Alistair David Greaves RIP, Burning Duck comedy promoter, allotment horticulturist and vegan restaurant connoisseur

Al Greaves: Burning Duck Comedy Club promoter and keen horticulturist

AL Greaves, promoter of the Burning Duck Comedy Club for 11 years in York and Leeds, has died at the age of 47.

The tragic news broke on The Crescent community venue website on Tuesday, when promoter Joe Coates posted: “Last week we learned of the passing of our friend and colleague Alistair Greaves, who left us suddenly on Wednesday 8th January.

“Many will know Al as the brains behind York-based independent comedy producers Burning Duck Comedy. With a genuine love for an oddball sense of humour, Al brought a widely eclectic programme of artists to York and Leeds over an 11-year period, from its initial home in the upstairs room of The Black Swan Inn, to The Basement in the City Screen Picturehouse before finding more permanent regular homes here at The Crescent and Theatre@41 on Monkgate.”

Paying tribute, Joe wrote: “Al was a brilliant promoter, open-minded and art focused. Working on his events would often involve long conversations about a new sound on his synthesizer, the layout of his allotment, a fab new vegan restaurant in town, or highly enthusiastic (and often very silly!) new ideas for hosting live comedy.

“Al was also keenly engaged in politics. He was a member of the Labour Party and more recently the Green Party with whom Al helped with fundraising and canvassing. He was considered and principled, but above all loved to engage in conversation with others, a beautiful humanist. We will all miss him very much. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.”

Never afraid to employ ukulele, looping pedals, props or whimsy, Al first performed in London, where he established and compered Comedy Lake, the capital city’s number one underwater-themed comedy night, complete with resident shark, presenting the likes of Josh Widdecome and Sara Pascoe.

After returning north for family reasons, he set up the Burning Duck Comedy Club as “York’s most thought-provoking alternative comedy night: a handcrafted artisanal smorgasbang of the weirdest, wisest and most wonderful experimental musical, character, sketch, spoken-word and stand-up comedy performers”.

Sir Dickie Benson and comedy promoter Al Greaves, right, outside the Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, ahead of the first Burning Duck Comedy Club gig in October 2014

He staged his first gig at the Black Swan in October 2014 with a bill of Seymour Mace, Tom Taylor, Nicola Mantalios-Lovett, York’s Peet Sutton as Sir Dickie Benson and compere Jack Gardner.

Already Al had won Beat The Gong at ARC, Stockton on Tees, performed in several shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, including Alistair Greaves Mixed Grill in 2011, and taken up the post of resident master of ceremonies at Verve Comedy Cellar in Leeds.

He went on to establish the Woodsduck Comedy Festival in 2015, participate regularly in the Great Yorkshire Fringe in York, move Burning Duck to The Basement, The Crescent and most recently, Theatre@41, since August 2022, and promote Burning Duck at the Hyde Park Book Club, Headingley, Leeds too.

“I don’t think it’s overstating it to say Al transformed our comedy offering at Theatre@41,” said chair Alan Park. “Starting back after Covid, we’d been approached by comedy agents directly and done a couple of comedy shows a season but they hadn’t done well and we thought, ‘is comedy for us?’.

“But then Maggie Smales, one of our trustees, reached out to Al,” said Alan.  “We said, ‘we don’t want to tread on your toes, but we’d love to work with you’.” Al put six shows in place for the autumn season and comedy has become a mainstay of the programming.

“Al had this encyclopaedic knowledge of comedians with the ability of a dark art to identify comedians that would suit a 100-seat venue. He understood us as a venue and had a great sense of what would play well here.

“I think Al is irreplaceable,” said Alan Park, chair of Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

“He also understood the life of a comedian, how they go from show to show with a suitcase and maybe arrive after a bus replaces a cancelled train. He would always arrive early, make them feel welcome and would chat with them when they probably hadn’t had an adult conversation all day – and he was always very supportive of support acts too.

“He will go down as the man who revolutionised our comedy offering. People would come up and say they didn’t know this place existed until they came to a Burning Duck show and so we shall forever be in debt to him. I can confirm that we’ll be going ahead with all the shows he had put in place for us this year. Al had built up Burning Duck here and we don’t want to see it crumble.”

Alan added: “Al wasn’t doing it for anything but his love of comedy. It wasn’t for commercial gain. He just loved presenting comedy. There was no ego and he was just a joy to work with him. It was always a collaboration with him.

“He’d sit on a step or in the corner at Theatre@41, and you’d hear him laughing at a gag that no-one else got. He had this very alternative sense of humour and was such a great student of comedy. Every comedy agent we’ve spoken to has been devastated by his death because he really knew his comedy. I think he’s irreplaceable.”

Al’s humour might be best described as oddball. For example, he created the character comedy act Peter Bread, a York tour guide and baker, pioneer of York’s first ever Toast Walk, a tour that “bypassed York’s boring supernatural history, instead concentrating on telling the history of the city through baking” in another way to raise a laugh.

And should you be wondering why Burning Duck is so named, here is Al’s explanation. “It’s inspired by a joke I heard which I thought was amusing,” he said. “Why do elephants have flat feet? For stamping out Burning Ducks! I liked the randomness of the punchline and thought that anybody with a similar sense of humour might enjoy my nights.

“Al cared about the acts and the people who came to the shows,” said comedian Rob Auton

“Although about a year later I discovered that there was an earlier bit to the joke which was, ‘Why do ducks have flat feet? For stamping out fires’, which adds the context I missed when I heard the joke for the first time.”

Barmby Moor comedian Rob Auton typifies the comedy circuit’s affection for Al, first appearing on a Burning Duck bill in 2015. “I am gutted about the passing of Al. As a promoter he was a constant positive in every show I’ve ever done in York and Leeds.

“He cared about the acts and the people who came to the shows. I took home many an apple and chocolate bar from the supermarket spread he could be bothered to buy and put on a table. I think he really wanted to make things feel proper.”

Fellow York and Leeds comedy promoter Toby Clouston Jones, of the Hyena Lounge Comedy Club, said: “In an industry infested with sharks, narcissists and psychopaths, Al Greaves was that incredibly rare breed – a really nice bloke.

“He loved both comedy and comedians; the stranger the better was his cup of tea. Yet he seemed his most happiest when discussing his allotment and the pleasure it brought to him. The world needs more Al Greaves, not less.”

Martin Witts, who ran the Great Yorkshire Fringe in York from 2015 to 2019, spoke of Al’s involvement with the festival. “He started with us in 2016, initially as an intern, then worked at the middle tent, and he always delivered. Over the last two Fringes, we did more with Burning Duck and it was lovely to be able to pass acts on to him.

“I was very fond of him. As I got to know him, I realised what he was about was concentrating on getting his comedy nights right. We were choosy about who we worked with, but Al was a great addition as he knew there were different shades to comedy.

“Al was just at the point where I would have loved to have seen him open his own comedy club in York,” said Great Yorkshire Fringe director Martin Witts. Picture: Steve Ullathorne

“What makes a good comedy promoter is being in the game a certain amount of time because acts then trust you and return to you, and Al’s promotions were always good. He was just at the point where I would have loved to have seen him open his own comedy club in York.”

Al was more than a comedy promoter. His Alistair David Greaves Instagram site profiled him as #live music/comedy productions and vegan salads; #RHSLevel3 Horticulture and #secretbedroomfolktronica, with a link to alsallotment.wordpress.com, where could be found a profusion of images from his allotment and myriad vegan platters.

What made Al laugh? “It’s difficult to define, but there’s something satisfying about watching comedy that feels ‘truthful’, even when it’s also palpably absurd,” he said in a 2015 interview.

What did not make him laugh? “I try to be open minded and not too prescriptive about the type of comedy I enjoy, though personally I get turned off by comedy which feels ‘contrived’ or is overly predicated on perpetuating lazy and inaccurate stereotypes. Or when comedians pretend to get angry about things that aren’t actually that bad and overcompensate for lazy writing by shouting.

“Comedians will always elaborate on the truth to try and make a story funnier, or shoehorn in a clever pun, but I think the comedy still has to be somehow ‘believable’.” How astute he was.

