Free laughs at the first Fat Fox comedy festival

Comedy fans are in for a treat in coming weeks as a host of comics will be trying out their new Edinburgh shows in Southsea '“ for free.
Matt GreenMatt Green
Matt Green

The inaugural Fat Fox Edinburgh Preview Comedy Festival is putting on a dozen shows from renowned local and national touring acts.

The event has been put together by Sanj Arif and Matt Roseblade, who run the monthly comedy night at the Southsea pub.

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Matt says: ‘Getting everyone to agree was very easy. Essentially everyone’s keen to put themselves out there, so it wasn’t like herding cats or anything.

‘At the Fat Fox we want to encourage people to try out, and everyone here is proof that you can do it – they stood up and kept going and got really good.’

Entry is free, but each show will include a bucket collection at the end, to pay the acts for their time and expenses. The acts will get all of what’s in the bucket.

n May 31: Joe Foster’s Best Summer Ever! Joe is the 2015 winner of South Coast Comedian of the Year. He’s supported by Mike Cox, winner of the 2014 South Coast Comedian of the Year.

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n June 1: The regular monthly Wednesday night show, this month featuring Ben Robson, Martin Ratten and Johnny Wardlow

n June 2: Joe Wells: Ten Things I Hate About UKIP. Joe believes that you should treat everyone with kindness and respect, but that’s not easy when some of them vote UKIP.

n June 7: Chris Chopping: Premature Emasculation. Chris’s dry outlook and hilarious punchlines have led to a cult following.

Karen Sherrard: A Fete Worse Than Death. Karen welcomes you to the village fête in Llanfairchwaraesboncen, in the South Wales Valleys.

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n June 8: Ian Lane: ALOOF! A stand-up comedy show/keynote ramble about detachment.

n June 9: Matt Green: Writing To Harvey Keitel. Two years ago, Matt (pictured) spent six hours in a car with Harvey Keitel. Ever since then, people have been asking Matt what Harvey’s like. Presumably it’s also been happening the other way round? So Matt decided to write to Harvey to let him know what he’s been up to.

n June 28: Stage Against The Machine: Suzy Wilde, Dave Black and Simone Belshaw. Three young comics from London creating a buzz on the circuit with outlandish tales of relationships, race and cheese.

n June 29: Danielle Ward : Seventeen. Being a teenager in the 90s was hard (is your favourite band Blur, Oasis or Throbbing Gristle?) but now there’s a whole new set of things to worry about. Let Fareham’s Danielle guide you through this difficult time.

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n July 5: Hilary Fox: Permission To Be Me. Expect shockingly good songs, with more than a certain rude cheekiness and an abundance of affable charm.

n July 11: Chris Purchase: Distracted. Comedy person, roughly-hewn ham statue, writer, presenter, buddy cop sidekick and hater of authority figures.

n July 12: Cally Beaton & Cathering Bohart: Cat Call Shame. With a 20 year gap between them, Cally and Catherine show there’s no easy side of 40.

n July 13: James Alderson & Friends. Reigning WOW247 Best Comedy Award winner James isn’t going to Edinburgh this year. Instead, he’s bringing part of his show to Portsmouth.

The Fat Fox, Southsea

May 31-July 13

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