Tag: Leeds City Varieties Music Hall

Posted on

Graham Fellows marks 40 years of genial John Shuttleworth on Raise The Oof tour and with a new book and album too

Punching the air: John Shuttleworth marks 40 years of bonhomie, bon mots and persistently, perkily mundane yet quirkily profound songs at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, Sheffield City Hall, King’s Hall, Ilkley, Hull Truck Theatre, The Forum, Northallerton and Scarborough Spa. Picture: Tony Briggs

ACTOR, writer and musician Graham Fellows created his comic alter ego John Shuttleworth, good-natured Sheffield sage and perky Yamaha organ purveyor of charmingly mundane songs, when he was 26.

“John was 46. Very specifically I made him 20 years older than me,” recalls Graham, as Shuttleworth’s 40th anniversary tour, Raise The Off, arrives at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall tonight  to herald a run of Yorkshire performances.

After four decades, how old is John now? “Listening to an old radio show from 1999 on Sunday, I was surprised when he said ‘let a man in his late-fifties’, because I still think of him as being in his late-fifties. He has aged slower and slower. Maybe he’s about 62 now – and I don’t really want  John to have grandchildren.”

You don’t need to be a mathematician to work out that Graham’s own age has outstripped Shuttleworth’s age: he will turn 66 on May 22.

Ironically, John Shuttleworth, with his leather jacket, slacks, slick side parting, glasses and love of mints, always seemed older than he was. “I think that’s true,” says Graham. “I guess that’s partly because he started as a 46-year-old perceived by a 26-year-old without the knowledge of what it’s like to be 46.

“It’s an interesting subject but extremely difficult to analyse, but  I do think he’s still a bit old for his age. He’s still fixated on bands like Sister Sledge and The Pointer Sisters, with lots of references to the Eighties.”

Graham’s Shuttleworth act “hasn’t really changed”, but the audience profile has. “”A lot of them are the same people  that have always come to the shows, but some are bringing their sons and daughters and even their grandchildren,” he says.

Could he envisage ever putting Shuttleworth out to grass? “I can’t kill him off, but maybe I’ll make him retire or be inundated with so much DIY work that he can’t tour any more,” says Graham. “But my biggest problem is I’ve always had a bad memory and as an actor I struggled with that. A couple of years ago I had to turn down a big part as I had sleepless nights about remembering the lines.

The book cover artwork for John Shuttleworth Takes The Biscuit!

“Now, I have a banana on stage for the Raise The Oof shows, and [if he goes awry] I’ll take a bite and do a joke about Andy Murray and bananas, and by then I usually remember what I was talking about, though obviously I can’t do that too much in one show.”

The ageing process is kicking in. “My mind is wearing out! My body is wearing out! My memory is wearing out! Now my keyboards are wearing out! I’ve had some bad luck with them,” says Graham. “Even my leather jacket is wearing out.”

Through the years, Shuttleworth has worked his way through more sweaters than slacks and maybe four jackets. That clothes list triggers Graham’s memory of one particular night at Clapham Grand. “It was only when I arrived that I realised my jacket had been left behind in Newcastle-under-Lyme,” he says. “Incredibly, someone in the audience was wearing a very similar jacket and he was encouraged to swap it for my sweater for the night.”

In another sign of the passage of time, “I used to carry a make-up box to apply grey to my hai; now I have grey hair. I used to apply crow’s feet around  my eyes, now I  don’t have to. In the way that Tintin always looks the same, I always thought John would look the same…though he did wear a cagoule in 500 Bus Stops [John’s 1997 mini TV series].”

Graham has developed further comic characters, such as failed rock historian Brian Appleton and Goole concreter Dave Tordoff, but he acknowledges that John Shuttleworth has “outshone them, out-performed them”. “You go where the money he is,” he says. “But the thing about Shuttleworth is that he has the songs and he has depth and range.”

Putting together Shuttleworth’s 40th anniversary show, with its combination of nostalgia, new stories and a new song, The Ballad Of Dangly Man, Graham says: “I think I know what works, but as you get older, your enthusiasm to do the work and the sheer effort to come up with new stuff, when your energy levels have gone down a bit…

…I look back at the inventiveness of the radio show with four of five characters all being played me and Martin Willis providing me with extra material until he passed away.”

There is no evidence of decreasing energy, however: not only is John Shuttleworth on tour from January 29 to May 16 with tales of his early days with neighbour Ken Worthington, the humorous realities of married life with miserable wife Mary, and his relentless mission to make it big in music, but here come a book and CD, both out now.

The sleeve artwork for John Shuttleworth’s new album, The Pumice Stone & Other Rock Songs

On March 6, Omnibus Press published John Shuttleworth Takes The Biscuit!, A Crumbly Selection of Songs and Stories, full of tales and homespun advice from his life in and around Sheffield, brought to life with cartoons by Graham’s’ long-time friend and collaborator, Kevin Baldwin.

What did Graham learn about Shuttleworth from writing the book? “I learnt that John is a bottomless well and I certainly learnt about myself – that I’m a lazy sod who kept putting it off,” he says. “It was a bit of a struggle to come up with new stories but I’ve also used old stories and Kevin’s wonderful cartoons.

“I felt some of my songs leant themselves to pictures and my girlfriend suggested doing them like a graphic novel, so Kevin, who animated Henry’s Cat, did these graphic novel designs.

“The way he’s depicted Mary and Ken, I’m not sure he’s got them quite right – [making Mary fat and giving Ken ginger hair], but he got John and Joan Chitty just right.”

Look out too for The Pumice Stone & Other Rock Songs album, available at shuttleworths.co.uk and at gigs.

John Shuttleworth: Raise The Oof, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, tonight (last few tickets) and tomorrow (sold out), 7.30pm. Also playing: Sheffield City Hall, March 26, 8pm; King’s Hall, Ilkley, April 1, 7.30pm; Hull Truck Theatre, April 2, 7.30pm; The Forum, Northallerton, April 10,7.30pm, and Scarborough Spa, April 11, 7.30pm.

Box office: Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Sheffield, ticketmaster.co.uk; Ilkley, bradford-theatres.co.uk; Hull, 01 482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk; Scarborough, ticketmaster.co.uk.

The poster for John Shuttleworth’s Raise The Oof! tour

John Shuttleworth on his 40th anniversary tour, Raise The Oof!

“ACTUALLY, I feel rather calm, although after 40 years and still no chart success, perhaps I should be slightly anxious,” muses John. “My wife Mary says I should get a proper job, but there’s not time – I’m about to retire!

“Besides, Comet – where I used to demonstrate audio equipment – no longer exists. As for the sweet factory in the Rotherham area where I worked as a security guard in the 1980s, that’s now an Axe Throwing Centre. Oof!

“But I’m still posting off my songs (on cassette tape with Dolby, so it’s not too hissy) to cutting-edge pop acts like Chris Rea and the Lighthouse Family, plus I’m still being booked for nostalgic singalongs at the local hospice (for petrol money only), so we have every reason to celebrate my long and illustrious career.

“Do come along and join me in punching the air, and helping – in an orderly and controlled fashion – to RAISE THE OOF!”

Posted on

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 10, from Gazette & Herald

The poster for Brain Play, to be staged by 1812 Youth Theatre as part of National Theatre Connections at Helmsley Arts Centre and York Theatre Royal

LIKE Tom Stade’s comedy show, tipping winners is a Risky Business, but Charles Hutchinson is confident his recommendations will be triumphant.

