Tag: Russell Howard

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Festival of the week: Futuresound’s Live At York Museum Gardens, July 9 to 12

SATURDAY UPDATE: EARLIER START

SUPER Furry Animals may be Dai-hard Welshman, but in an act of supreme consideration to England versus Norway kicking off at 10pm in the World Cup quarter final, everything today at Live At York Museum Gardens will kick off earlier to boot. Gates open at 3.30pm; last entry is at 8pm.

Saturday’s bill: Pys Melyn (3.55pm to 4.25pm); Divorce (4.45pm to 5.25pm); Los Campesinos! (5.55pm to 6.40pm); Baxter Dury (7.10pm to 7.55pm); headliners Super Furry Animals (8.25pm to 9.55pm.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys: Summer of Hits concert at Live At York Museum Gardens tonight

LIVE At York Museum Gardens returns for its third festival of outdoor concerts from today to Saturday and second York Comedy Festival on Sunday, organised by Leeds event promoters Futuresound Group.

 “We’re so proud of how Live at York Museum Gardens has grown, and we’re looking forward to seeing the changes we’ve made to the site this year, ensuring that everyone enjoys their time in such a beautiful space,” says Rachel Hill, Futuresound’s project manager, who lives in York, by the way.

The map of the Live At York Museum Gardens site for July 9 to 11

“None of this would have been possible without the continued collaboration, trust and support of the team at York Museums Trust; the opportunity to put together such an incredible bill for the summer makes us excited for the future of our partnership.”

Today’s bill: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Summer of Hits (9pm), with Heaven 17 (7.30pm), China Crisis (6.30pm) and Newcastle singer-songwriter Andrew Cushin (5.30pm) in support. Gates open at 5pm; last admission 8.30pm. SOLD OUT.

Friday’s bill: Self Esteem (Rotherham’s Rebecca Lucy Taylor), supported  by The Big Moon, Moonchild Sanelly and Joshua Idehen. Gates, 5pm; last entry, 8.30pm.

Super Furry Animals: Flower power in the botanical gardens at Live At York Museum Gardens on Saturday. Picture: Ryan Eddleston

Saturday’s bill: PLEASE NOTE: NOW STARTING and ENDING EARLIER. Super Furry Animals (8.25pm to 9.55pm), plus Baxter Dury (7.10pm to 7.55pm). Los Campesinos! (5.55pm to 6.40pm), Divorce (4.45pm to 5.25pm) and Pys Melyn (3.55pm to 4.25pm). Gates, 3.30pm; last entry, 8pm.

Event curfew for each concert: 10.30pm.

Check Live At York Museum Gardens social media channels on the day, where set times will be published ahead of time. NO  readmittance to Live At York Museum Gardens; once you leave the site, you will not be allowed to re-enter.

Sunday’s comedy bill: Nabil Abdulrashid, 4:20pm to 4:45pm; Jeff  Innocent, 4.50pm to 5.15pm; Barry from Watford, 5.45pm to 6.10pm; Suzi Ruffell, 6.15pm to 6.40pm; Russell Kane, 7.10pm to 7.35pm; Joanne McNally, 7.40pm to 8.05pm; Ross Noble, 8.35pm to 9.05pm and Russell Howard, 9.30pm to 10pm, hosted by Jarred Christmas. Gates, 3pm; last entry, 8.15pm. .   

The map for the Live At York Museum Gardens site for Sunday’s York Comedy Festival

Map: Futuresound, the team behind Live at York Museum Gardens, have come to know the site well and, in tandem with York Museums Trust, have “refined how the event fits and feels within the garden walls”. Downloadable site maps can be found at the Live at York Museum Gardens FAQ page with other relevant information.

Box office:  Located adjacent to General Admission entrance via Museum Street while the newly situated Premium Ticket entrance is via Exhibition Square.

New features: The Live at York Museum Gardens Premium Area has been moved to a new location closer to the action with a Hang Out Area featuring seating, premium facilities and exclusive food vendors, along with access to a new first-come, first-served, free-flowing Premium Standing Platform with an unparalleled view of the stage.

