John Bishop to headline new Comedy in the Park event at Temple Newsam Leeds with Al Murray, Katherine Ryan, Rob Beckett and more

John Bishop, the Liverpool funny man, will be joined by the likes of Katherine Ryan, pub landlord Al Murray, Rob Beckett, Paul Choudry and host Judi Love.

The all-day comedy festival is being held at Temple Newsam on Saturday July 31, 2021.

Operations Director James Penny said: "We are excited to bring this huge comedy event to Leeds. We know Leeds is a city of comedy fans and Temple Newsam is a perfect location for this event.

"With Comedy in the Park our aim is to bring live comedy back in a big way. You will be guaranteed a night of side splitting laughter, with six of the world’s best comedians providing a night of entertainment in an open air theatre style setting. We will turn Temple Newsam into an incredible arena for the evening.

"When you buy a ticket for Comedy in the Park, you’re buying into an amazing experience, as well as all day comedy, you can access to various street food vendors and bars.

"Now more than ever, people need something to look forward to. It’s been a tough year for live comedy but it’s coming back with a bang!"

Will the event definitely go ahead with the Covid situation?

A spokesman said: "Promoters are confident that the event will be something to look forward to next year as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. However, because of the size of the location, plans can be adapted to run the event with social distancing should that be required and the event will be completely safe and COVID compliant."

Who is John Bishop?

Comedy superstar John Bishop headlines the event. Breaking through in the early 2000s, John Bishop is one of the most popular stand-up comedians in the UK, regularly selling out arenas across the country. The Liverpool born comic has won numerous awards throughout his career, and in 2014 was given an honorary fellowship from the city’s John Moores University for his contribution to the arts, and for his extensive charity work. A regular on television screens, John has achieved huge success with a number of his own comedy, entertainment and documentary shows including John Bishop’s Australia, John Bishop’s Britain, John Bishop’s Only Joking, The John Bishop Show, The John Bishop Christmas Show and John Bishop’s Gorilla Adventure. More recently he's done John Bishop’s Ireland for ITV1 and four series of ‘John Bishop: In Conversation With…, which sees him chatting, one to one with some of the UK’s biggest names. John has also hosted The Royal Variety Performance.

Who is Katherine Ryan?

Famed for her critically acclaimed tours, Katherine Ryan has been performing sell-out shows across the globe. Katherine Ryan is currently dominating the television and live comedy scenes both in the UK and abroad. Her debut 6 x 30’ Netflix sitcom The Duchess was released globally on the 11th September. Katherine not only stars in the lead role but also wrote and Executive Produced all episodes. The series follows two critically acclaimed stand-up specials for Netflix – the second of which, Glitter Room, was released globally on 1 July 2019, following 2017’s In Trouble. She was only the second UK based comedian to get a Netflix Global 60’ special released in all territories after Jimmy Carr – and is still the only woman. Katherine has co-hosted six series of Comedy Central’s smash hit show Your Face or Mine with Jimmy Carr. In early 2020, she could be seen on Comedy Central as a judge on Roast Battle Series 4, and has judged every other series. Katherine can currently be seen each week as a Team Captain on E4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Series 22 along with fellow Team Captain Rob Beckett and host Jimmy Carr.. Outside of television, Katherine has sold out venues across the UK, US and Canada with her unique shows. She took her last touring show, Glitter Room, to The Garrick Theatre in London’s West End for a four week run after a sell-out nationwide tour.

Who is Rob Beckett?

Mouth of the South Rob Beckett also joins the bill. Host of BBC One’s All Together Now and team captain on Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats, Beckett is also a star of BBC One’s Live at the Apollo, Would I Lie to You?, Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, BBC Two’s Mock the Week, ITV’s Play to the Whistle, ITV2’s Celebrity Juice and Sky’s A League of Their Own. And he is a host of Dave’s podcast, The Magic Sponge, alongside Jimmy Bullard and Ian Smith. It’s been a busy few years for Beckett and he’s got some sidesplitting stories to tell.

Who is Al Murray?

Laugh out loud with the original pub landlord as Al Murray prepares for pulling the pints again live in Wicksteed Park. As well as performing stand-up, Murray has obtained an eclectic list of TV credits over the years, including appearances on Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, Hell's Kitchen, Top Gear, Horrible Histories and numerous BBC panel shows. He has also written and featured in successful shows including Al Murray's Happy Hour and The Pub Landlord. Murray’s unique blend of satire, surrealism and observational comedy inspired by the world today is just what we all need right now.

Who is Paul Chowdry?

Paul Chowdhry is a multi-award-winning stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. In August 2019, his record-breaking stand-up tour show, Live Innit, was released as an Amazon Prime original special in 200 countries worldwide. This followed the enormous success of his Live Innit stand-up tour, which received two nationwide extensions, including five nights at Hammersmith Apollo and a sold-out show at Wembley Arena, making Paul the first British Asian stand-up to sell out the 10,000-seater venue. His performance there was voted by the public as one of Wembley Arena’s top ten shows of 2017. Paul has won Best Live Event at the ITV Asian Media Awards, Comedian of the Year at the Asian Voice Awards, and the ‘Eastern Eye’ Comedian of the Year award. In its following issue, The Eastern Eye described him as “the greatest British Asian comedian of all time”. On TV, Paul has hosted Stand Up for the Week (Channel 4), twice headlined Live at the Apollo (BBC One/Two), and was a much-loved contestant on the third series of the multi-award nominated hit show Taskmaster (Dave/Channel 4). Online, Paul is a prolific presence on social media, and his videos have been viewed over 35 million times on Facebook.

Who is host Judi Love?

Loose Women star Judi Love hosts the event. Love’s quick wit and infectious laugh quickly made her a fan favourite when she joined the Loose Women panel in 2020. Judi’s motto ‘Laughter is Healing’ provides a very accurate insight into how she deals with life’s many obstacles. Judi will take everyday situations, add her unique perspective and turn it into something hilarious. It’s the type of humour that resonates in people from all walks of life. Love has proved herself to be a hilarious comedian in both her stand-up and across TV and radio.

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