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The Red Rose Comedy Club |
The last laugh (but the search is on for a new comedy club venue)
Red Rose promises amazing final night as comedians lament loss of ‘a great institution’
A COMEDY club promises laughs all the way at a star-studded farewell show tomorrow (Saturday).
The line-up has been announced, with more surprises promised, for the final night at Finsbury Park’s Red Rose club.
This week, comedians Harry Hill and Jack Dee added their support to a final, desperate attempt to save the club which its owner maintains will not host comedy again.
Eddie Izzard, Mark Thomas and Jimmy Carr are among familiar television faces who made early appearances at the Seven Sisters Road club.
Last week, the Tribune reported how owner Ali Guvercin had decided to sell up, blaming the club for losing him money.
According to rumours – denied by Mr Guvercin – the Red Rose is to be turned into a snooker hall.
Its impending closure has dismayed comedians who spent their early years trying out new routines on the Red Rose stage.
Jack Dee said: “I always had a good time there and enjoyed the camaraderie. The nature of the circuit has changed though and I suspect they think they can make more money renting it out as a snooker hall, which is a pity.”
For Harry Hill, the Red Rose was “a great institution”, an important launch pad for comedians starting out and a club where founder Ivor Dembina operated a tough booking policy. “He didn’t book me for years,” the comedian said.
“I was always a bit intimidated by it. It had that long table to the left, which looked to me like the last supper. The crowd were always a little bit judgmental. They’d usually have someone for dinner.
“There were some great nights there because being a new comic you watched all the other comics every night. I haven’t played it for years but it’s strange to think I’ll never walk off that stage and take that money off Ivor Dembina then stare at it in the car afterwards, repeatedly counting it and saying: ‘Surely, it should have been more than 60 quid?’ ”
Promoter Jon Briley has promised fans he will have found a new spot for the club’s next show in February but has not yet announced the venue.
He said of the Red Rose: “It might be crumbling, literally falling apart in front of your eyes, but it would be great if people could come and brave the conditions one more time for the most amazing night of comedy.”
Visitors have been warned to come early to be sure of a place in the 200-seat hall. Tomorrow night promises to be a late one, starting with an hour-long show from sketch quartet Pappy’s Fun Club, who were nominated for the if.comedy award at last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Perrier award winner Daniel Kitson will compere a line-up that includes Robin Ince, Tim Vine, Ian Cognito, Red Rose founder Ivor Dembina, Hattie Hayridge and Ronnie Golden.
There are hopes that Grumpy Old Man Arthur Smith and Britain’s only Iranian stand-up comic, Omid Djalili, will make appearances but this has yet to be confirmed. |
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