Hullarious! Comedy festival marks 20th year with packed programme
BRINGING THE LAUGHS: Jack Mclean
By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor
Hull Comedy Festival is promising a “proper laugh” as it celebrates its 20th anniversary next month.
The independent event will be held at a range of city centre venues and locations from November 1 to 15, including Hull Truck Theatre, The Brain Jar, Jubilee Central and the Fruit Market.
It will be two weeks of stand-up, sketch, clowning, improv, comedy theatre and family comedy shows.
Alongside award-winning names, TV favourites, festival regulars and Edinburgh fringe shows, this year’s programme puts Hull’s own comedy talent and community firmly in the spotlight. At the heart of the celebration is the festival’s Hullarious fringe which also takes over The Pop Up Space in the Fruit Market area, a programme of pay-what-you-can shows that makes live comedy more accessible and open to everyone.
The fringe showcases local and regional talent, giving homegrown comics a platform to try out new material, showcase shows that have toured across the UK and for acts to return home and perform in front of Hull audiences.
It also features established acts road-testing new shows and experimenting with fringe-style performances, so audiences can see familiar names in a more daring, unpolished and unpredictable light in smaller spaces and rooms.
Two other special events at Hull Truck Theatre also shine a light on the city’s comedy scene. Best of ‘Ull, on Wednesday, November 4, the festival’s legendary annual showcase of Hull’s comedy talent, is the perfect introduction to the performers who have built the city’s reputation as one of the UK’s standout comedy cities.
The Stand Up and Give Fund BIG Comedy Gala, on Tuesday, November 10, is an all-star fundraising night supporting the Live Comedy Association’s work for grassroots comedy and the wider live comedy sector.
The wider line-up spans comedy of every flavour. Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated comic and two-time Live At The Apollo star Larry Dean kicks off the festival with a show at Asylum on October 27. Highlights include Frankie Monroe, Phil Walker, Harry Stachini and Sandro Ford – who is touring his first UK and Ireland run – all perform across the festival’s fortnightly run.
Australian comic Aidan Jones blends stand-up with live classical piano in Chopin’s Nocturne, while Occult Comedian Andrew O’Neill delivers The History of Punk at Polar Bear Music Club, and Emm Davies, with You Are All Resources – a darkly comic, satirical character show about corporate HR, redundancy, loosely inspired by A Christmas Carol and her own experiences of being sacked.
Family audiences can enjoy the pie-flinging chaos of Jeddy Bear & Gary’s Greatest Hits, and clowning, slapstick duo International Idiots Live bring their physical absurdity to Hull Truck for their debut show.
Home-grown and regional names include Hull Comedian of the Year Dan Coldbeck, alongside Rich Austin, Jed Salisbury and Hull comedy and music performer Mr Sneaks, Lucy Buckley, Jack Mclean, Gary Jennison, Michael Cook and Amy Albright and Mike Linwood plus Quip Spice, a show full of flavour featuring Hull’s stand-up talent.
Festival director Gary Jennison said: “Hull is bursting with comedy talent and this year’s festival is the proudest showcase of it we’ve ever put on. Twenty festivals in, we’ve got unbelievable names coming to the city, but my favourite thing is seeing our own local and regional comics sharing the bill.
“The fringe on the Fruit Market lets anyone walk in, pay what they can and support acts and the festival and who knows, maybe even discover the next big thing. Come out, back your local acts and have a proper laugh. We cannot wait to see you there!”
The event is Yorkshire’s biggest independent comedy festival. The festival closes on Sunday, November 15 with the Hull Comedian of the Year final, crowning the next rising star and offers a development programme to develop their comedy career.
The full programme and tickets are available here.