Stratford Comedy Club

Stratford Theatre Company are pleased to present the first Stratford Comedy Club at Ilmington Village Hall!

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 as follows - 

Sally-Anne Hayward - Sally-Anne combines the things you shouldn’t like about your best friend’s mum with the sensibilities of Jack the Ripper.

An accomplished radio presenter with stage and TV acting credentials (‘Absolutely Fabulous’ BBC, ‘Why the Long Faces’ Square Donkey Productions, and TV warm-up for ‘Deal or No Deal’ Channel 4), Sally-Anne’s confident persona and quick wit have rapidly made her a much sought-after comedian. She’s a regular compere at Glastonbury Festival, and a keenly anticipated turn on the UK comedy circuit.

Sally-Anne is an award-winning comedian (Holsten Pils ‘Fans of Comedy’ award) and a sought-after corporate performer (with clients including Orange and Alcatel).

She has proven her writing talents with numerous Edinburgh Fringe shows and can display a depth of material that marks out the best comic talent. She has performed all over the world and has provided tour support for Sarah Millican, Russell Howard and Russell Kane.

Chortle praised her “bubbly stream of comedy anecdotes” and “butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth” style. BBC London Live simply called her ‘fabulous’.

Paul Longhurst - Paul is one of the country's top comedy magicians, who causes a room to erupt in laughter a split second before causing it to gasp in complete disbelief. An Associate of The Magic Circle with Silver Star—the kind of elite credential that usually comes with a top hat and a deeply serious scowl—Paul prefers to pair world-class sleight of hand with sharp, effortless comedy.

With over 30 years in the business, Paul has spent decades proving that magic is infinitely better when nobody is taking themselves too seriously. His resume reads like a high-society thriller—performing for the Royal Family, headlining a residency at The Ritz in London for over a year, and gracing European television screens. Yet, put him in front of a room of comedy lovers, and his signature style feels less like a formal show and more like the funniest guy at the bar casually bending reality!

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’.