts on Scottishness, sodomites and self-esteem.
The Comedy Weekend is brought to a close by Australian favourite Adam Hills and his Book Tour: Best Foot Forward at 8pm.
Join Adam as he reads some selected chapters of his best-selling autobiography Best Foot Forward, which is a hilarious and honest collection of stories, thoughts, and tales of a life in comedy. It will be a special evening of stand-up and anecdotes, with copies of the book available to purchase after the performance.
Host of the Broadcast and RTS award winning Channel 4 series The Last Leg, Adam Hills is one of the most popular comedians in the UK. He was also the host of the Australian hit show Spicks and Specks which ran for 277 episodes, as well as his own Australian talk show, Adam Hills Tonight.
With 16 solo shows that have toured internationally, his combination of positive, uplifting comedy and rampant spontaneity has seen him receive a swag of awards, glowing reviews and a legion of fans around the planet.
HOW TO BOOK
Online: Visit www.storyhouse.com
By Phone: Call 01244 409 113
In person: Visit the Ticket Kiosks at Storyhouse, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
Visit Chester Visitor Information Centre.
