Prepare for a riotous summer of laughter as promoter M&B announces seven one day comedy festivals for 2021. Comedy In The Park will take place in stunning green spaces across the UK. Joining headliner JOHN BISHOP are world class comedians JASON MANFORD, DARA Ó BRIAIN, KATHERINE RYAN, AL MURRAY, ROB BECKETT, JAMES ACASTER, TOM DAVIS, RUSSELL KANE, PAUL SMITH, ED GAMBLE, NISH KUMAR, DESIREE BURCH, JUDI LOVE, FERN BRADY and PAUL CHOWDHRY.
Comedy in the Park is a unique outdoor experience, bringing together some of the biggest and best names in comedy. Promoters will turn a section of some of the greatest park spaces into open air theatres for each event.
Operations Director James Penny said,
“We are so excited to announce these huge comedy events. We believe these are the biggest and best one day comedy events in the UK.
Those in attendance will be guaranteed a night of side splitting laughter in an open air theatre style setting.
When you buy a ticket for Comedy in the Park, you’re buying into an amazing experience, as well as all day comedy, you can access various street food vendors and bars.
Now more than ever, people need something to look forward to. It’s been a tough year for live comedy but it’s coming back with a bang!”
Jason Manford said,
“I can’t wait to be able to get back out on the road again. Whilst it’s been great to get creative during lockdown, there’s nothing that compares to live comedy. After what’s been a testing year for all of us so far, it’ll be great to get up close and personal with audiences where we can all have a fun night and a big laugh together.”
Tom Davis said,
“I’m double excited to be hosting the opening event to mark the return of live comedy! It will be my first time performing in a park since quitting Sunday league, hopefully I can bring the same amount of laughter to this as me playing football brought to many.”
Tickets, priced from £45 are on sale now via www.comedyinthepark.co.uk
The line-ups are as follows:
Wicksteed Park, Kettering, June 26: John Bishop, Rob Beckett, Al Murray, Judi Love, James Acaster, Tom Davis
Lincolnshire Showground, July 3: John Bishop, Ed Gamble, Rob Beckett, Al Murray, Nish Kumar, Desiree Burch
Victoria Park, Southport, July 17: John Bishop, Katherine Ryan, Jason Manford, Al Murray, Judi Love, Paul Chowdhry
Dalkeith Country Park, Midlothian, July 24: John Bishop, Ed Gamble, Nish Kumar, Fern Brady, Paul Smith, Russell Kane, Desiree Burch
Temple Newsham, Leeds, July 31: John Bishop, Katherine Ryan, Rob Beckett, Al Murray, Judi Love, Paul Chowdhry
Powderham Castle, Exeter, August 14: John Bishop, Katherine Ryan, Jason Manford, Rob Beckett, Judi Love, Paul Chowdhry
Earlham Park, Norwich, September 12: John Bishop, Dara O Briain, Ed Gamble, Al Murray Rob Beckett, Judi Love
M&B will transform each green space into a carnival of comedy. Attendees can also expect award-winning street food, pop up cocktail bars, cafés, bars, shops and stalls. The ultimate night out for any comedy lover!!
Promoters are confident that the event will be something to look forward to next year as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. However, because of the size of the locations, plans can be adapted to run the event with social distancing should that be required and the event will be completely safe and COVID compliant.
JOHN BISHOP
Comedy superstar John Bishop headlines all dates. Breaking through in the early 2000s, John Bishop is one of the most popular stand-up comedians in the UK, regularly selling out arenas across the country. The Liverpool born comic has won numerous awards throughout his career, and in 2014 was given an honorary fellowship from the city’s John Moores University for his contribution to the arts, and for his extensive charity work. A regular on television screens, John has achieved huge success with a number of his own comedy, entertainment and documentary shows including John Bishop’s Australia, John Bishop’s Britain, John Bishop’s Only Joking, The John Bishop Show, The John Bishop Christmas Show and John Bishop’s Gorilla Adventure. More recently he’s done John Bishop’s Ireland for ITV1 and four series of ‘John Bishop: In Conversation With…, which sees him chatting, one to one with some of the UK’s biggest names. John has also hosted The Royal Variety Performance.
DARA Ó BRIAIN
As host of the hugely successful Mock The Week, Stargazing Live, Robot Wars and Go 8 Bit, Dara Ó Briain is one of the most recognisable faces on British TV. He’s also known for Three Men in a Boat, Dara Ó Briain and Ed’s Great Big Adventure, Dara Ó Briain’s Science Club, and the documentary Dara Ó Briain Meets Stephen Hawking, all on the BBC. Dara has hosted eighteen successful series of Mock the Week for BBC television, and also hosted BBC Two’s The Apprentice: You’re Fired for three years. This is a unique chance to catch one of the most charismatic, intelligent, fast-talking and downright funny live performers in 2021.
JAMES ACASTER
Stand-up genius and podcaster extraordinaire James Acaster has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award five times and has appeared on prime-time TV shows like Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo, Hypothetical and his own Netflix special Repertoire. His podcast Off Menu with pal Ed Gamble recently hit a momentous 30 million downloads.
