More Things To Do in York and beyond, from drag bingo to dandy giant tales. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 5, from The York Press

Nina Gilligan: Headlining today’s Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club gig at The Basement

CHEEKY drag fun and games, a dandy giant, outsider art, folk luminaries aplenty and a terpsichorean comedian light up Charles Hutchinson’s early February diary.

Afternoon gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club presents Nina Gilligan, Ryan McDonnell, Adam Anwar and Damion Larkin MC, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, 4pm to 6.30pm, doors 3.30pm

2021 Leicester Mercury Comedy Award winner Nina Gilligan tops this afternoon’s comedy bill with an act described by Scottish culture magazine The Skinny as “a bolshier Mrs Merton”.

Belfast’s Ryan McDonnell interjects wit and Irish charm into his observation of everyday life. “Sometimes bizarre, often dark, he’ll guide you on a unique journey through the world as he sees it,” says master of ceremonies and club promoter Damion Larkin. Third act Adam Anwar’s stand-up material draws on themes of identity, race, and social issues. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

The Isolation Creations: Bingo meets drag in The Old Paint Shop

Looking for an evening of fun, games, bingo and daft prizes with a party atmosphere? Haus Of Games with The Isolation Creations, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight, 8pm

CHEEKY comedy drag double act The Isolation Creations host a variety show to leave you blushing, giggling and maybe even holding a “crappy prize or two”. “Don’t come expecting RuPaul’s Drag Race,” they say. We’re here to remind you that drag can be a bit saucy, rough around the edges and a whole lot of fun! Step into our world where the heels are a bit lower, the banter is a lot cheekier and the wigs have a delightful hint of nostalgia.”

Inspired by Les Dawson, Dame Edna, Dick Emery and Lily Savage, and begun in the pandemic lockdown, Alan and Jamie’s characters embody the spirit of classic British drag. Think of cheeky barmaids, seaside B&B landladies and your Nanna’s gossipy friends. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Untitled 7, by Neil Bunting, from Art Of Protest’s Outsider Inside York exhibition

Exhibition of the week: Outsider Inside York – An Exhibition of Words and Pictures, Art of Protest Gallery, Walmgate, York, today until February 16

OUTSIDER Inside York celebrates the diverse voices of five artists who have used creativity to reshape their lives and challenge the status quo, revealing art’s transformative power in overcoming adversity.

Taking part will be Boxxhead, alias York mixed-media artist Kevin McNulty; former British Army soldier and PTSD sufferer Kevin Devenport, who began painting as a form of self-expression while in prison for drug offences; Peter Stapleton, who discovered a gift for painting in oils after 22 years behind bars, and late neurodivergent  artist and musician Neil Bunting, who died last year, having struggled with mental health issues and personal loss throughout his life and never exhibiting his work in his lifetime. Their works are complemented by poems by Geoff Beacon, whose latest collection, Foreboding, engages with activism and politics in York.

Meet The Smartest Giant In Town in Little Angel Theatre’s show at the Grand Opera House, York

Comedy gig of the week…and next spring too: Chris McCausland, Yonks!, Grand Opera House, York, Monday (3/2/2025) and May 17 2026

AFTER lifting the glitterball trophy as the ground-breaking first blind contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, Liverpool comedian Chris McCausland returns to his “day job” on his Yonks! tour, now to be extended into 2026. He has added a second York date after selling out the first. Meanwhile, virtuoso ventriloquist Nina Conti’s Whose Face Is It Anyway? show on February 7 has sold out too. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Jennifer Jones’s Belle in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Beauty And The Beast at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Fairytale of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Beauty And The Beast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 4 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

THE Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company presents the timeless tale of Belle (Jennifer Jones), a young woman in a small provincial town, and the Beast (Adam Gill), a prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. The Beast must learn to love and be loved in order to break the spell, but time is running out.

