Next Comedy Under The Stars show, with Julian Deane, Dominic Holland and Phil Nichol, at The Farmer Inn, Catherington, will be the last

What began as an exercise in necessity during the pandemic, has become a series of regular shows drawing big-name comics, not to mention two comedy festivals.

But as comedian and organiser of the shows, James Alderson says: ‘Pending a miracle, this will be the last one.’

Fullers brewery, which owns the pub and land, is believed to have sold the field. And although no planning application has yet been made for the site, James says: ‘Who knows what might happen? But I have to be fair to everyone, I didn't want to end with a whimper and announce in March that we're not coming back because then everyone would be gutted they weren't at the last one.’

James crossed paths with The Farmer Inn when casting about to find a venue for a possible outdoor show while comedy clubs and traditional avenues for performing were closed by Covid restrictions.

He put the tickets on sale for the first show, to take place in June 2020, which sold out in a week.

After weeks of fighting red tape and arguing with officials who admitted they didn’t exactly know what the rules were and the distinction between ‘hospitality’ and ‘events’, salvation came from one of the prime minister’s daily briefings.

‘It was late May that it finally came out,’ James recalls, ‘I was sat there on my own watching. His first sentence was: “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to confirm that outdoor events can go ahead.” I just burst into tears because I'd been waiting for about six weeks since I'd sold the show out, and now with about three weeks to go, he'd confirmed it.

‘This could keep paying my mortgage, keep food coming in – I had no other income coming in. I couldn't go and gig, I couldn't run any other clubs.

‘As soon as he said it was fine, I booked in loads more dates and they all sold out as well.’

Since then it has played host to big names including Russell Kane, Reginald D Hunter, Al Murray and many others.

‘The one benefit of having no comedy clubs open is that there were lots of comedians who had nothing to do! I was approaching famous comedians I'd met a few times, people I'd never normally be able to convince to come out of London unless it was a tour. All these people who'd only be at The Kings or The Guildhall, or whatever, and when they knew there was somewhere where they could get out and perform…

‘We all feel great when we're up on that stage. I can be really unwell, but when I get on stage, it's gone. It's not even that I forget about it or I'm distracted, it goes. Getting up on that stage for a comedian really cleanses the soul and makes you feel magic again.’

They even carried on through the winter: ‘We just put thick coats and sleeping bags on and we had hot chocolate and marshmallows and soup – and people were sat outside in December!’​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

When the outdoor shows began, it enabled the fans who’d been joining in the nightly Facebook livestreams James was doing in the first months of lockdown to physically come together. For him, this was the best part of the outdoor shows.

‘It's brought the whole collective together. It went from 50-100 joining me every night, to getting together and seeing each other face-to-face. They all knew each others' names and knew that they enjoyed what I was doing, but when they actually got together – when they turned up in June, there was about 30-40 of that group who had T-shirts and had stickers I’d had made up saying they were part of the Cheers team,’ the name James had given the livestreams.’

When James played the theme song of the Cheers sitcom – a regular feature of the livestreams, he recalls: ‘They all started waving their arms in the air – about half of them were doing it automatically, then that whole field was just doing it. The comedians doing that show with me, they couldn't believe what was going on – it was like a cult – and that was magic.

‘It was just special, after the three or four months we had, all shut in our houses, it was the first time we'd been out, albeit stood two metres apart and with everyone in their little spaces marked out on the field. But they got to say “hi”, and it was a lovely moment.

‘These regulars who've come from this awful time, they feel like family now, that's why it's emotional for me, it brings it all back.’

The final show will star Julian Deane, Dominic Holland and Phil Nichol, with James hosting, from 8pm on Saturday, August 27. Tickets are £16. Go to comedyunderthestars.co.uk.