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Award-winning comedian
Rob Brydon
tours to Sunderland Empire
For one night only this July!
Rob Brydon – A Night Of Songs & Laughter
Sunderland Empire
Sunday 3 July 2022.
Tickets: https://prf.hn/l/5mddgYl
*
Award winning comedian Rob Brydon and his
eight-piece band take to the road in 2021 with his new show, Rob Brydon – A
Night Of Songs & Laughter, marking the first time Brydon has created a
show that includes songs and music as well as his acclaimed wit and comedy.
Touring through to Summer 2022, this extensive
new tour will travel to over 50 venues across the country, arriving at Sunderland
Empire on Sunday 3 July 2022.
With songs from Tom Waits to Tom Jones,
and Guys and Dolls to Elvis (and almost everything in
between), A Night of Songs & Laughter tells Rob’s personal
musical journey from South Wales to the West End and beyond. Audiences can
expect Rob’s usual warmth and humour as he regales them with hilarious
tales from his distant and recent past.
Interview with Rob
Brydon
By James Rampton
Rob
Brydon has come to our interview directly from the photo shoot for his new live
tour. The comedian deadpans that, "I was looking rather lovely in a suit
and freshly pressed shirt. It was a glorious sight to behold. As you know, I'm
a very elegant man. I encapsulate a lot of Daniel Craig." A pause.
"Albeit after he's been savagely beaten."
This
is typical of the marvellous and infectious sense of humour with which Rob has
made his name over the last three decades. The tremendous news is that you will
be able to witness this first-hand on his new nationwide tour, "A Night of
Songs & Laughter", which begins in September 2021, after the previous
dates were delayed due to Covid-19.
The
twist is that on this tour, as well as his fantastically funny stand-up and his
dazzling array of impersonations, Rob will be treating audiences to his superb
singing, accompanied by a very talented 8-piece band. "A Night of Songs
& Laughter" promises to be a very special night out. You are
recommended to book early because tickets are already flying off the shelves.
Rob
makes for wonderful company. He is just as entertaining offstage as he is on
it. An hour in his company simply flies by. It's like being treated to a
command performance – to a very privileged audience of one.
The
54-year-old is an enormously popular and gifted performer. But it's not just me
who thinks so. He has won gongs at the British Comedy Awards and the Royal
Television Society.
The
critics have also been lining up to sing his praises. The Sunday Mirror calls
Rob, “The funniest man on TV right now,” and Heat describes his eponymous TV
programme as, “An absolute treat of a show – five stars.” While The Independent
goes for a more succinct judgement: “Priceless.”
Rob
first broke through on TV with such excellent and original programmes as Marion
and Geoff, Human Remains and The Keith Barret Show. He went on to gain a huge
following from such widely adored comedies as Gavin and Stacey, Would I Lie to
You? and The Trip.
But
for all his success on TV, Rob has been yearning for a return to his live
roots. He articulates why. "Live comedy is just such a buzz. People come
just to see you. Sometimes you stand on stage thinking, 'Good God, these people
have all gone to the trouble of paying a babysitter and chosen to come and
watch my show.' That's a very special feeling."
The
comedian goes on to explain in more depth why he is so drawn to live
performing. "It feels very natural to me. Sometimes people say, 'I can't
imagine getting up on stage and performing. It would be so terrifying.' But you
don't choose that life – it's almost a calling, something you just have to do.
"You
feel very comfortable on stage, and that grows over time. The more you get used
to it, the more it becomes your norm. I like to entertain people and make them
laugh. It's a real privilege. As with a lot of things, you appreciate that more
as you get older. You stand there on stage and think, 'Wow, this is
great!'"
At
the same time, because he is known primarily as a comedian, Rob is conscious
that performing "A Night of Songs & Laughter" might be regarded
as a risky business. But, he asserts, "It's a deliberate risk. I have got
to the stage of my career where shows I'm in like Would I Lie To You? and The
Trip and stand-up tours return.
“But
I want to go outside my comfort zone and test myself. I'll be nervous before
this tour thinking, 'What will the reaction be?’ But I'm taking a chance, and
the fact that there is risk involved is part of the thrill of it."
Since
appearing in a school production of Guys and Dolls, Rob has always loved
singing. In 2009, alongside Ruth Jones (who starred alongside him in that
production of Guys and Dolls), Robin Gibb, and Sir Tom Jones, he reached number
one in the charts with the single "Islands in the Stream", in aid of
Comic Relief. He has also performed with such music stars as Neil Diamond,
Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Sharleen Spiteri.
For
all that, Rob is well aware that some people might still be taken aback by what
they perceive as a change of tack with "A Night of Songs &
Laughter". "It will take some people by surprise. There are so many
media outlets nowadays that some people might only know me from Gavin and
Stacey or Would I Lie To You?. Those people often say to me, 'I didn't know you
could sing', and yet I have sung a lot. I hope this show is a very pleasant
surprise for audiences." It certainly will be.
