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South Street, Saturday 16 October, 8pm. All tickets £5
Sadly the 2009 Reading Comedy Festival draws to a close tomorrow, but not before we've crowned our New Act of the Year award winner!
This year's panel is a crack team of high-profile comedy aficionados.
If you fancy a night of great value comedy head down to South Street. Best to book before as we have limited tickets left. Tickets can be brought at: http://www.readingarts.com/southstreet/whatson/event.asp?id=SXF6EF-A7819570
Best of luck to our eleven finalists!
SOUTH STREET COMEDY CLUB - FESTIVAL SPECIAL!

Friday 16 October
8.30pm – South Street
£10, £8.50 concessions
Book here: http://www.readingarts.com/southstreet/whatson/event.asp?id=SXABBF-A7819299
South Street’s monthly Comedy Club steps it up a notch for the Reading Comedy Festival. Andy Robinson, Dan Atkinson and Katherine Ryan (Nivea's Funniest New Woman) are three red-hot acts, well established on the circuit and with a plethora of awards between them.
Andy Robinson – "Andy Robinson is the comedy equivalent of gold dust, pure talent just waiting to be discovered” - The Guardian
Dan Atkinson – An honest, relaxed and happy experience that will be aimed at warming the cockles and giving some food for thought, but mainly making you chuckle like a loon.
Katherine Ryan – The newly crowned ‘funniest new woman’ in the UK “has perfect comic timing and enough attitude to stop an elephant in it’s tracks” – Time Out
CHANGE TO LINE UP!
Unfortunately Andrew O'Neill won't be able to make it for his performance at Afroba tonight.
Luckily for us, complimentary comedian Jim Smallman will be joining us to perform his one hour Edinburgh show.
HEAD OVER TO AFOBA FOR A NIGHT OF GREAT VALUE COMEDY!

Big Jack’s laughter club is throwing it’s doors open to Reading comedy lovers again tonight.
If Andrew O’Neill looks familiar, you may have seen him on TV alongside Steve Coogan or reviewing the papers on Sky news. Now you can see him from the comfort of your very own town performing his fantastic Edinburgh show ‘Occult comedian’.
“an increasingly distinctive, imaginative act … brilliant, genuinely unexpected lines are added to the mix. At this rate, it won’t be long until he’s huge” Chortle
“one of the funniest comedians on the circuit at the moment … hitting new heights of comedic brilliance” TimeOut
Andrew will be supported by Rosie Wilby, Adam Tempest and Manos the Greek. MC Jack Lin. All for just a fiver!
Afroba
Thursday 15 October, 8pm
Entry £5 from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/59642
SEE ZOE LYONS PLUS SUPPORT FOR JUST £5 TONIGHT AT AFROBA

Fancy a night of bargain comedy?
Zoe Lyon’s was the talk of the Fringe this year, and Big Jack’s Readingburgh Festival couldn’t wait to get a bit of the action!
Catch her fantastic hour-long set ‘Miss Machismo’ at Afroba (just off Friar Street) tonight at 8pm. Plus support from Jonathan Elston, Tom Goodliffe, Chris Barry.
"The whole thing is beautifully paced and very, very funny... only the most stolid will leave it without a slight ache in the cheeks" - **** - Chortle
Afroba
Wednesday 14 October, 8pm
Entry: £5 from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/59641
This consistently witty and funny film is the cinema extension of the BBC smash hit sitcom ‘In the Thick of it’. It provides fast and furious satire of the events running up to war on an unidentified Middle Eastern country. Chriss Addison and Tom Hollander star as their original characters in this magnificent film.
Showing Tuesday 13 October at Reading Film Theatre. 7.45 pm. £5.50, £4 members and concessions.
SHUTTLEWORTH'S 'SOUTHERN SOFTIES' SCREENING AT TOWN HALL
Everyone’s favourite versatile singer/songwriter and retired security guard is back with his film ‘Southern Softies’.

