Nic Wright

Lou Sanders to headline Burning Duck Comedy Club

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York’s newest alternative comedy night, the Burning Duck Comedy Club will be celebrating its six month anniversary next month, in the only way it knows how; with cake and a performance by a top comic.

A surrealist stand-up, headliner Lou Sanders has written for Channel 4’s Stand-Up for the Week and BBC3’s Laughtershock, as well as making appearances on Stewart Lee’s Alternative Comedy Experience and Russell Howard’s Good News.

Sanders is also a festival favourite, with Time Out gushing; “Once you’ve had a few bites from her bowl of mixed nuts you’ll acquire a taste for her deliciously silly stand-up.”

Held monthly upstairs at The Black Swan, the night also boasts sets from The Mad Bishop and the Bear, a double act consisting of the enigmatic Leeds-based performers, and international men of sex Callum and Jacob.

Banned from 19 countries, 16 of which they have also represented at Eurovision, the road has not always been easy, but boy has it been long. The latest incarnation of the project sees The Mad Bishop and the Bear at their finest yet, both side-splittingly hilarious and generally a lot less difficult to get on with.

The night will also feature a short spot from the mysterious Steph Hotchkiss, who happens to bear a remarkable likeness to a Victorian woman who claimed to be able to travel through time. The woman was imprisoned in Bedlam, but escaped some years later. Incidentally, no one knows quite who Steph is, or where she came from.

MCing proceedings will be Edy Hurst, a manic ball of comedy energy which Manchester Wire recently described as “an abstract guitar-playing impish minstrel of a man,” and “a joyous comic to behold. All unabashed grins and oddball lingo he’s sure to enchant”.

Promoter Al Greaves said: “I’m very excited to have booked Lou Sanders to headline this month. I saw her show at the Edinburgh Fringe last year and along with Phil Ellis (who performed last month) it was probably my favourite!

“I’m also looking forwards to introducing The Mad Bishop and The Bear to our regular audience having attended their anarchic house party style gigs which they put on in their front room in their house in Leeds.”

Last month, headliner Phil Ellis demonstrated his remarkable ability to get from one end of the room to the other while still remaining entirely concealed by the curtains.

The night was also enjoyed by York Press who wrote; “The four acts were enthusiastic and experimental, providing a unique comedy experience for an eager gathering of local supporters. They provided an eclectic mixture of material, from body-building to curtain-climbing and had most of the audience in stitches throughout.”

“We promise to provide more of the same this month,” added Al, “as well as half-birthday Beer Cake to celebrate our half-birthday, made with delicious Copper Dragon Beer!”

Burning Duck Comedy Club with Lou Sanders, The Black Swan, York, 10th March 2015, 8pm. Tickets £4 online/NUS, £5 on the door.