Further principal roles in Kathryn Lay’s cast go to Jim Paterson as Gaston; Tom Mennary,  Lumiere; Paul Blenkiron, Maurice; Helen Barugh, Madame de la Grande Bouche; Heather Stead, Babette, and Anthony Gardner, Cogsworth. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Meet The Smartest Giant In Town in Little Angel Theatre’s show at the Grand Opera House, York

Children’s show of the week: Little Angel Theatre in The Smartest Giant In Town, Grand Opera House, York, February 5, 1pm and 4pm, and February 6, 10am and 1pm

GEORGE wishes he were not the scruffiest giant in town. When he sees a new shop selling giant-sized clothes, he adopts a new look: smart trousers, smart shirt, stripy tie, shiny shoes. Now he is the smartest giant in town…until he bumps into some animals that desperately need his help – and his clothes!

So runs Little Angel Theatre’s latest puppet-filled stage adaptation of a typically heart-warming Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture-book tale of friendship and helping those in need. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The good folk of the Transatlantic Sessions, bound for York Barbican on Wednesday

Folk and Americana gig of the week: Transatlantic Sessions, with Loudon Wainwright III, Julie Fowlis, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams and Niall McCabe, York Barbican, February 5, doors 7pm

TRANSATLANTIC Sessions 2025 celebrates 30 years since the original television series. Taking to the stage will be the all-star, virtuoso house band, led as ever by Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas, plus guest vocalists Loudon Wainwright III, Julie Fowlis, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams and Ireland’s Niall McCabe.

Joined by Phil Cunningham, John Doyle, Michael McGoldrick, Tatiana Hargreaves & Allison de Groot, John McCusker, Donald Shaw, James Mackintosh and Daniel Kimbro, they will interweave original material with age-old tunes and songs as they explore shared roots and find new common ground, celebrating the rich musical traditions that connect Scotland, Ireland and the United States. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Beverley Beirne: Fronting her trio at The Old Paint Shop on Friday

Jazz gig of the week: The Beverley Beirne Trio, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 7, 8pm

BEVERLEY Beirne sings songs of hope, passion, of living life to the full, of day dreaming, regret, love lost and love found and ultimately of dancing through the game and rhythm of life from Dream Dancer, long-listed for a Grammy Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Listen out for interpretations of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, Let’s Face The Music And Dance and a bluesy take on The Clash’s Should  I Stay Or Should I Go. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Craig David: Parading his singing, MC and DJ skills at Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer

Gig announcement of the week: Craig David Presents TS5, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 19

SOUTHAMPTON rhythm & blues musician Craig David parades his triple threat as singer, MC and DJ at his TS5 party night – patented at his Miami penthouse – on the East Coast this summer. Expect a set combining old skool anthems from R&B to Swing Beat, Garage to Bashment, while merging chart-topping House hits too.

“I cannot wait to bring my TS5 show to Scarborough and the beautiful Yorkshire coast in July,” enthuses David, 43. “2025 is a massive year for me as it’s the 25th anniversary of my debut album [Born To Do It] and my debut number one single (Fill Me In]. What better way to celebrate than bringing the party to Scarborough this summer.” Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com. 

In Focus: What’s the line-up for Futuresound Group’s first York Comedy Festival in York Museum Gardens? ADDED ON 3/2/2025

Dara Ó Briain

THE inaugural York Comedy Festival will take place on Sunday, July 6 in the finale to Futuresound Group’s second season of Live At York Museum Gardens shows.

Irish comedian, broadcaster and writer Dara Ó Briain and Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, actress and singer Katherine Ryan will co-headline the open-air bill of nine acts, also featuring  Maisie Adam, Joel Dommett, Clinton Baptiste, Angelos Epithemiou, Vittorio Angelone, Scott Bennett and host Stephen Bailey.

York exclusive postcode presale (YO1 | YO10 | YO19 | YO23 | YO24 | YO26 | YO30 | YO31 | YO32) tickets will go on sale from 9am on February 5 at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/york-comedy-festival/york-museum-gardens/3288662?pre=postcode; general sale from 10am on February 9 at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/york-comedy-festival/york-museum-gardens/3288662.