Ryedale play of the week: 1812 Youth Theatre & National Theatre Connections, Brain Play, Helmsley Arts Centre, today to Friday, 7.30pm

UNDER the National Theatre Connections banner, Helmsley company 1812 Youth Theatre presents Chloe Lawrence-Taylor and Paul Sirett’s Brain Play, first in Helmsley and later at York Theatre Royal on March 21 at 7.30pm.

When Mia’s dad suffers a traumatic brain injury and struggles to leave the house, she makes it her mission to find the cure for his symptoms. Delving deeper and deeper into the world of neuroscience, Mia is desperate to make him better, but first she must contend with her own brain. Box office: Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk; York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

John Shuttleworth: 40 years of bonhomie, bon mots and persistently, perkily mundane yet profound songs at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall and Hull Truck Theatre. Picture: Tony Briggs

Comedy positivity of the week: John Shuttleworth, Raise The Oof, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, tonight and tomorrow, 7.30pm; Hull Truck Theatre, April 2,7.30pm

JOHN Shuttleworth, the good-natured Sheffield sage and perky Yamaha organ purveyor of charmingly mundane songs fashioned by actor Graham Fellows, celebrates his 40th anniversary on his Raise The Oof tour, full of nostalgia and new stories.

Here come tales of his early days with neighbour Ken Worthington, the humorous realities of married life with miserable wife Mary, and John’s hopes for a late-career breakthrough. Box office: Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Hull, 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk.

Becca Drake: Guest poet at York Literature Festival’s Howl Owt night at The Blue Boar

York Literature Festival gig of the week: Howl Owt, The Blue Boar, Castlegate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

JOIN Chloe Hanks and Stephanie Roberts from Howlers Open Mic and Henry Raby from Say Owt for an evening of performances by York poets and writers, bolstered by a special guest.

This time, their roles will be reversed with the Say Owt crew taking over the open mic and the Howlers welcoming the guest, Becca Drake, York poet, Little Hirundine printmaker and researcher. Performers can sign up for three-minute open-mic spots on arrival. Admission is free.  

Neil Foster’s Cosme McMoon, left, Jackie Cox’s Florence Foster Jenkins and Mike Hickman’s St Clair in Rowntree Players’ Glorious!

York play of the week: Rowntree Players in Glorious!, The True Story Of Florence Foster Jenkins, The Worst Singer In The World, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

COVER your ears! Here comes Glorious! The True Story Of Florence Foster Jenkins, The Worst Singer In The World, as told by Peter Quilter in his joyous and heart-warming comedy with music, based on the life of an eccentric 1940s’ New York socialite with a passion for singing but a voice for disaster.

Enthusiastic but tonally erratic soprano Florence (played by Jackie Cox) gave private recitals, sang at extravagant balls, made bizarre recordings and revelled in a triumphant sold-out final performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall at 76. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Mike + The Mechanics: Mike Rutherford, centre, re-living 40 years at York Barbican with Andrew Roachford, left, and Tim Howar

40th anniversary celebration of the week: Mike + The Mechanics, Looking Back – The Living Years, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

AFTER opening their Refueled! tour at York Barbican in April 2023, Mike + The Mechanics return next Friday on their Looking Back – Living The Years 40th anniversary travels. Expect the set list to combine Over My Shoulder, The Living Years and All I Need Is A Miracle with selections from their nine albums and a “drift into some of Genesis’s much loved classic tracks”. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

David John Pike: Baritone soloist for York Musical Society’s concert at York Minster

Classical concert of the week: York Musical Society, Bach Mass in B minor, York Minster, Saturday, 7.30pm

DAVID Pipe conducts York Musical Society’s singers and orchestra in Bach’s epic choral work, replete with magnificent choruses, resplendent fugues, moving arias and soloists Zoe Brookshaw and Philippa Boyle (both soprano), Tom Lilburn (countertenor), Nicholas Watts (tenor) and Canadian/British/Luxembourger David John Pike (baritone), who returned to music after initially training and working as a chartered accountant. Tickets: available from York Minster or on the door.

Tom Stade: Risk-taking comedy at Helmsley Arts Centre

Comedy minefield of the week: Tom Stade: Risky Business, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 8pm

TOM Stade’s sense of ‘funny’ and today’s ‘funny’ do not always see eye to eye, bur that’s cool; it’s not his way to follow the herd, he says. The Vancouver-born, Scottish-based humorist much prefers to take the path less travelled, a path that brings this independent spirit and irrepressible force of nature to Helmsley to airdrop his unflinching comedy into an ever-changing minefield. Navigating the tightrope of today’s divisive times may be a risky business but Stade reasons that without risk there can be no reward. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Nicola Mills: Songs and stories at Milton Rooms, Malton

Taking the “posh” out of opera: Nicola Mills, Opera For The People, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 7.30pm

VICTORIA Woods meets Pavarotti in Nicola Mills’s funny and inspiring show, wherein she combines her down-to- earth Northern roots with operatic singing and telling tales of working-class life, from performing in some of Europe’s finest opera houses to taking opera to the streets.

Expect not only opera on a night when the audience will choose songs from Mills’s Song Menu, spanning Mozart to musicals to Elvis Presley. Box office:  01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Tayla Kenyon in her solo play Fluff at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York on Sunday. Picture: Patrick Murray

Fringe play of the week: Teepee Productions and Joe Brown present Fluff, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

NOW is the time for Fluff to do the ultimate puzzle: her life. Fluff hates puzzles, however, especially word searches. She can never find the words, nor understand why there is a half-eaten birthday cake and a woman who keeps visiting her room. As she navigates her way through her most treasured and darkest memories, Fluff desperately needs to piece together her life, story by story, person by person.

Tayla Kenyon performs solo in her darkly comedic 75-minutre play, co written with James Piercy, as she explores memories and the choices we make, using a non-linear plot line to enable the audience to feel, first hand, the devastating effects of dementia. Box office:  tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Posted on

Martha Wainwright’s 20th Anniversary Tour to visit Leeds, Pocklington and Sheffield as she reissues self-titled debut album

Martha Wainwright: Marking 20 years of debut album Martha Wainwright

MARTHA Wainwright will play Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on June 1 (7pm), All Saints Church Hall, Pocklington, on August 27 (7.30pm) and The Foundry, Sheffield, on August 28 (7.30pm) on her 18-date 20th Anniversary Tour.

The Montreal-born singer-songwriter will be marking 20 years since she released her self-titled debut album, when she stepped out of the shadow of her illustrious North American musical family (father Loudon Wainwright III; mother Kate McGarrigle; brother Rufus Wainwright).

On May 23, [PIAS] will release this album on vinyl for the first time, alongside CD and digital versions with extra tracks and a bonus disc of 14 rarities and alternate versions. Gems include Bring Back My Heart, featuring Rufus Wainwright, Our Love with Kate & Anna McGarrigle and Far Away, featuring the late Garth Hudson, of The Band.

“In the years before my first album was released, I was doing my own version of ‘artist development’ – playing a lot of gigs and going into the studio to make demos,” recalls Martha. “I got to New York City in 1998. It was a magical blur of fun and discovery, meeting musicians, playing and seeing shows and going into the studio. Hopping from bar to bar in the Lower East Side and Williamsburg.

“These are some of the recordings that came out of that time. Some were released as EPs that I would sell at shows but others have never been released. These are the ones that best reflect that time and the wild eclecticism I’ve always had, for better or worse, as an artist.”

Vinyl track list: Far Away; G.P.T.; Factory; These Flowers; Ball & Chain; Don’t Forget; This Life;  When The Day Is Short; Bl**dy Mother ******* Asshole; TV Show; The Maker and Who Was I Kidding.