Al had set out in 2014 to “create an environment in which performers feel they have more freedom to take risks and adopt a more experimental approach in their act, while also trying to foster a local audience who want to watch that sort of thing”.

He achieved those goals, savouring how “one of the highlights of live comedy is that it’s one of the few mediums where magical things can take place that seem relevant and funny only in that moment”. Thank you, Al, for conjuring such a profusion of magical things.

A memorial will be held at The Crescent with further details to be announced.

The Burning Duck Comedy Club programme for 2025 in York put together by Al Greaves

More Things To Do in York & beyond when ghosts light up gardens & dogs can be spotted. Hutch’s List No. 46, from The Press

Skylights: York band headline York Barbican for the first time tonight

FROM  Skylights to Ghosts After Dark, a fiesta of film to a musical dog show, Charles Hutchinson spots plenty to light up these November nights.

York gig of the week: Skylights, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm

ANTHEMIC York indie band Skylights play their biggest home-city gig to date this weekend with support from Serotones and Pennine Suite.

Guitarist Turnbull Smith says: ‘We’re absolutely over the moon to be headlining the Barbican. It’s always been a dream of ours to play here. So to headline will be the perfect way to finish a great year. Thanks to everyone for the support. It means the world and we’ll see you all there.” Box office update: Standing tickets still available at ticketmaster.co.uk.

Rob Rouse: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, tonight

Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, Rob Rouse, Peter Brush, Faizan Shan and Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm

PEAK District comedian, television regular, Upstart Crow actor and self-help podcaster Rob Rouse, who trained as a geography teacher at the University of Sheffield, makes a rare York appearance with his hyperactive, loveable brand  of comedy.

Harrogate Comedian of the Year 2012 Peter Brush combines a slight, bespectacled frame and scruffy hair with quirky one-liners and original material, delivered in an amusingly awkward fashion. Manchester comic Faizan Shah’s material makes light of growing up in an immigrant household with the mental health challenges it brings. Organiser Damion Larkin hosts as ever. Box office: 01904 612940 or lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

Artist CJP with his work The Majestic Oak at Art Of Protest Gallery, York

Exhibition of the week: From Little Acorns Grow Mighty Hopes: An Exhibition of Hand-drawn Natural Wonders, Art of Protest Gallery, Walmgate, York, until November 16

ART Of Protest is the first gallery to show CJP’s work The Majestic Oak in an exhibition of original and rare limited-edition artwork. Look out for the Art Of Protest York Special Edition, only available to be ordered until November 16, featuring the River Ouse-dwelling Tansy Beetle, an elusive insect featured on a resplendent mural near York railway station.

“This is an amazing opportunity to own a truly unique celebration of British fauna with a very special York twist,” says gallery owner Craig Humble. “CJP will add a Tansy Beetle to each piece, along with the gold leafing of the branches.”

Pride And Prejudice * (*Sort Of): Making merry mayhem with Jane Austen’s novel at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Mihaela Bodlovic

Theatrical high spirits of the week: Pride And Prejudice* (*Sort Of), York Theatre Royal, November 4 to 9, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

MEN, money and microphones will be fought over in Pride And Prejudice* (*Sort Of), the audacious retelling of a certain Jane Austen novel, where the stakes couldn’t be higher when it comes to romance but it’s party time, so expect the all-female cast to deliver such emotionally turbulent pop gems as Young Hearts Run Free, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and You’re So Vain.

Writer Isobel McArthur directs this new production of her West End hit, Olivier Award winner for best comedy and Emerging Talent Award winner in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, now featuring University of York alumna Georgia Firth in the cast. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

On the spot: 101 Dalmatians The Musical takes up canine residence at the Grand Opera House from Tuesday. Picture: Johan Persson

Dog show of the week: 101 Dalmatians The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, November 5 to 9, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

KYM Marsh’s Cruella De Vil leads the cast for this musical tour of Dodie Smith’s canine caper 101 Dalmatians. Written by Douglas Hodge (music and lyrics) and Johnny McKnight (book), from a stage adaptation by Zinnie Harris, the show is re-imagined from the 2022 production at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London. 

When fashionista Cruella De Vil plots to swipe all the Dalmatian puppies in town to create her fabulous new fur coat, trouble lies ahead for Pongo and Perdi and their litter of tail-wagging young pups in a story brought to stage life with puppetry, choreography, humorous songs and, yes, puppies. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. 

3 Missing 10 Hours, directed by Fanni Fazakas, showing in the Animation programme at Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2024

York festival of the week: Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York city centre, November 6 to 10, and UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO, Guildhall, York, November 7 to 9

THE BAFTA-Qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival returns for its 14th year under the direction of Cherie Federico, this time integrating the tenth anniversary of York’s designation as Great Britain’s only UNESCO City of Media Arts. Fifteen venues will play host to 300 film screenings in 12 genres, Virtual Realty and Gaming labs, plus 60 panels, workshops and discussions. For the full programme and tickets, head to asff.co.uk.

The UNESCO EXPO will showcase the region’s creative sector, working in film production, games development, VFX (visual effects), publishing and design, with the chance to try out new projects and speak to creatives. Entry to the Guildhall is free.

Ghosts After Dark: New nocturnal complement to the Ghosts In The Gardens installation in York Museum Gardens

Nocturnal event of the week: Ghosts After Dark, York Museums Gardens, November 7 to 10, 6.30pm to 9.30pm; last entry, 8.30pm

YORK Museums Trust and the York BID present the inaugural Ghosts After Dark, showcasing York’s rich tapestry of historical figures with light, sound and storytellers for four nights only.

Ticketholders will have the  exclusive chance to experience York Museum Gardens like never before, by choosing their own path to explore 46 ghostly sculptures, hidden around the gardens and lit dynamically against an atmospheric background of smoke and sound. Box office: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/ghosts-after-dark/.

Rag’n’Bone Man: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer

Gig announcements of the week: TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, July 6, and Rag’n’Bone Man, July 11 2025

“I THINK I’ve got the best reggae band in the world,” says UB40 legend Ali Campbell, who last played Scarborough OAT in 2021. “They are all seasoned musicians, who have spent all their lives in professional bands, and I feel so confident with them.” Support acts will be Bitty McLean and Pato Banton.

Triple BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award winner Rag’n’Bone Man, alias Rory Graham,  will follow up his 2023 Scarborough OAT show with a return next summer in the wake of his third album, What Do You Believe In? entering the charts at number three last Friday. His special guest will be Elles Bailey. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.

Show announcement of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17 2025

Gary Oldman reflecting on his first steps in professional theatre in the York Theatre Royal dressing rooms on his March visit

OSCAR winner Gary Oldman will return to York Theatre Royal, where he began his career as a pantomime cat, to direct himself in Krapp’s Last Tape next spring: his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.

The April 14 to May 17 2025 production of Samuel Beckett’s one-act monodrama was set in motion when Slow Horses star Oldman paid a visit to the St Leonard’s Place theatre in March, when he met chief executive Paul Crewes.

“When Gary visited us at the beginning of the year, it was fascinating hearing him recount stories of his time as a young man, in his first professional role on the York Theatre Royal stage.,” says Paul.

“In that context when we started to explore ideas, we realised Krapp’s Last Tape was the perfect project. I am very happy that audiences will have this unique opportunity to see Gary Oldman return to our stage in this brand new production.”

Making plans: Actor and director Gary Oldman in discussion with York Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes in the York Theatre Royal main house auditorium

Ticket prices start at £25, with priority booking for the York Theatre Royal Director’s Circle opening on November 6, YTR Members’ priority booking from November 11 and public booking on November 16, all from 1pm. To become a member and access priority booking, head to: https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/support-us/.

After graduating from Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, Londoner Oldman started out in the repertory ranks at York Theatre Royal in 1979 in such plays as Privates On Parade and She Stoops To Conquer and playing the Cat in Berwick Kaler’s third York pantomime, Dick Whittington, that Christmas.

Dame Berwick later told the Guardian in an interview in 2018: “Gary has gone on to become one of our greatest screen actors but I’m afraid he was a bit of a lightweight when it came to pantomime.