Significantly, this year’s event will feature large-format, high-definition screens either side of the main stage for the first time, “significantly improving audiences ability to see and appreciate the performances”.

Cutting a dash: Russell Kane will play a 25-minute set at Sunday’s York Comedy Festival at 7.10pm

Gardens facts: Founded in the 1830s, York Museum Gardens span more than ten acres of botanical gardens, set against the backdrop of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey and also house the Yorkshire Museum and Hospitium. The gardens welcome 1.3 million visitors a year as a space to relax and enjoy.

Weather forecast: Phew, what a scorcher, all weekend.

Rachel Hill’s advice: Make sure to apply Factor 50 sun cream.  

For more information, visit: https://www.futuresoundgroup.com/york-museum-gardens-events

Interview with Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Andy McCluskey:

Orchestral Manoeuvres look forward to playing not-so-dark in Museum Gardens

 Interview with Super Furry Animals’ Huw Bunford:

Super Furry Animals make York debut after 33 years at Museum Gardens on Saturday

Alas, Self Esteem’s Rebecca Lucy Taylor was not available for an interview.

Self Esteem’s Rebecca Lucy Taylor

Who is Self Esteem? Fact file

Born: Rotherham, South Yorkshire, October 15 1986.

Name: Rebecca Lucy Taylor.

Age: 39.

Parents’ occupations:  Father, health & safety advisor and amateur musician; mother, secretary.

Education: Wales High School in Rotherham, where she was a “choir nerd”.

Occupation: Singer, songwriter, musician and actress.

Style: Experimental pop, R&B and electronica, delivered with theatrical stage presence.

Content: Known for bold, emotionally honest, witty, genre-defying pop music with feminist themes, addressing gender politics, women’s rights, female autonomy, mental health, liberation, modern identity and self-empowerment, challenging societal norms.

First band: The Lonely Hearts, featuring Taylor on drums.

Second band: On vocals, drums, guitar and percussion, she was one half of folk-indie/country soul duo Slow Club, formed in Sheffield in 2006 with fellow former Lonely Heart Charles Watson (vocals, guitar, piano)

Albums: Yeah So, 2009; Paradise, 2011; Complete Surrender, 2014; All Of This Won’t Matter Anymore, 2016.

Played here:  The Basement (City Screen Picturehouse), The Duchess and The Crescent in York; Pocklington Arts Centre.

The first poster for Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens

Documentary: Our Most Brilliant Friends, directed by Piers Dennis, released in 2018, charting Slow Club’s final tour in Winter 2016 and the “unfulfilled” Taylor’s rising dissatisfaction with the band.

Did you know? Guillemots’ Fyfe Dangerfield occasionally joined the duo on stage on tour.

Rebranded as Self Esteem: 2017, preceded by using that name for artistic projects such as a painting and print exhibition.

Albums: Compliments Please, 2019; Prioritise Pleasure, 2021; A Complicated Woman, April 25 2025.

Best-known song: Spoken-word anthem I Do This All the Time, 2021.

Acting roles: On TV, I Hate Suzie Too (Sky) and Smothered (Sky). Film: Layla, playing Emily in writer-director Amrou Al-Kadhi’s 2024 debut British romance.

Theatre: Sally Bowles in Cabaret, at Kit Kat Club, Playhouse Theatre, West End, London, September 2023 to March 2024; Maggie Frisby in 50th anniversary West End revival of David Hare’s Teeth’n’Smiles, Duke of York’s Theatre, March 13 to June 6 2026 (playing lead role originated by Helen Mirren)

On stage too: Created and starred in A Complicated Woman Live, a specially conceived theatrical live performance at Duke of York’s Theatre, London, in 2025.

Awards: Visionary Award at 2025 Ivor Novello Awards; Album of the Year for Proritise Pleasure in the Guardian and Sunday Times Culture; Attitude magazine’s Music Award, 2021; BBC Introducing Artist of the Year, 2022. Nominated for Mercury Prize, BRIT Awards, Sky Arts Awards and NME Awards.

Did you know too? Self Esteem composed the soundtrack for Suzie Miller’s one-woman play Prima Facie, starring Jodie Comer in the West End, on Broadway and on tour at Grand Opera House, York, in February 2026.

