Comedy Archives - Blackpool Social Club

30 Jun

Theatre Review: Thick and Tight present Tits and Teeth

David Simper0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performanceblackpool arts scene, Blackpool Grand Theatre, Comedy, social comment, Theatre

This is one of those when you come out of the theatre and walking towards the bus stop, wonder what the hell you have just seen. For one night only on Friday 28 June 2024, a stunning performance of an extended sketch format show with the Thick and Tight ensemble cast of talented and committed people. Singly or in pairs, the cast works through a series of pieces in mime, voice-over and dance based around a variety of historic and not so historic figures. The workshops to determine how these would be handled must have been something to behold, or…

10 Oct

Creative Callout: Actors wanted for comedy pilot

Linda Hampton0 CommentsLocal Newsauditions, Blackpool, Comedy, community theatre, entertainment, performance, Theatre

A Blackpool-based production company is seeking three actors for their forthcoming November shoot of a comedy drama. Friendly Way Productions Ltd seeks three people to join the existing cast for the filming of the pilot episode of their new series, AmDram. Shoot dates are 2nd-4th November 2023 and the deadline for applications is 23rd October. Casting breakdown and all details of how to apply can be found here. Actors will be required to submit their self-tapes for consideration for the following roles: Thomas (late twenties-early thirties) is a recent divorcee who joins a local amateur theatre group as a way…

04 May

Theatre Review: Pride and Prejudice (sort of)

David Simper0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performanceall female cast, Blackpool, Comedy, drama, grand theatre, play, pride and prejudice

There are a few more F bombs in this comedy musical version of the Jane Austen classic, says David Simper, but the core of the story remains. I read Pride and Prejudice some years ago and so was a little rusty on the phases of the plot. Recently I read Emma, a very different book, although with a somewhat similar ending, just to demonstrate my Austen-ista credentials. So I was fairly intrigued to see this production as I boarded my usual service 3 bus for the Grand Theatre. This was obviously a comedy musical take on a book that has…

15 Mar

Theatre Preview: Miss Nobodies

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & PerformanceBlackpool, Comedy, performance, Theatre

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Award-winning writer, comedian, and performer Ruth E. Cockburn has written ‘Miss Nobodies’ a new two-hander play celebrating female working-class voices over the last 100 years. Ruth asks, ‘What was it like to be a working-class woman in history and why is there so little literary evidence of it?’ [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Over the last couple of years, Ruth has been researching, talking to people, visiting libraries, and scouring bookshops for female voices. She was made aware of a writer and activist called Ethel Carnie Holdsworth by Mid Pennine Arts. She is cited as the first female working-class published author in the UK.…

14 Sep

Blackpool to host Word Fest Literature Festival

Linda Hampton0 CommentsLiterature & Spoken Word, Theatre, Dance & PerformanceBlackpool, book, books, bookshop, celebrity, children, Comedy, entertainment, families, literature, podcast, Spoken Word, Winter Gardens

Blackpool is getting its very own literature festival this autumn in Word Fest, a weekend of literary events and spoken word where literary heavyweights and popular authors host events side by side with celebrity writers. Running between Friday 7th until Monday 10th October 2022, the festival takes the form of a series of ticketed events to hear authors talk about their love of writing and their books, answer questions and sign books for fans. Most ticket prices include a copy of the latest publication by the author. Hosted and held in the Winter Gardens and co-produced by Kirkham's independent coffee…

28 Sep

Confessional comedy show Catch 22 Years come to The Old Electric

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & PerformanceComedy, Old Electric, performance

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Hard-hitting confessional comedy show Catch 22 Years is set to thrill Blackpool audiences when it comes to Blackpool on Thursday 7 October. Catch 22 Years is a hilarious, brutally honest, heart-warming and provocative, one-woman show tackling the taboo of addiction.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The highly-rated comedy show, written by and starring Katie O’Brien, explores the performer's own battles with addiction which saw her quit alcohol a year before she was legally allowed to drink. This truly unique performance is the comedy actor’s first self-confessional piece of theatre – and anyone who has seen the show rates it for both its honesty and absolute…

08 Mar

Tim Minchin is BACK in Black(pool)

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsMusic & Gigs, Theatre, Dance & PerformanceComedian, Comedy, Music, tour dates, Winter Gardens

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] We're all looking forward to the return of live shows, so it's no surprise to hear we're thrilled that Tim Minchin is BACK! The internationally renowned artist returns to the UK stage with more dates of his critically acclaimed BACK tour. Award-winning comedian, actor and composer Tim Minchin has confirmed new UK dates of his BACK tour. This autumn he's heading over the Blackpool for a show at the Opera House on Saturday 20 November 2021.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Billed as “Old Songs, New Songs, F*** You Songs”, Back has a set list of material from all corners of Minchin’s eclectic – and often…

05 Jan

What does the future look like for ‘Blackpool’s Funniest Night Out’?

Ruth Cockburn0 CommentsColumns & Opinion, Theatre, Dance & PerformanceBlackpool, Comedian, Comedy, performance

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] As I walked into The Comedy Station Comedy Club in Blackpool, I was greeted with a slightly different sight to what I saw ten months ago. Last time I was there I was gigging; there was a crowd of happy, if slightly tipsy people filling the rows of seats in front of the stage; the venue bar was alive with merry punters and busy bar staff. Whilst skulking in a dark corner, a gang of comedians were chatting, scribbling new jokes on the back of their hands and getting ready to entertain. Ten months later, I was faced with…

02 Dec

Heritage or Heresy?

Ruth Cockburn0 CommentsColumns & OpinionComedy, opinion

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Ruth E. Cockburn looks at how comedy ages and asks - Should we be proud or embarrassed of our comedy history? The week that I wrote this, it was Bobby Ball’s funeral, a sad day. Myself and my fellow comedians clapped and shouted ‘Rock On Tommy’ as his coffin drove by, I felt a sense of pride that I work in such a supportive and loving profession. I was brought up watching reruns of the Wheeltappers and Shunters Club, The Comedians and sketches by Al Reed and Les Dawson. I loved these comics and others just like them as if they…

02 Oct

Ruth Cockburn asks “What Does The Future of Performance Look Like?”

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsColumns & Opinion, Theatre, Dance & PerformanceComedy, performance, Ruth Cockburn

I am currently writing a show that is to tour next year. It’s called Miss Nobodies in case you’d missed me banging on about it. It's a live theatre show with audience interaction, touring the North of England, commissioned by Spot On Lancashire & Super Slow Way. However, I have started to wonder what the future will hold for live performance, and how I might be able to bring my performances to the public at large. As theatres are struggling to stay afloat, large organisations are going bust and freelancers are struggling to cling onto fragile careers, what does our…