Ó Briain will be playing York for a second time this year: his 2025 tour show Re:Creation is heading for a sell-out at York Barbican on May 14 with tickets on sale at yorkbarbican.co.uk. He hosted 21 series of Mock The Week from 2005 to 2022 among myriad TV appearances on such shows as Have I Got News For You, Robot Wars, Dara And Ed’s Big Adventure, Dara Ó Briain’s Science Club and Three Men In A Boat.

Katherine Ryan

Ryan is a team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats and has appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, A League Of Their Own, Mock The Week, Would I Lie to You?, QI, Just A Minute, Safeword and Have I Got News for You.

Maisie Adam, who grew up in Pannal, Harrogate, is an award-winning stand up, podcaster and comedy panellist; whip-smart stand-up, broadcaster and author Joel Dommett hosts ITV’s The Masked Singer.

Also taking part in the first comedy festival in York since Martin Witts’s Great Yorkshire Fringe (2015-2019) will be Phoenix Nights’ resident clairvoyant, Clinton Baptiste; cult surrealist comedian Angelos Epithemiou, from Shooting StarsItalian-Irish offbeat comic, podcaster and rising star Vittorio Angelone and the brain behind viral hit Stand Up From The Shed, Scott Bennett. Comedian and presenter Stephen Bailey will be on compere duty.

York Comedy Festival will follow Futuresound’s three Museum Gardens concerts, headlined by Elbow on July 3 and Nile Rodgers & CHIC on July 4, with one more name to be announced for July 5.

Maisie Adam. Picture: Matt Crockett

Andy Smith, of Futuresound Group, said: “We’re thrilled to be introducing York Comedy Festival this July as part of our second series; building on our collaborative offering with a wider variety of entertainment beyond music.

“Our inaugural sell-out concert series last summer gave us the opportunity to see the lasting cultural impact that these large-scale outdoor events have on the city so this year we’re really excited to be bringing world-class comedy to York Museum Gardens alongside some incredible live music”

Richard Saward, head of operations at York Museums Trust, said: “The introduction of a comedy festival as part of Live at York Museum Gardens is a fantastic addition to the programme and York Museums Trust is delighted to be hosting this special evening. We are looking forward to welcoming these amazing comedians to York.”

For more information, visit https://www.york-comedy-festival.com/.

Fostekew or Pattison? The choice is yours as Burning Duck Comedy Club stages two shows in two venues on one night in York

Jessica Fostekew: Serving up comedy at The Crescent

HOW can the Burning Duck Comedy Club be in two places at once in York tonight?

Here’s how: York comedy promoter Al Greaves is staging both Jessica Fostekew: Wench at The Crescent community venue at 7.30pm and Lauren Pattison’s Edinburgh award-nominated It Is What It Is at Theatre@41, Monkgate, kicking off half an hour later at 8pm.

Co-presented with Little Wander, Fostekew’s Wench is “a show about sexy things (awkward), private things (oh no) and a woman trying to sit on the face of time to keep it still (hot, right?)”.

Fostekew has appeared on Live At The Apollo, QI and Harry Hill’s Clubnite on TV and BBC Radio 4’s News Quiz and The Now Show with Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis on the wireless. She is the regular co-host of the Guilty Feminist podcast and is the host and creator of the Hoovering podcast too.

Lauren Pattison: Girl from the north country. Picture: Matt Crockett

Pattison heads to York tonight on the back of being nominated for Best Show in this summer’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards. After a lengthy period of watching the world unravel, she follows up 2019’s Hench show with It Is What It Is, but she is reluctant to say exactly what It Is What It Is is about.

Why? “Because, if the last year has taught me anything, it’s life can change fast…it is what it is,” she says. “Let’s just say sometimes you need to fall apart to rebuild into exactly who you were meant to be.”

Stand-up, writer and performer Pattison, who graduated from Northumbria University, Newcastle, with a First Class degree and First Class masters in Drama, has performed on Stand Up For Live Comedy (BBC), Comedy Central At The Comedy Store and Roast Battle and has supported Katherine Ryan on tour.