“He kept fainting inside the costume. On at least three occasions I had to turn to the audience and say, ‘Oh dear, boys and girls, I think the poor pussy cat has gone to sleep’!”

Gary Oldman as the Cat with dame Berwick Kaler, centre, in the 1979-1980 York Theatre Royal pantomime Dick Whittington. Picture: York Theatre Royal

Oldman, now 66, posted on Instagram: “My professional public acting debut was on stage at the York Theatre Royal. York, for me, is the completion of a cycle. 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’.”

After cutting his teeth in York, New Cross-born Oldman went on to act at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, the Royal Court, London, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He then swapped theatre for film with break-our roles as Sid Vicious in Sid And Nancy (1986), Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1992) and Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).

He later played Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film franchise and Commissioner Jim Gordon in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, won the 2018 Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and is now starring as obnoxious MI5 boss Jackson Lamb in the latest Apple+ series of British spy thriller Slow Horses.

Gary Oldman (third from the left in hat and glasses) in Privates On Parade at York Theatre Royal in 1979: one of his first professional performances after graduating from Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, in Sidcup, Kent, with a BA in Acting. Picture: York Theatre Royal

Oldman has been considering going back to the stage for a long time. “I have never been far from the theatre and, in fact, have been discussing plays and my return to the theatre for nearly 30 years,” he posted.

What happens in Krapp’s Last Tape, Samuel Beckett at his most theatre of the absurd? Each year, on his birthday, Krapp records a new tape reflecting on the year gone by.

On his 69th birthday, Krapp, now a lonely man, is ready with a bottle of wine, a banana and his tape recorder. Listening back to a recording he made as a young man, Krapp must face the hopes of his past self. 

The melancholic, tragicomic role was premiered in 1958 by Patrick Magee and has been played by the likes of Albert Finney, Harold Pinter, John Hurt, Stephen Rea and Kenneth Allan Taylor, the long-running Nottingham Playhouse pantomime dame, writer and director, at York Theatre Royal in 2009.

Gary Oldman’s Cat in the 1979-1980 York Theatre Royal pantomime Dick Whittington. Picture: York Theatre Royal

Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989): the back story

IRISH writer, dramatist and poet, specialising in theatre of the absurd. Wrote in English and French. Principal works for the stage included Endgame, Krapp’s Last Tape and Waiting For Godot. Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

Gary Oldman: Further screen appearances

TINKER, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Academy Award and BAFTA nominations); Mank (Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations); Oppenheimer; The Book Of Eli; Meantime; The Firm;  Prick Up Your Ears; Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead; State Of Grace;  Romeo Is Bleeding; True Romance; Leon/The Professional; The Fifth Element; Immortal Beloved and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, among many others.

Worked with directors Stephen Frears, Oliver Stone, Frances Ford Coppola, Luc Besson, Alfonso Curon, Chris Nolan, Tony Scott, Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh, David Fincher and Paulo Sorrentino.

Did you know?

IN 1995 Gary Oldman and producing partner Douglas Urbanski founded a production company, producing Oldman’s screenwriting and directorial debut, Nil By Mouth, winner of nine majot awards from 17 nominations.

Selected to open the main competition for the 1997 50th Anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, where Kathy Burke won Best Actress. The same year, Oldman won Channel Four Director’s Prize at Edinburgh International Film Festival, British Academy Award (shared with Douglas Urbanski) for Best Film and BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.

In Focus: Other Lives Productions in How To Be Brave, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7.30pm, and on tour

Livy Potter as Katy, left, and Alice Rose Palmer as mum Natalie in Louise Beech’s How To Be Brave

ON March 19 1943, just after midnight, Merchant Seaman Colin Armitage’s cargo ship, the Lulworth Hill,  was torpedoed by an Italian Navy submarine in the South Atlantic. He scrambled aboard a life raft. Fifty days later HMS Rapid rescued him.

Colin was the grandfather of How To Be Brave playwright Louise Beech. Sixty-four years after his ordeal, Louise’s daughter, Katy, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. In order to distract her during insulin injections Louise began to tell the story of Colin’s bravery and determination to survive. 

The story inspiring ten-year-old Katy to be brave in the face of her diabetes is a true one. She has said that Grandad Colin’s experience made her determined to carry on when she wanted to give up and die: “If Grandad Colin can survive an ordeal like that, I can do anything. I can do these injections,” she said. And she has never faltered.

Director Kate Veysey with Rose’s seagull Gilbert

“We hope that by presenting this story we can inspired audiences in the East Riding and beyond,” says director Kate Veysey, a familiar name from both York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre and Next Door But One productions.

Scenes alternate between the life raft and Katy’s house in Hull as York actors Jacob Ward and Livy Potter take the roles of Colin Armitage and Rose (Katy, given a pseudonym), joined by Lex Stephenson as carpenter Ken Cooke, on the raft, Alice Rose Palmer as Natalie (alias mum Louise) and Alison Shaw as nurse Shelley. Age guidance: ten upwards (the show contains moderate bad language). Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Lex Stephenson, as Ken Cooke, left, and Jacob Ward, as Colin Armitage, in Other Lives Productions’ How To Be Brave

Comedian Nathan Caton takes new funny turn as ‘cheeky but charming’ Narrator in Rocky Horror Show at Grand Opera House

“You have to keep to the script but I can add my own flavour.,” says comedian Nathan Caton of playing the Narrator, his theatre debut in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show. Picture: David Freeman

WEST London comedian Nathan Caton is donning the trademark blue smoking jacket as the Narrator in the latest tour of Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show.

This week, you will find him quick on the quip and punchy with the putdown, and sassy and saucy too, at the Grand Opera House on his return to York in his new guise.

“I’ve been to York a fair few times,” says Nathan, who launched his comedy career at the age of 19 while studying architecture at Anglia Ruskin University . “Because I’m a stand-up comedian I play all over the UK, and I’ve played The Basement at City Screen and 1331 in York.”

Now, 20 years on from cutting his comedy teeth, he follows in the footsteps – and high heels – of Nicholas Parsons, Stephen Fry, Steve Punt, Dom July, Philip Franks, Joe McFadden, Alison Hammond and many more in playing the unflappable Narrator.

“No pressure!” he says of taking on such an iconic role. “It came about quite randomly. Out of the blue, I got an audition call from my agent, and I thought. ‘OK, I want to do some theatre work’.

“But until this summer, I wasn’t aware of what Rocky Horror was. I’d only heard the name. I did the audition, thinking ‘I’m probably not going to get it’; ‘I’ll probably never hear from you again’. But I got the call and the rest is history! I’ve been doing it since the middle of August.”

How did Nathan prepare for the role? “I watched the Rocky Horror Show Live [the 2015 40th anniversary recording from the Playhouse Theatre in London] on You Tube with Stephen Fry and Emma Bunton and two others as the Narrator [Editor’s note: Anthony Head, Adrian Edmondson and Mel Giedroyc also appear on the Narrator credit list].

“I thought, ‘OK, this is what I’m going to be doing? OK, what am I letting myself in for?’! My wife’s reaction was it would be fun to do. She knows me better than I know myself – and the woman is always right.”

Nathan fits the part and that jacket to a T. “The role works perfectly for me as a comedian with a stand-up background,” he says. “Audience shout-outs. That’s my bread and butter. Coming back at them if they say anything, and trust me, they do! The audience’s timing with their comments is formulaic, but it’s manna from heaven for me.”

Matching how a stand-up show can change and be refined as a tour progresses, Nathan says his role as Narrator has progressed since August. “It’s like riding a bike. The more you do it, the better you get. You get into the groove and you can make it your own,” he explains.

“I’ve been fortunate in that the producer has been great in letting me put my spin on it. Yes, you have to keep to the script but I can add my own flavour.” [Editor’s note: How right he is. Nathan’s tongue-in-cheek asides and close-to-the-knuckle political jests were one of the joys of Monday’s press night.]

His style? “Cheeky but charming – I hope that’s how it comes across,” he says. “You need to have a somewhat commanding voice too, leading the audience in the story so that they stay tuned into you.”

Nathan is working for the first time with Australian star Jason Donovan, who plays sweet transvestite transsexual scientist Dr Frank N Furter on the tour.

