Stafford Gatehouse TheatreStafford Gatehouse Theatre
“The best showcase of pure joke-writing skill” (Guardian).
Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Glenn Moore has written too many jokes again.
Expect a fast-paced whirlwind of punchlines from one of the greatest joke-writers of his generation. As seen on Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, Cats Does Countdown. As heard on The Dave Berry Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio, The News Quiz, Just A Minute, and his own Radio 4 series Glenn Moore’s Almanac.
Life can’t just be the humdrum, the mundane and the routine before the inevitable slide to disease, decay and death.
Why can’t we sneak in a bit of awesome, a tad of amazing and maybe a smidge of wonderful? A forest canopy opening onto a huge vista would be enchanting for some, but my ancestors wandered in the desert for forty years, I think we’ve been outdoors enough.
Others get their fix from the spiritual, but I’ve been harbouring a grudge against God since my mother stopped me going to Arsenal after my Barmitzvah.
Forty nine years ago. ’God will be watching’ she said.
Well, at least he got to see the game. The point is, life could be so much better so I’m on the lookout. Come and join me on the hunt.
Love, Ian
About Ian
Ian Stone is a hugely experienced broadcaster, podcaster and writer and a brilliantly funny comedian. He performs at major comedy festivals and venues globally. His popular posts and reels on social media have quickly earned him a following of over 60k across BlueSky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, amassing millions of views.
In the last three years, Ian has performed his one-man shows at the Edinburgh Festival to packed rooms and great reviews. In 2023, he won the prestigious Spirit of the Fringe Award. He took his last show on tour across the UK, finishing with a sold-out performance at London’s Comedy Store. Ian recently returned from making his debut at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. He will be returning to Edinburgh with Looking for the Wow before kicking off his UK tour.
Aside from stand-up comedy, Ian co-hosted the award-winning Rock ‘N’ Roll Football show on Absolute Radio for five years with Ian Wright. He currently presents a very popular (50k downloads per episode), twice-weekly Arsenal podcast, Handbrake Off, for The Athletic. A live version of the podcast recently sold out Leicester Square Theatre in London. Ian is also a regular contributor on Times Radio. His book To Be Someone was published in 2020 and has received nearly 500 four- and five-star reviews on Amazon.
Award-winning theatre maker Victoria Melody joined a historical re-enactment society… because we all deal with divorce in different ways!
Spending weekends as a Musketeer trying to get her head straight, she uncovered the story of a bunch of 17th century radicals called The Diggers and then everything changed.
What started out as a personal search for happiness turned into a quest to find the Diggers of today. What she didn’t expect was that they’d be found far from the battlefield, right on her doorstep.
Back in modern-day Britain doing her day job, she realised The Diggers never really left. They’re still here, still fighting, making change on their own terms.
By blending storytelling and stand-up, past and present collide in this unexpected tale of high jinks. Alongside a community on the frontline Vic steps from re-enactment into reality, where history isn’t just remembered—it’s made.
Directed by Mark Thomas, Trouble, Struggle, Bubble and Squeak celebrates the ordinary people shaping history – then and now.
And, like The Diggers, they might leave behind something that will last…if they don’t get caught.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Edinburgh Festival magazine
⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Guardian
⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Stage
⭐⭐⭐⭐ The List
⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Scotsman
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Broadway Baby
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Quintessential Review
“one of the most genuinely purposeful and hopeful shows” The Scotsman
“the tiny, funny woman is really a radical in elf’s clothing, bearing a new message of utopian rebellion” The New Yorker
“filled with stories of eccentric but real people who became emboldened to challenge the status quo” Broadway Baby
In celebration of the release of her hilarious memoir of the same name, comedian, novelist, and professional show-off Jenny Eclair comes to Stafford with a brand-new autobiographical show.
