Fri 14th Feb 2025
Markus Birdman: We Are All In The Gutter...
7:30pm - 10:00pm
Price: £15.50 adult/£13.50 concession + 10% booking fee
Last year, after 20 years of stand up, I did Britain’s Got Talent. People asked me, “why now?”. Up ‘til that point I’d been very happy avoiding TV & fame - and in that sense, I’d been hugely successful! However, the year before, I’d also had a stroke and lost half my eyesight. I was now keen to talk about my experience, comedically, to as wide an audience as possible. I did quite well, got to the semi-finals & had my 15 minutes fame.
Careful what you wish for!
Who knew that talking about my experience would be so offensive? How dare I make jokes about my own strokes & blindness! “You nasty, awful man”.
This is a candid and hilarious new stand-up hour, talking about who I am, in an era where people are really keen to hear about who you are, so long as who you are, is something they want to hear about. Otherwise “you deserve your stroke*.”
Never mind the haters, I come back at you with love. Well, a couple of you can still kiss my half-blind backside**
*an actual online comment
**I never had a single complaint from anyone who had actually had a stroke.
As seen on Britain’s Got Talent(ITV) and Rosie Jones TV Disability Extravaganza(UKTV)
Dates
- Friday, February 14, 2025
The Hat Factory
The Hat Factory is Luton's leading arts and entertainment venue featuring live music, club nights, theatre, dance, films, children's activities, workshops, classes and gallery exhibitions.
It's a centre of artistic excellence set within a vibrant urban environment. It offers the young and the young at heart the chance to engage with the arts, to be inspired by the UK’s leading arts practitioners, and to develop artistic skills and confidence.
The Hat Factory is a combined arts venue in the centre of Luton. It opened in 2003 and since then has been the area’s main provider of contemporary theatre, dance and music. We work with both emerging and proven producers and artists, through programming, engagement programmes and our Associate Artist scheme. Their music programming is vibrant, offering an eclectic portfolio of high quality artists from the worlds of jazz, blues, folk, world music, indie and hip hop. Complementing their own programming, they welcome local/regional promoters to the venue, broadening their music offer and at the same time supporting young promoters and their businesses. They programme contemporary theatre and dance with a focus on fresh, new and relevant stories from both established and emerging touring companies who are making high quality work in the UK. They’ve programmed companies like Earthfall, Chickenshed, New International Encounter (NIE), Trestle, Menagerie, Eastern Angles, Atma, State of Emergency, 30 Bird, Tavaziva, Analogue and Jean Abreu Dance to name but a few.
Venue Hire
The Hat Factory has flexible spaces of various sizes to suit every need. See Venue Hire for more information.
Programming
To become part of The Hat Factory's programme, please contact our Head of Arts & Cultural Programmes, Fahim Qureshi at Fahim.Qureshi@LutonCulture.com
Other Live Performance Events
Fri 21st Feb 2025
The Comedy Bar
Gather your friends, grab some drinks and join resident MC Jake Pickford for an evening of stand-up comedy from the nation's up and coming talent.
The Hat Factory
Sat 22nd Feb 2025
Mark Thomas: Gaffa Tapes
Phil McIntyre Live Ltd proudly presents: Mark Thomas: Gaffa Tapes
The Hat Factory
Thu 27th Feb 2025
Connor Burns: 1994
From one of the most exciting emerging new stars in the UK’s live stand-up scene,1994 is Edinburgh native’s Connor Burns third solo hour. A prolific joke writer, his Scottish-level cynicism and self-deprecation punctuates a disarmingly relaxed persona and an intelligent, razor-sharp wit.
The Hat Factory