ROB BECKETT
Mouth of the South Rob Beckett also joins the bill. Host of BBC One’s All Together Now and team captain on Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats, Beckett is also a star of BBC One’s Live at the Apollo, Would I Lie to You?, Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, BBC Two’s Mock the Week, ITV’s Play to the Whistle, ITV2’s Celebrity Juice and Sky’s A League of Their Own. And he is a host of Dave’s podcast, The Magic Sponge, alongside Jimmy Bullard and Ian Smith. It’s been a busy few years for Beckett and he’s got some sidesplitting stories to tell.
KATHERINE RYAN
Famed for her critically acclaimed tours, Katherine Ryan has been performing sell-out shows across the globe. Katherine Ryan is currently dominating the television and live comedy scenes both in the UK and abroad. Her debut 6 x 30’ Netflix sitcom The Duchess was released globally on the 11th September. Katherine not only stars in the lead role but also wrote and Executive Produced all episodes. The series follows two critically acclaimed stand-up specials for Netflix – the second of which, Glitter Room, was released globally on 1 July 2019, following 2017’s In Trouble. She was only the second UK based comedian to get a Netflix Global 60’ special released in all territories after Jimmy Carr – and is still the only woman. Katherine has co-hosted six series of Comedy Central’s smash hit show Your Face or Mine with Jimmy Carr. In early 2020, she could be seen on Comedy Central as a judge on Roast Battle Series 4, and has judged every other series. Katherine can currently be seen each week as a Team Captain on E4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Series 22 along with fellow Team Captain Rob Beckett and host Jimmy Carr.. Outside of television, Katherine has sold out venues across the UK, US and Canada with her unique shows. She took her last touring show,Glitter Room, to The Garrick Theatre in London’s West End for a four week run after a sell-out nationwide tour.
JASON MANFORD
Comedy superstar Jason Manford also joins the bill. An illustrious 20-year career in comedy has seen Jason sell-out numerous UK tours, including his most recent show ‘Muddle Class’, which was seen by over 250,000 people and can currently be viewed on BBC iPlayer. Jason’s many talents also span acting, singing and presenting, and includes a host of top TV credits: ‘First & Last’ (BBC One), ‘The Masked Singer’ (ITV1), ‘Live at the Apollo’ (BBC One), ‘The Royal Variety Performance’ (ITV1) and many more.During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jason has hosted a number of events from his home to keep the nation entertained whilst being stuck indoors during the lockdown. These include ‘Jason Manford Presents: The Weekly Stand Up’, a new weekly comedy night streamed straight into your living room, a weekly Friday night gameshow ‘Jason Manford’s Games Arcade’, a kids quiz every Wednesday afternoon with questions thought up by his own children and also a ‘Lockdown Comedy Club for Kids’, where Jason invites children all over the UK to send in their own jokes to be shared on his YouTube channel.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jason has hosted a number of events from his home to keep the nation entertained whilst being stuck indoors during the lockdown. These include ‘Jason Manford Presents: The Weekly Stand Up’, a new weekly comedy night streamed straight into your living room, a weekly Friday night gameshow ‘Jason Manford’s Games Arcade’, a kids quiz every Wednesday afternoon with questions thought up by his own children and also a ‘Lockdown Comedy Club for Kids’, where Jason invites children all over the UK to send in their own jokes to be shared on his YouTube channel.
PAUL CHOWDHRY
Paul Chowdhry is a multi-award-winning stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. In August 2019, his record-breaking stand-up tour show, Live Innit, was released as an Amazon Prime original special in 200 countries worldwide. This followed the enormous success of his Live Innit stand-up tour, which received two nationwide extensions, including five nights at Hammersmith Apollo and a sold-out show at Wembley Arena, making Paul the first British Asian stand-up to sell out the 10,000-seater venue. His performance there was voted by the public as one of Wembley Arena’s top ten shows of 2017. Paul has won Best Live Event at the ITV Asian Media Awards, Comedian of the Year at the Asian Voice Awards, and the ‘Eastern Eye’ Comedian of the Year award. In its following issue, The Eastern Eye described him as “the greatest British Asian comedian of all time”. On TV, Paul has hosted Stand Up for the Week (Channel 4), twice headlined Live at the Apollo (BBC One/Two), and was a much-loved contestant on the third series of the multi-award nominated hit show Taskmaster (Dave/Channel 4). Online, Paul is a prolific presence on social media, and his videos have been viewed over 35 million times on Facebook.
AL MURRAY
Laugh out loud with the original pub landlord as Al Murray prepares for pulling the pints again live on stage. As well as performing stand-up, Murray has obtained an eclectic list of TV credits over the years, including appearances on Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Hell’s Kitchen, Top Gear, Horrible Histories and numerous BBC panel shows. He has also written and featured in successful shows including Al Murray’s Happy Hour and The Pub Landlord. Murray’s unique blend of satire, surrealism and observational comedy inspired by the world today is just what we all need right now.