From drama school, (mostly drinking cider and eating sausage rolls), sleeping with men who looked like they lived under a carpet, punk poetry, anorexia, bedsit misery, waitressing and not really having a clue about anything, to being the first woman to win the Perrier Award, becoming a mother, author, grumpy old woman, podcaster and nana!
Still gigging to sell-out crowds forty years later, Jenny invites you to look back at what she can remember before she forgets everything.
Warning, punk poetry, animal impressions and baritone nursery rhyme singing may feature.
Award winning comedian Tom Lucy is embarking on his biggest solo tour with his brand new show ‘Golden Boy’.
Tom is one of the most exciting young comedians in the UK. He is the host of smash hit podcast ‘Private Parts’ and has appeared on many TV shows such as ‘Roast Battle’, ’Stand Up For Live Comedy’, ‘Dating No Filter’, ‘The Lateish Show’ and ‘Stand Up Central’.
As Tom approaches the end of his 20s, he reflects on the previous decade in all its exciting and wild glory and expresses his anxieties for life moving forward.
Tom has toured the world opening in arenas for Jack Whitehall and as a writer he has worked on shows such as the ‘BRIT Awards’.
Winner – The Sun Best New Comedian
Winner – Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year
‘Believe the hype. This guy is hilarious’ Jack Whitehall
‘Watch him live and you’ll understand the excitement’ The Guardian
Would you like to have some FUN! with Queen of Comedy Barbara Nice?
With her Over-60s bus pass tucked safely into her bestest handbag, the nation’s favourite housewife is preparing to tour the country, bringing joy and laughter to every destination.
5-star award-winning entertainment from the tip-top Queen of Comedy.
Join ordinary housewife extraordinaire Barbara for a laugh-out-loud joyful get-together as we reconnect with what makes life worth living.
Barbara says “In these dark days, we need to find fun whenever we piggin’ can”. Expect Barbara’s unique comic insights into the current state of play on how we are all getting on.
This smashin’ show is suitable for anyone aged from fourteen to four score & ten, guaranteed to lift the spirits and put a spring in your step.
Edinburgh Festival regular and comedy circuit headliner Barbara Nice brings out the hidden joy in all of us.
Age: 14+
A message from Barbara about fun & laughter: “Laughter is the noise we make when we make connections. It’s like a two live wires meeting. Me and Vera and were talking about laughter and why we make the noise – we came up with idea that it’s when two opposing forces or ideas meet head on and the energy of the clash between them makes a thunderclap of laughter. Is this a new idea?” #BarbarasBigBangTheory.
Laughter is loud and attracts attention, it’s a signifier to tell others there is something good and important going on – Fun! Fun increases the production of positive hormones, namely oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine. These are neurotransmitters that improve your brain activity. So, Fun! is guaranteed to make you feel better.
Barbara Nice is a loveable force of nature. Hilarious and uplifting, she’s the perfect antidote to doom and gloom and if you’re in need of a comedy pick-me-up Barbara’s your woman – like your favourite aunt at a family wedding she’ll get you going with her unique comic insights and her celebrations of daily life.
Her husband knows nothing of her burgeoning comedy career – he thinks she’s either at bingo or dog sitting. Having supported comedians Johnny Vegas and Peter Kay on tour in the past, Barbara Nice is a circuit headline act in her own right, as well as being one of the most experienced comperes in the country.
In a smash hit audition for ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent in 2019, Barbara wowed the judges with her humour and eccentric style, which saw her reach the semi-finals.
“You are a comedy whirlwind. Everything was funny. I felt like tonight we watched as a star was born.” David Walliams
“A warm and wonderful act, an enthusiastic, livewire force of nature it’s hard not to love.” Chortle
“I have a feeling the public are going to love you.” Simon Cowell
***** The Independent
***** Chortle
***** Edinburgh Eve News
**** The List
“Brilliant Life affirming Comedy“ The List
5-star award-winning entertainment from the tip-top Queen of Comedy
Semi-finalist of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent 2019
Comedy creation of Janice Connolly BEM (perhaps best known as Holy Mary in Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights)
North West Comedy Awards Legend Award winner 2024
Are you ready to have the best damn night of your effing life? Well don’t worry, the man with the golden larynx is back – and he’s aiming high.