Debut book: A Complicated Woman, published on October 30 2025. Co-curated London Literature Festival at Southbank to mark its release.

When is Self Esteem playing York? Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10. Box office: https://www.futuresoundgroup.com/york-museum-gardens-events

The second poster for Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 28, from Gazette & Herald

Becca Magson’s Rita and Joe Gregory’s Frank in 1812 Theatre Company’s Educating Rita. Picture: Lauren Wyeth

RYEDALE Festival and 1812 Theatre’s Educating Rita, compact Shakespeare and Live At York Museum Gardens are uppermost in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations amid the July heatwave.

Ryedale play of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Educating Rita, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm

SAMANTHA Hughes directs Helmsley Arts Centre resident troupe 1812 Theatre Company in Willy Russell’s comedy Educating Rita, wherein Frank (Joe Gregory) is a tutor of English Literature in his 50s whose disillusioned outlook on life drives him to drink and bury himself in his books.  

Enter Rita (Becca Magson), a forthright 26-year-old hairdresser who is eager to learn. After weeks of cajoling, she slowly wins over the hesitant Frank with her highly original insights and refusal to accept “No” for an answer. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk. Picture: Lauren Wyeth.

Michael Flatley’s Irish dancers in the 30th anniversary tour of Lord Of The Dance, in action at York Barbican tonight. Picture: Brian Doherty

Dance show of the week: Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, tonight, 7.45pm

THE 30th anniversary tour of Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance promises a grand celebration of the revolutionary Irish dance production’s legacy, after captivating more than 60 million fans in 60 countries since its 1996 debut.

The 30 Years of Standing Ovations tour features “brand-new choreography, stunning costumes, state-of-the-art special effects and cutting-edge lighting, ensuring that the production continues to push boundaries and deliver an unforgettable experience”.  Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/lord-of-the-dance-30th-anniversary/.

Clive Francis’s Sir Humphrey Appleby in I’m Sorry, Prime Minister. Picture: Johan Persson

Political drama of the week: I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

JIM Hacker is back, older, but perhaps not wiser, and still utterly baffled by the real world. Hoping for a quiet retirement from government as the master of Hacker College, Oxford, Jim (Robert Kitson, replacing the indisposed Simon Rouse) instead finds himself facing the ultimate modern crisis: cancelled by the college committee. Enter Sir Humphrey Appleby (Clive Francis), who has lost none of his love for bureaucracy, Latin phrases and well-timed obstruction.

Can Humphrey and Jim outmanoeuvre the hostile students, the Fellows and reality itself? Or is it finally time to say “I’m Sorry, Prime Minister”? Brimming with wit, nostalgia and more double-speak than a press briefing, the final chapter in the evergreen comedy series is written and directed by Jonathan Lynn,co-directed byMichael Gyngell and presented by The Barn Theatre, Cirencester. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Reduced Shakespeare Company’s 2026 tour cast for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), squeezing into York Theatre Royal this week

Shakespeare shake-up of the week: Reduced Shakespeare Company in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

MARKING 30 years of performances in the UK, the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s 2026 tour company of Efé Agwele, Woogie Jung, Tom Pavey and Kiran Raywilliams presents Hamlet told backwards, a micro-condensed Othello scored to a ukulele, a carnage-filled Titus Andronicus presented as a YouTube cookery tutorial and the History Plays as a manic football game, passing the crown from king to king.

Californian co-founders Adam Long,  Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield have re-booted, re-imagined, reinvented and updated the restless comedy for a new generation to undertake a rollercoaster ride through all 37 of the Bard’s First Folio of plays. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Stephen Smith’s Claude Monet in A Montage Of Monet at York Medical Society. Picture: Amie Barton-Young

Storytelling actor of the week: Threedumb Theatre presents Stephen Smith in A Montage Of Monet, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, tonight, 7.30pm and July 11, 3pm; One  Man Poe world premiere, July 11, 7.30pm

THREEDUMB Theatre artistic director and actor Stephen Smith performs Joan Greening’s new play exploring French Impressionist artist Claude Monet’s life and loves: his two marriages, his first wife’s devastating death, his lover’s erratic behaviour, his suicide attempt, his thoughts on fellow Impressionists and the torment of his failing eyesight. The 55-minute Monet montage combines projection design and Joe Furey’s music with Smith’s storytelling in  two York performances.

