Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club relaunches monthly Saturday gigs at The Basement, City Screen with April 1 quadruple bill

Daliso Chaponda: Playing Laugh Out Comedy Club night at The Basement on Saturday

THE long wait is over. Damion Larkin’s Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club is making a post-lockdown return to The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse, York, on April Fool’s Day.

The sold-out line-up of Daliso Chaponda, Fran Garrity, Steve Harris and master of ceremonies Danny Deegan on April 1 leads off a series of 8pm gigs on the first Saturday of the month, with acts confirmed for May 6 and June 3. Doors open at 7.30pm for each show.

“The first three months of shows will feature TV comedians galore,” says Damion. “These include an international Britain’s Got Talent favourite, a BAFTA award-winning Hollywood superstar, still keeping it real with brilliant comedy sets for us, and a BBC3 sitcom star who’s a multi award-winning act and prolific writer for top names such as Steve Coogan, Johnny Vegas and John Bishop.  

“You can check out the line-ups at https://lolcomedyclubs.co.uk/ but as always we’ll be bringing you comedians off the telly from such shows as BBC2’S Mock The Week, Shooting Stars, Channel 4’S 8 Out Of 10 Cats, BBC1’S Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Have I Got News For You, QI and Paramount’s Live At The Comedy Store.”

Each show features three professional comics and a host. “Laugh Out Loud Comedy Clubs have a successful track record of bringing the very best comedy acts on the club scene and breaking new talent on the cusp of stardom,” says Damion, who runs nights at York Barbican’s Fishergate Bar too.

Dave Johns: On the May 6 bill at The Basement

“We’re the people who previously booked Chris Ramsey, Jason Manford, John Bishop, Sarah Millican and Russell Howard before they were household names. So come and see more brilliant comedians.”

Mike Newall, Karl Porter, I, Daniel Blake lead actor Dave Johns and Jed Salisbury are confirmed for The Basement on May 6, followed by Tony Burgess, Eddy Midgley, Russell Arathoon and Damion Larkin for June 3.

Meanwhile, Jonny Awsum, Russell Arathoon and Damion Larkin are booked in for York Barbican on April 15; Alan Hudson, Joshua Robertson, Eric Rushton and Damion Larkin for May 13; Raymond Mearns, Ben Silver, The Young’Uns David Eagle and Damion Larkin for June 10, then Daliso Chaponda, Mad Ron and Damion Larkin for July 8.

Laugh Out Loud Comedy nights are held at Hull City Hall, Bournemouth Pavilion, Stoke Regent Theatre, Portsmouth Guildhall and Hastings LOL Comedy Club too.

Tickets are on sale at https://lolcomedyclubs.co.uk  and on the door, subject to availability.

Damion Larkin: Laugh Out Comedy Club programmer and master of ceremonies

Daliso Chaponda to make his Selby Town Hall debut on Apocalypse Not Now tour

Daliso Chaponda: Selby Town Hall debut on Friday

MALAWIAN comedian Daliso Chaponda declares “Apocalypse Not Now” at Selby Town Hall on Friday.

The BBC Radio 4 regular and 2017 Britain’s Got Talent finalist is making his Selby debut on his nationwide tour.

Selby Town Council arts officer Chris Jones says: “I think Daliso is one of the most naturally gifted and effortlessly funny acts on the circuit. The phrase ‘funny bones’ isn’t always applied terribly well by comedy aficionados, but if anyone can rightly claim to have them, it’s Daliso!”

Chaponda’s stand-up had notched more than 300 million views online before his UK breakthrough on Britain’s Got Talent.

Since then, he has made his mark on BBC2’s QI and BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and The Now Show on BBC Radio 4, and most notably he is the writer, creator and host of his own Rose d’Or-nominated Radio 4 show Citizen Of Nowhere, chalking up two series.

Chaponda has performed around the world and at the Edinburgh, Melbourne, Singapore and Cape Town comedy festivals, as well as touring the UK twice.

Now comes his Selby date. “Daliso is a master of satire, and there has definitely been no shortage of material to work with in the year and a half since he was last able to go out on tour,” says Jones. “I can’t wait to see what he has cooked up.”

Doors open at 7.30pm for Friday’s 8pm show; tickets cost £15 on 01757 708449 or at selbytownhall.co.uk.