Saturday 11th April 2020

THE EVENT

Enjoy some of the best comedy and entertainment out there from the comfort of your very favourite armchair. Our comics will be streaming from their homes all over the UK.

Following our enormously successful inaugural performance, on our second date, half the money raised will be going to the Trussell Trust, and the other half to our (self-employed) performers to support them in this time of uncertainty.

The event will take place on Saturday 4th April 2020 at 7pm (UK time).

You can purchase a link to the live stream or alternatively join our ‘front row’ seats where the performers will be able to see and interact with you (make sure you have a webcam and microphone).

THE ACTS

Kiri Pritchard Mclean

Your host is Welsh Comedian Kiri Pritchard-Mclean – a double Chortle Award winning stand up comedian, writer and satirist. Recent television appearances include Have I Got News For You, The Russell Howard Hour (which she writes on) and Stand Up Central. Kiri hosted both Stand Up at BBC Wales and Wales at the Edinburgh Fringe for the BBC where she introduces a throng of the most exciting comics in the UK. She will be in upcoming episodes of Hypothetical, Roast Battle and the Comedy Central Specials.

A regular on BBC radio, Kiri has appeared many times on The Now Show and the News Quiz. She often co-hosts on Rhod Gilbert’s radio show and guest hosted Newsjack Extra. Kiri is a writing/ directing member of Foster’s Comedy Award nominated sketch group Gein’s Family Giftshop who have a third installment of their radio series in the pipeline.

Kiri is a co-creator and co-host of both the All Killa No Filla podcast and the live juggernaut Amusical. All Killa No Filla is a podcast about serial killers that has a gigantic following worldwide. Co hosted with Rachel Fairburn, the podcast’s live adaptation sold out The Leicester Square Theatre in minutes and toured the United States. Amusical is a phenomena that started in Backyard Comedy Comedy and has run monthly for just over a year. Comedians sing their favourite songs from the musicals, hosted by Kiri with Jayde Adams and house band Dave and the Quavers. In the short time since it’s conception it has sold out the Pleasance Grand in Edinburgh twice and been made into a pilot with Burning Bright for Comedy Central.

Mark Watson

Edinburgh Festival Award Winner and Time Out Critic’s Choice, Mark’s recent TV credits include Taskmaster (Dave) and Bear Grylls’ Celebrity Island (Channel 4).

Mark has been the face of shows such as BBC Four’s We Need Answers and BBC Radio 4’s Mark Watson Makes The World Substantially Better. He has also appeared on Mock The Week, Celebrity Pointless, Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You?, Live At The Apollo and Channel 4’s Comedy Gala. He is currently recording another series of his hit Radio 4 show Mark Watson Talks A Bit About Life.

In August 2016, Mark performed his latest show I’m Not Here at the Edinburgh Festival, and then went on to tour it around the UK from September – December 2016. The show has received 4 & 5 star reviews.

Not only a Stand-Up, Mark has written six novels: Bullet Points (2004), A Light-Hearted Look At Murder (2007), Eleven (2010), The Knot (2012), Hotel Alpha (2014), and The Place That Didn’t Exist (2016).

‘Terrifyingly funny’ – The Times

‘Belly laugh brilliant… The audience was weeping with laughter’ – Time Out

Aisling Bea

Aisling Bea is an award-winning stand-up comedian, writer and actor.

Since winning prestigious comedy competition So You Think You’re Funny? in 2012, Aisling has become one of the most in-demand performers in UK and Irish comedy.

In 2013 she was nominated for the Fosters Comedy Award for Best Newcomer for her debut Edinburgh show C’est La Bea, which received a plethora of 4 and 5 star reviews in its sold out run. Her second Edinburgh hour, 2015’s Plan Bea, was also a major hit, selling out its entire run before the festival had even started.

As well as her live work, Aisling has fast established herself as a frequent face on television. She has performed stand-up on BBC 1’s Live At The Apollo, BBC 3’s Russell Howard’s Good News and Channel 4’s Comedy Gala. Aisling also appears regularly on panel shows such as Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, BBC1’s Would I Lie To You and BBC2’s QI and in 2016 she became a team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats.  In 2017 Aisling competed on Dave’s hit series Taskmaster.

Aisling is an accomplished LAMDA trained actor with recurring lead roles in both dramas and comedies such as Sky 1’s sitcom Trollied, ITV1’s The Delivery Man (currently on Netflix), Channel 4’s sketch show Cardinal Burns and BBC3’s Dead Boss. Aisling starred alongside Gillian Anderson in Series 3 of award-winning BBC2 crime drama The Fall in 2016 and in 2017 she appeared in new Channel 4 sitcom Gap Year.  In 2018 she played Amelia in Finding Joy which aired on RTE One. Aisling recently took on the role of Rebecca in Love, Wedding, Repeat, a feature film for Notorious Pictures and Tempo Productions to which Netflix have taken worldwide rights.

Aisling frequently works in the US, where her profile is rapidly rising. Aisling had a 15-minute special land on Netflix in 2018, as part of The Comedy Line-Up and she will also be seen in the new Netflix series Living With Yourself, starring opposite Paul Rudd.

In 2019, Aisling recorded her own comedy drama, This Way Up, which aired on Channel 4 in the UK and Hulu in the US, to critical acclaim.  Aisling wrote the six-part series in addition to playing the lead role of Aine.

Jonathan Mayor

“Dress like a butterfly and sting like a scorpion!” as Mohammed Ali never said about Jonathan Mayor – the forgotten Bollywood love-child of Hinge and Bracket, Kenneth Williams and Eddie Izzard.

Jonathan Mayor is developing into a huge, huge cult.  He is one of the finest comperes in the country, capable of settling even the rowdiest crowds with savage wit and a high octane stage presence.  When Jonathan arrives, its showtime, engaging the audience both on and off-stage.  He is one of the few acts who will not only perform when the stage lights are on, but also wander among the crowd, chatting and charming – truly “hosting” the night. It is this that has made him the most requested compere by audiences at many venues – including as a resident compere at Manchester’s Frog and Bucket, where the list has included Johnny Vegas, Peter Kay, Dave Spikey and Steve Coogan.

“a self-obsessed glittery queen with a larger than life personality who arrives on stage in a bamboozling mix of innuendo”- Manchester Evening News

“An incredible presence on the stage. Mesmerising to watch and an extremely articulate improviser. Fantastic.” – XS Malarkey

“A true Diva of our times.”  – canal-street.co.uk

“bolshy but delightful” – Manchester Online

GAVIN OSBORN

Humourous but heart-felt singer-songwriter, originally from Bedford but has resided in the Bristol/Bath area for several years. He’s performed shows with comedian Daniel Kitson and supported Belle & Sebastian.

“Gavin Osborn writes minutely detailed, bittersweet story-songs on an acoustic guitar and sings them with a comic timing usually absent from the works of his anti-folk contemporaries. Funny and touching, Osborn walks a similar tightrope to Loudon Wainwright III” – Stewart Lee (comedian), The Sunday Times.

THE CHARITY

The Trussell Trust support a nationwide network of food banks and together  provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.

In the UK, more than 14 million people are living in poverty – including 4.5 million children. TT support more than 1,200 food bank centres in the UK to provide a minimum of three days’ nutritionally-balanced emergency food to people who have been referred in crisis, as well as support to help people resolve the crises they face. Between April 2018 and March 2019, food banks in their network provided a record 1.6 million food supplies to people in crisis, a 19% increase on the previous year.

We know it takes more than food to end hunger. That’s why we bring together the experiences of food banks in our network to challenge the structural economic issues that lock people in poverty, and campaign to end the need for food banks in the UK.