Enjoy Funny February in Bury St Edmunds when the town hosts its second Comedy Festival

Get ready for a month of rib-tickling fun and laughter when Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk hosts its second Comedy Festival throughout February 2025.

The town's history is as rich as the punchlines, which will take you on a rollercoaster ride through the month filled with side-splitting stand-up, outrageous improv and witty comment creating a fun cocktail that'll leave you in stitches.

Familiar venues will be transformed into laughter sanctuaries with a line-up of comedians who are masters of their craft catering for every comedic taste making it a very funny February.

The festival begins on Wednesday 5th February when Luke Wright returns to Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds with a new set of poems that get to grips with the idea of JOY. Is it possible, as a 42 year old to feel pure unbridled happiness, and what does it look like? The French novelist Henry de Montherlant said that “happiness writes white” but Wright's not exactly starting with a blank page. With a mix of the comic and the wistful, JOY takes in consumerism, boozing, cancer scares, abseiling vicars and the joy of language itself.

This is followed on Thursday, 6th February with a stand-up comedy night at ICE restaurant  with three top comedians guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. ICE will be offering a reduced menu featuring a selection of their popular dishes while the well-stocked bar will keep the drinks flowing all evening. For details and to book tickets at £10 per person visit www.ice.restaurant/comedy.

On Sunday evening, 9th February the Fat Cat Comedy Club at The Apex presents three or four comedians from the national and international comedy circuits, some might be new faces, others rising stars or old friends making a welcome return visit. Admission £14.50 (plus a £2 booking fee) book by telephone, online or in-person at The Apex www.theapex.co.uk.

The next big laugh is on Valentine's night, Friday 14th February at the Hunter Club Arts Centre with a Young Comedians Show featuring up-and-coming artists from all over England including whippersnappers Luke Harrower, Aaron Hood, Becky Jade, Madeline Quinne and Adam Offord. There's also a special Valentine's cocktail and prosecco deals plus free pool. Tickets are £6 per person booked in advance or £8 at the door, www.hunterclub.org.uk.

Bury St Edmunds Abbeygate Cinema is also joining in the fun on Saturday 15th February with its Comedy Night when local comedians take centre stage while the chefs at the venue's  No. 4 Restaurant + Bar will be serving a dine-in menu www.abbeygatecinema.co.uk. 

Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds comedy series continues the next evening, 16th February with Jon Culshaw. The star of BBC Radio 4's Dead Ringers, BBC One's The Impressions Show and Channel 4's Partygate, Jon has taken his new show, Imposter Syndrome, on the road following a sell-out season at the Edinburgh Festival. Join Jon for an evening of comedy and music as he conjures up an array of the best-known personalities from the worlds of entertainment, politics and beyond in his trademark style.

Laughter at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds continues with an evening with Zoe Lyons – she is… Werewolf on 22nd February. The host of BBC's 'Lightning', a regular on 'Have I Got News For You', 'QI', and 'Mock The Week' – and a survivor of 'Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins' and 'World's Most Dangerous Roads' on Dave – Zoe is one of the country's best-loved comedians.

Leading political comedian and satirist Matt Forde takes the stage on 26th February with his 'End of an Era' show'. The UK has a new government, which means there's some new people he can mock.

Finally, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds presents 144 episodes of the hit 90s TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as told through the eyes of Spike on 27th February.  Funny, satirical, and bursting with 90s pop culture references, this fast-paced gem is the perfect parody for Buffy aficionados and those who never enrolled at Sunnydale High. Created by comedian Brendan Murphy whose last show, FRIEND (The One with Gunther), won Best Play at the World Wide Comedy Awards.

Tickets for Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds comedy evenings start from £12, book online at www.theatreroyal.org.

More fun nights are being added as the month gets nearer.  To view the full line-up and book tickets priced from £19 per person as well as where to stay, shop, eat and drink visit www. burystedmundsandbeyond.co.uk/comedy-festival.

