Host announcement for Manford's Comedy Festival

Jason Manford has announced that Joel Dommett will host the Sunday night of the highly anticipated second ever Manford’s Comedy Festival, joined by top comedians Bill Bailey, Suzi Ruffell, Reginald D. Hunter and Dan Nightingale.

The festival will take place at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens between Friday 1-3 May 2020.

Manford’s Comedy Festival kicks off on Friday 1 May and will see Jason Manford host with sets from Jasper Carrott, Angelos Epithemiou, Tez Ilyas and Rich Hall.

Saturday 2 May opens with a fun afternoon comedy show suitable for all the family, featuring juggler, unicyclist, magician and comedian Martin Mor, comedian and musician Duncan Oakley and one-man variety show Jack Gleadow.

Russell Kane will host the Saturday evening show, joined by Dara O’Briain, Sara Pascoe, Zoe Lyons and Marlon Davis.

After the great success of the first ever New Act of the Year Competition in 2019, Manford’s Comedy Club will once again be searching the country for the next big star and hosting the 2020 semi-final at the festival.

Get your tickets for the festival here. 

Read more about the comedians lined up for Manford's Comedy Club:

Bill Bailey

Bill Bailey is a multi-award-winning British comedian, songwriter, musician, actor, presenter and animal welfare campaigner. His extensive career ranges from international stand-up comedy tours to performing on television, film and radio, duetting at HRH Prince Charles’ 60th birthday with Robin Williams, and performing at the Royal Albert Hall with a full BBC Concert Orchestra. He played Manny in the BAFTA award winning ‘Black Books’, and was, for many years, team captain on the popular BBC music panel show, ‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’.

He is a regular panelist on the hit BBC panel show ‘QI’, writes and presents numerous TV wildlife documentaries, and has recently filmed the comedy drama ‘In The Long Run’ created by Idris Elba.

Suzi Ruffell

Regarded as one of best up and coming acts, Suzi won Best Club Comic at the 2019 Chortle Awards.  It has been a busy few years for Suzi with four sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival resulting in her recording her show Keeping It Classy for Live From The BBC which was released last summer and a
clip racking up over 16 million views on Facebook. 

Suzi is also a regular on BBC Radio 4 including News Quiz and The Now Show as well as co-hosting the hit podcast Like Minded Friends with Tom Allen.

Reginald D Hunter

“Compelling onstage charisma…a towering presence in absolute control” **** - Evening Standard
 
Since his arrival in the UK, Reginald’s searingly honest observations both onstage and on TV have garnered him a cross-generational fan base. His TV appearances have included ‘Have I Got News For You?’, and two series of the BBC2’s hugely popular ‘Reginald D Hunter’s Songs Of The South & Songs of The Border’, documenting Reginald’s epic road trip through 150 years of American popular song. 

Reginald’s career in Comedy comes of age this year as he enters his twenty-first year of performing in the UK. During that time he has become one of the Comedy industry’s best-known performers for his distinctive take on the most diverse range of subjects.  His work can be brutally honest and is often considered to be controversial but it is always meticulously thought out and he has never been afraid to face challenging issues head on even when the focus is on his own principles or beliefs.

Dan Nightingale

It is his powers of observation that make him so entertaining. Outrageously funny” – Keeping up with NZ

Dan Nightingale is widely regarded as one of the best performers working on the comedy circuit today. He headlines all the major comedy clubs in the UK, won Best Act at North West Comedy Awards 2018 & 2019 and is a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe. Both a storyteller and an observational comedian, his stand-up is playful, honest, clever and creative. Astute, even acerbic social satire within a set of hilarious real life anecdotes, brought to life by big characters and engaging performance.

He has also performed TV warm up for the likes of Jonathan Ross, John Bishop and Celebrity Juice, and has received critical acclaim for his numerous Edinburgh shows and appearances at the New Zealand Comedy Festival.