Doors open at 7pm for Fostekew; tickets are available from wegottickets.com and on the door. Tickets for Pattison: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk and on the door.

Katherine Ryan to return to York Barbican with Missus’s thoughts on love and life

Katherine Ryan: Autumn return to York Barbican

CANADIAN comedian, writer, presenter and actress Katherine Ryan is to return to York Barbican on September 29 for a second performance of Missus.

The creator and star of the Netflix series The Duchess and host of All That Glitters first presented her latest tour show in York last December.

Ryan, 38, once denounced partnerships but she has since married her first love, accidentally, in a world where a lot has changed for everyone, prompting her to offer new perspectives on life, love and what it means to be Missus.

London-based Ryan’s debut sitcom, The Duchess, made its debut in September 2020, immediately leaping to the top of the UK Netflix chart in the wake of her Netflix stand-up specials, 2017’s In Trouble and July 2019’s Glitter Room.  She remains the only woman to be given a Netflix global special.

Ryan is a stalwart of British panel shows Would I Lie To You?, 8 Out Of 10 Cats and QI and has appeared on the BBC One series Who Do You Think You Are?.  

Tickets for Katherine Ryan’s Missus show go on sale on Friday from 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk.

More Things To Do in York and beyond as the grand old dame is ready to frock’n’roll. List No 59, courtesy of The Pess, York

The boys and gal are back in town: AJ Powell, left, Suzy Cooper, Berwick Kaler, David Leonard and Martin Barrass return to the pantomime stage in Dick Turpin Rides Again at their new home of the Grand Opera House, York. Picture by David Harrison

DAME Berwick rides again, Adrian Mole surfaces, carol concerts abound and contrasting comedy cracks on, all demanding a place in Charles Hutchinson’s diary

Comeback of the week: Berwick Kaler and co in Dick Turpin Rides Again, Grand Opera House, York, December 11 to January 9

DAME Berwick Kaler last took to the pantomime stage in his 40th anniversary show, The Grand Old Dame Of York, on February 2 2019, having announced his retirement. Subsequently, he decided it was the “worst decision he had ever made”, a feeling only compounded by writing and co-directing Sleeping Beauty.

In the tradition of Clive Sullivan and Denis Law, he then switched to the other side in the same city, leaving York Theatre Royal to sign up with the Grand Opera House, along with panto teammates Martin Barrass, David Leonard, Suzy Cooper and AJ Powell.

Delayed by a year, Dame Berwick now resumes panto business at 75, writing, directing and starring in Dick Turpin Rides Again. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.

Hannah King’s Dick Whittington is ready to stride out from York to London in Rowntree Players’ pantomime, Dick Whittington, from today

Community pantomime of the week: Rowntree Players in Dick Whittington, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today until December 11

ROWNTREE Players should have presented Dick Whittington last year, but director Howard Ella and co-writer Andy Welch have now dusted off their script written by satellite in lockdown, freshening it up for 2021.

Martyn Hunter returns to the Players’ panto ranks as King Rat, as does Bernie Calpin as Kit The Cat, joining Hannah King’s Dick Whittington, Graham Smith’s Dame Dora, Gemma McDonald’s Duncan, Marie-Louise Surgenor’s Ratatouille, Geoff Walker’s Alderman Fitzwarren and Ellie Watson’s Alice Fitzwarren. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Native Harrow’s Stephen Harms and Devin Tuel will be airing songs from their fourth album, Closeness, at the Fulford Arms

American gig of the week in York: Native Harrow, Fulford Arms, York, Tuesday, 8pm 

PENNSYLVANIAN folk/rock duo Native Harrow are on the final leg of their tour travels showcasing their beautiful fourth album, Closeness.

Now re-located to Brighton, guitarist-singer Devin Tuel and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Harms have a new single too, Do It Again, one of six songs recorded when they elected to return to the studio where they had made Closeness to continue living in that world, if only for a few more days. Box office: seetickets.com/event/native-harrow/the-fulford-arms/1471604.

