The Kenneth More Theatre will act as the venue for a comedy night in memory of a friend, and Redbridge comedian and EastEnders actor Terry Alderton will be one of the many acts to perform.
The theatre, in Oakfield Road, Ilford, is hosting the Oh So Funny comedy club, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support and St Mark’s Hospital, near Harrow, north west London on Sunday.
Organiser of the show, Nigel Lovell, said: “The Kenneth More Theatre is an excellent venue and I can’t recommend them highly enough.”
Stand up comedian, Lovell organised the evening in memory of his friend Dale Jacobs who died of cancer at the age of 26 in 2008. Dale’s death came just a few days later than Lovell’s dad who also died from cancer.
The night will be the last of a series of fundraising events including football matches, music nights and quizzes in Dale’s memory which have so far made more than £45,000 for Macmillan and St Mark’s, where Dale was cared for throughout his illness.
A spokesman for St Mark’s Hospital Foundation, said: “So far, thousands of pounds of vital funds have been raised in memory of Dale Jacobs, a bowel cancer patient of St Mark’s Hospital Foundation. Funds raised in Dale Jacob’s memory will go towards fighting bowel cancer and diseases.”
Lovell is a friend of all of the performers, so it wasn’t difficult for him to bring together a star-studded line-up, made up of Alderton, Phill Jupitus, Kate Smurthwaite, James Alderson, and Patrick Monahan.
Alderton, who lives in Chigwell, started off his comedy career when he was 18 as he auditioned for Sky’s talent show, Sky Star Search, and won the competition, beating Chesnee Hawkes in the second round. His latest role is cab driver Terry Spraggan in EastEnders. Acting as the love interest of Bianca Butcher (Pasty Palmer), the pair will be leaving the soap in the autumn.
Jupitus, from Barking, gave up his job at a job centre in 1984, to fulfill his dream of being in a band, but it was when he started hosting a BBC radio show in 1995, that he really came into his own. He has been a member of the Never Mind The Buzzcocks panel since 2009 alongside Noel Fielding.
Only woman of the night, Kate Smurthwaite, is a regular on political talk shows such as Question Time and BBC 1’s The Big Questions and made an appearance on Radio 4’s Four Thought series, where she wrote and performed an act based on sexist jokes and sexism in comedy.
She said: “There are so many funny women out there. When I teach classes there are more women than men show up and so many of them are so original and so talented.
“But the perception that women aren’t funny... an obnoxious idea, of course my gender doesn’t affect my ability to do my job, any more than my race, sexuality or weight does... is so accepted in our culture.”
Irish-Iranian comedian Patrick Monahn won the ITV comedy talent contest, Show Me The Funny in 2011 and has since performed at the Adelaide Fringe Comedy Festival in Australia, the Edinburgh International Festival and the Royal Albert Hall.
Monahan said: “I love doing shows, I’ve never performed at this theatre before, so it will be more excitement than nerves. I get so excited about meeting new people that I can’t wait to get out on to stage and hug people.”
For the last 12 months, funnyman James Alderson has been making his mark, not only by supporting Jo Brand on her tour but by being named for the third time, as the “best comedian” by the British Comedy Guide Awards.
Lovell added: “I’m looking forward to doing something that would make Dale proud of us, raising money in order to help other people.”
Tickets for the Oh So Funny comedy club night are available on ohsofunny.co.uk.
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