Best of The Fest brings 3 top comedians to Southport Comedy Festival 2023

BIG Comedy UK has put together a fantastic night of comedy for the opening night of this year's:- '12th Annual Southport Comedy Festival' in association with Halliwell Jones BMW. The festival kicks off on:- Friday, 29 September 2023, with a triple headline bill featuring stars from TV and the cream of the comedy circuit.

Multi award winning comedian and viral sensation Mark Nelson is 1 of the UK's biggest hitting comedy powerhouses with a mix of dark humour, cutting observations and superb one-liners. He has been tour support for Jason Manford, Russell Kane and Jim Jeffries.

Mark was crowned:- 'Scottish Comedian of the Year' in 2006, barely a year after his 1st ever open spot and has gone on to collect countless more awards to include a:- 'Scottish Comedy Awards' radio prize and 'UK Comedian of the Year' voted by his comedy peers.

Mark currently hosts BBC Scotland's No 1 show:- 'The Good, the Bad and the Unexpected.' He is the creator and Star of BBC Scotland's biggest ever viral hit:- 'News At 3' which boasts 250 million+ views.

Nina Gilligan is sometimes outrageous, always hilarious with a charming, loveable persona which belies an acerbic wit.

A huge star on the rise Nina is now a multi award winning comedian having recently scooped up the award for:- 'Best Act' at the:- 'Northwest Comedy Awards 2023' as voted by her comedy peers and 'Best Club Act 2023' at the prestigious:- 'Chortle Awards.'

2021 saw her crowned as the winner of the prestigious Leicester Mercury Award after also winning Liverpool Hot Water comedian of the year and being a finalist in English Comedian of the Year in previous year's.

Recent tour support includes:- Jason Manford, Clinton Baptiste and Rachel Fairburn.

Described as:- 'A Gem of the Circuit' and with an ability to:- 'Transcend age barriers effortlessly' she continues to rise through the comedy ranks.

London based Emmanuel Sonubi's career in Comedy started only a few years ago and quickly grew from strength to strength earning himself a reputation as:- "1 to watch out for..." A regular favourite on the live comedy circuit, he has become 1 of the most sought after acts working today. As seen on the recent series of:- 'Live at the Apollo' 'Comedy Central's Stand Up UK' and the:- 'ITV2's Stand up Sketch Show,' Emmanuel's credits continue to grow as does his popularity with audiences around the world.

He has received glowing accolades from fellow comedy celebrities with Jason Manford calling him:- "1 of my favourite discoveries of the year," Russell Kane said of him:- "A new talent at the door of Stand Up, his name's down and he's definitely coming in" Joel Dommett called him:- "incredibly funny," and Romesh Ranganathan said:- "The bloke has got funny bones."

The night will be hosted by comedian Brendan Riley and is sponsored by Acorn Insurance.

The opening night will be followed by a star studded event over 17 days to include:- Irish funny men and festival favourites Jason Byrne and Jimeoin, world famous prankster and Lee Nelson creator Simon Brodkin, star of 'I'm a Celebrity' Seann Walsh, 'Phoenix Nights' Clinton Baptiste, 'King Of The 1 Liner' and star of 'Mock the Week' Gary Delaney, comedian, podcaster and movie star Tom Davis, award winning comedian and writer Mark Steel, star of 'Live at the Apollo' Jen Brister and comedy legend Rich Hall who closes this year's festival.

As well as the headline touring shows the Southport New Comedian of the Year returns for another year sponsored by Dragon Soop. 

There will also be Comedy Bingo and a back to the 80's Disco Bingo night raising funds for local charities Community Link Foundation and Southport Flower Show. It all takes place under canvas in a heated and seated luxury marquee courtesy of Elite Marquees in the beautiful grounds of the Victoria Park, home of the world renowned Southport Flower Show. The Southport Comedy Festival organisers would like to thank all the businesses who keep Southport Smiling year after year, check out their logos at:- SouthportComedyFestival.Com.
 

Young people take to the water as summer of vital engagement projects gets underway

YOUNG people in Sefton are learning vital water skills with thousands more across Merseyside set to benefit from a summer of engagement activities thanks to the Police Commissioner's Youth Diversion Fund.

Emily Spurrell visited the L20 Hub in Bootle this week to see first-hand the positive impact her Youth Diversion Fund is having, particularly for those from more deprived areas, offering better opportunities for young people during the six-week School holidays.

During the session, the young people used teamworking skills to build rafted canoes before taking to the water on the Leeds Liverpool Canal. They also took advantage of the family forest School running during the summer teaching foraging and other outdoor skills.

One of those enjoying the activities, Oliver Rowlands, 14, said:- "If I wasn't doing events like this then most of the time I'd just be sat around really. I feel like it's helping me with how I speak to people and things like socialising and just getting out and helping with things fills me with a sense of goodness about myself because then I know that I can do things that I never thought I would."

In total, 23 projects are sharing a total of £100,000 from the Commissioner's Youth Diversion Fund, enabling more than 2,500 young people to benefit from having safe places to take part in positive activities during the 6 week summer holidays, at a time when Merseyside Police often sees a spike in reports of crime and instances of anti-social behaviour.

Merseyside's Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said:- "I believe that the best way to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour is to invest in our young people, providing them with better opportunities, helping them to develop skills and giving them access to things that they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. It's really nice to see how much they are enjoying it and hear how much of a difference my Youth Diversion Fund is making. I truly believe if we support our young people, if we educate them and if we give them those opportunities to show them that there is a better way to do things then we can deliver long lasting change and ultimately keep our communities safe. I'm really proud that my Youth Diversion Fund is 1 of the ways that we are doing that."

Since its launch in autumn 2021, the Fund has allowed 17,363 young people to engage in activities across the School holidays, with 100 organisations benefitting from a share of more than £300,000.

Eloise Robinson, Chief Executive of L20 Hub said:- "For us, this extra funding will help us to live out our dream, our mission and objectives for our charity by allowing us to employ additional staff so we can do more of what we originally set out to do. We want it to give people some flavour of what the L20 Hub is and exactly what we can do so that we can bring in more projects and services to allow us to engage with more people in our community."

The Youth Diversion Fund is administered by the Community Foundation for Merseyside, (CFM) on behalf of the Commissioner. CFM holds funds from individuals and organisations as donors who wish to support deserving causes in Merseyside.