RUSSELL KANE
Famed for his critically acclaimed tours, Russell Kane has been performing sell-out shows across the globe. Strap in as Russell races back to the live comedy stage with new material which packs more energy than a Duracell factory. As a multi-award winning comedian, presenter, actor, social media star, author and scriptwriter, Russell’s most recent appearances include his hit BBC Podcast Evil Genius (which recently returned for a third series), JOE podcast Boys Don’t Cry, the TV show BBC3’s Stupid Man, Smart Phone, Dave’s Comedians Giving Lectures, ITV2’s Love Island: Aftersun, ITV2’s The Stand Up Sketch Show, BBC2’s Live At The Apollo and BBC1’s Michael McIntyre’s Big Show.Winner of Best Show in 2010 at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, Russell went on to make history as the first comedian to win both the Edinburgh Award and Melbourne Comedy Festival’s Barry Award in one year.Russell has also captured the social media market by storm with his signature videos, the “Kaneings” in which Russell uses his own unique style to tackle a current topic that’s dominating the news. Cleverly edited rants have propelled him to superstardom and his lockdown videos are hilarious.
ED GAMBLE
Following a twice extended sold-out UK tour of his stand-up show Blizzard, winner of Taskmaster (UKTV/Channel 4), star of Mock the Week (BBC Two) and co-host of chart-topping Off Menu podcast Ed Gamble joins the Comedy in the Park line up. As well as being a co-host on Radio X’s Sunday morning show and releasing his first comedy special within Amazon Prime Video this year, Ed’s TV stand-up appearances include Live at the Apollo (BBC Two), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV1), The Russell Howard Hour (Sky One), Live at the Comedy Store (Comedy Central) and Conan (TBS). Ed first came to prominence playing Georgie Carlton in two series of Almost Royal (BBC America/E4/Netflix) and co-wrote the fourth series of Greg Davies’ sitcom Man Down (Channel 4), as well as appearing in two episodes.
JUDI LOVE
Judi Love’s quick wit and infectious laugh quickly made her a fan favourite when she joined the Loose Women panel in 2020. Judi’s motto ‘Laughter is Healing’ provides a very accurate insight into how she deals with life’s many obstacles. Judi will take everyday situations, add her unique perspective and turn it into something hilarious. It’s the type of humour that resonates in people from all walks of life. Love has proved herself to be a hilarious comedian in both her stand-up and across TV and radio.
TOM DAVIS
Tom Davis, a writer, actor and stand-up comedian best known for his breakout BAFTA award winning show Murder in Successville. The cult BBC3 series, which he co-wrote with James De Frond, is a mix of cop show meets reality TV, and Successville is a surreal place with a high celebrity homicide count. He’s since starred in the spoof ITV spy series Action Team and is the writer and star of BBC One sitcom King Gary.
NISH KUMAR
Double Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee Nish Kumar is also on the bill. Expect jokes about politics and mankind’s capacity for self-destruction.The face of combative British satire, Kumar is best known as host of TV hit The Mash Report. He’s also a regular face on TV on on Live at the Apollo (BBC2), Taskmaster (Dave), Live From the BBC (Netflix), QI (BBC2) Have I Got News For You (BBC1) and Joel & Nish Vs The World (Netflix/Comedy Central).
DESIREE BURCH
Desiree Burch exploded onto the UK comedy scene in 2015, winning the Funny Women Stage Award. Since then, she has appeared on, Live at the Apollo (BBC), The Mash Report, Mock the Week, Frankie Boyle’s New World Order (BBC2), Live from the BBC (BBC3), Have I Got News For You, Qi(BBC), 8 Out of 10 Cats (Channel 4), and co-hosted Officially Amazing (CBBC). She’s been heard on The News Quiz (BBCR4), The Now Show(BBCR4), It’s Not What You Know (BBCR4) and on podcasts such as Welcome to Night Vale, The Guilty Feminist, The Adam Buxton Podcast, The Richard Herring Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, Made of Human, and Dumb White Guy. She can be seen on her Comedy Central special Desiree Burch Live and on Netflix series Flinch.
PAUL SMITH
Following his first national tour in 2018, which saw him go from circuit act to one of the biggest selling names in UK stand-up in less than a year, Paul Smith joins the bill.Nicknamed the ‘Ginger King of Comedy’, his quick wit and affable nature makes him popular with any crowd – especially after being crowned Liverpool’s New Comedian of the Year and a Finalist at The Leicester Comedian of the Year competition.Join this master of story-telling as he mixes sharp, hilarious stories from his life with his trademark off the cuff wit.
FERN BRADY
Bathgate’s Fern Brady completes the line-up. Brady is one of the UK’s hottest comedy stars. As seen on Live from the BBC, Live from the Comedy Store, The Russell Howard Hour, and Live at the Apollo. Known for being totally unique and completely fearless her new show will tackle sexuality, feminism, power, Brexit, Britishness, Scottishness and nationality all with her caustic wit, exceptional writing and electric stagecraft. Fern is embarking on her biggest tour to date with the show debuting in Australia before heading out across the UK and Europe. Featured in Vogue as one of the Top 5 Female Comedians as well as the Telegraph’s top 5 young comedians to watch, Fern Brady’s career has gone stratospheric in the last 18 months. She’s had viral success with her BBC Life Lessons, stormed the Australian comedy scene and supported Frankie Boyle and Katherine Ryan on Tour.
