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Pent-up Paul Chowdhry pours two years’ gall into ‘Family-Friendly Comedian’ gig at Grand Opera House next Thursday

The poster for Paul Chowdhry’s Family-Friendly Comedian tour, visiting the Grand Opera House, York, next Thursday

AFTER barely surviving the pandemic, British-Asian stand-up Paul Chowdhry tackles the UK’s handling of the Coronavirus crisis and why the rules of six only worked for white people in his November 18 gig at the Grand Opera House, York.

Two years of pent-up frustration go into his Family-Friendly Comedian (No Children) gig, where he  also discusses fame, England football fans and Tom Cruise landing his helicopter in someone’s garden.

Londoner Chowdhry began his stand-up career in 1998 and hosted the comedy show Stand Up For The Week, having been a regular act on earlier series. He was the first British act to perform at the Caribbean Comedy Festival in Trinidad in 2003, and when he sold out the 10,000-seater Wembley Arena in December 2017, he became the first British-Asian comic to do so.

Paul Chowdhry: PudCast podcast

On TV, he has been a guest panellist on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Comedy World Cup and Sorry I Didn’t Know and he finished last when taking part in an episode of the third series of Taskmaster. He hosts the podcast The Paul Chowdhry PudCast, wherein he interviews comedians.

Last on tour with his Live Innit show, Chowdhry, 47, is known for using the signature phrase “what’s happening white people?” at the start of his stand-up routines.

Tickets for next Thursday’s 8pm gig are on sale on 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/york.

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What’s on at The Crescent in York tonight? Mark Watson, but his 8pm gig has sold out

Mark Watson: Instructions on How You Can Almost Win at The Crescent. Picture: Matt Crockett

COMEDIAN Mark Watson marks the return of full-capacity gigs at The Crescent community venue, York, with a sold-out 8pm show tonight.

York promoter Al Greaves’ Burning Duck Comedy Club presents Bristol-born Watson, 41, in How You Can Almost Win. Doors open at 7pm.

Watson says: “In 2017, I went on the show The Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls. It involved being abandoned on an island, starved half to death, almost struck by lightning, cut off from all loved ones and turned into a psychological wreck. I was pretty sure it was the most challenging situation I would ever be in. Then, in 2020, the entire planet basically went into survival-show mode.”

As we crawl from the wreckage of the pandemic, tonight Watson dispenses droplets of wisdom brought back from his island misadventure to suggest ways we can adapt. “But still with jokes,” he promises.

Mark Watson, in his pyjamas, sharing the screen with show host Tim FitzHigham at the first Your Place Comedy livestream in April 2020

During the first lockdown last year, Watson was part of the first double bill for Your Place Comedy, the virtual comedy club set up to support independent venues across the Yorkshire and Humber region.

On April 19 2020, a pyjama-clad Watson and Hull humorist Lucy Beaumont performed live online from their homes, in his case, in the living room, in hers, down the pub, The Dog And B**tard, that she and fellow comedian husband Jon Richardson have set up in their Hebden Bridge garden.

Watson, comedian, novelist, sports pundit, Taskmaster survivor and No More Jockeys cult leader, is noted for cramming spiritual enquiries, high-octane observational comedy and pathological overthinking into his evenings of stand-up.