Digital/CD track list: Disc 1, 20th Anniversary: Far Away; G.P.T.; Factory; These Flowers; Ball & Chain; Don’t Forget; This Life;  When The Day Is Short; Bl**dy Mother ******* Asshole; TV Show; The Maker; Who Was I Kidding; Whither Must I Wander; Bring Back My Heart (featuring Rufus Wainwright); Baby and Dis, Quand Reviendras-Tu?

Disc 2, Outliers: Can You Hear Me *; The Sex Song *; The Dead *; Factory #2 *; Our Love *; Far Away (with Garth Huson) *; Pretty Good Day; The Car Song; It’s Over; I Will Internalize; Bye Bye Blackbird; New York, New York, New York; When the Day is Short (Demo) * and Year of the Dragon. *Never before released.

“Twenty years ago my life as an artist took shape when my first record was released,” says Martha. “In many ways that record defined me, as well as launched me into a now over-20-year-long career that has made me who I am.

“It was after ten years of playing in bars, making cassettes and EPs to sell at my shows, singing backup for my brother Rufus, falling in love and out of love, practising, writing, singing until I could barely sing anymore, partying, playing with musicians and listening to great artists, working with my ex-husband in the studio for two years, all that created this first record.”

Martha continues: “Labels wouldn’t sign me when I started and I had to craft, with the help of many people, an album that would finally be licensed and released in 2005. My first record tells my story and when it was finally released I was able to work and tour and have a career in music – something that I always wanted but wasn’t sure would happen. 

“Twenty years later, with six other albums under my belt, two kids and a career that is chugging along, I can safely say my first record paved my way forward.

“On May 23, we will release the record on vinyl for the first time ever as well as digitally release unheard songs, outtakes and early material from that ten-year period of discovery that led to my first record. There will be a tour with a few great musicians, where I’ll play the record in its entirety, as well as a few new songs. There’s no 48-year-old me without the 28-year-old me.”

Tour tickets are on sale at marthawainwright.com.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond, especially for you, when Jason shines. Hutch’s List No. 10 from The York Press

Jason Donovan: Doin’ fine in 2025 at York Barbican

PAY attention to Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations and, like Jason Donovan, you will be doin’ fine.

Good Neighbour of the week: Jason Donovan: Doin’ Fine 25, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

LAST seen in York in fishnets and face paint as Dr Frank N Further in The Rocky Horror Show at the Grand Opera House last October, Australian singer and actor Jason Donovan now  takes an “incredible ride” through 35 years in music, theatre, film and television.

His long-awaited sequel to Doin’ Fine 90 features Donovan’s most beloved songs from his stage shows, Joseph, Priscilla, Rocky Horror and Grease, alongside nods to his TV times in Neighbours and Strictly Come Dancing and his biggest pop hits, Especially For You, Too Many Broken Hearts, Any Dream Will Do and Sealed With A Kiss. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Gary Stewart: Rise and shine at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb

Singer-songwriter gig of the week: Gary Stewart, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, tonight, doors, 7.30pm for 8pm start

PERTHSHIRE-BORN singer-songwriter Gary Stewart, now living in Easingwold after 15 years on the Leeds music scene, writes songs in the folk/pop vein, influenced by the Sixties and Seventies’ songbooks of Paul Simon, James Taylor, The Eagles, Joni Mitchell and Carole King. 

The left-handed multi-instrumentalist has released four albums, the latest being June 2021’s self-recorded Lost, Now Found, penned in lockdown. Stewart also plays drums for Leeds band Hope & Social, bass for Fleetwood Mac tribute band Weetwood Mac and fronts his seven-piece re-working Paul Simon’s 1986 album Graceland. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Levellers: Performing in Collective acoustic mode at York Barbican

Acoustic re-boot of the week: Levellers Collective, York Barbican, tomorrow, doors, 6.30pm

LEVELLERS firstdecided to “do something a bit different with their extensive back catalogue” in 2018, teaming up with fellow Brighton group The Moulettes to record two albums that radically reworked their folk rock and anarcho-punk songs, first with producer John Leckie on We The Collective, then with Sean Lakeman on 2023’s Together All The Way.

Now, their 17-date 2025 spring tour coincides with this week’s release of their Levellers Collective/Live CD and DVD, recorded in 2023 at London’s Hackney Empire. Tomorrow’s support act at Levellers’ only Yorkshire date will be Amelia Coburn. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jon Culshaw: Out to impress at Grand Opera House

Making a good impression: Jon Culshaw: Imposter Syndrome, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

AFTER more than 30 years on the circuit, impressionist Jon Culshaw, the chameleon  voice of  BBC Radio 4’s Dead Ringers, BBC One’s The Impressions Show and Channel 4’s Partygate, debuted his one-man show, Imposter Syndrome, at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, (when he also appeared as Hughie Green in Lena, the year after his solo performance in Les Dawson: Flying High).

Now Culshaw is on a 28-date tour, combining comedy and music as he conjures an array of personalities from the worlds of entertainment, politics and beyond, from Liam Gallagher to a gangster-rapping Gordon Brown. Meanwhile, Candace Bushnell’s True Tales Of Sex, Success And Sex In The City tour date in York on March 11 has been cancelled. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

John Shuttleworth: 40 years of bonhomie, bon mots and persistently, perkily mundane yet quirkily profound songs at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall. Picture: Tony Briggs

Comedy positivity of the week: John Shuttleworth, Raise The Oof, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, March 12 and 13, 7.30pm

JOHN Shuttleworth, the good-natured Sheffield sage and perky Yamaha organ purveyor of charmingly mundane songs fashioned by actor Graham Fellows, celebrates his 40th anniversary on his Raise The Oof tour, full of nostalgia and new stories.

Here come tales of his early days with neighbour and clarinettist Ken Worthington, the humorous realities of married life with miserable wife Mary, and John’s relentless determination to mail off his cassette demos to today’s cutting-edge  acts – Chris Rea and the Lighthouse Family, he says – hoping  for a late-career breakthrough. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Becca Drake: Guest poet at York Literature Festival’s Howl Owt night at The Blue Boar

York Literature Festival gig of the week: Howl Owt, The Blue Boar, Castlegate, York, March 13, 7.30pm

FOR the second year running, two forces of the York poetry scene team up for the ultimate spoken-word showcase. Join Chloe Hanks and Stephanie Roberts from Howlers Open Mic and Henry Raby from Say Owt for an evening of performances by York poets and writers, bolstered by a special guest.

This time, their roles will be reversed with the Say Owt crew taking over the open mic and the Howlers welcoming the guest, Becca Drake, York poet, Little Hirundine printmaker and researcher with a PhD in late-medieval English. Performers can sign up for three-minute open-mic spots on arrival. Admission is free.  

Neil Foster’s Cosme McMoon, left, Jackie Cox’s Florence Foster Jenkins and Mike Hickman’s St Clair in Rowntree Players’ Glorious!

Play of the week: Rowntree Players in Glorious!, The True Story Of Florence Foster Jenkins, The Worst Singer In The World, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, March 13 to 15, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

COVER your ears! Here comes Glorious! The True Story Of Florence Foster Jenkins, The Worst Singer In The World, as told by Peter Quilter in his joyous and heart-warming comedy with music, based on the life of an eccentric 1940s’ New York socialite with a passion for singing but a voice for disaster.

Enthusiastic but tonally erratic soprano Florence (played by Jackie Cox) gave private recitals for charity, sang at extravagant balls, made bizarre recordings and revelled in a triumphant sold-out final performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall at 76. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Mike + The Mechanics: Re-living 40 years at York Barbican on March 14

40th anniversary celebration of the week: Mike + The Mechanics, Looking Back – The Living Years, York Barbican, March 14, 7.30pm

AFTER opening their Refueled! tour at York Barbican in April 2023, Mike + The Mechanics return next Friday on their Looking Back – Living The Years 40th anniversary travels. Expect the set list to combine Over My Shoulder, The Living Years and All I Need Is A Miracle with selections from their nine albums and a“drift into some of Genesis’s much loved classic tracks”.