On his last tour Nick Helm promised you a Super Fun Good Time Show and, except for one man in Hull, no one could say he did anything other than more than deliver. This time, the International Treasure-in-Waiting is going to give you the best damn night of your miserable lives whether you want it or not.
Nick Helm is the greatest living all-round entertainer of his or any generation, living or dead, and he’s coming to a town near you. What are you going to tell your grandkids? That you were busy that night? Well get ready for your grandkids to stare at you with a complete lack of comprehension. You’ll be considered, locally, an idiot. From now on, every time you catch your own reflection in a car window or the back of an old DVD, you’ll think yourself a wally.
So chill the eff out, wind your effing neck in and buy an effing ticket. They’re affordable and there’s an interval to buy refreshments and to look at your fellow audience members with a cocked head asking “Did he just change our lives?” Relent to him. He. Is. Your. New. God. You can run and you can hide, but no one gets out alive.
Since starting stand-up comedy in 2007, Nick quickly gained attention from across the industry for his hilarious blend of one-liners, stories, poems and songs. He’s been twice nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award, released two successful albums, and was nominated for a BAFTA for short film Elephant, which he co-wrote, directed and starred in. As also seen on Uncle, Loaded, Nick Helm’s Heavy Entertainment, Live at the Apollo, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and many more.
‘Genuinely exciting’ ★★★★★ Telegraph
‘Terrific’ ★★★★ Times
‘It ain’t pretty, but it is hilarious’ ★★★★ Chortle
‘Brilliant one-liners and magnificent set pieces’ ★★★★ Independent
‘Helm is a comic tour de force, and then some’ ★★★★ Mail on Sunday
Age Guidance 16+ (strong language)
Presented by Plosive Live in association with Sophie Chapman Talent
A brand new stand-up show from Angela Barnes, star of Mock The Week and Live at The Apollo.
Angela is a worrier. Whatever it is, she’ll worry about it. But don’t let that worry you – she’ll worry enough for the both of you.
This hilarious show has some stories of success and sound logic, but mostly features stories of unmitigated failure, a distinct lack of wisdom, a little bit of German and loads of jokes.
Award winning comedian Angela’s last tour Hot Mess received critical acclaim and was filmed as a special available on ITVX. Angela has also appeared on Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, BBC’s House of Games and is a regular guest on Radio 4’s The News Quiz. Angela also co-hosts the popular comedy history podcast We Are History.
“She’s just a gloriously down-to-earth, straight talking and extremely funny comic”
– The Guardian
If you know, you know. Don’t miss three laugh-out-loud comics fearlessly taking to the mic in front of what’s sure to be a sell-out audience.
Book early to make sure you don’t miss out…
LINE-UP NOW REVEALED
Stafford’s legendary comedy night has finally made it . . . to the BIG room baby!
Yes, for one night only we’re moving upmarket and upstairs – from the snug and cosy MET to the sheer luxury of the Main Auditorium; deep comfy seats, great sightlines, brilliant acoustics and, most importantly, a second bar.
So join us where the carpet tiles are paved with gold for a superb night of lols with a superb line-up to match; legendary MC Andy Robinson, award-winning Josh Jones and the head-in-the-clouds hilarity of Paul F Taylor.
The fun starts at 8.00pm sharp and the price remains a paltry £15.00 for a fun night out to get your weekend off to a superb start. Enjoy, you lovely people, you deserve it!
‘Andy Robinson is the best MC on the entire comedy circuit – and it’s not even close.’
‘Josh Jones continues to build an impressive reputation with his killer new material.’
‘Paul F Taylor might have his head in the clouds, but the belly laughs are what we’ll remember.
Your MC Andy Robinson
Josh Jones and Paul Taylor (below)