Shuttleworth, recognised as "Sheffield's funniest Man" travels to the Channel Islands to discover if it's "Soft down South". Filmed by John's neighbour, Ken Worthington on his camcorder, then later - when Ken gets fed up and decides to go sunbathing - by a professional crew, Shuttleworth meets a host of fascinating people, and one or two boring ones. But are they Southern Softies?
Tickets are just £8.50 each which includes an extra special Q&A with Shuttleworth creator Graham Fellows after the screening.
DAVID O'DOHERTY APPETIZER!
We are soooo excited for David O'Doherty's show on Sunday we're practically wishing the weekend away.
Here's a little something to get you in the mood too...
David O'Doherty is performing his show David O'Doh Party at South Street on Sunday 11th October at 8pm. All tickets £10. To book or for more information click http://tinyurl.com/yf4rg98
SPECIAL ALISTAIR McGOWAN INTERVIEW
The wonderful Alistair has returned to the world of stand-up after ten long years with the ‘Alistair McGowan One and Many Tour 2009’.
We hear that he has got a whole host of brand new voices including Adrian Chiles, Arsene Wenger, Gok Wan, John Terry, Bear Grylls, Harry Redknapp, Alan Carr, Fabio Capello, Jimmy Carr and Boris Johnson.
He will be joining us at the Concert Hall in Reading on Friday 9 October at 8pm, but we were too excited to wait and tracked him down earlier this week.
What made you decide to come back to stand up?
“I did a panto at Christmas. In the middle of the show, I did a solo spot and it went really well. That made me think, ‘it’s great fun doing the voices and people obviously really love them.’ So I thought the time was right to go back.”
What is it that you like about stand up comedy?
“The great thing about stand-up is you can be your own script editor and constantly re-write your material. There are a lot of new gags I want to tell and a lot of new ideas I want to give vent to. I’ve always been obsessed with words. They have such power – we all carry these incredible weapons in our heads.”
What will the audience like about your act?
“People really do love impressions. It’s like necromancy – people don’t expect that voice to come out of that face. There you are, talking like yourself when suddenly –bang! – ‘why is Louis Theroux speaking out of your face? That’s not right!’ It’s the ultimate magic act.”
How will you cope with being so busy?
“I love doing all these different things at the same time I’m booked up till January, but I love being busy. I don’t think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew but, by God, my jaws are aching right now!”
See Alistair McGowan: One and Many on Friday 9 October, 8pm at The Concert Hall - All tickets £15
NEW ACT OF THE YEAR FINALISTS ANNOUNCED!
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Things are hotting up in the race to become Reading Comedy Festival's New Act of the year 2009.Our eleven lovely finalists will be battling it out on Saturday 17 October at 8pm at South Street.
With tickets costing just £5, make sure you don't miss the chance to see the stars of tomorrow today!
Below is a list of our fabulous finalists, but don't forget to pick up next weeks Reading Evening Post for full details on each comic!
FINALISTS: NEW ACT OF THE YEAR 2009
Adnan Ahmed
Alex Clissold-Jones
Alexandra Clarke
Ben Morgan
Darren Maskell
Dave Smiff
Gabriel Ebulue
Ian Smith
Luke Graves
Rob Beckett
Spencer Owen
Very well done and best of luck to all!
A Little Treat from Edinburgh favourite, Stewart Lee
With Edinburgh Fringe Festival now in full swing, those of us left in Reading thought we'd bring a glimpse of one of Edinburgh's favourite comedians, Stewart Lee who plays from 5th - 30th September at The Stand in Edinburgh. But fear not, we are of course bringing the best comedians from our Northern neighbours down to Reading this October, and Stewart Lee is just one of them! So in celebration of his show (and general brilliance), here's a favourite clip from one of Stewart's previous shows for you to enjoy... look out Joe Pasquale! For more information or to book tickets for his new show, click http://tinyurl.com/n8ewjt
McGowan Serves Up New Faces?
With Edinburgh Festival just a matter of days away, television impressionist and stand-up, Alistair McGowan has been discussing some of the new characters he'll be introducing the world to in his new stand-up show this autumn.
And it seems some of Scotland's favourite sporting icons will cop for a fair amount of stick with football managers' Alex Ferguson and David Moyes and tennis's Andy Murray among the notable targets!! A brave move perhaps in the heart of Scotland, so we shall just have to keep our fingers crossed he'll make it to Reading on 9th October for his date at the Concert Hall. Tickets are being snapped up, so get in there quick. For the full story, http://tinyurl.com/kwyh7o or for more info about his Reading date, click http://tinyurl.com/lfw5ws
A Few Free Laughs from Simon Amstell
Here's just a little sneak preview of celebrity big brother-bater, Simon Amstell performing at the 100 Club. The ridiculously funny host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, brings his brand new stand-up show to Reading in this year's Comedy Festival on Tuesday 6 October at The Hexagon. And i'm sure we're not the only ones who can't wait! http://tinyurl.com/m6cslx
Make sure you tune in to watch Tim Minchin on e4 this Thursday Night
One of our favourite musical comedy performers, Tim Minchin's previous show will be broadcast on e4 this Thursday night (23 July) at 10.30pm, then no doubt repeated infinitely until the end of time!
Tune in to see his live stand-up show; in which Tim confronts the pressing issues of the day: sex, death, dancing bears and ginger body hair! We're sure you'll be queuing around the block to book your tickets, that's why we booked him for two dates, Sunday 4 & Monday 5 October. See: http://tinyurl.com/kwgtk4
HOT TICKET?? Well it seems that the Reading audience can't get enough of Mr Jimmy Carr. having had FOUR sell-out shows at The Hexagon of previous show 'Joke Technician' over the last year, new show 'Rapier Wit' looks like being even bigger! Having appeared at every Reading Comedy Festival so far, we welcome him back for 2009 with open arms. However tickets are selling unbelievably quickly with only 60 tickets left for his October date. And with September's gig already sold out, we felt we'd have to add another date to feed you joke hungry hordes! So if you've missed out so far, worry not - Jimmy will be returning on November 3rd. Book now at www.readingarts.com
Tim Minchin Crowned 'Best Comedy Performer'
Tim Minchin is fast becoming one of the hottest properties on the circuit right now, with regular tv appearances including his previous show being screened on e4 last week, and now he's picked up the 'Best Comedy Performer' gong at Australia's prestigious Helpmann Awards. And clearly you recognise true hilarity when you stare it in the face, as we've already sold over 1500 tickets for his much-anticipated two-nighter at The Hexagon in October! Musical comedy has never been more popular, so make sure you pick up your tickets for 'Ready For This? fast. For more info about Tim's award win see http://tinyurl.com/kldx3s or book your tickets now!