Guitarist and founder Mike Rutherford will be joined in the band line-up by lead vocalist Andrew Roachford and Canadian-born vocalist Tim Howar. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

In Focus: Navigators Art, YO Underground, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, March 15, 7.30pm

Performance artist Carrieanne Vivianette

YORK arts collective Navigators Art hosts a “slightly different forthcoming event”, YO Underground, in The Basement next weekend.

The first in a new series of performance showcases will present Say Owt Slam winner Cooper Robson, performance artist and writer Carrieanne Vivianette, inspiring young poet Oliver Lewis, champion beatboxer Cast, genre-crossing musical duo Gorgo and internationally renowned singer Loré Lixenberg.

Say Owt Slam winner Cooper Robson

“The YO Underground title is apt, not only because our venue is The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen. “The format will be familiar from the group’s popular Basement Sessions but will feature original music, spoken word and comedy with a more experimental edge than usual.

“It will be a platform for local and regional performers whose work may wander off the beaten track but definitely deserves an audience. New and emerging artists will have equal billing with more established names.”

Advance tickets cost £8. For full details and booking, visit TicketSource via https://bit.ly/nav-events.

Mezzo-soprano and physical theatre, comedy and free improv performer Loré Lixenberg

The second in the series is planned for Sunday, April 27 and will showcase Wire Worms, the Leeds Doom Folk five-piece, whose folk-rooted but boundary-stretching debut album, The First To Come In, explores explore weird, supernatural and experimental notions, inspired by the traditions of Mumming and Guising found throughout the British Isles.

“Navigators Art encourages innovation, improvisation and collaboration, as well as excellence, and would like to hear from performers in any medium who might suit future events,” says Richard. Email navigatorsart@gmail.com or follow @navigatorsart on Facebook and Instagram.

Navigators Art’s poster for the inaugural YO Underground event at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse

Posted on

The eyes have it as Rob Auton makes open and shut case for comedy in new show at The Crescent and Leeds City Varieties

Do not just adjust your lenses: Everything will become clear in Rob Auton’s The Eyes Open And Shut Show at The Crescent, York

ROB Auton, York comedian, author, podcaster, actor, poet, graphic designer and illustrator, returns north from London on March 5 to present his 11th themed solo at The Crescent, York.

After exploring the colour yellow, the sky, faces, water, sleep, hair, talking, time, crowds and Rob Auton himself, he turns his surrealist focus on to his eyes in the Eyes Open And Shut Show, on tour from January 27 to May 4.

“This is a show about eyes when they are open and eyes when they are shut,” says Barmby Moor-born Rob. “With this show I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut. After writing ten shows on specific themes, I wanted to think about what makes me open my eyes and what makes me shut them.”

Here, Rob only has eyes for Charles Hutchinson’s questions.

What colour are your eyes?

“Brown.” 

What colour might you have liked your eyes to be?

“Owl eye orange.”

How good is your eyesight at the age of 42?

“7/10. Good enough for me to not wear glasses but bad enough for me to have gone for an eye test and got some glasses that I never wear.”

What makes you open your eyes widest?

“Putting my hand to my coat pocket and my phone not being in that specific pocket. Where is it? Ah, it’s in my trouser pocket. Return eyes to normal wideness.”

What makes you shut your eyes tightest?

“Chocolate bars getting smaller.”

How lightly do you sleep (when eyes are shut)?

“Very lightly, unfortunately.”

If ‘the eyes have it’, what do they have? 

“Whiteness?”

What is your favourite saying about eyes?

“Imagine if you could have trainers that were as comfortable for your feet as your eye sockets are for your eyes.” Rob Auton. 

To get an eyeful of Rob Auton, head to The Crescent, York, on Wednesday

Who do you see eye to eye with?

“Myself.”

Who don’t you see eye to eye with?

“Politicians who think it’s acceptable to kill innocent people.” 

If you could have eyes in the back of your head, what would you want to see? 

“A more peaceful world.”

Do you believe in the third eye?

“I think I do actually. Well, I’m not sure what it is but, if I’m guessing, it’s feeling certain energies? Getting a sense of something without seeing it or hearing it. I definitely believe in that.”

As you said in the show blurb, “I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut”. What have those explorations revealed?

“They’ve revealed that getting people to shut their eyes in shows and getting them into a meditative state, then speaking to them straight after they’ve opened them, can result in an audience member saying, “sorry I completely zoned out there, what did you ask me?”.

How has the show changed since last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe trial run?

“It’s actually changed a fair bit to be honest. Last year was a particularly chaotic year for me as we had quite a big house move. We were staying in a fair few different people’s houses, which I’m very grateful for, but it was an unsettled year.

“Edinburgh came around really quickly and I felt like I just about got away with it. From September until the tour starting I was working on the show pretty much every day. The main thing that has changed is I’ve now put my notebook down and am performing the show more. It was a leap I needed to make and am pleased I made the leap.” 

Do you remember your dreams (eyes shut) and do you ever write material prompted by dreams (eyes open)?

“I remember my dreams for about ten seconds, then they are gone. Bye bye. I’d like to keep a dream diary but never got around to it. I had a dream that I got a birthday present from Father Christmas once. It was mad, just a random person who I didn’t know giving me a birthday present.

“I haven’t really written any dream-based material. I’ve had some good ideas in my dreams though, I think. I once had a dream that you could get photographs taken in your dreams and print them off when you wake up. Hmm, maybe I need to flesh that out a bit.” 

Have you seen Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, his last film, released in 1999 with married couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman leading the cast?  If so, did it make your eyes open wider or shut?

“I saw it a long time ago, I remember it being a very well-lit film. It makes a difference, doesn’t it? A film being well lit. The most eye-based film I’ve seen recently was Blink Twice [Zoë Kravitz’s 2024 directorial debut]. That made me open my eyes wide and also shut my eyes.” 

Last June, French company Iris Galerie opened its first Yorkshire location at Low Petergate, York, that will turn your eyes into photographic pieces of wall art. Would you want that on your wall?

“Ah wow, yeah, I think I would. Maybe I’ll go and check it art! I’d like to have a massive picture of my eye on the wall.” 

If you were to lose a sense, in what order would you put them in terms of importance to keep: sight; hearing; smell; taste; touch?

“I think I agree with the order you’ve put them in there.” 

Burning Duck Comedy Club presents Rob Auton: The Eyes Open And Shut Show at The Crescent, York, on March 5, 7.30pm. Box office: thecrescentyork.com. Also playing Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on May 3, 7.30pm; 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond in 2025, whether new or Oldman. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 1, from The Press, York

Laura Fraser’s DI Bea Metcalf on the York waterfront in Channel 4’s crime drama Patience. Picture: Channel 4

FROM a neurodiverse TV crime drama to an Oscar winner’s stage return, Charles Hutchinson picks highlights of the year ahead.

Seeing York through a different lens: Patience, Channel 4 from January 8, 9pm

CHANNEL 4’s six-part police procedural drama Patience, set in York, opens with the two-part Paper Mountain Girl, on January 8 and 9, wherein autistic Police Records Office civilian worker Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) brings her unique investigative insight to helping DI Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser) and her team.

