There are very few artists acclaimed by two completely different genres as one of their best. But for Richard Digance, his touring life balances both his skill as a folk musician with his wit as a comedian. To put this in perspective, he is close friends and rated as a great acoustic guitarist by Ralph McTell, while top comic Ross Noble describes Digance as a major influence. And when it comes to pedigree, few can match his CV. Digance has enjoyed his own ITV Saturday-night show, and a series of Saturday night specials where he has played with Queen’s Brian . . .
As you’ll know, we schedule our Comedy Hall events at two venues – Tiverton Community Arts Theatre and The Venue. The Venue is a purpose-built theatre attached to Uffculme School. It has mostly raked seating with some floor seating, and we normally run shows of 340 or 400 seats. There is a bar that takes credit and debit cards, and often there will be food available to pro-order or order before the show.
One of the nation’s greatest comedy actors will bring his best-known character to life on stage in Uffculme. John Challis, forever known as Boycie from BBC1’s Only Fools and Horses, will bering comedy, stories and anecdotes from his career to life in this one-off show. The national treasure will reveal secrets from the set, having worked with some of the biggest names in show business. He’ll be spilling the beans about Only Fools and Horses co-stars like Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst and friends and fellow performers like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Oliver Reed and George Best. He’ll also recall . . .
Being the UK’s leading Trump impersonator is one thing. Switching persona to Del Trotter, Nigel Farage, Chris Tarrant Michael McIntyre, José Mourinho and a host of other famous characters at a relentless pace is quite another. For much-loved comedian Mike Osman the last thirty years have been 50% Mike and 50% a world of famous names as he has brought his world of comedy to TV, radio and packed theatres across the country. Osman is a rare commodity – a comedian, an impersonator, a radio DJ and, now, Trump. He is bringing his popular new show to Tiverton, which is . . .
Comedy takes many forms. Some comedians throw slick, short puns at you by the dozen. Some weave tales of derring do and experience, embellished and fantastic. And others observe us, and remind us of how frail, desperate or silly we all are. Tom Binns, on the other hand, has become famous for simply being someone else. The actor, broadcaster and stand-up comedian became best known in the early naughties as the hapless radio DJ Ivan Brackenbury. In 2010 he made the comedy headlines for the right reasons as a new character, Ian D’Montfort, the spirit medium, and his show ‘Touching . . .
Winter may be coming but Nathan Caton, star of BBC Radio 4’s “Can’t Tell Nathan Caton Nothing…”, is guaranteed to raise the heat in his ‘feel-good’ performance in Tiverton’s Comedy Hall on Sunday 11 October at Tiverton Community Arts Theatre. Nathan regularly appears on Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week, and Russell Howard’s Good News. His ability to combine personal, confessional material with up-to-date social and political anecdotes has won him numerous credits and plaudits over the years and has made him one of the hottest rising young stars on the circuit. Opening support act is one-liner merchant Tony . . .
Sitcom buffoon Count Arthur Strong hits Tiverton on 27 February on a new UK tour for 2015. The ‘Somebody Up There Licks Me!’ tour started at the Norwich Playhouse on February 5 and finishes with two nights at the Bloomsbury Theatre on May 1 & 2. Trilby hat-wearing mangler of words and variety entertainer, the Count (the character creation of Steve Delaney) hits the road on his first live tour since his hugely successful BBC Two series. In fact his tour follows close on the heals of the transmission of his second series of Count Arthur Strong which moved to . . .
Comedy Hall is promising a proper party atmosphere next Saturday when The Noise Next Door come to town. It’s the last Saturday before Christmas, so get your bunting out and join us. The ‘Noise’ are the UK’s leading improv group and bring their UK tour to Tiverton on December 20th. And here’s what you can expect: Food!- from 6.30pm Yes, the pop-up restaurant from Go Local will be on-hand from 6.30pm, with a wide variety of hot food options – including the obligatory turkey, but perhaps not as you know it! From wraps and curries to burgers and hot . . .
Comedy Hall is offering an incredible double header from Lee Kern and Trevor Lock − who will do an hour long set each on 29th August. Save £5 per ticket – read on! Kern is famous for his side-splitting pranks on Celebrity Bedlam (Channel 4), which Viz described as “quite possibly the funniest thing that’s ever been on the telly”. (See a sample here as Brian Belo and David van Day from Dollar get pranked – http://youtu.be/YLXoPhxH_d4). These included making David Van Day believe he’d been cloned and Katie from X-Factor believe that she was modelling a coat made of . . .
Canadian Tom Stade ponders life’s timeless questions in his hilarious new show ‘Decisions Decisions…’ at Comedy Hall on 26th September. Nevertheless, the evening will be anything but a gentle head-scratching… From looking like a sleek, shaved hearthrob to a gnarly bearded bit of rough, Stade’s dark and edgy material, generally delivered with a faux-innocent ‘What did I say?’ air, typically ranges from the filthy to the trivial − with subjects such as anal sex and his crippling addiction to Groupon. If you’ve only seen a TV friendly version of him on ‘Live At The Apollo’ or ‘Michael McIntyre’s Roadshow’ (BBC . . .
‘Thoughtful, funny and just twisted enough: we’ll be seeing a lot more of her’ Alex Hardy, THE TIMES April 2014 **** “Warped wit…striking presence…killer lines…calm confidence” – THE SCOTSMAN “Smart and acridly funny” – THE SUNDAY TIMES Following a totally sold out run recently at London’s Soho Theatre and at the Edinburgh Festival, Katherine Ryan hits the road with her new, critically acclaimed show Glam Role Model. She arrives at Comedy Hall in Tiverton on Saturday 8th November. In Katherine Ryan’s homeland of Canada, it isn’t unheard of for women to expose their breasts in public. To her amusement, however, here . . .
On April 5th, up to 20 food stalls at Tiverton’s Pannier Market have teamed up with us to provide pre-show discounts on food before Jenny Eclair’s show starts. Just show your ticket or receipt to save some cash on great food. You’ll have plenty of time to get back to TCAT for a pint… Tiverton Community Arts Theatre Saturday 5th April, 2014 8.20pm.
We’re delighted to be hosting one of Alan Carr’s Work In Progress shows on 30 March. But if you weren’t on our email list, following us on Facebook or Twitter, then you’ve missed out. The show sold out online in just 45 minutes. Which is a Comedy Hall record – even faster than sales of Jon Richardson and Frankie Boyle.
In a couple of weeks it will be June. Comedy Hall is gearing up for the sun, but more importantly for the long-awaited arrival of Bob Mills. It’s hard to explain my excitement that he’s finally coming to Devon. And so as not to over-do it, I’ve decided to let you read an article – in whole – from Metro about Bob. I should point out that this preview was for one of Bob’s shows in Birmingham – and tickets were £17. In Tiverton you get Bob for a tenner. If you live in Exeter, Barnstaple or Bristol, it’s well . . .
It’s almost Mid April already – but it’s an exciting time at Comedy Hall. So much going on and we’re talking to some great names in comedy, especially for our run in to Xmas. Keep an eye open for Winter news about Jeremy Hardy and Mark Steele in particular. So if you love comedy then please support us. Here’s what’s coming up in May and June: Phill Jupitus – May 6th – £15 There are less than 20 tickets left for Phil’s tour show. These are currently only available here: www.ticketweb.co.uk/event/phill–jupitus/42687 Lastminute Comedy Award Finals – May 13th . . .