A
BAFTA nominated actor who has also starred in such acclaimed films as A Cock
and Bull Story, 24-Hour Party People and Blinded by the Light, Rob continues
that, "At the end of the day, I'm there to entertain people. I recently
went to see Jeff Goldblum play with his band. That was wonderful. That guy was
just there to entertain people. He played his songs, but he did lots of other
things as well, like film quizzes. The show followed no rulebook.
"I
found that very liberating and quite instructive. It showed me that you don't
have to follow the rules. You can make the show whatever you want it to be. So
that's what I've done with 'A Night of Songs & Laughter'."
Rob,
who trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff before
moving to a job at BBC Wales, reveals that "A Night of Songs &
Laughter" will recount his life story through a series of anecdotes and
songs by such varied artists as Paul Simon, George and Ira Gershwin, Stephen
Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits.
The
performer, who possesses a beautifully rich singing voice, explains that,
"I go back to my childhood. I was 16 and starting to get interested in
girls, but I was always pining from afar. In my teens I lived in Porthcawl, a
coastal town in Wales, and all the cool boys were surfers. I wasn't a surfer. I
had a go once, but I hurt my knee."
In
addition, "My musical taste was never considered cool. I never set much
store by stuff being fashionable. I loved David Bowie and The Police, but also
Shakin' Stevens and Cliff Richard, which not many boys of my age did. Well, not
the ones sitting at the back of the bus!"
Rob
identifies another major problem for him during those unhappy teenage years.
"I didn't drink. My friends would all drink on a Friday and Saturday, and
on a Tuesday and Wednesday, too, just for good measure. That meant they lost
their fear of rejection. Unfortunately, I never lost that fear. I knew that I
was funny and could make girls laugh. They would want to spend time with me. Had
I had the nerve to close the deal with a kiss, I'm sure they would have
responded, but I was too frightened.
"I
would see Neanderthals from my class with their arm around a girl at the school
disco and think, 'How did he manage that? He can't string a sentence together
and now it looks as if they're setting up home together'. I talk a lot about my
bemusement that girls were going out with those boys. At the time, Joe
Jackson's song, 'Is She Really Going Out with Him?' was a big hit, and I sing a
bit of that by way of illustration."
Rob
wraps up by expressing what he hopes audiences will take away from "A
Night of Songs & Laughter". "I hope people will come out happier
than when they went in because they've had such a great time. I hope they will
have forgotten about the world for two hours. Especially considering the last
year we have all had.
"As
a performer in the last few years, you can really feel that people just want to
escape. It's tangible. People come up to you afterwards and say, 'I'm so glad
you didn't talk about the state of the country or the current US President.' My
show is an escape. It's a service. People want to go out and be entertained. In
times of adversity, which you could definitely say we are in now, people want
that more than ever."
Never
more than a minute away from the next joke, Rob adds with a wry grin: "Of
course, if the box office is still open, a percentage of the audience will be
looking for a refund, I don't doubt that. I can only hope that the more
forgiving among them will draw a line in the sand and put it behind them!"
As
you can see, you are in for a really terrific night of entertainment at "A
Night of Songs & Laughter".
Rob Brydon’s varied career began with the TV comedy
shows Marion and Geoff and Human Remains in 2000, for which he
won British Comedy Awards. Since then
his comedy credits have included A Small Summer Party, The Keith Barret Show,
Directors Commentary, Supernova, Cruise Of The Gods, Black Books, I’m
Alan Partridge, Little Britain, Live At The Apollo, Rob Brydon’s Annually
Retentive, QI, The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year, Have I Got News For You, Gavin
and Stacey, Rob Brydon’s Identity Crisis, Would I Lie To You
and The Trip with Steve Coogan.
He has also appeared in the dramas Oliver Twist,
Heroes and Villains: Napoleon, The Way We Live Now, Murder In Mind, Kenneth
Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore, Marple and the films 24 Hour Party
People, MirrorMask, A Cock and Bull Story and the film Swimming with
Men.
In 2009 alongside Ruth Jones, Robin Gibb and Sir Tom
Jones, Rob reached number one in the UK charts with the single Islands in
The Stream, in aid of Comic Relief. He also embarked on an 87-date tour of
the UK with his stand-up show, Rob Brydon Live which included a three
week run in London’s West End. He also
recently enjoyed a sold-out tour with Lee Mack and David Mitchell, before his
own sell-out tour in 2020.
Tickets:
Rob Brydon – A Night of
Songs and Laughter will play at Sunderland Empire for one performance only
on Sunday 3 July 2022. Tickets are available from the Ticket Centre on 0844
871 7615* or online at https://prf.hn/l/5mddgYl
*
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