Henning and Dan the latest additions to comedy line-up
Pupils invited to visit care home residents
THE Southport Comedy Festival is delighted to announce two more shows for this year’s line-up. German comedy ambassador Henning Wehn and Dan Nightingale, host of the smash hit Have A Word podcast, are the latest big names to be added to the 2024 festival programme, which also includes Liverpool comedian and TV star Chris McCausland.
Henning Wehn will be taking his new show to the festival on Thursday, October 3 as part of a mammoth tour which runs into 2025.
Acid Wehn – the title of Henning’s new show – will take an unbiased look at climate change, a topic sure to delight audiences. After all, everyone loves talking about the weather.
Rain or shine, all will be fine. Or maybe it won’t. Who knows?
Henning is no stranger to TV and radio with his most recent appearances including
Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You, Live At The Apollo, Guessable, Question Time, 8 Out Of Cats Does Countdown, Fighting Talk and The Unbelievable Truth.
Hot on the heels of his latest stand-up tour which saw him sell out the Philharmonic Hall in November, Dan Nightingale is doing something a little different in 2024.
He’s hosting a run of shows with some of his favourite comedians on the bill.
Tickets are already on sale for his Southport date on Wednesday, October 2.
Dan is an award-winning comedian, most notably for his work as an MC where he is held in high regard among his comedy peers.
Dan’s podcast, which he co hosts with Liverpool comedian Adam Rowe, won the Best Comedy Podcast at the Podbible awards in January 2022. They beat James Acaster and
Ed Gamble’s Off Menu into second place and Josh Widdicombe and Rob Beckett’s Parenting Hell which came third.
They have amassed over 18,000 monthly patrons, 55,000 YouTube subscribers and one million monthly viewers.
Henning and Dan join Liverpool comedian and star of TV Chris McCausland for the 13th annual Southport Comedy Festival in 2024 which will be held for a fourth year under canvas in a heated and seated luxury marquee, courtesy of Elite Marquees, at Victoria Park.
The festival team are busy planning this year’s 17-day event which will run from Friday, September 27 to Sunday, October 13.
There will be more exciting names to be announced over the next few months.
Keep an eye on the festival website or join the mailing list at https://southportcomedyfestival.com/mailing-list
FOR primary school kids and care home residents in Southport the festive season extended into January, thanks to a heartwarming initiative from care home provider Athena Healthcare.
Residents at Hesketh Park Lodge in the town received a special treat in the first week of the year when they were paid a visit by children from the nearby Marshside Primary School.
Founded in 2014, Athena Healthcare operates 10 care homes across the North West, including four in Southport and one in Formby.
The schoolchildren were invited to visit the home to receive a packed lunch, including a sandwich, a drink and a treat, free of charge. The food was donated by the care home’s catering supplier Brakes, which has also pledged a £200 donation to the initiative.
Athena spokesperson Stephanie Wardell said the company decided to give something back to the Southport community at this challenging time of year.
“We know times are hard for working and non-working families, and children can obviously be affected by that,” she added.
“It can be a long two weeks for families over that time with a lot of outgoings over Christmas, so we wanted to give back to the community and provide some Christmas cheer for the community of Southport and the kids of Marshside Primary School.”
Children were able to collect their free lunch at Hesketh Lodge, which is just five minutes’ drive from their school, where they were made very welcome by staff from Athena and the care home, as well as the residents themselves.
“Our Hesketh team were present throughout the week as always, to support and give a warm welcome to the families and children of Marshside Primary school,” Stephanie added.
“This is our first intergenerational project, and we believe it will go down a treat for both the kids and for our residents as well.”