Smith also presents the world premiere of his latest Poe double bill (The Business Man and The Case of M. Valdemar) ahead of his Edinburgh Fringe residency. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys: Summer of Hits concert at Live At York Museum Gardens

Rock and pop festival of the week: Futuresound presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, tomorrow, gates 5pm; Self Esteem, Friday, gates 5pm, and Super Furry Animals, Saturday, gates 4pm

WIRRAL synth-pop pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark open Futuresound’s third season of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts tomorrow with a Summer of Hits bill featuring Heaven 17, China Crisis and rising Newcastle singer-songwriter Andrew Cushin.

Mercury Prize nominee Self Esteem, aka Rotherham singer, songwriter and actress Rebecca Lucy Taylor, tops Friday’s line-up, featuring London indie group The Big Moon, South African ghetto funk musician Moonchild Sanelly and Nigerian-born musician and spoken-word artist Joshia Idehen.

Welsh psychedelic rock band Super Furry Animals are Saturday’s headliners, joined by singer-songwriter Baxter Dury, indie-pop septet Los Campesinos!, Nottingham alt-country band Divorce and North Wales psychedelic act Pys Melyn.  Box office for July 10 and 11: futuresoundgroup.com/york-museum-gardens-events.

Ross Noble: Playing York Comedy Festival at Live At York Museum Gardens on Sunday

Comedy event of the week: Futuresound presents York Comedy Festival, Live at York Museum Gardens, York, Sunday, gates 3pm

TOPICAL comedian Russell Howard (9.30pm), from Russell Howard’s Good News, and Geordie surrealist Ross Noble (8.35pm) take top billing at the second open-air York Comedy Festival, promoted by Futuresound.

In Sunday’s line-up too will be Irish stand-up and podcast sensation Joanne McNally (7.40pm); stand-up and presenter Russell Kane (7.10pm); Big Kick Energy podcaster and comedian Suzi Ruffell (6.15pm); Barry From Watford (5.45pm), the 82-year-old comic creation of Alex Lowe; cult stand-up hero and viral sensation Jeff Innocent (4.50pm)  and Britain’s Got Talent finalist Nabil Abdulrashid (4.20pm), all hosted by Jared Christmas. Box office: yorkcomedyfestival.com.

The Gesualdo Six: Performing Wishing Tree: A Choral Journey at St Lawrence’s Church, York, on July 14 at 3pm as part of Ryedale Festival. Picture: Ash Mills

Festival of the week: Ryedale Festival, July 10 to 26

RYEDALE Festival presents 60 events this month in 40 different venues, including Tenebrae, pianist Junyan Chen, The Gesualdo Six, Dunedin Consort, John Wilson & Sinfonia of London’s An English Summer, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Opera North.

Taking part too are tenor Mark Padmore and pianist Christopher Glynn, Sheku & Isata Kanneh-Mason, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, Eliza Carthy and The Restitution, soprano Erika Baikoff, cellist Laura van der Heijden, BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists and Kirkbymoorside Town Brass Band. For the full festival programme and tickets, go to: ryedalefestival.com.

Hannah Davies and Jack Woods: Re-imagining of the selkie myth in a not-too-distant future in The Ballad Of Blea Wyke. Picture: Matt Jopling

Dystopian vision of the week: Hannah Davies & Jack Woods in The Ballad of Blea Wyke, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, York, July 10, 8.30pm; Helmsley Arts Centre, July 17, 7.30pm

IN North Yorkshire writer and storyteller Hannah Davies and musician Jack Woods’ dystopian re-imagining of the selkie myth in a not-too-distant future, a young woman wants to see the sea. A stranger stands on a cliff. The last grey seal swims towards the shore. 