Written for Eagle Eye Drama by Matt Baker, from Pocklington, Patience is as much a celebration of neurodiversity as a crime puzzle-solver. “The centre of York itself is a little bit like a puzzle,” he says.   

Lara McClure: Atmospheric storytelling at A Feast Of Fools II at the Black Swan Inn

Out with the old, in with the new: Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools II, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7pm to 10.30pm; doors, 6pm

YORK collective Navigators Art presents a last gasp of mischief in an alternative end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, packed with live folk music, spoken word and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

Dr Lara McClure sets the scene with atmospheric storytelling, joined by York musicians Oli Collier, singer, guitarist and rising star Henry Parker, York alt-folk legends White Sail and poet and experimental musician Thomas Pearson. Book tickets at  bit.ly/nav-feast2.

Seeing eye to eye: Rob Auton in his new touring comedy vehicle The Eyes Open And Shut Show

The eyes have it:  Rob Auton: The Eyes Open And Shut Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club at The Crescent, York, March 5, 7.30pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, May 3, 7.30pm

“THE Eyes Open And Shut Show is a show about eyes when they are open and eyes when they are shut,” says surrealist York/Barmby Moor comedian, writer, artist, podcaster and actor Rob Auton. “With this show I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut…thinking about what makes me open my eyes and what makes me shut them.”

On the back of last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe trial run, Auton goes on the road from January 27 to May 4 with his eyes very much open. Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

York-raised artist Harland Miller with his title work for the XXX exhibition at York Art Gallery. Picture: courtesy of White Cube (Ollie Hammick), 2019

No stopping him this time, please: Harland Miller: XXX, York Art Gallery, March 14 to August 31, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm

AFTER the first Covid lockdown curtailed his York, So Good They Named It Once show only a month into its 2020 run, international artist and writer Harland Miller returns to the city where he was raised to present XXX, a new exhibition that showcases paintings and works on paper from his Letter Paintings series.

Stirred by his upbringing in 1970s’ Yorkshire and an itinerant lifestyle in New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Paris during the 1980s and 1990s, Miller creates colourful and graphically vernacular works that convey his love of popular language and attest to his enduring engagement with its narrative, aural and typographical possibilities.

Harland Miller, XXX, oil on canvas, 2019. Copyright: Harland Miller. Photo copyright: White Cube, Theo Christelis

Coinciding with the release of a book of the same title by Phaidon, XXX features several new Miller works, including one that celebrates his home city, in a hard-edged series that melds the sacred seamlessly with the everyday, drawing inspiration from medieval manuscripts, where monks often laboured to produce intricate illuminated letters to mark the beginning of chapters.

In these works, the Yorkshire Pop artist – who is represented by White Cube – uses bold colours and typefaces to accentuate the expressive versatility of monosyllabic words and acronyms such as ESP, IF and Star.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a Q&A with the artist plus community activities to “inspire, inform and involve all”. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk/tickets.

Gary Oldman in the dressing room when visiting York Theatre Royal last March to plan this spring’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape

Theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17

ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit, Oscar winner Gary Oldman returns to the Theatre Royal to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.

“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate: Teaming up as Titania and Oberon – and Hippolyta and Theseus too – in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Look who’s back too: Suzy Cooper in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11

GARY Oldman will not be the only former Berwick Kaler co-star returning to a York stage in 2025. Suzy Cooper, for more than 20 years the ditzy, posh-voiced, jolly super principal gal in the grand dame’s pantomimes, will lead Nik Briggs’s cast alongside York actor Mark Holgate as the quarrelling Queen and King of the Fairies, Titania and Oberon.

Briggs relocates his debut Shakespeare production from the court of Athens to Athens Court, a northern council estate, where magic is fuelled with mayhem and true love’s path still does not run smooth. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Beach hut five, Shed Seven: York band to make Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut in June

“Biggest ever headline show in their home county”: Shed Seven, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 14

IN the aftermath of their 30th anniversary celebrations and two number one albums in 2024, refulgent York band Shed Seven will focus on the great outdoors in the summer ahead, fulfilling a dream by making a long-overdue Scarborough OAT debut, when Jake Bugg and Cast will be their special guests. “It’s a stunning and historic venue…Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl!” enthuses lead singer Rick Witter.

The Sheds also return to Leeds Millennium Square on July 11, supported by Lightning Seeds and The Sherlocks. Box office: Scarborough, scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk or ticketmaster.co.uk; Leeds,  gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.

Bridget Foreman: Co-writer of York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights’ community play His Last Report

Community play of the year: York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company in His Last Report, York Theatre Royal, July 22 to August 3

YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and York company Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch will co-direct a large-scale community project that focuses on pioneering York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree and his groundbreaking 1900s’ investigation into the harsh realities of poverty.

Told through the voices of York’s residents, both past and present, Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s play will ask “What is Seebohm’s real legacy as the Ministry begins to dismantle the very structures he championed?” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.


Posted on

Irish comedian Ed Byrne shatters taboo of discussing death in Tragedy Plus Time in shows in York, Leeds and Doncaster

Taboo or not taboo? Ed Byrne shatters the glass ceiling of not conversing about death by doing just so in Tragedy Plus Time. Picture: Roslyn Gaunt

LOOK at these snippets from the reviews for Irish comedian Ed Byrne’s groundbreaking tour show, bound for the Grand Opera House, York, on January 11.

“Genuinely reflective and deeply emotional”. “Grief, regret”. “From rage to dark humour to poignancy”. “Dead funny”. “Cathartic storytelling”. “Tear-jerking observations”. “Poignant, touching, spiky”. “Plumbs the very depths of his soul”.  “Delicate, sensitive high-wire act of a show”.

Just checking: this is a comedy gig, right?  Yes indeed, one that takes its title from a quote from 19th century American writer, humorist, and essayist Mark Twain, who defined humour as “Tragedy Plus Time”.

Putting that metric to the test by mining the most tragic event in his life for humour, 52-year-old Byrne “manages to make dying and death very funny” (to quote the Daily Business Group review] in a show that carries the content warning “Discussions of death” with an age guidance of 14 plus.

At the time of this interview, Byrne, who grew up on the east coast of Ireland in Swords, County Dublin, had just finished a run of Irish dates where some had proved challenging, even for such an experienced act.

“The last night was a breeze, really, really good, not having to shut down drunken ****holes, but in Dunleary there was a noisy works outing and then four lads in Kilkenny on the front row that just wouldn’t shut up: one table of quite drunk people who I had to address for joining in too much,” Ed says.

“I don’t know if it [raucous behaviour] is on the increase, but with this show, it’s full of jokes but there are a couple of moments where it’s more serious, so you need some quiet, though it’s punctuated with a couple of laughs, but the last thing you want is someone who’s drunk to use that moment to butt in.”

Byrne’s material refracts the concept of Tragedy Plus Time through the prism of two ‘tragedies’. “One was my car being broken into, which I was raging about by the following night’s show. It was an enormous ball ache but I ended up with eight minutes of stand-up,” Ed says.

“The rest of the show is about how my brother Paul died [of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer, in February 2022, aged 44, after being diagnosed initially in 2013].” He had suffered a short illness in lockdown. “Then the Covid finished him off,” adds Ed.

“There is now comedy for everybody: whatever your demographic, race, creed, sexual orientation,” says observational Irish comedian Ed Byrne

“In the show I’m arguing with those who locked us down but at the same time didn’t take it seriously enough, and the reaction will depend on people’s political sensibilities.”

On stage, Byrne talks of how he argued with comedy director Paul, who he had called “my pain in the a*** little brother” in his 2022 tribute, but also of how he reconnected with him. “I will miss him so much,” his tribute had ended.

