Press Releases
Hurst and Mack lead the laughs (PR 993)
Ealing Comedy Festival
13 - 20 July
Walpole Park, Ealing
The big laughs under the Big Top are set to continue with another stellar line-up booked for this year's Ealing Comedy Festival.
Tickets for the best stand-up comedy the UK has to offer go on sale today (Friday, 1 June).
Headlining the bill this year are Lee Hurst and Lee Mack, with other top names including Michael McIntyre, Marcus Brigstocke, Paul Tonkinson and Sean Lock.
The Ealing Comedy Festival, now in its fourteenth year, offers a unique al fresco experience in a venue the size of a theatre but with the lively atmosphere of a club.
Councillor Nigel Sumner, Cabinet Member for Health and Community Well Being, said: "The Ealing Comedy Festival has grown to be one of London's leading comedy events, with sell-out shows from headline acts and the big names of the future.
"This year we've got a six night season of blisteringly funny comedy, guaranteed to have you in fits of laughter."
FRIDAY 13 JULY – Gala Night
The first of two hugely popular Friday night galas, the
festival opens with top stand-ups Junior Simpson, Will Smith and
Markus Birdman, impressionist Terry Alderton, delightfully bitchy
Sarah Millican, American magician John Lenahan, India's premiere
stand-up Papa CJ and the controversial Reginald D Hunter. Lee
Canterbury is MC.
SATURDAY 14 JULY
Michael McIntyre has become the rising star of comedy in 2007
since appearing in last year's royal variety performance. He has
stolen the show on Have I Got News for You and sold out a 14-date
run in the West End.
Stephen K Amos is huge in Australia and heading the same way
here in Blighty after joining forces with Russell Brand on Big
Brother's Little Brother.
A brilliant, topical stand-up as anyone who has seen him on
Mock the Week will testify, Mark Watson is another of comedy's
brightest stars.
SUNDAY 15 JULY
Lee Hurst is back at the festival after selling out in 2002.
He is best known to television viewers as the quirky and
quick-witted panellist on sporting quiz They Think It's All Over.
He also owns and runs the famous Backyard Comedy Club in London's
East End. Plus support.
WEDNESDAY 18 JULY
Lee Mack is one of the UK's most recognisable and celebrated
comics. He hosts They Think It's All Over and writes and stars in
the award-winning sitcom Not Going Out. Marcus Brigstocke is
another TV regular, actor, radio presenter and winner of the
TimeOut award for best comedy performance 2006. Ex-boxer and
ex-hairdresser Ricky Grover is back for his third appearance at the
festival.
THURSDAY 19 JULY
Sean Lock is hailed as one of the most original British
comics around, winning the TimeOut comedy award for inventiveness
and originality. You'll have seen him on 8 Out of 10 Cats, QI and
Have I Got News For You. We welcome back the 2001 festival's most
popular act, Paul Zenon, a brilliant magician and comic as seen on
Channel 4. Paul Tonkinson, a self-confessed professional
Northerner, celebrity Man Yoo fan, and XFM DJ is a star of comedy
in all its forms and will not fail to make you giggle.
FRIDAY 20 JULY – Gala Night
The festival's closing night features another cavalcade of
top circuit talent including superb Irish comic Andrew Maxwell, the
brilliant Lucy Porter, top stand-ups Milton Jones, Rhod Gilbert and
Dave Johns, hilarious Aussie Kitty Flanagan, posh stand-up Simon
'no eyes' Evans, Tim Clark (MC) and a very special guest.
For more information on Ealing Summer 2007 – West London's hottest festival – go to: www.ealing.gov.uk/ealingsummer; Tel: 020 8825 6640 or Email: events@ealing.gov.uk.
BOX OFFICE DETAILS
Box Office opens Friday, 1 June
Box Office number: 020 8825 6277
Information number: 020 8825 6640
Tickets: £16 all shows
£2.50 booking fee per order on all credit/debit card
transactions. Over 18s only. No concessions, refunds or
exchanges.
Performance Times
Heineken Festival Bar opens: from 6:30pm
Shows start: 8:00pm
How to get there
Walpole Park
Mattock Lane, Ealing, W5
Tube: Ealing Broadway (District & Central Lines)
South Ealing (Piccadilly Line)
Bus: 65, 83, 207, 297, 427, 607, E1, E2, E7, E8, E9, E10, E11, PR1
Car: Limited paid parking is available at Grove Road and Springbridge Road multi-storey car parks, and behind Ealing Town Hall after 5pm weekdays and all day at weekends.
Cycle: Cycle racks are available near the main festival site entrances.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
· The Ealing Comedy Festival is part of Ealing Summer,
which includes Greenford Carnival 7 July, Opera in the Park 16-17
July, Blues Festival 21 July, Global Festival 22 July, Jazz
Festival 25-29 July, the London Mela 12 August, and Literary
Festival 1-2 September.
· The Ealing Comedy Festival is produced by Ealing
Council's Festivals and Events Service in association with Ha
Bloody Ha Comedy Club. For more information about Ha Bloody Ha and
Headliners Comedy Clubs, call 020 8566 4067.