On her 18th birthday, tough care-leaver Cerys breaks the city’s lockdown and travels to the coastal cliffs that birthed her, the crumbling landscape drawing her back to her mythic past. Cue a haunting interweaving of story, music, poetry and song. Box office: York, https://bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

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Russell Howard and Ross Noble to lead Futuresound line-up for second York Comedy Festival at York Museum Gardens

The poster for York Comedy Festival ’26, promoted by Futuresound, on July 12

RUSSELL Howard and Ross Noble will top the bill at Futuresound’s second York Comedy Festival on July 12, the fourth and final day of this summer’s Live At York Museum Gardens season.

After a sold-out launch last July as one of Great Britain’s largest outdoor comedy events, the festival once more will play to a seated capacity of more than 3,000 on a stage in front of St Mary’s Abbey.

Bath-born stand-up satirist Howard, host of Russell Howard’s Good News, and Newcastle surrealist Noble will be joined by Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comic and presenter Russell Kane, Irish stand-up and podcaster Joanne McNally, from My Therapist Ghosted Me, and Big Kick Energy podcaster and comedian Suzi Ruffell.

On the 2.30pm bill too will be cult-stand up hero-turned viral sensation Jeff Innocent, Britain’s Got Talent finalist Nabil Abdulrashid and Barry From Watford, the 82-year-old comic creation of actor, writer and comedian Alex Lowe (who played Clinton Baptiste in Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights on Channel 4).

The event will be hosted by master of ceremonies Jarred Christmas, the British-based New Zealand comic and winner of Chortle’s Best Compere award.

Last July’s inaugural York Comedy Festival defied the Sunday downpours with a line-up of Dara Ó Briain, Katherine Ryan. Bridget Christie, Angelos Epithemiou, Joel Dommett, Vittorio Angelone, Clinton Baptiste and Scott Bennett, hosted by “the fabulous” Stephen Bailey.

Tickets for July 12 are on sale at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/york-comedy-festival-2026/york-museum-gardens/3561349.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Advice? Ignore the rain. Consult Hutch’s List No. 30 for 2023, from The Press, York

Finley Butler’s Danny Zuko and Maia Beatrice’s Sandy Dumbrowski in NETheatre York’s Grease at the JoRo Theatre

GREASE is not the only word as Charles Hutchinson picks highlights aplenty for the weeks ahead, from comedy to puppetry, workshops to festivals, burlesque to blues.

Musical of the week: NETheatre York in Grease, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

STEVE Tearle directs University of Hull theatre student Finn Butler and Cleethorpes pantomime star Maia Beatrice in the lead roles in this celebration of the 1950s in its duck-tailed, bobby-soxed, gum-snapping glory.

The American high school dream is about to explode in this coming-of-age musical with its story of hot-rodding T-Bird Danny Zuko and the sweet new girl in town, Sandy Dumbrowski, whose secret summer romance resurfaces as they unexpectedly discover they are now at the same school. Tickets update: limited availability, so prompt booking is advised on 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Russell Howard: Two problem-solving shows in a day at Grand Opera House, York

Comedy gig(s) of the week: Russell Howard, Grand Opera House, York, today, 3pm and 7.30pm

COMEDIAN Russell Howard plays two shows in a day in York on his 2023 tour, the afternoon gig having sold out already. As we reel from one global crisis to the next, the host of Russell Howard’s Good News and The Russell Howard Hour will be putting the world to rights. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.  

The poster for this week’s Connect Festival, hosted by Four Wheel Drive

Children’s activity of the weekend: Play In A Day with Four Wheel Drive, Connect Festival, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 10am

AIMED at ten to 14-year-olds, this action-packed, fast-paced, fun session will create a play based on a classic text in only four hours, guided ​​by Connect Festival organisers Four Wheel Drive’s Educate creative team.Participants will showcase their work in the black-box theatre in front of an audience of family and friends at 4pm. Tickets: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The Outside In plant studio owner Alice Maynard, who will lead tomorrow’s workshop at the Connect Festival

Workshop of the week: Build A Mini Terrarium With The Outside In, Connect Festival, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 12.30pm

YORK plant studio The Outside In hosts a step-by-step guide to creating a sustainable miniature garden world, using tropical plants, mosses and decorative stones to bring the landscape to life.