He is playing York as part of an extended tour that began in 2023, will visit Leeds City Varieties for the third time on January 25 and end in April 2025, almost two years after the first date. “My tours have been getting longer,” he says. “I always say that the hard part of the show is writing it and then getting out and doing it is the reward – and now there are just more and more places to play.

“When I was starting out, even playing a comedy night outside London in the Nineties, you were worried about how it would go because people had this idea of comedy as end of the pier and pub jokes, so observational comedy was something of an unknown quantity.

“I remember playing in Southend, where it was always one observational comedian and one end-of-the-pier comedian on the bill. Now, if people go and see a comedy club night, they know there’ll be some one-liners but a lot more storytelling, so you don’t feel like a visionary any more – and outside pantomime, comedy now draws the biggest audiences to theatres.”

Comedy has its broadest scope ever too, Byrne suggests. “I think people previously were perhaps slightly put off when they thought it was all going to be too political or too ‘ladsy’, but I think it’s a fact there is now comedy for everybody: whatever your demographic, race, creed, sexual orientation, there is humour designed just for you, comedy for all stripes,” Ed says.

He does add a note of caution, however: “The worrying thing is that it is becoming a bit polarised, and if a comedian is not tailored exactly to someone’s taste, they’ll say, ‘well, I’m not going to laugh at that’. I feel it’s post-Brexit where it’s become more divisive.”

As for Ed Byrne, he is breaking the unspoken barrier of death still being considered a taboo subject for conversation in Tragedy Plus Time, a show that has done anything but divide opinion. Oh, and for the record: “As with any subject I do, there are always digressions into asides,” he says.

Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time, Grand Opera House, York, January 11, 7.30pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, January 25, 7.30pm, and Cast, Doncaster, January 28, 7.30pm. Box office: York, atgtickets.com/york; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Doncaster, 01302 303952 or castindoncaster.com.

Copyright of The Press, York

Posted on

What’s On in Ryedale, York & beyond when going there and back for entertainment. Hutch’s List No. 36, from Gazette & Herald

The cover artwork for Michael Palin’s new book, in focus at the Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow

FROM a talkative traveller to a Californian Kate Bush tribute act, York’s weekend of open doors to a best-of-British musical revue, Charles Hutchinson seeks diverse cultural opportunities.

Globe-trotter of the week: Michael Palin, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

IN the words of Monty Python alumnus, actor, presenter and Yorkshireman Michael Palin: “In There And Back – The Diary Tour 2024, I’ll bring to life the fourth collection of my diaries and the first to be released for ten years.

“Lots of fun as I go through the Noughties, and some dark times too. I constantly surprise myself with the sheer amount I took on.” Tickets update: still available at atgtickets.com/york.

Baby Bushka: Delighting in the theatricality of Kate Bush’s songs at Pocklington Arts Centre

Tribute show of the week: Baby Bushka, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 8pm

THE music and magic of Kate Bush has reached across the seas and skies to San Diego, California, where the eight women of the bewitching Baby Bushka have honed their wide-eyed, other-worldly versions of Kate’s baroque, ethereal pop.

Performed in jump-suits by Natasha Kozaily, Lexi Pulido, Nancy Ross, Leah Bowden, Batya Mac Adam-Somerm, Marie Haddad, Heather Nation and Melanie Medina, their kooky rock show is filled with four-part harmonies, avant-garde choreographed dancing, theatrical props, costumes and glitter masks. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The Korgis: This is the time for everybody to learn about their favourite songs at Selby Town Hall

Sing something synth-full: The Korgis Time Machine, Selby Town Hall, tomorrow, 7.30pm

WHIRL back in time with The Korgis as they undertake a musical and audio/visual journey though the songs and bands that influenced them. Best known for their 1980 hit Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime, the Bristol synth-pop band will put their spin on songs by The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, 10cc, The Buggles, Peter Gabriel and their own songs of peace and hope with The Korgis and, earlier, with Stackridge.

If I Had You, Bringing Back The Spirit Of Love, If It’s Alright With You Baby and Something About The Beatles will feature, along with new compositions from this year’s two-album set, UN – United Nations. Questions will be taken too. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.

Lucy Porter: No regrets about her regrets at Selby Town Hall

Comedy gig of the week: Lucy Porter, No Regrets!, Selby Town Hall, Friday, 8pm

REGRETS? Frank Sinatra had too few to mention, but Lucy Porter has hundreds, and she is raring to go into graphic detail about all of them. From disastrous dates and professional calamities to ruined friendships and parenting failures, she charts all the mistakes she has made, works out why they happened, and ponders how her life would have turned out if she had acted differently.

Porter posits that if you regret something, you can use it to change your ways. “See the thing you regret as your rock bottom, and let it spur you on to become a better person,” says Porter, who names guilt as  one of her top five hobbies as a middle-aged, middle-class, left-leaning ex-Catholic. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.

Barbara Dickson: Reflecting on her career in music and musical theatre at All Saints Church, Pocklington, and Leeds City Varieties

Folk gigs of the week: Hurricane Promotions present Barbara Dickson & Nick Holland, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Friday (sold out) and October 16, 7.30pm. Also Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, October 20, 7.30pm

SCOTTISH folk singer Barbara Dickson and her pianist Nick Holland explore her catalogue of songs in these acoustic concerts in intimate settings, where the pair will let the words and melodies take centre stage as they draw on Dickson’s folk roots, contemporary greats and her classic hits, from Another Suitcase In Another Hall to I Know Him So Well. Box office: barbaradickson.net; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Festival of the week: York Unlocked 2024, Saturday and Sunday

IN its third year, York Unlocked welcomes residents and visitors to experience York’s architecture and open spaces with the chance to discover, explore and enjoy around 50 sites.

This year’s new addition is a children’s trail book; families can pick up a free copy from York Explore Library, All Saints’ Church, North Street, or The Guildhall. Full details of the participating locations, from Spark: York to City Screen Picturehouse, Terry’s Factory Clock Tower to Bishopthorpe Palace, Holgate Windmill to York Railway Station,  can be found at york-unlocked.org.uk. Entry is free, including for those requiring booking.

Stevie Williams & The Most Wanted Band: Heading to Helmsley

“Wild journey” of the week: Stevie Williams & The Most Wanted Band, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

LED by powerhouse vocalist Stevie Williams, The Most Wanted Band take their audiences on a wild musical journey with tight grooves, searing guitar solos and a rhythm section that hits with precision in an accomplished, high-energy, explosive show.  Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Courtney Brown: From playing Ado Annie in Oklahoma! to assistant-directing Pickering Musical Society’s Wonders Of The West End

Ryedale musical show of the week: Pickering Musical Society, Wonders Of The West End, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, October 10 to 13, 7.30pm

PICKERING Musical Society performs the best of British musicals, from the early 20th century to current hits next week, when the full company will be joined once again by Sarah Louise Ashworth School of Dance students. Lesser-known gems will complement show-stopping favourites.

Regular performer Courtney Brown, seen latterly as the Princess in Aladdin and Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, steps up to the role of assistant director alongside regular director Luke Arnold after expressing an interest in directing. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Sharleen Spiteri: Fronting Texas at Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer

Gig announcement of the week: Texas, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 26 2025

SCOTTISH band Texas, fronted as ever by Sharleen Spiteri, will return to Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the first time since July 2018 to showcase five decades of songs, from I Don’t Want A Lover, Say What You Want and Summer Son to Inner Smile, Mr Haze and Keep On Talking next summer. Tickets will go on sale at 9am on Friday at scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk and ticketmaster.co.uk. Irish rock band The Script are confirmed already for July 5.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond the endless rain when films turn Dead Northern. Hutch’s List No. 40, from The Press, York

Rievaulx Abbey, mixed media, by Robert Dutton, on show in A Yorkshire Year at Nunnington Hall

YORKSHIRE landscapes, campsite class division, horror movies to the max and a talkative traveller herald the arrival of the arts autumn for Charles Hutchinson.

