Hull Comedy Festival Hailed a Big Success

Organisers of Hull's first Comedy Festival have declared the programme of events a success and believe that there is sufficient interest in live comedy to bring it back next year. Hull Comedy Festival launched on Friday 26th October as comedian Russell Howard performed to a sellout audience of 400 at the Quality Royal Hotel. Further acts such as Stewart Lee, Lucy Porter, Frank Sidebottom and Ivan Brackenbury have performed amongst over forty shows throughout Hull City Centre and the surrounding area.

The Hull Blokes, Scarlet Lights, Cracktown, Clearview Maddox, Paul Kitchen and Andy Train represent local talent who have triumphed onstage throughout the festival.

Festival Director, John Gilbert of Level M Marketing and Events said: It's been a fantastic couple of weeks and I've had the pleasure of being at many of the shows to see how they have gone down. There have been a few disappointments and of course we wished that this could have been avoided, though many people keep reminding me that this is far outweighed by the successes. We have learnt a lot about what works well and what doesn't, so are armed with more knowledge to build upon this for 2008. It's all very exciting really! Mr Gilbert said that they were already working on bringing some impressive headline acts to Hull next year, though declined to comment on the identity of the acts until the agreements were signed a sealed.

Hull Comedy Festival is a new venture delivered in partnership by Level M Marketing and Events, Hull City Centre BID, Hull Colour Pages and St. Stephens with the support of over a dozen companies and organisations. The objectives of the festival were to bring people into Hull, show them a good time and have them leave with a smile on their face; a goal that organisers believe they have achieved.

It is hoped that the foundation established is strong enough to build an annual festival that consistently unearths new talent and will achieve national recognition within five years.

Reflecting on the success of the festival, Mr Gilbert said: There has been a real positive vibe about the festival from day one and the success has been fuelled by the goodwill of many key people. Everyone involved in making this happen should be very proud of themselves and on behalf of the festival want to thank you all for your dedication and sense of fun!

Dates for Hull Comedy Festival 2008 will be unveiled before the end of the year. A Pod Cast reviewing the festival can be accessed via www.hullcomedy.co.uk by the end of November.

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