“The only time he was in my existence was watching him as a kid when he was in Neighbours,” he says. “He’s a lovely guy. Because I was new to the show, when I first came in, he said, ‘the audience is mad, but it’s so much fun’.

“I was very nervous at the start. I felt very much like a fish out of water, seeing the rest of the cast who are so talented. They sing and dance and act, and all I do is go on stage, chat for a while, the audience giggle, and then I go off!

“I felt like, ‘clearly I’m the least talented guy here’, but they have been so supportive.”

The latest Rocky Horror tour has dates until next summer but “I’ll have a bit of a break for a stand-up tour that I’ve been working on for next spring,” says Nathan, who will be on the solo road from May 1 to 24.

 “It’s called My Big Fat Blasian Wedding – a combination of ‘Black’ and ‘Asian’ – and the show is basically me having a mental breakdown about how expensive my wedding was.”

Or, to quote Nathan’s tour publicity: “It’s official. Nathan’s married and off the market – sorry ladies… and gentlemen! What should’ve been the happiest time of his life turned out to be the most stressful and expensive time ever. The end result? Well, it was either therapy or turn it into comedy. Nathan chose the latter…”

In a nutshell, he puts it this way: “You know what they say: ‘Happy wife, happy life, just not a happy bank manager’!”

Nathan Caton appears as the Narrator in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show at Grand Opera House, York, tonight at 8pm, tomorrow and Saturday at 5.30pm and 8.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/York. Also playing Sheffield Lyceum Theatre, November 25 to 30. Box office: sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.

The nearest city to York that Nathan will be bringing his My Big Fat Blasian Wedding tour will be Newcastle [The Stand Comedy Club, May 9 2025].

Nathan Caton: the back story

Nathan Caton: Taking on Narrator’s role in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show

BORN in Hammersmith, he grew up in Greenford, Ealing, West London. Active on comedy circuit since tender age of 19 – he is 39 now – having taken first steps while studying architecture at Angia Ruskin University.

He has since built his career on combining personal, confessional material with up-to-date social and political anecdotes, after playing Edinburgh Fringe, finishing as runner-up in Amused Moose Comedy Search and winning 2005 Chortle Student Comedian of the Year award within his first year.

Appeared on BBC’s Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week, Eurogedden and Russell Howard’s Good News and Comedy Central’s Live At The Comedy Store. Finalist on FHM’s Stand-Up-Hero (ITV 4) . Starred in his own BBC Radio 4 sitcom, Can’t Tell Nathan Caton Nothin’. Written for TV shows Rastamouse and Royal Television Society Award-nominated Jojo & Gran Gran.

Performed five Edinburgh Fringe solo shows. Toured to Dubai, New York, Mumbai and Montreal. Embarked on numerous UK tours. Last tour, Let’s Talk About Vex, was filmed for a comedy special. Next tour, My Big Fat Blasian Wedding, will be on the road from May 1 to 24 2025.

Now playing Narrator’s role on 2024-2025 tour of Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show in Bromley, High Wycombe, Fareham, Malvern, Bath, York, Glasgow, Cardiff, Woking, Blackpool and Sheffield. Box office: RockyHorror.co.uk.

Navigators Art to celebrate W H Auden in Co-Audenation night of spoken word, live music & performance art at The Basement

Navigators Art & Performance’s poster for Co-Audenation. W H Auden picture: George Cserna, 1956

YORK collective Navigators Art & Performance presents Co-Audenation: A Creative Exploration of W. H. Auden, a night of spoken word, live music and performance art, at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, on October 19.

“This is a revised and expanded version of our sold-out summer show for the York Festival of Ideas and York Civic Trust’s York Trailblazers sculpture trail project, for whom we researched and constructed one of the sculptures commemorating York’s unsung heroes,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen. “Our W. H. Auden tansy beetle sculpture can be seen outside City of York Council’s West Offices in Station Rise.”

All works in October 19’s 7pm to 10pm show are written or inspired and influenced by W. H. Auden, the “Picasso of modern poetry” born in Bootham, York, on February 21 1907.

Navigators Art & Performance’s tansy beetle sculpture of W. H. Auden for York Trailblazers at West Offices, Station Rise, York

“A leader of the British avant-garde at a time of cultural upheaval in Europe, Auden experimented ceaselessly with poetic form and subject matter,” says Richard. “Openly gay and defiantly anti-establishment, he was controversial and influential in his views on politics, morals, love, and religion.  His poem Funeral Blues was popularly featured in the film Four Weddings And A Funeral.”

Navigators Art’s inspiring line-up features award-winning and published Yorkshire writers and performers in a mixed-media event replete with songs and physical theatre, as well as poetry.

“Expect the unexpected!” says Richard. “An informal discussion will precede the main event from 6pm. All ticket holders are welcome to attend. The performance will begin at 7pm after a short break.”

Carrieanne Vivianette: Leeds performance artist

Taking part will be:

Anthony Vahni Capildeo: poet, professor and writer in residence at the University of York.

Antony Dunn: poet, dramatist and screenwriter.

Carrieanne Vivianette: performance artist and experimentalist from the creative hotlands of Leeds.

Elizabeth Chadwick Pywell: York poet, English/Drama tutor and co-host of Rise Up! at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb.

Ian Parks: Award-winning and widely published poet and translator; editor of Versions Of The North: Contemporary Yorkshire Poetry

Anthony Vahni Capildeo: poet, professor and writer in residence at the University of York

Jane Stockdale: Singer and multi-instrumentalist from beloved York alt. folk legends White Sail.

Janet Dean: Poet and novelist exploring contemporary themes through the prism of history.

JT Welsch: Exploratory musician and poet; lecturer in English and Creative Industries at University of York.

Richard Kitchen: Visual artist, poet and Navigators co-founder.

Plus contributions from York luminaries Alan Gillott, Hugh Bernays and others.

For full details and tickets, go to: https://bit.ly/nav-auden. “Advance booking is advised,” says Richard.

Antony Dunn: poet, dramatist and screenwriter

More Things To Do in York and beyond from March 23 onwards. What springs up in Hutch’s List No 13, from The Press?

Adam Kay: If laughter is the best medicine, head to the Grand Opera House

SHORT plays, doctor’s tales, pop memories, life 11,000 years ago, women in word and song, egg hunts and a Sondheim celebration put the spring into Charles Hutchinson’s step as a new season arrives.

Doctor in the House: Adam Kay: Undoctored, Grand Opera House, York, March 23, 7.30pm

BILLING himself as “the nation’s twelfth-favourite doctor”, This Is Going To Hurt author Adam Kay follows a record-breaking Edinburgh Fringe run and West End season with a tour of tales from his life on and off the wards.

Expect Kay’s ‘degloving’ story to feature “because people ask for refunds if they don’t hear it”. Post-show, he will be signing books. Last few tickets: atgtickets.com/york.

Navigators Art & Performance’s poster for GUNA: Views and Voices of Women at The Basement

Navigators Art & Performance presents: GUNA: Live!, Views and Voices of Women, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, March 23, 7pm

TO complement Navigators Art & Performance’s City Screen exhibition for International Women’s Week, the York arts collective hosts an inspiring evening of music, spoken word and comedy that explores, celebrates and promotes the creativity of women and non-binary artists. 

The line-up of mostly York-based performers features poets Danae, Olivia Mulligan and Rose Drew; performance artist Carrieanne Vivianette; global songs and percussion from Soundsphere; original music from Suzy Bradley; comedy from Aimee Moon and a rousing appearance by multi-faceted York musician and artist Heather Findlay. Box office: bit.ly/nav-guna.

Lush stories: Miki Berenyi’s book, Fingers Crossed, under discussion at York Literature Festival

Book of the week: Miki Berenyi In Conversation: Fingers Crossed, York Literature Festival, The Crescent, York, March 24, 3pm

MIKI Berenyi, former lead singer, rhythm guitarist and founder member of London shoegaze/dream pop band Lush discusses her memoir, Fingers Crossed, and her career, recounting her experiences as a trailblazing woman fronting a seminal late-1980s group. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Livy Potter: Performing in Paul Birch’s Running Up That Hill in Yorkshire Trios at York Theatre Royal

York theatre event of the week: Yorkshire Trios, York Theatre Royal Studio, Tuesday and Wednesday, 7.45pm, both sold out

YORK company Next Door But One brings together York actors, writers and directors to produce original, short pieces of theatre, five to 15 minutes in length, on the theme of Top Of The Hill. Cue tales of motherhood, grief, love, war and even Kate Bush.