The secret is out: Jack Hambleton will be one of two Adrian Moles in Pick Me Up Theatre’s musical premiere. Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography

Musical premiere of the week in York: Pick Me Up Theatre in The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾, The Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Wednesday to December 18

PICK Me Up Theatre are returning to the Theatre@41 Monkgate stage for the first time since Covid’s first lockdown curtailed Tom’s Midnight Garden in March 2020.

In a change from the initially announced SpongeBob The Musical, director Robert Readman has jumped at the chance to present the British amateur premiere of Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary’s musical version of Sue Townsend’s 1982 story of teenage diarist Adrian Mole. Ignore the official poster, there will be a 2pm Sunday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.  

Ryan’s laughter: Canada’s dry-humoured comic, Katherine Ryan, discusses life as a Missus at York Barbican

Comedy gig of the week: Katherine Ryan, Missus, York Barbican, Thursday, 8pm

CANADIAN comedian, writer, presenter and actress Katherine Ryan, 38, previously denounced partnerships but has since married her first love, accidentally.

A lot has changed for everyone, and now the London-based creator and star of Netflix series The Duchess and host of All That Glitters will be offering new perspectives on life, love and what it means to be Missus. Box office: yorkbarbicancentre.co.uk.

Ewa Salecka: Directing Prima Vocal Ensemble at Selby Abbey

Reunion of the week: Prima Vocal Ensemble and York Railway Institute Brass Band, Christmas Classics for Voices and Brass, Selby Abbey, December 11, 7.30pm

YORK choir Prima Vocal Ensemble and York Railway Institute Brass Band are uniting for a Christmas concert at Selby Abbey for the first time since 2018.

The choir will sing classical pieces by Morten Lauridsen, Gabriel Faure and John Rutter, while the band’s festive music will include Shepherd’s Song and Eric Bell’s Kingdom Triumphant.

Choir and band will join together for a finale of Gordon Langford’s joyous Christmas Fantasy. Tickets: on 07921 568826, from Selby Abbey or at primachoralartists.com.

York singer Steve Cassidy: Performing at the York Community Carol Concert at York Barbican

Welcome back: York Community Carol Concert, York Barbican, December 12, 2pm

YORK’S Community Carol Concert returns after last year’s Covid-enforced cancellation, with all the participants who missed out in 2020 taking up the invitation to take part in 2021.

In the Sunday afternoon line-up will be the Shepherd Group Concert Brass Band, Dringhouses Primary School Choir, Clifton Green Primary School Choir, Stamford Bridge Community Choir and York singer Steve Cassidy, hosted by the Reverend Andrew Foster and BBC Radio York presenter Adam Tomlinson. Plenty of tickets are still available but online only at yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Holly head: Kate Rusby, who coined that term for a Christmas tradition enthusiast, will be in festive mood in both Harrogate and York. Picture: David Lindsay

Carol concert with a difference: Kate Rusby At Christmas, Harrogate Royal Hall, December 12, and York Barbican, December 20, 7.30pm

BARNSLEY folk singer Kate Rusby, her regular band and “the brass boys” have created a Christmas tradition of their own, celebrating South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire pub carols, punctuated by her own winter songs.

For more than 200 years, from late-November to New Year’s Day, these carols have been sung on Sunday lunchtimes in pubs, having been frowned on in Victorian times for being too happy. Not for the first time, the Victorians were wrong. Box office: Harrogate, 01423 502116 or at harrogatetheatre.co.uk; York, yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Nothing to smile about? Jimmy Carr takes a Terribly Funny turn for a third time in York

Looking ahead to a “terrible” 2022: Jimmy Carr, Terribly Funny, York Barbican, April 15, doors, 7pm

CYNICAL comedian Jimmy Carr will complete a hattrick of York performances of his Terribly Funny tour show next spring.

After playing sold-out gigs at York Barbican on November 4 and the Grand Opera House five nights later, he will return to the Barbican on April 15 with the promise of “all-new material for 2022”.

Carr will be discussing terrible things that might have affected you or people you know and love. “But they’re just jokes,” he says. “Political correctness at a comedy show is like having health and safety at a rodeo.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk