Comedy Night returns after a year long wait

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After over a year of waiting, the Comedy Night at the Royal returns to the New Theatre Royal Lincoln on Thursday 29th July with a star-studded line-up.

Headlining July’s comedy night is Steve Royle, who audiences will recognise from Britain’s Got Talent. Steve is an actor, writer, comedian, juggler, and award-winning presenter on BBC Radio Lancashire. He has starred in 17 consecutive pantomimes at Blackpool Grand Theatre and his credits include TV’s Sunday Night at the Palladium, Phoenix Nights, and Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere, as well as supporting comedians such as Dave Spikey, Peter Kay, Mick Miller, and Roy Walker.

Steve Royle

He shot to further fame last year following his appearance on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent 2020. Steve charmed the judges in the auditions by combining comedy with his juggling skills. He received standing ovations from all the judges, including Simon Cowell, and went on the finish in 3rd place in the live grand final.

Another face that audiences will recognise is Danny Posthill. Described as “brilliantly funny” by David Walliams, Danny is a comedy impressionist who reached the Britain’s Got Talent grand final in 2015. He is a regular at comedy clubs across the UK and took his own one man show That Bloke Who Does Voices to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019.

The compere for the evening, and completing the line-up, is Patrick Monahan. Patrick is a regular at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and won television competitions Take The Mike (2001) and ITV’s Show Me The Funny (2011). He also starred in the New Theatre Royal’s very first Comedy Night at the Royal in 2017. Fun fact, Patrick once held the world record for “Longest Hug” where he and comedian Bob Slayer embraced for 25 hours and 25 minutes in 2013.

This will be the New Theatre Royal’s tenth Comedy Night at the Royal, which has become a staple of the theatre’s programme since 2017. Four comedy nights had to be cancelled last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the theatre’s Artistic Director, Natalie Hayes-Cowley, thinks this line-up makes it worth the wait, “Our comedy nights have built a great following over the years. We wanted to have a line-up that would resonate with our audience and guarantee a night of rib-tickling belly laughs. I’m thrilled to welcome Patrick back to the theatre, he wowed the crowd in our first comedy night back in 2017, that man is hilarious!

“Equally, Danny and Steve will make for a brilliant evening of live comedy as both showcased on Britain’s got talent, with Steve really lifting the nation’s spirits thanks to his fantastic performances during the pandemic.”

Comedy Night at the Royal is one of the theatre’s “In-House Productions”. These productions are produced solely by the New Theatre Royal and are incredibly important to the survival of the venue. The theatre is able to retain all the ticket revenue raised from these productions, which is then reinvested into the upkeep of the beautiful venue. This is in contrast to the revenue received from visiting touring shows, where the theatre only tends to see about 15% of money raised from ticket sales.