Bury St Edmunds Comedy Festival is a partnership project between the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, The Apex, The Hunter Club Arts Centre, Abbeygate Cinema and ICE. It is being coordinated by the town's tourism brand Bury St Edmunds and Beyond, under Our Bury St Edmunds BID.

- Ends -

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Pat Edgar, PR Matters

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Or from 1st November:

Sue Warren, Head of Marketing

Our Bury St Edmunds BID and Bury St Edmunds and Beyond brands

Tel: 07739 661021

Email: sue.warren@ourburystedmunds.com                                  

30 October 2024  

Notes to editors:

About the Comedy Festival venues:

ICE - Tucked away in the middle of the Rougham Industrial Estate in a converted warehouse, ICE is a restaurant/bar, cookery school, cook shop and development kitchen. The quirky restaurant has been fitted out with a retro, industrial feel using recycled items. The bar has been designed using Victorian railway sleepers while the tables are made from reclaimed Georgian doors and industrial cable drums. The menu offers something for everyone from mac 'n cheese and monster burgers to a superfood salad, there are plenty of gluten free and plant based options as well as milkshakes, handmade gelato, coffees and a large bakery and bar.  

The ICE Cookery school offers both cooking and dining experiences. Just 15 diners each week can pre-book the ICE Lunch Bar (also now available in the evenings) and enjoy interactive culinary theatre at its best – eight to ten stunning courses prepared, cooked and served in front of them by the award winning ICE chefs.

The Apex is an award-winning venue, known for its acoustic excellence and home to a diverse programme of live music and events from classical concerts to pop, rock, jazz, blues, world, country and folk, plus comedy and dance performances. It also hosts a number of community and corporate events, offering the local community and wider environs a unique and exciting space from which visitors can see a great selection of artists, bands and events. It has been very well publicised that, as well as its architectural beauty, The Apex also has the very best acoustics, with many musicians who've played here describing it as the best acoustic in the UK, if not Europe. 

The Hunter Club Arts Centre is dedicated to supporting local creative performers and artists providing a much-needed, fully-equipped venue for independent music promoters and artistic performers. We are proud to support a wide range of local grassroots bands and musicians, comedians, drag artists, theatre, and more. In addition to our regularly sold-out gigs, comedy nights, and community events, we are also proud to provide facilities for numerous youth and community projects/events including Bury Fringe Festival, BurySound Band Competition, West Suffolk College, National Citizen Service, Noise Solution, the Bury Songwriters Competition, Bury St Edmunds Film Society, Bury Tango and many others. We also work closely with local organisations in their fundraising efforts. We are very proud to be at the heart of Bury St. Edmunds music scene and in 2019 we won the NMG Best Local Music Venue, another local institution celebrating the vibrant local music culture in East Anglia.

Abbeygate Cinema
Abbeygate Cinema delivers a quality cinema event; a tasteful and refined theatre-like experience with a strong mix of arthouse, independent and quality mainstream films. We offer an enriched Screen Arts programme including Bolshoi, Royal Opera House, National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Metropolitan Opera.

Their private screen and function room hire offer versatile spaces for corporate functions, private parties and local festival events. Their weekly parent and baby screenings attract mums and dads within the local community who meet for coffee, chat and film and our great membership offering is hugely popular.

Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds is a presenting and producing theatre and one of the UK's last surviving, and the only working Regency playhouse. Theatre Royal produces three major productions of its own throughout the year with further smaller and community projects throughout its seasons. Under the care of the National Trust, it is a Grade I listed building which underwent a £5.3million restoration in 2005 to return it to its original 1819 layout and design. In 2019 Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds celebrated its 200th anniversary with an extra special programme of events and shows and became an NPO (National Portfolio Organisation) in 2023. Theatre Royal is owned by the Greene King Brewery, leased by the brewery to the National Trust which in turn leases it to Bury St Edmunds Theatre Management Ltd to run it as a working theatre.