Preview: Funny Way To Be Comedy Club Spring 2015 Season

Spring Comedy In

Barnard Castle

Teesdale’s Funny Way To Be Comedy Club have announced details of their 2015 comedy programme in Barnard Castle.

Based at the recently-refurbished Witham arts centre, the new comedy programme runs from January until March and features some of the funniest men and women in the UK, including the big success story of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Best Newcomer winner Alex Edelman.

The new season, programmed by Barnard Castle resident Peter Dixon, officially gets underway on Saturday 10 January, with a headline appearance from award-winning comedian Lucy Beaumont.

Beaumont has a clutch of awards to her name. She’s a 2014 Foster’s Best Newcomer nominee, winner of the BBC New Comedy Award in 2012, and a former Chortle Award winner for Best Newcomer. In 2013, Lucy appeared on series two of Live At The Electric on BBCThree, and has recently been commissioned to produce her own show for BBC Radio 4, To Hull and Back. Rising stars Katie Mulgrew and Hayley Ellis complete the bill in a night featuring three of the most exciting female comics in the UK today.

Alex Edelman

Next up in Teesdale is the 2014 Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer, USA comedian Alex Edelman. The 25-year-old from Boston is the next big thing in comedy. Fresh, original, and endearing, with each performance Edelman continues to prove himself to be one of the world's most promising upcoming comedians. He joins Australian sensation Felicity Ward, one-liner comedian Peter Brush and Chortle Student Comedian of the Year Jamila Maddix in Barnard Castle on Saturday 7 February.

Tony Law

On Saturday 28 February, we welcomes alternative comedy hero Tony Law to the region. The cheerfully absurd humour that Law knocks around into a jazzy, freeform shape has endeared him to both live and TV audiences in the UK and abroad. Law has made appearances on Charlie Brooker's Screen Wipe, Sue Perkins' sitcom Heading Out and Have I Got News For You, and is now a regular on TV panel shows Never Mind The Buzzcocks and 8 Out Of 10 Cats.

Funny Way To Be’s final spring show sees two festival favourites bring their latest shows to the region. Ray Peacock will perform an abridged version of his critically-acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe show, Here Comes Trouble, while Leicester Comedy Festival Best Show winner Ahir Shah is not to be missed. Ray and Ahir are at The Witham on Saturday 28 March.

 

Felicity Ward

Peter Dixon, of Funny Way To Be, said: "With the announcement of the new year season we now have ten stand up comedy shows programmed until the end of March 2015.  We have continued our commitment to bring the very best comedians, with a programme providing shows to suit all sorts of tastes, to rural Barnard Castle.  In this season we have comics from the USA, Australia and Canada providing a real international flavour."

Tony Law

To complement the more high-profile shows in the calendar, the Teesdale comedy club have also announced details of three bargain mid-week shows set to feature the stand-up stars of tomorrow.

With tickets only a fiver, Teesdale comedy fans can see cult comedian Silky (19 November), BBC New Comedy Award winner Steve Bugeja (21 January) and Chris Ramsey tour support Carl Hutchinson (11 March) for less than the cost of a pint in London.

Peter added: “For audiences it's a chance to come along and see a top quality professional show with an intimate friendly setting without spending a fortune. It is ideal for both regular comedy fans as well as people who is thinking about coming along to see a live comedy show for the first time.”

Tickets:

·        

     Wednesday 29 October: Lee Nelson: Suited & Booted work-in-progress, £17.50, 7.30pm

·        Wednesday 19 November: Silky, with support, £5, 8.00pm

·        Saturday 29 November: Susan Calman: Lady Like, £14/£12 concessions, 8pm

·        Saturday 13 December: Romesh Ranganathan and Suzi Ruffell, £12/£10 concessions, 8.00pm

·        Saturday 10 January: Northern Ladies - Lucy Beaumont, Katie Mulgrew & Hayley Ellis, 8.00pm

·        Wednesday 21 January: Steve Bugeja, with support, £5, 8.00pm

·        Saturday 7 February: Alex Edelman, Felicity Ward, Jamali Maddix and Peter Brush, £10 advanced/ £12 on the door, 8.00pm.

·        Saturday 28 February: Tony Law, £12 advanced/ £14 on the door, 8.00pm.

·        Wednesday 11 March: Carl Hutchinson, with support, £5, 8.00pm.

·        Saturday 28 March: Ray Peacock & Ahir Shah, £10 advanced/ £12 on the door, 8.00pm

Tickets for all shows are on sale now from funnywaytobe.com.

Venue: The Witham, 3 Horsemarket, Barnard Castle, Durham, DL12 8LY