The key words to describe Alice Maynard’s Sunday session are sustainability, mindfulness, creativity, relaxation and insightfulness as adults and children aged seven and over learn the history of terrariums. Each participant will be provided with a mystery mini-figure to help tell a story. Tickets: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Lempen Puppet Theatre Company in Flotsam & Jetsam, on tour in Pocklington

Family show of the week: Lempen Puppet Theatre Company in Flotsam & Jetsam, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 2.30pm

FLOTSAM is soft, flexible, laid back. She slides and glides through life on the ice. Jetsam is the opposite, his insectile body is stiff and nervy, alert and watchful, suspicious of all in his forest home. Both are cast adrift in a world that is strange to them and full of danger.

Finally washed up on the same island beach, these two very different creatures must discover the other and work together in a hope-filled adventure story, told with original music and puppetry, for four-year-olds upwards. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Public Service Broadcasting: Saturday headliners at next week’s Deer Shed Festival

Festival of the week: Deer Shed Festival, Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, July 28 to 31

THE Comet Is Coming, Public Service Broadcasting and The Delgados take the music headline slots at Deer Shed 2023. Keep an eye out for Gaz Coombes, The Big Moon, This Is The Kit, Dream Wife, Gwenno, James Yorkston & Nina Persson, Rozi Plain, Elanor Moss and a DJ set by snooker legend Steve Davis & Kavus Torabi.

A science tent with AI album covers, comedy, sports, spoken word and literary events, workshops, theatre, cinema and well being all play their part in the four days too. For ticket availability, head to: deershedfestival.com.

Lily Monarch rules in the poster artwork for A Little Bit Of Everything at The Crescent

Could we interest you in…A Little Bit Of Everything? On show at The Crescent, York, next Saturday, 7.45pm to 11pm

IN a night of drag, cabaret, burlesque and comedy, Lily Monarch is joined by The Family Shambles and the crown jewels of York’s drag scene. Look out for Bodie Snatcher, Bailey Bubbles, Lois Carmen, Denominator, Wilhelmina Rose, Robynne Ryske, Luna Hex, Dick Fran Dyke, MX Fish Fingers, Tommy Boi, Reese Wetherspoon and York’s drag king boy band Boyz 2 Kings. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

The poster for Cafe Mambo Ibiza Classics In The City at York Barbican

House moves: Cafe Mambo Ibiza Classics In The City: A Night Of Timeless House Music, York Barbican, August 5, 8pm

AFTER two sell-out shows, iconic house music brand Cafe Mambo Ibiza completes a hattrick of York Barbican nights with Classics In The City, showcasing influential floor fillers from three decades, from CeCe Peniston’s Finally to Derrick May’s Strings Of Life.

On the decks will be Paul Oakenfold, Judge Jules, Danny Rampling and Erik Hagleton, complemented by live performances from Julie McKnight and Shingai. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Star Stone: Starring in #MeToo, her one-woman comedy show, at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Fringe politics: Star Stone in #MeToo, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, August 3, 7.30pm

AMERICAN writer, actress, producer and playwright Star Stone presents her one-woman educational comedy #MeToo in York ahead of her Edinburgh Fringe debut next month.

“Sex cults with fake feminism, Pretend Shamans, Burning Man and Lower East Side nightclub ‘photographers’” all make an appearance in a hour-long show with 20-plus characters. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

On the road to the patio: Jess Gardham heads for York Theatre Royal

Moody blues: Jess Gardham, York Theatre Royal patio, August 4, 6pm

YORK singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress Jess Gardham plays outdoors in an evening performance on the revamped Theatre Royal patio.

Jess has played on BBC Introducing, supported Paul Carrack, KT Tunstall, The Shires and Martin Simpson and starred in principal roles in Hairspray The Musical, Ghost The Musical and Rock Of Ages. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Slam champ, maths ace and poet Harry Baker is Unashamed to be back on the road. York and Leeds await next February

Stand up, comedian: Slam champ, poet, maths graduate, comic, writer and TED talker Harry Bakes takes to the water. Back on dry land, he plays York and Leeds next February

WORLD Poetry Slam champion Harry Baker is taking to the road for his second nationwide solo tour with his new show Unashamed, visiting The Crescent in York on February 8 2023.