Exhibition of the week: A Yorkshire Year, Nunnington Hall, near Helmsley, until December 5

THE changing landscape of the Yorkshire countryside and coastline is captured by Yorkshire artists Robert Dutton, from Nunnington, and Andrew Moodie, from Harrogate, in seasonal images.

Dutton presents a dramatic interpretation of the untamed expanses of Yorkshire, from meandering freshwater rivers and hidden woodlands to the stark beauty of the moors. Moodie directs his attention to the undulating valleys of the Yorkshire Dales, as well as coastal villages. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm, last entry at 4.15pm. Normal admission prices apply at nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.

The artwork for the Dead Northern 2024 Horror Film Festival at City Screen Picturehouse, York

Film event of the week: Dead Northern 2024 Horror Film Festival, City Screen, Picturehouse, York, today and tomorrow

IN “the world’s most haunted city”, Dead Northern presents a festival of movies, music and social gatherings. Today opens with Demonic Shorts at 11am, followed by the regional premiere of Scopophobia, 12.30pm; Slasher, Thriller and Creature Shorts, 2.30pm; UK premiere of The Healing, 4.30pm; Dead Talk film-making panel, 7.30pm; regional premiere of Kill Your Lover, 9pm, and VIP Awards Party at Revolution, York,11pm.

Tomorrow features the Mad Props documentary, 11am; mini-feature Strike,12.45pm; feature film The Monster Beneath Us, 1.15pm; music mini-feature The Black Quarry, 3.45pm; Music Videos, 4.30pm; UK premiere of Kill Victoria, 6.30pm, and world premiere of Lake Jesup, 8.30pm. Guests must be aged over 18 to access screenings and live events. Box office: deadnorthern.co.uk/dead-northern-2024-film-festival.

Tom Gallagher, Annie Kirkman and Laura Jennifer Banks in a scene from John Godber’s revival of Perfect Pitch

Touring play of the week: John Godber Company in Perfect Pitch, Harrogate Theatre, today, 2pm and 7.30pm; Pocklington Arts Centre, October 9 and 10, 7.30pm; Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 13 to 16, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

WHEN teacher Matt (Frazer Hammill) borrows his parents’ caravan for a week on the Yorkshire coast with partner Rose (Annie Kirkman), they are expecting four days of hill running and total de-stressing. However, with a Tribfest taking place nearby, Grant (Tom Gallagher) and Steph’s (Laura Jennifer Banks) pop-up tent is an unwelcome addition to their perfect pitch.

The class divide and loo cassettes become an issue as writer-director John Godber reignites his unsettling1998 state-of-the-nation comedy, set on an eroding coastline, as Matt and Rose are inducted into the world of caravanning and karaoke. Box office: Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk; Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; Scarborough, 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

The bird man of RedHouse Originals Gallery: artist Jim Moir at his Birdland exhibition in Harrogate

Last chance to see: Jim Moir, Birdland, RedHouse Originals Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, today, 10am, 10am to 5pm

“PEOPLE think that I am a comedian, but art comes first,” says Jim Moir, aka Vic Reeves, as he mounts his second RedHouse show. “This one is Birdland because of my love of birds. I spend most of my days bird watching and painting,” he says.

On show – and for sale – is an exclusive collection of 50 new paintings celebrating his favourite subject ahead of the October 24 release of his second bird book, More Birds, Paintings Of British Birds, published by Unbound. Free entry.

Clare Ferguson-Walker and Robin Ince: Plenty to discuss at Pocklington Arts Centre

Double act of the week: Clare Ferguson-Walker & Robin Ince, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm

TAKE a tour around two marvellous minds via the vehicles of poetry, storytelling, jokes, and general silliness when Clare Ferguson-Walker and Robin Ince link up in Pock. Poet, comedienne, sculptor and singer Clare’s explosive second collection, Chrysalis, lays bare the poet’s soul on a journey laced with humour and humane observation.

Humorist, presenter, poet and author Ince co-hosts the BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. His books include Bibliomaniac, The Importance Of Being Interested, I’m A Joke And So Are You and his next work, Normally Weird And Weirdly Normal: My Adventures In Neurodiversity, will be published next May. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The cover design for Michael Palin’s new diary collection

Globe-trotter of the week: Michael Palin, Grand Opera House, York, October 3, 7.30pm

IN the words of Monty Python alumnus, actor, presenter and Yorkshireman Michael Palin: “In There And Back – The Diary Tour 2024, I’ll bring to life the fourth collection of my diaries and the first to be released for ten years.

“Lots of fun as I go through the Noughties, and some dark times too. I constantly surprise myself with the sheer amount I took on.” Tickets update: still available at atgtickets.com/york.

Barbara Dickson: Acoustic October concerts in Pocklington and Leeds

Folk gigs of the week: Hurricane Promotions present Barbara Dickson & Nick Holland, All Saints Church, Pocklington, October 4 (sold out) and October 16, 7.30pm. Also Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, October 20, 7.30pm

SCOTTISH folk singer Barbara Dickson and her pianist Nick Holland explore her catalogue of songs in these acoustic concerts in intimate settings, where the pair will let the words and melodies take centre stage as they draw on Dickson’s folk roots, contemporary greats and her classic hits, from Another Suitcase In Another Hall to I Know Him So Well. Box office: barbaradickson.net; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Mundane matters: Josh Widdicombe mulls over really niche observations about silly little things in 2025 and 2026

Gig announcement of the week: Josh Widdicombe, Not My Cup Of Tea Tour, Hull City Hall, October 2 2025, and York Barbican, February 28 2026

PARENTING Hell podcaster and comedian Josh Widdicombe, droll observer of the absurd side of the mundane, will take stock of the little things that niggle him, from motorway hotels to children’s parties, and explain why he has finally decided to embrace middle age, hot drinks and doing the school run in his 58-date tour show, Not My Cup Of Tea.

“That’s my favourite type of stand-up: really niche observations about silly little things that you wouldn’t think about. I’ve got no interest in the big topics.” Box office: joshwiddicombe.com; yorkbarbican.co.uk; hulltheatres.co.uk.

In Focus: Mark Thomas: Gaffa Tapes…Old Title, New Show, The Crescent, York, tomorrow. More Yorkshire shows to follow

This is the modern world: Mark Thomas returns to stand-up venting at The Crescent, York. Picture: Tony Pletts

LAST appearing in York in Ed Edwards’s one-man play England & Son in the Theatre Royal Studio last September, South London’s grouchy “godfather of political comedy”, Mark Thomas, returns to polemical stand-up in Gaffa Tapes…Old Title, New Show at The Crescent tomorrow night.

One of the longest-surviving alternative comics after close to 40 years of stand-up, theatre, journalism, human rights campaigning and the odd bout of performance art, his latest tour’s fusillade of jokes, rants, politics, play and the occasional sing-song adds up to “generally mucking about trying to have fun and upset (shall we say) the right people”.

Gaffa Tapes…Old Title, New Show? Explain the extended tag, Mark. “What happened is I liked the idea of ‘Gaffa Tapes’ as a title and had it last year for my Edinburgh Fringe show, but halfway through the Fringe run I got Covid and had to stop.