Badapple Theatre’s Kate Bramley and Connie Peel direct Nicola Holliday in Sarah Rumfitt’s Toast; Livy Potter performs Paul Birch’s Running Up That Hill under Harri Marshall’s direction; Jacob Ward directs Claire Morley in Yixia Jiang’s Outliving and Bailey Dowler appears in Jules Risingham’s Anorak, directed by Tempest Wisdom. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Curators Andrew Woods, left, Adam Parker and Emily North with Mesolithic remains of a wooden platform and materials used for fire-making in the Yorkshire Museum’s Star Carr exhibition. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross

Exhibition opening of the week: Star Carr: Life After The Ice, Yorkshire Museum, York; open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm

EXCAVATED in the Vale of Pickering, the Star Carr archaeological site provides the first evidence in Great Britain of the beginnings of home, a place where people settled and built places to live.

The Yorkshire Museum’s interactive exhibition brings together artefacts from “the Mesolithic equivalent of Stonehenge” to give an insight into human life 11,000 years ago, a few hundred years after the last Ice Age, such as how they made fires. On display are objects from the Yorkshire Museum Collection, from antler headdresses and a decorated stone pendant to the world’s oldest complete hunting bow and the earliest evidence of carpentry from Europe. To book tickets, go to: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.

Sam Hird: Singing Sondheim with Pick Me Up Theatre

Musical revue of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Sondheim We Remember, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 27 to 30, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

ROYAL College of Music student Sam Hird returns home to York to join his father Mark Hird in the Pick Me Up Theatre company for Sondheim We Remember’s selection of music from Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway shows, film scores and television specials.

Taking part too in this celebration of the New York composer and lyricist will be show director Helen ‘Bells’ Spencer, Susannah Baines, Emma Louise Dickinson, Alexandra Mather, Florence Poskitt, Andrew Roberts, Nick Sephton, Catherine Foster and Matthew Warry. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The National Trust’s guide to Easter activties, egg hunts et al, at Nunnington Hall

Easter Egg Hunt of the fortnight: Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, today until April 7, 10.30am to 5pm; last entry, 4.15pm.

FAMILIES can enjoy a fun-packed visit to the National Trust property of Nunnington Hall throughout the Easter school holiday, when children can take part in an Easter egg hunt trail around the freshly mown garden, with activities to be completed such as an egg and spoon race, archery and boules, before receiving their egg.

Children can enjoy drawing and painting in the creative hub; take part in seed planting in the cutting garden; explore the Lion’s Den play area, with its obstacle course, rope bridge and climbing frame; learn about composting and spend time in the bird-watching area. On March 31 and April 1, additional garden activities include races on the main lawn and bird-feeder making. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.

Wet Wet Wet and special guest Heather Small: Teaming up at York Barbican in 2025

York gig announcement of the week: Wet Wet Wet & Heather Small, York Barbican, October 13 2025

WHEN Wet Wet Wet headlined a festival in Dubai, who should they bump into but Heather Small, the big voice of M People. She duly accepted their invitation to be the special guest at all dates on their 2025 tour.

Wet Wet Wet will be returning to York Barbican after their January 31 2024 double bill with Go West on the Best Of Both Worlds Tour. In the line-up will be founding member and bassist Graeme Clark, long-standing guitarist Graeme Duffin and singer Kevin Simm, The Voice UK winner and former Liberty X member, who joined the Scottish group in 2018. Tickets: axs.com.york.

In Focus: Children’s show, Millennium Entertainment International in There’s A Monster In Your Show, York Theatre Royal, March 26 to 28, 1.30pm and 4pm

There’s A Monster In Your Show composer Tom Fletcher with his children, Buzz, Buddy and Max, and a monster puppet

THE Easter holiday festivities at York Theatre Royal kick off with Tom Fletcher’s new family musical There’s A Monster In Your Show.

Based on Fletcher and Greg Abbot’s Who’s In Your Book? picture-book series for Puffin, the 50-minute performance for three-year-olds and upwards is billed as an “interactive, high-energy adventure for big imaginations” that leaps from page to stage with the aid of lively original music

Adapted for the stage by Zoe Bourn and directed by Miranda Larson, the show features new music by McFly band member Fletcher and Barry Bignold. Expect playful fun aplenty for your littlest ones as their favourite characters come to life in a performance packed with interactive moments to enjoy together.

In the story, performers are preparing to start their show but quickly discover they are not alone on stage. Little Monster wants to be part of the fun too, promptly extending an invitation to his friends Dragon, Alien and Unicorn to join him. Cue comedy and chaos as they help to create a magical show, learning about the joy of books and friendship along the way.

Fletcher says: “I’m so excited to see There’s A Monster In Your Book come to life on stage. The whole journey is incredibly exciting. Theatre is such an important way to introduce children to the arts and There’s A Monster In Your Show is the perfect first theatre trip for pre-schoolers and their families. I’m so looking forward to seeing their reactions first hand.”

The 1.30pm show on March 28 will be a Relaxed Performance that aims to reduce anxiety around theatre visits to help everyone have an enjoyable time. All are welcome, but especially people with sensory or communication difficulties or a learning disability. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Ben Murrell and Gil Sidaway in There’s A Monster In Your Show. Picture: Pamela Raith

More Things To Do in York and beyond from March 9 onwards. Hutch plays his cards for List No. 11 for 2024, from The Press

2023 Strictly champ Ellie Leach’s Miss Scarlett, front right, with her fellow colourful characters in the new whodunit comedy Cluedo 2, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Alastair Muir

A WHODUNIT comedy, mischievous theatre as a team game, a wicked return, cocktail-bar tales, political satire and one-liners and a very muddy pig are Charles Hutchinson’s clues to the best upcoming shows.

Whodunit, with what and where, of the week: Cluedo 2, York Theatre Royal, March 12 to 16, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

STRICTLY Come Dancing 2023 champion and Coronation Street star Ellie Leach is making her stage acting debut as Miss Scarlett in the world premiere British tour of Cluedo 2, marking the 75th anniversary of the Hasbro boardgame. Next stop, York.

This follow-up to the original play (based on Jonathan Lynn’s 1985 film Clue) is an original comedy whodunit, set in the Swinging Sixties, with a script by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran (Birds Of A Feather, Goodnight Sweetheart and Dreamboats And Petticoats) and direction by Mark Bell (Mischief Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Ash Hunter’s Macbeth and Jessica Baglow’s Lady Macbeth in Amy Leach’s revival of Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse. Picture: Kirsten McTernan

Something wicked this way comes…again: Macbeth, Leeds Playhouse, until March 23

AMY Leach reactivates her 2022 Leeds Playhouse production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth with a wickedly good cast, now led by Ash Hunter, who returns to Yorkshire after his terrific Heathcliff in Emma Rice’s Wuthering Heights at York Theatre Royal.

“Macbeth investigates the nature of belief, love, ambition and desire, asking us to root for two humans who drive each other to do utterly terrible things,” says Leach. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk.   

Let the games begin: Gemma Curry, left, Claire Morley and Becky Lennon in Hoglets Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Mischief at York Theatre Royal Studio

Shakespeare shake-up of the week: Hoglets Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Mischief, York Theatre Royal Studio, March 9, 10.30am

EVERYTHING is kicking off as the fairies in the forest start a fight, but which side will you be on? Team Titania or Team Oberon? York company Hoglets Theatre presents an interactive, fun, larger-than-life production for young children, based on Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Expect wild characters, raucous singalong songs, puppets, stunts and some frankly ridiculous disco dancing from director/writer Gemma Curry and fellow cast members Claire Morley and Becky Lennon. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Comedian Matt Green: “Trying to make sense of the world”. Picture: Karla Gowlett

Political satire of the week: Matt Green: That Guy, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 10, 8pm

THE debut national tour by That Guy (@mattgreencomedy) is a stand-up show full of jokes both political and non-political after he achieved millions of views for his online satirical videos launched in lockdown.

