2103 - DCS sponsors Stratford-upon-Avon Comedy Hullabaloo
Ed Byrne, Milton Jones, Mark Watson and Danny Bhoy are among the comedians set to grace the stage of a brand new comedy festival in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Comedy Hullabaloo has been put together by The Underbelly and the Royal Shakespeare Company and is being held between Thursday 23 - Sunday 26 May
The venture is yet another festival for The Underbelly, who has established themselves at both the Edinburgh Fringe and London's Southbank over the past few years.
The full line-up includes The Horne Section, Miles Jupp, Roisin Conaty, Andy Zaltzman, Matt Forde, Alex Horne, Charlie Baker, Justin Moorhouse, Doc Brown, Sara Pascoe, Rob Rouse, James Acaster, Elis James, Lloyd Langford, Joe Lycett, Mark Olver, Rob Beckett, Carl Donnelly, Joel Dommett, Katherine Ryan and Celia Pacquola.
Speaking about the new venture Ed Bartlam, director of Underbelly, said: “We are hugely excited about Comedy Hullabaloo. The idea behind the festival is to create an all-consuming live comedy experience where audiences get to see fantastic mixed bill shows in an intimate and friendly environment and where they can see more than one show in an evening.
"This is about creating a real weekend festival atmosphere for acts and audiences. The support within Stratford-upon-Avon to make this happen has been amazing and we’re delighted that we’ve found such an excellent home for Comedy Hullabaloo.”
Ian Parkes, director of Stratford-upon-Avon Arts Festival said: “We are delighted to welcome The Comedy Hullabaloo to Stratford-upon-Avon. To have a working partnership with Underbelly represents a coming of age for the Stratford-upon-Avon Arts Festival.
"This partnership will provide a great cultural spectacle, with some of the biggest names in comedy performing.”
Geraldine Collinge, Director of Events & Exhibitions, Royal Shakespeare Company added: "One of Shakespeare’s great skills was his ability to write comedy so it only seems fitting that we welcome The Comedy Hullabaloo to Stratford-upon-Avon, building upon the incredibly popular Live at the RSC, we look forward to many more brilliant comics taking to our stage.”
There will be an estimated 12,000 tickets on sale over the four-day Comedy Hullabaloo weekend.
Tickets will be sold separately for each of the 22 shows, with prices between £10 and £25, meaning that comedy fans can cherry-pick their weekend of entertainment. Further shows and acts will be added to the programme in the coming weeks. Tickets for The Comedy Hullabaloo will go on sale from 9am on Friday 1st March and are available via: www.comedyhullabaloo.com and www.rsc.org.uk.