Laugh Out Loud adds 4pm show for Saturday’s Basement bill of Michael Shafar, Ant Dewson, Mike Carter & Gary Jennison

Michael Shafar: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy’s brace of gigs at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, on Saturday.

LAUGH Out Loud Comedy Club promoter Damion Larkin has added an extra 4pm show in response to ticket demand for Saturday’s 8pm bill of Michael Shafar, Ant Dewson, Mike Carter and Gary Jennison at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York.

Michael Shafar has taken plenty of big steps in his career as a comedian,  not least leaving his native Australia to ply his comedy trade in the UK.

Before that, he left a career in law for comedy and has been working hard ever since to win his Jewish mother’s forgiveness. He has (somewhat) achieved that, having performed around Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the United States and on international waters.

Ant Dewson

In 2016, Shafar burst onto the comedy scene in the RAW Comedy National Final, represented Australia in the Laugh Factory’s Funniest Person in the World competition and toured across Asia, headlining the continent’s biggest clubs.

He has since appeared on Network 10’s The Project and Studio 10, ABC’s Comedy Bites and triple j’s Good Az Friday and toured four shows around the country, regularly selling out at Australia’s major festivals, not least the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.​

Shafar has drawn more than 70 million views to his comedy videos online and has a comedy special, A(LIVE), available on Amazon Prime and a second special, Alright, Next Joke, on YouTube.

Mike Carter

“Amazingly there’s a rare chance to see him in town soon, so don’t miss this one!” advises Larkin.

Ant Dewson is a comedian, mediocre piano player and singer of silly songs, many of them rude. He has written comedy for BBC Radio 4 and Sky TV and commercials for many brands, performs on BBC Radio London and is the co-host of Carpet Martin’s Comedy Market on Riverside Radio.

Dewson has sung at the Royal Festival Hall, Guildford Cathedral, Fairfield Halls, New WimbledonTheatre, Southwark Cathedral, Cadogan Hall and even on the pitch at Wembley before the Rugby eague Challenge Cup Final.

Gary Jennison

Mike Carter broke into stand-up comedy after accidentally signing up for a comedy course intended to help middle-aged men suffering from depression. He was 27 and just happy to be out of the house.

Carter covers everything from living with your nan in your 30s to the realities of engaging in “kinky stuff” when you have a coordination disorder and brings a fearless yet friendly approach to comedy. His clips have attracted more than one million views on Facebook, YouTube & Instagram.

Force of nature Gary Jennison promises dance-offs, game shows, magic and unbridled chaos, and he may even try something dangerously funny, as he delivers surreal, energetic humour like a toddler with a Tommy gun. Cue 100 per cent unscripted, unsupervised comedy full of observations with a twist.

Doors open at 3.30pm and 7.30pm respectively. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

Gag of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, Silky & Dave Johns, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, 5/9/2026

Silky: Liverpudlian-in-exile in York this weekend

LAUGH Out Loud Comedy Club promoter Damion Larkin serves  up Saturday’s 8pm bill of Silky, Dave Johns, Jimmy Shirley and Gary Jennison at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York.

Liverpudlian-in-exile Silky made the final of the 1995 BBC New Comedy Awards in only his fourth gig, appearing on BBC1 alongside Lee Mack (Would I Lie To You? and Not Going Out) and Leeds comic Julian Barratt (Mighty Boosh).

Silky has performed internationally, including gigs in China, the Philippines, the Gulf, Singapore, the United States, the Melbourne Comedy Festival, Glastonbury Festival and all over Europe.

Dave Johns: Comedian and actor

He headlined the inaugural Frampton Mansell Comedy Festival, the world’s smallest of its kind, and does warm-up work for BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Dave Johns has been a stand-up since 1989, playing all the major comedy clubs and comedy festivals in the UK and worldwide, such as Kilkenny Comedy Festival in Ireland, Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, the Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne Comedy Festival.

He has worked on stage in the Middle East, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Johannesburg, Sydney, New York, Amsterdam and the Arctic.

Jimmy Shirley: ” The absurdity of a Scouser in Greece”

In addition, he is a scriptwriter whose credits include the stage adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Shawshank Redemption, co-written with Owen O’Neill.

He has acted on the West End stage with Christian Slater in the stage play One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and in Twelve Angry Men and The Odd Couple (with Bill Bailey and Alan Davies) at the Assembly Theatre, Edinburgh.

He won the 2016 BIFA for Best Actor for his lead role in Ken Loach’s film I, Daniel Blake and has been a regular guest on comedy panel shows Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC2) and 8 Out Of Ten Cats (Channel 4).

Gary Jennison: Surrealist force of nature

Jimmy Shirley started his comedy career while living abroad in Greece in 2019. Word soon spread and now he is making his mark in the UK too with his jokes about growing up in Liverpool in the 1990s, the absurdity of a Scouser in Greece and the everyday things that annoy him every day.

Completing the line-up will be Gary Jennison, a surrealist force of nature who brings 100 per cent unscripted, unsupervised and unbridled chaos to dance-offs, game shows and observations with a twist while inviting the audience to steer his performance with suggestions and participation.

Tickets are on sale at https://lolcomedyclubs.co.uk or on the door from 7.30pm subject to availability. 

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