How Many Poets DID it take to Change a Light Bulb?
Thursday 23rd October 2008
Six months
of meticulous preparation culminated in 100 poets and comedians gathering at
The Deaf Institute (Trof bar), Manchester, to perform for 3 minutes each to
raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. How Many Poets Does it Take to
Change a Light Bulb
drew in a packed audience of over 200 at peak times as part of the annual
Manchester Comedy Festival 2008. Run by Catherine Davies, organiser of
Manchester literature events organisation, RE:Verberate, the event was
sponsored and fully supported by Printing.com, Didsbury.
Just
falling short of beating the existing Guinness record for Most Comedians in a
Single Performance, it featured headline comedians and TV faces such as Seymour
Mace, star of BBC3’s ‘Ideal,’ ‘Always fun to watch,
willfully odd yet compelling’ The Scotsman, Jason Cook as seen on Paramount Comedy,
five stars from The Herald, Chortle, Timeout, Festmag, The Metro and The List, Marvin Cheeseman 'The
Doyen of the Deadpan' Cheltenham Festival of Literature and Greg Cook ‘..
hugely funny... his fearsome physicality contrasts with his rapier-sharp
intellect... the new Les Dawson’ Metro.
Alongside
established names were newcomers and rising comedy stars Chris Stokes, Joe
Lycett, Graham Goring, Michael Thornton and former City Life Comedian of the
Year, Andy Watson. It drew experimental and established poets from across the
UK including Cardiff, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Scotland. Conor Aylward, Tony
Walsh, Giovanni Esposito, Tony Kinsella, Paul Neads, Thick Richard, Sheila
Large, Nadeem Zafar, Stevie Turner, John Thorp, Rod Tame and actress Rachael
McGuinness formed part of the incredible list of performers. We would love to
mention all.
Raising
approx £650 for the Teenage Cancer Trust, the event was a huge success thanks
to the promotional support of Channel M, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Asian
Network, AllFM and Manchester Radio Online. It was one of the biggest draws of the Comedy Festival and
the most talked about. It garnered tremendous public support, had a fantastic
buzz about it and the standard of readers was exceptionally high.
Comperes
for the marathon evening were Julian Daniel ‘A
hilarious comic, who you can watch time and time again’ BBCi, organiser Cat Davies, Rosie
Lugosi 'Manchester's very own undead performer
extraordinaire' The Times
and comedians Andy Kind and The1LikeFish.
There was
additional support from the following companies who provided raffle prizes who
deserve a thank you:
Chill
FactorE Alpine Village
Simple
Bar, Manchester
The Frog
and Bucket Comedy Club
The Comedy
Store Manchester
Heaven
Spa, The Hilton, Deansgate