Green is touring his first show “since the madness of Covid/Johnson/Truss/Lord-knows-what-else began”, trying to make sense of the world in another year of elections and culture wars. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Jake Bugg: Playing our city on his Your Town Tour

Singer-songwriter of the week: Jake Bugg, Your Town Tour 2024, York Barbican, Tuesday, doors 7pm

ON his 15-date tour, Nottingham singer-songwriter Jake Bugg is performing two sets per night, first acoustic, then electric, as he rattles through his biggest hits, plus songs from 2021’s top three-charting Saturday Night Sunday Morning.

Two nights earlier, founder member Graham Gouldman leads art pop and soft rock innovators 10cc on their Ultimate Ultimate Greatest Hits Tour 2024 at 7.30pm. Ticket availability is limited. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Peppa Pig’s Fun Day Out: Songs, muddy puddles and snorts at the Grand Opera House

Children’s show of the week: Peppa Pig’s Fun Day Out, Grand Opera House, York, Wednesday, 1pm and 4pm, and Thursday, 10am and 1pm

PEPPA Pig is joined by her family and friends as they head to the zoo and the beach for a special party, with the promise of a fun-packed day. Prepare to sing with colourful scarecrows, feed the penguins, build big sandcastles and even swim in the sea in a show packed with songs, dancing, muddy puddles, giggles and snorts. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Facing the shift from hell in the worst bar in town: Sophie Bullivant, Abi Carter, Holly Smith and Laura Castle in Rowntree Players’ Shakers

Comedy play of the week: Rowntree Players in Shakers, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, March 14 to 16, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

WELCOME to Shakers, the worst bar in town where everyone wants to be seen. Carol, Adele, Niki and Mel face the shift from hell. The lights are neon, the music is loud, and shoes must be smart. No trainers.

Jane Thornton and John Godber’s 1984 comedy exposes the sticky-floored world behind the bar on a busy Saturday night. Here come the girls, the lads, the yuppies and the luvvies, all played by Sophie Bullivant, Laura Castle, Abi Carter and Holly Smith under the direction of Jamie McKeller, who worked previously with Bullivant and Castle on Godber’s Teechers in 2023. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Rebecca Vaughan in Dyad Productions’ Austen’s Women: Lady Susan, scheming at Theatre@41 for two days

Solo show of the week: Dyad Productions in Austen’s Women: Lady Susan, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 15, 7.30pm and March 16, 2.30pm

FROM the creators of I, Elizabeth, Female Gothic, Christmas Gothic and A Room Of One’s Own comes a new Austen’s Women show, based on Jane Austen’s first full-length work from 1794, performed by Rebecca Vaughan.

Created entirely from letters, this one features the devil-may-care Lady Susan, the coquettish, scheming black widow, hunting down not one, but two, fortunes. Then add oppressed, rebellious daughter Frederica; long-suffering sister-in-law Catherine; family matriarch Mrs De Courcy and insouciant best friend Alicia in this darkly comic tale of Georgian society and the women trapped within it. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Shock in shirts: Comedian Milton Jones will be displaying his sartorial eloquence in his Ha!Milton tour show

Gig announcement of the week: Milton Jones, Ha!Milton, Grand Opera House, York, September 7; Sheffield, City Hall, December 4; King’s Hall, Ilkley, December 8

MILTON Jones, the shock-haired master of the one-liner, will take his 2024 tour, Ha!Milton, on the road from September 3 to December 15. “This is not a musical,” says Jones, in a nod to the title.

“I am tone deaf and have no sense of rhythm, but at least I don’t make a song and dance about it. This is a whole new show of daftness. You know it makes sense.” Topics will include giraffes…“and there’s a bit about tomatoes”. Box office: miltonjones.com; York, atgtickets.com/york; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Ilkley, bradford-theatres.co.uk.

In Focus: Navigators Art & Performance, GUNA: Views and Voices of Women, City Screen Picturehouse, York


Collaborative banner by Navigators Art workshop group, including first-time artist
s, for York International Women’s Week 2024

YORK collective Navigators Art & Performance presents GUNA: Views and Voices of Women, at City Screen Picturehouse, Coney Street, York, from March 10 to April 5.

Run in association with York International Women’s Week 2024, this exhibition explores and celebrates the creativity of women and non-binary artists.

On show in the cafe and the upstairs gallery is an array of paintings, textiles, collages, photographs and more by 20 emerging and established York makers, curated by York artist Katie Lewis.

Navigators Art & Performance’s poster for GUNA: Views and Voices of Women


“Women have used textiles as an art form to tell their stories and express views for centuries,” says Katie. “Many of the artists are using recycled fabrics that give further meaning to their work.”

The official launch night event on March 11 offers the chance to meet the artists over a complimentary drink from 6pm.  All are welcome, with no need to book; more details at  https://www.facebook.com/events/6804352783003925

The exhibition is free to enter every day during cinema hours. City Screen is fully accessible.

Suffragette City, by Katie Lewis

NAVIGATORS Art & Performance will co-host GUNA: An Evening of Music, Spoken Word, Performance Art and Comedy to complement the exhibition and further celebrate the creativity of women and non-binary artists in The Basement at City Screen on March 23 from 7pm to 10.45pm.

GUNA is a version of the ancient Greek word for ‘woman’, leading to a line-up of
poets Danae, Olivia Mulligan and Rose Drew; performance artist Carrieanne Vivianette; global songs and percussion from Soundsphere; original music from Suzy Bradley; comedy from Aimee Moon; and a rousing appearance by the multi-faceted singer, author and artist Heather Findlay.

“The venue is small and our shows often sell out, so book soon,” advises Navigators’ organiser, Richard Kitchen. Full details and TicketSource booking are available at https://bit.ly/nav-guna

Dave Johns to play two Laugh Out Loud gigs at The Basement at City Screen tomorrow. Tony Burgess on first bill too

Dave Johns

LAUGH Out Loud Comedy Club will play host to two shows tomorrow at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, both featuring I, Daniel Blake film star and comedian Dave Johns.

Joining him on the 5pm bill will be BBC sitcom star Tony Burgess, Ben Silver and master of ceremonies/promoter Damion Larkin. Simon Wozniak will take over from Burgess on an otherwise unchanged 8pm line-up.

North Easterner Johnshas been part of the stand-up scene since 1989, playing all the major comedy clubs and comedy festivals in the UK and beyond, such as the Kilkenny Comedy Festival, in Ireland, Montreal’s Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and the Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia.

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

As a scriptwriter, his credits include his stage adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Shawshank Redemption, co-written with Owen O’Neill.

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

Johns played the title role in Ken Loach’s 2016 film I, Daniel Blake, winning that year’s BIFA for Best Actor and a BAFTA too. He is a regular guest on comedy panel shows Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC Two) and 8 Out Of Ten Cats (Channel 4).

Tony Burgess played DJ Troy, Moz’s crazy, vinyl-obsessed brother, in the cult BBC3 comedy Ideal and starred in his self-penned, seven-part BBC One/BBC Three sitcom The Visit. His stand-up comedy has brought him the City Life Comedian of the Year, the runner-up’s place in So You Think You’re Funny and nominations for best stand-up and writer at the North West Comedy Awards.

Founder member of the topical MEN At Work team at the Comedy Store in Manchester and regular compere of the Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, he is a playwright too, his plays Fire Salad and Doorway being premiered at the Royal Exchange Studio Theatre in Manchester.

He wrote for the first two series of Ideal and co-wrote the Sony Award-winning BBC Radio 4 comedy The Nightclass with Johnny Vegas, along with writing for Steve Coogan’s Paul And Pauline Calf’s Cheese And Ham Sandwich, Vegas’s Who’s Ready For Ice Cream, John Bishop’s series John Bishop’s Britain and Lily Savage.

He has a writing credit for Wallace And Gromit’s The Curse Of The Were Rabbit, to the delight of his children who consider he now has a proper job.