After his first tour was extended three times by a combination of popular demand and a global pandemic, followed by asell-out Edinburgh Fringe run for his new show, poet, mathematician, stand-up comedian and writer Baker is undertaking a 31-date tour from September 28 to February 16. Further dates include Left Bank, Leeds, on February 9, with tickets on sale at harrybaker.co 

Baker’s bursts of poetry and comedy had been watched by millions online and had allowed him to perform all over the world, until suddenly Covid said No. His knee-jerk reaction was to put out heartfelt poems about missing hugs and to record a German pop music video in his local abandoned playground.

After reviewing loo seats online and writing falafel-based ‘diss’ tracks for radio presenter Chris Evans, he is returning to the stage in his most honest, playful, unashamedly Harry Baker show yet. 

Lift-off: Harry Baker likes to write about “important stuff such as hope”

“At its heart, my work is all about connecting with people, whether it’s making them laugh, making them cry, or making them think ‘Hey, I didn’t think I liked poetry but this is actually pretty good’,” says Harry, who “writes about important stuff such as hope, dinosaurs and German falafel-spoons”.

“While I tried to make the best of performing online during various lockdowns, there’s only so many clap emojis you can take on Instagram live before you realise it’s not quite the same. “I’m thrilled to be back doing what I love – poems – in the places I love with the people I love (your delightful readers, who will come along after reading this).”

Summing up Unashamed, Baker says: “The show is a celebration of playfulness, the power of creativity to keep you going when your whole world falls apart, and how, if we are brave enough to be vulnerable with one another, we can build ourselves back to our best unashamed versions of ourselves.” 

Since Baker became the youngest-ever World Poetry Slam champion in 2012, the past ten years have seen him perform worldwide, from a sold-out Dubai Opera House alongside Simon Armitage and Carol Ann Duffy, to becoming a festival favourite at Glastonbury, Latitude and Bestival.

Sitting on the duck of the bay? Not quite, but give Harry Baker poetic licence

Rising to the top of the British rap battle scene, he has become a regular contributor to BBC Radio 2’s Pause For Thought, while his work has been shared on TED.com, seen by ten million people and translated into more than 20 different languages.

He has toured the UK and featured on The Russell Howard Hour as one half of the comedy-rap-jazz duo Harry and Chris (with songwriter Chris Read) and has appeared on the BAFTA-winning Sky TV show Life And Rhymesalongside Benjamin Zephaniah.

The 2022-2023 tour is accompanied by the release of Baker’s second poetry collection, also called Unashamed. Published by Burning Eye on October 6, it comprises poems from his latest show and the previous I Am 10,000, his celebration of the crossover between mathematics and poetry that toured the UK over three years, culminating in a run at Soho Theatre in March 2022. 

Publisher Clive Birnie says: “We are thrilled to have Harry back with a new book. We are celebrating ten years of publishing this year and having our top-selling author back with a new title is the perfect way to crown ten years in business. We expect this one to outsell Harry’s first book, The Sunshine Kid.” Copies are on sale at gigs, all good bookshops and via harrybaker.co.

Harry Baker’s York gig will be presented by spoken-word musketeers Say Owt; doors open at 7.30pm; box office: thecrescentyork.seetickets.com or harrybaker.co.

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Comedian Russell Howard to play Grand Opera House, York, at the double next May

In the good news: Russell Howard announces a brace of York gigs for next spring

COMEDIAN Russell Howard will perform two shows in one day at the Grand Opera House, York, on his Live 2023 UK Tour.

As we reel from one global crisis to the next, the TV host of Russell Howard’s Good News and The Russell Howard Hour will put the world to rights in his observant, questioning way at 3pm and 7.30pm on Saturday, May 23.

Bath-born Howard, 42, who made appearances on the now-departed Mock The Week, cites Lee Evans, Richard Pryor and Frank Skinner as comic influences.

Tickets are on sale at £31.75 on 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.