Stratford Comedy Club

Stratford Theatre Company are pleased to present the first Stratford Comedy Club at The Hall, Cherington, Stourton & Sutton!

A great night of comedy is guaranteed!

Local comedian Ashley Frieze will be your MC for the evening - a high octane larger than life performer guaranteed to raise the big laughs who has been entertaining audiences across the UK for over 20 years.

Line up details coming soon!

James Cook - James is a professional comedian based in Birmingham, UK, with over 1,000 gigs worth of experience as an act and compere.

You can often find him performing at clubs such as The Glee and he’s a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe, either doing stand-up, or performing shows about board gaming.

His act has been described as “truly original” (Danny Wallace (off of the telly)), whereas he’s been called “suave and chirpy” by that publishing powerhouse, the Bromsgrove Advertiser, and a “sarcastic raconteur” by the Leeds Metro.

For some reason, this means that he has been likened to “the future Frank Skinner” (Birmingham Metro) and “Dylan Moran’s younger brother” (The Stage). How this is possible remains a mystery.A slightly less lazy journalist said that he “shows scant regard for the hackneyed conventions of stand-up” (The Scotsman) which, he’s been assured, is a Good Thing. His two favourite quotes are that he “destroyed my concrete belief that all comperes are twats” (eyeonmoseley.com) and that “his quick tongue and dry sense of humour kept me laughing” (BBC Tees).James won a Jongleurs/Spike Milligan award for being the funniest person in the Midlands in 2003. It’s been fourteen years and they haven’t asked for it back, so he’s assuming it must still be him.From 2004 – 2010, James worked as a presenter on three commercial radio stations (none of which exist anymore) during which time he went onstage with A-ha, presented Lenny Henry with his Walk Of Fame Star and was a guest judge on the Dancing On Ice tour at the Nottingham Arena in front of 10,000 people.  The experiences would inform the writing of his first solo Edinburgh show ‘Adventures on Air’.

Ada Campe is an award-winning variety artiste, cabaret performer, comedian and magician with an eclectic portfolio. A member of The Magic Circle, Ada is also a sought after MC, cabaret performer, and comedian across the UK circuits. Her interactive, playful style appeals to audiences of all ages, and she regularly hosts and performs for Comedy Club 4 Kids as well as at corporate events, Museum Lates and festivals across the UK including the Wellcome Collection, Glastonbury Festival, Chichester Festival Theatre, the V&A, The Magic Circle, the World Burlesque Games, Laugh Out Proud, and many Pride celebrations.

In 2018 she won the prestigious Hackney Empire New Act of the Year Show (NATYS), and the Leicester Square Theatre Old Comedian of the Year competition. A year later she took the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by storm with Ada Campe and the Psychic Duck, which had rave reviews and a sold-out run. Post-pandemic Ada returned to Edinburgh in 2022 with her show Too Little Too Soon about queer family histories and amphibian water ballets, and in 2023 she had another successful run at The Stand’s New Town Theatre with the nautical themed Naval Gazing, returning to The Stand in 2024 with her show Big Duck Energy which was recommended in The Telegraph’s Top Ten Comedies to see at the Edinburgh Fringe.

​In 2023 Ada was nominated for Best Newcomer in the UK Pantomime Awards for her portrayal of baddie Queen Rat in Dick Whittington at The Theatre Chipping Norton, and in 2024 won Best Panto Performance at the Offie Awards for her role as capricious magician The Sorcererer in the Royal Vauxhall Tavern’s adult panto Tossed. She returned to the RVT for the 2024/5 panto to play Granny La Hood in Wolfed, and won Best Supporting Artist in the 2026 UK Pantomime Awards for her performance as The Inventorer in the 2025/6 RVT Panto Growled: Beauty and the Beast Continues.

Ada is a featured performer and interviewee in The Art of Drag: A Practical Performers’ Handbook (Routledge, 2025) and launched her new show Behind the Nightlight: Quaint Beasts in an Edwardian Nursery as part of the 2025 Being Human Festival.

Lovdev Barpaga - Not only is Lovdev a comedian, he also became a breakfast show presenter on FreeRadio in Birmingham.  Lovdev also has started his own podcast called “Crazy Little Thing Called Lovdev”, you can catch it on all major podcast services like Google, Itunes, Spotify and other popular services. 

As well as performing Comedy for over 10 years he’s known to well crafted old school style one liners and puns his delivery and material are always spot on, easily suitable for venues who prefer a more clean and subtle act.

His was crowned as the UK Pun Champion at Leicester Comedy festival in 2017. 

Lovdev also featured on the line up for Big Value at Edinburgh Festival 2013. And BBC Asian Network Live, and this year Lovdev is on the line up for Best In Class @ Edinburgh fringe.  Lovdev is already opening and closing spots for smaller and bigger clubs across the UK.