“Last year I toured England & Son, written by Ed Edwards, which I was really pleased with. It picked up more awards than I’d ever done before – six awards – and one of them was to perform the play in Australia, taking it out to Adelaide for five weeks – and we might be going to New York …

“But we made no money out of it. I thought, ‘right, how do we make some money?’, so it’s great to be getting back to stand-up. What I love about stand-up is… and this is simple…if you stop doing it, they say you’ll feel rusty, so if you have a hiatus, what you have to learn to do is put your hand on the neck of the beast.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to do all the clubs at the bottom of the eco-system, doing ten minutes here, ten minutes there, doing shows in different places, and the thing about it is, I died on my arse a couple of times, which feels horrible each and every time…

“But if you take a break, you need to get your muscle memory back working again. That’s why I loved doing Edinburgh this summer. I did 26 gigs. It’s just bang, bang, bang, every night. You can muck around, try things out.

Mark Thomas in England & Son, toured to York Theatre Royal Studio in 2023. Picture: Alex Brenner

“The riots were happening around that time, so I wrote about them – and it’s important to be able to talk about that. It’s a living, breathing affecting thing. I love being a warrior in the culture wars, and it’s good to be back on the battlefield.”

The tectonic plates of the political landscape keep shifting: fresh meat to a polemicist comedian’s grist. “Things are always changing,” says Mark. “What I love is that when I started work on the show, there was loads going on, because the Tories were no longer in power, and it’s good to be able to react to that and to suggest what should be happening.

“I was at the Diggers Festival, celebrating Gerrard Winstanley [English Protestant religious reformer, political philosopher, activist and leader and co-founder of the ‘True Levellers’ or ‘Diggers’], doing a talk in a church, where someone said, ‘if you get rid of the oath to the King, that would be the most radical thing you could do’.

“I said, ‘well, actually, I don’ think it is. If you want democracy to work, you should have voting at 16, proportional representation, and you need to abolish the House of Lords’…whereas they’re just tidying up what [Tony] Blair started all those years ago. The most radical thing would be to ban donations to political parties. Make it state-funded, giving money to run parties and campaigns, making it a level playing field.

“Do you know who is the only other country in Europe to have a ‘first past the post’ electoral system? Belarus. So if anyone is out of step, it’s us. I think eventually PR [proportional representation] will come in; it’s just a question of what form it takes.”

How does the change of ruling party in Westminster from the Conservatives to Labour after 14 years have an impact on Thomas’s venting? “It changes the goalposts because it’s a new set of people to attack for a new set of reasons,” says Mark. “It’s the new austerity that they’re proposing that’s not great.

“The fact is that Starmer got some of the things right over the riots. I find it fascinating that there is this a disconnect; the idea that everyone who rioted was a racist, but not everyone was, because riots have a movement of their own, but certainly the organisers were far right.

“I didn’t vote Labour. I’m a Socilaist, why on Earth would I vote Labour?” says Mark Thomas. Picture: Art by Tracey Moberly

“You can be a Zen Buddhist but if you set fire to an asylum seekers’ hotel, then you’re a racist.”

Long associated with spouting anti-Tory sentiment aplenty, Thomas will hold the incoming Labour Party to account too. “I think it’s healthier that way in politics. The honeymoon period is over already,” he says.

“I didn’t vote Labour. I’m a Socialist, why on Earth would I vote Labour? There shouldn’t be a honeymoon period anyway,  but I expect the right-wing press to go at Labour with gusto because they want to shape not only this government, but the next Tory one too.”

Any suggestions for policy change, Mark? “Local government can run the bus companies, but it’s really important that it’s not about making the maximum profit. That’s what used to happen until Thatcher changed it,” he says.

“I’m lucky now – because I’m 61, I get the 60+ London Oyster card for £20 [administration fee] that allows me to travel everywhere in London for free and I use buses a lot. That’s one of the great things about London: wherever you are, there will be a night bus coming along in a moment.”

He is looking forward eagerly to tomorrow’s return to The Crescent. “I love The Crescent,” he enthuses. “What they may lack in technical facilities, it’s a proper community venue. I always say, when talking about what community venues could be, take a look at this place.”

Mark Thomas: Gaffa Tapes, Burning Duck Comedy, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm; Marsdsen Mechanics, November 8, 8pm; Social, Hull, November 16, 8pm; Sheffield Memorial Hall November 10, 8pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, February 5 2025; Wakefield Theatre Royal, February 6 2025, 7.30pm.

Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Marsden, 01484 844587 or marsdenmechanics.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Hull, socialhumberstreet.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Wakefield Theatre Royal, 01924 211311 or theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk (on sale soon) Age guidance: 16 plus.

Mark Thomas: the back story

The next step for Mark Thomas: Touring Gaffa Tapes

“IF you don’t know what Mark does, ask your parents. In his time, he has won eight awards for performing, three for human rights work… and one he invented for himself. He has made six series of the Mark Thomas Comedy Product and three Dispatches for Channel 4, made five series of The Manifesto for BBC Radio 4, written five books and four play scripts, curated and authored two art exhibitions with artist Tracey Moberly and was commissioned to write a show for the Royal Opera House.

“He has forced a politician to resign, changed laws on tax and protest, become the Guinness Book of Records world-record holder for the number of protests in 24 hours, taken the police to court three times and won (the fourth is in the pipeline), walked the length of the Israeli Wall in the West Bank (that’s 724km), and generally mucked about trying to have fun and upset (shall we say) the right people.”

Posted on

Camille O’Sullivan delivers Loveletter in song to Hebden Bridge and Leeds City Varieties in memory of Sinead and Shane

Camille O’Sullivan

IRISH/FRENCH chanteuse and actress Camille O’Sullivan brings her new show, Loveletter, to Hebden Bridge Trades Club on September 7(doors 8pm) and Leeds City Varieties Music Hall three nights later (7.30pm).

In her intimate soiree of storytelling in song, the ever-courageous chameleon reimagines works by her favourite writers, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Radiohead, Jacques Brel, Arcade Fire and Rufus Wainwright, with intense, dark drama, complemented by new originals.

In the wake of their passing last year, Camille will pay her respects, and sends love, to her dear, departed friends Sinead O’Connor and Shane MacGowan, having toured for many years The Pogues.

Performing with long-time collaborator and dear friend Feargal Murray, 49-year-old Camille will be presenting a “different type of show to her previous incarnations, with a more spiritual energy, transforming each song into an intense, vulnerable experience with joy and pure passion,” say promoters Bound & Gagged.

“Camille has created a very intimate, pated-back, heartfelt show. It captures an honest response to her experiences over the isolation of the last few years, yet captures the joyous and little moments of happiness that makes life worth living.”

Billed as “raunchy and dangerously fragile with an exceptional voice”, Camille’s prowess as a gifted interpreter of narrative songs of loss, love, joy, light and darkness has made her “the Queen of the Edinburgh Festival” (BBC); taken her to Sydney Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall and La Clique, the cabaret and circus spiegeltent in Leicester Square, London, and brought her the Herald Angel award for her Royal Shakespeare Company solo performance of  The Rape Of Lucrece.

As seen on the BBC’s Later…With Jools Holland in 2009 (In These Shoes) and 2015 (God Is In The House), former architect and painter Camille is equally adept at rock and hymnal renditions.

The Hebden Bridge and Leeds gigs are part of a nine-date September tour. Box office: Hebden Bridge, 01422 845265 or thetradesclub.com/events/Camille; Leeds, leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/camille-osullivan-2024/.

Did you know?

CAMILLE O’Sullivan was born in London, to Denis O’Sullivan, an Irish racing driver and world champion sailor, and Marie-José, a French artist. She was raised in the town of Passage West, County Cork. After finishing secondary school, she studied Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.

Proudly powered by WordPress