Cheerfully self-deprecating, unpredictable Scouse comedian Simon Wozniak has had a meteoric rise from the bowels of the comedy industry to headline the premier British comedy clubs.

Ever modest, he says: “Not much to say really. I have two pairs of jeans for all purposes, work and recreation, mix and match. I’m a part-time contact lens wearer, full-time glasses wearer. I’ve got no thigh gap and I still drink Capri-Suns.”

Ben Silver once crowd-surfed a gig he was hosting, so prepare for anything! He has gigged all over the world, is a regular at London’s clubs, has written for BBC and Comedy Central shows and taken six solo tour shows to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Tickets can be booked at lolcomedyclubs.co.uk. Further shows at The Basement are booked for April 6, May 4 and June 1.

Wanted! York artists sought for Navigators Art’s Punk/Jazz show, plus musicians and poets for live events in The Basement

Navigators Art’s poster seeking artists for the Punk/Jazz exhibition

YORK community collective Navigators Art & Performance is inviting York artists to submit work for its next show, Punk/Jazz.

“We’ll select the pieces we think work best and they’ll be exhibited in two bar venues in York – one small, the other, average size –from August 16 until October 17, with an official launch night on August 18,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen.

Submissions must be made by 9am on Monday, July 17. Full details can be found on Navigators Art’s Facebook and Instagram pages, @navigatorsart, or send an email to navigatorsart@gmail.com.

Maps, Some Heads, by Nick Walters, from Navigators Art’s newly extended Hidden Treasures exhibition at York Explore

Explaining the exhibition theme, Richard says: “Positive vibes or no future? Are Punk and Jazz at odds or two sides of a coin? Both can be controversial, uncompromising, confrontational. Both can be healing.

“The best of each is groundbreaking, seeking to push the limits of what’s possible. The differences are interesting too! How does the music channel your own feelings? Can your art reflect all or some of this?

“The show will be a creative exploration of the two genres, so be imaginative with your response. Whatever your experience in making art, we encourage submissions from all areas of society. No sculptures, installations or screen-based work this time, sorry.”

York Minster floorscape, by Richard Kitchen, from the Hidden Treasures exhibition

A related themed live event at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, on October 14 will complement the exhibition. “We’d like to hear from interested musicians, as well as visual artists for the exhibition, with the same deadline for submissions of 9am next Monday,” says Richard.

Updating on Navigators Art & Performance’s projects in 2023, Richard says: “At present we’re stripping down the Navigators engine and doing a bit of retuning. Our Hidden Treasures exhibition, which ran at York Explore library until July 6 as part of the York Festival  of Ideas, has  now expanded and will extend its run there  to early September.

“The Living Treasures performance event, featuring writers, musicians and performers in  an evening of original music and words at The Basement on June 10, was a big success, leading to us being offered a regular slot there. We’ll be able to do all kinds of music, spoken word and art events there and we’ll soon have some ideas in place.”

Hidden Treasures: Expanded and extended show at York Explore until early September

For this Basement project, Navigators Art & Performance is issuing a call-out to “team-spirited creatives”:  musicians (bands, solo, indie, jazz, punk, folk, world, hip-hop, electronica and more), plus poets/spoken-word performers, dancers and comedians.

“We’ll be organising a series of live events between now and December at The Basement,” says Richard. “We often link themed live events to our art exhibitions, but this is an additional showcase for emerging acts as well as for experienced artists who may want to try out some new material. Of course, you may just love an opportunity to play somewhere!”

Richard continues: “We’ve built a friendly, talented, enterprising team, and there’ll be opportunities for creative collaborations and other activities in the future.

Peter Roman Visualises York-born W H Auden’s Poetry, from the Hidden Treasures exhibition

“These events are like an open mic but with a prearranged line-up and costs to cover. Because of the nature of the occasion and our ethos, we try to keep prices down and affordable to all.

“We aren’t funded so we aren’t employers. We have to ticket events to pay for venue hire and a sound engineer’s fee. Anything over gets split between performers and group funds to subsidise future occasions.”

Outlining the performance strategy for these live events, Richard says: “We want to present original music rather than cover versions or tribute acts, plus new poetry, dance, etc. We’d like the audience to feel they’ve discovered something new and exciting.

Gillygate Deconstruction (detail), by Timothy Morrison, on show at York Explore

“If interested in taking part, please give us a follow and message us @navigatorsart (Facebook and Instagram) or email navigatorsart@gmail.com. Tell us what you do and include a link to a performance of some kind, especially if we don’t know you already. And be sure to list your available Saturdays. We aim to kick things off in late-July and we’ve already had some interest, so don’t delay.”

Looking ahead, Richard says: “We’re planning a live show for the Christmas festive season, inspired by ancient traditions and folklore. Then, looking into 2024, we’ll be taking over York Barbican for an all-day festival, expanding on the Living Treasures show we did for York Festival of Ideas.

“This will feature musicians of all kinds, along with spoken-word artists, comedians and York stallholders, all celebrating aspects of York life and culture in fresh and creative ways.”

Navigators Art & Performance’s billboard for the Living Treasures line-up on June 10

Navigators Art & Performance: the back story

THIS York collective of artists, writers and performers engages in community activities.

A three-month residency at the StreetLife hub in Coney Street featured an exhibition and a live event.

This summer, the collective programmed three events – an exhibition, a live performance and a film screening – for the 2023 York Festival of Ideas.

The collective is keen to mentor young and emerging artists and offers a platform to those who are underrepresented for reasons of social and cultural background or health issues.

Crazy Kate, from a series by Navigators Art artist Katie Lewis, at York Explore

What artists need to do to apply to exhibit in the Punk/Jazz exhibition

SEND high-res images or scans of up to three original works to navigatorsart@gmail.com.

Subject heading: your name, then ‘Punk’ or ‘Jazz’ or ‘Both’.

Give details of:

1. The medium and size of each piece plus its title and price (this doesn’t need to be exact).

2. A bit about yourself as a person and your experiences/achievements in making art.

3. How you relate to the exhibition theme and why Punk or why Jazz? If there is a crossover, explain how and why.

If selected, you must:

1. Transport your own work and instal and take down on the specified dates (times TBC) or arrange an alternative.

2. Commit to sharing promotional activities and responsibilities, such as online posts and physical flyer distribution.

3. Agree to share promo costs and necessary expenses: this should not be more than the price of a few pints each.

No submission fee applies. No commission will be charged on sales.

The venue will take 25 per cent commission, so factor that in when deciding prices.

Navigators Art & Performance will decide on selections by August 1. “If you’re in, we’ll tell you which of your submissions we’ve chosen,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen.

Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club relaunches monthly Saturday gigs at The Basement, City Screen with April 1 quadruple bill

Daliso Chaponda: Playing Laugh Out Comedy Club night at The Basement on Saturday

THE long wait is over. Damion Larkin’s Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club is making a post-lockdown return to The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse, York, on April Fool’s Day.

The sold-out line-up of Daliso Chaponda, Fran Garrity, Steve Harris and master of ceremonies Danny Deegan on April 1 leads off a series of 8pm gigs on the first Saturday of the month, with acts confirmed for May 6 and June 3. Doors open at 7.30pm for each show.

“The first three months of shows will feature TV comedians galore,” says Damion. “These include an international Britain’s Got Talent favourite, a BAFTA award-winning Hollywood superstar, still keeping it real with brilliant comedy sets for us, and a BBC3 sitcom star who’s a multi award-winning act and prolific writer for top names such as Steve Coogan, Johnny Vegas and John Bishop.  

“You can check out the line-ups at https://lolcomedyclubs.co.uk/ but as always we’ll be bringing you comedians off the telly from such shows as BBC2’S Mock The Week, Shooting Stars, Channel 4’S 8 Out Of 10 Cats, BBC1’S Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Have I Got News For You, QI and Paramount’s Live At The Comedy Store.”

Each show features three professional comics and a host. “Laugh Out Loud Comedy Clubs have a successful track record of bringing the very best comedy acts on the club scene and breaking new talent on the cusp of stardom,” says Damion, who runs nights at York Barbican’s Fishergate Bar too.

