Greats of comedy to entertain at club events in region this month
Some of the biggest names in British comedy are set to appear at a Black Country comedy club.
Rosie Jones, Hal Cruttenden and Paul Sinha will join local talent such as Jonny Cole in appearing at Fitz of Laughter, the comedy club of Katie Fitzgerald's in Stourbridge.
The venue has hosted comedy for around seven years through Fitz of Laughter and through the Stourbridge Comedy Festival, with the 2021 festival featuring sets by Ed Byrne, the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre and Troy Hawke and playing to sold-out audiences.
Co-owner Eddy Morton said the club was looking forward to some big weekends over the next two months, including two shows on Saturday, September 17 featuring Rosie Jones and two the next day with Hal Cruttenden.
He said some of the comedians were regular visitors to the venue, with Paul Sinha returning for a third time, and said there was a level of intimacy at the venue which made it work.
He said: "It's big enough, yet intimate enough, and the bigger acts tell me they think it's a great room to play to and a great audience.
"I've seen comedy in big arenas like the NIA and it doesn't suit all comedians, whereas I think this is just a great room for people to play and the comedians love it."
Mr Morton said he and Funny Beeseness promoter Wayne Beese, who compères the events, had made the decision to go back to the comedy club and give the festival a rest as there had been more focus elsewhere.
He said: "When we were coming out of the pandemic, we decided to run the venue more like a comedy club, running twice a month on Fridays and Saturdays, throughout the year.
"We've decided to keep that format and give the festival a rest for this year as the Edinburgh Festival has been back on and there was a lot more emphasis on that.
"Hopefully, we'll bring it back next year, but we're focussing on the club this year and getting as many people as we can through the door."
Mr Morton said he might go up to introduce Wayne Beese on, joking that he'd do the important things like telling people where the toilets were, and said the event was a great way to take people's minds off current events for a few hours.
He said: "Laughter is a great antidote and as we are heading into some very difficult times, then I hope we can provide an escape for a couple of hours and have a laugh and pretend the world isn't as grim as it looks outside."
To find out more and to book tickets to shows, go to katiessecretgarden.com and funnybeeseness.co.uk.