Dave Johns: On the May 6 bill at The Basement

“We’re the people who previously booked Chris Ramsey, Jason Manford, John Bishop, Sarah Millican and Russell Howard before they were household names. So come and see more brilliant comedians.”

Mike Newall, Karl Porter, I, Daniel Blake lead actor Dave Johns and Jed Salisbury are confirmed for The Basement on May 6, followed by Tony Burgess, Eddy Midgley, Russell Arathoon and Damion Larkin for June 3.

Meanwhile, Jonny Awsum, Russell Arathoon and Damion Larkin are booked in for York Barbican on April 15; Alan Hudson, Joshua Robertson, Eric Rushton and Damion Larkin for May 13; Raymond Mearns, Ben Silver, The Young’Uns David Eagle and Damion Larkin for June 10, then Daliso Chaponda, Mad Ron and Damion Larkin for July 8.

Laugh Out Loud Comedy nights are held at Hull City Hall, Bournemouth Pavilion, Stoke Regent Theatre, Portsmouth Guildhall and Hastings LOL Comedy Club too.

Tickets are on sale at https://lolcomedyclubs.co.uk  and on the door, subject to availability.

Damion Larkin: Laugh Out Comedy Club programmer and master of ceremonies

“This festival is a unique experience that you can’t get anywhere else,” says Aesthetica Short Film Festival director

Aesthetica Short Film Festival director Cherie Federico

NEXT year will mark the 20th anniversary of Cherie Federico moving from New York to York.

By then, the founder of Aesthetica Magazine, the Aesthetica Short Film Festival and Aesthetica Arts Prize will have lived longer in her adopted home city than her native United States.

In 2002, she came to York to study at York St John University and…stayed, seeing possibilities within these historic city walls for artistic innovation.

This is her busiest week of the year, hosting the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, now in its 11th year and bigger than ever, running from Tuesday to Sunday – and online until November 30 – with a remarkable 500 films; themed strands and guest programmes; masterclasses; an industry marketplace; VR (virtual reality) lab; interactive media lab; a celebration of the New Wave of filmmakers; mentoring sessions; networking opportunities and a Sunday awards ceremony.

“It’s become a very significant British film festival, and our ticket sales are healthier than ever,” says Cherie, as the festival restores live screenings in 2021 after last year’s entirely digital event for home viewing only. This year, you can watch in person or online or a hybrid combination of the two each day.

“People are buying hybrid passes to be able to soak up everything in the city – films, masterclasses, panels and discussions – over the six days and also to have full access to the virtual platform to catch up on films and masterclasses until the end of the month.

“There are more films showing than ever before because we’re offering the chance to experience them in different ways; some programmes are online only, some are in-person only, so there are some distinctive programmes, but there’s also cross-pollination between the two formats.

“The thing that has changed this year is that we’ve organised the films into six strands, which came about in response to the pandemic.”

ASFF’s films span documentary; advertising; narrative; animation; artists’ film; comedy; dance; drama; experimental; family friendly; fashion; music video and thriller. “The programme is still organised thematically by genre, but these films now move into different strands too,” says Cherie.

“I was thinking, ‘what are the key things that unite the films in this year’s programme?’, and I came up with How It Was, How It Is, How It Will Be, thinking about the past, present and future, focusing on extraordinary stories in the everyday.

“Strand Two, Humanity On The Edge, addresses ‘Crisis’, whether looking at the effect of climate change or the pandemic; Black Lives Matter;  LGBTQ+ issues; human rights; women’s safety. There is no more ‘normal’. It’s an idea that’s become redundant. Crisis has become a defining characteristic of life in the 21st century.”

Cherie continues: “Strand 3, When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade, is about hope, optimism, positivity. The glass is half full, as we take a lighter look at life to remind us of all the joy and beauty around us, as we take a moment to admire the power and resilience of the everyday person.

“Strand 4, Pleased To Meet You, explores Connections, how relationships are formed, and considers how the digital age has altered the way we build, maintain and cut ties, maybe irrevocably.

“Strand 5, Mirror, Mirror, looks at identity, how we decide who we are or, perhaps, who we want to be;  how you see yourself, whether you’re holding a mirror up to society or to yourself, and how the way you see yourself is often very different to the way other people see you.”

The sixth strand, Nobody’s Free Until Everybody’s Free, addresses how segregation, racism, marginalisation and discrimination are systemic issues deep-rooted within society. “They are part of many people’s daily experiences,” says Cherie. “We must recognise that in the fight to establish true equality.”

In further festival highlights, New Wave introduces the next generation of filmmakers, with ASFF being the only British festival to offer a strand dedicated to graduate filmmakers, under such titles as The Art Of Limitation: Creativity Under Constraints (Saturday, City Screen, 3.30pm to 5.30pm).

The Guest Programmes have been curated by Rachel Pronger, originally from Bradford and now living and working in Berlin after deciding “it’s now or never to move”. 9/11, Twenty Years On is the subject of three programmes at Bootham School: Memories, Monuments (earlier today); In Search Of (Saturday, 3.30pm) and The Fallout (Sunday, 2pm).

“Part One looks at how did we get to the point where people steered planes into the Twin Towers; Part Two covers the day itself; Part Three considers how that moment led to a rise in populism and nationalism, and how you end up with Trump in the White House,” says Cherie. “That moment, 9/11,  galvanised some very dangerous attitudes harking back to 1939.”

Look out for a sound installation at Spark: York, a new location for the 2021 festival, where the sound of a rainforest is accompanied by a CO2 monitor. “The more people that fill the room, the quieter the room becomes,” says Cherie.

For the first time since the first lockdown in March 2020, The Basement at City Screen, York, is open,  playing host to the VR Lab for ten 360-degree films and six immersive experiences each day from 11am to 8pm.

The week’s masterclasses are welcoming the likes of filmmaker Peter Strickland (Katalin Vargo, Duke Of Burgundy); rising director Prano Bailey-Bond (Best Experimental Film winner for Man vs Sand at 2013 ASFF; debut feature film Censor); Hyena writer-director Gerard Johnson; actor Maxine Peake, discussing “acting as authorship”, and The Father producer David Parfitt.

So too are: stop-motion director Anthony Farquhar-Smith (Fantastic Mr Fox, Corpse Bride); rising star Gamba Cole (from Stephen Merchant’s BBC series The Outlaws ); Industrial Light & Magic’s VFX supervisor Julian Foddy and feminist filmmaker Sally Potter (Orlando, The Road Not Taken).

Still to come are: Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona documentary filmmaker Asif Kapadia (Yorkshire Museum, Saturday, 3pm); God’s Own Country and Ammonite writer-director Francis Lee, the Yorkshireman who “doesn’t often do” such Close Up encounters (Yorkshire Museum, Saturday, 6pm) and Alice Seabright, who has written and directed episodes of Netflix hit Sex Education (Yorkshire Museum, Saturday, 6.30pm).

A Sunday streaming at 1pm brings together actor and Primetime founder Victoria Emslie and Lizzy Talbot, intimacy coordinator for Bridgerton, who will discuss the tasks and techniques involved when working with an intimacy coordinator, one of the stage and screen’s increasingly important new roles.

“It’s quite remarkable how many big names we have taking part in the festival,” says Cherie. “It’s a huge, huge festival and it’s really important for people in York to realise the scope and the breadth of a festival that takes place in their city.

“It’s major cultural programming, and I’m proud of the dynamic we bring to the city’s cultural agenda. It’s extraordinary to be able to do this and we’re proud that we brought £2 million to the York economy in 2019, the last time we had a live festival.

“This festival is a unique experience that you can’t get anywhere else, and that’s what makes it so special: the combination of films, the masterclasses and the venues around the city; the union of the historic and the contemporary.”

Please note, ASFF is applying a stringent Covid-safety policy. “For admission, if you have had two jabs, you must show your NHS Covid pass; if not, you must have proof of a negative Lateral Flow Test that day.  There are no exemptions,” says Cherie. “We’re determined to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 at the festival.”

For full details on the 2021 Aesthetica Short Film Festival programme, go to: asff.co.uk.