Hilarity Bites Festival Special

Hilarity Bites Comedy Club x Ripon Theatre Festival feat. Tarot, Black Liver, Joe Kent-Walters, and host Lee Kyle

Tonight’s extra special comedy collaboration has a twist of theatre and a dash of music with a good dollop of improv squirted on the top.

Tarot

Born from the loins of multi-award winning sketch powerhouses Gein’s Family Giftshop and Goose, the on-stage members of Tarot, Adam Drake (Extraordinary), Ed Easton (Starstruck) and Kath Hughes (After Life) write it together with the off-stage members Ben Rowse (Petrichor) and Kiri Pritchard-McLean (Live At The Apollo).

Following a sell out critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2019 they went on to create their Radio 4 series Soundbleed and two short films Hiraeth and Pedwar. Their second Fringe show Cautionary Tales enjoyed similar success in 2022 followed by a week long run at the Soho Theatre, and can now be seen on ITVX.

They have also appeared on Dave’s News Desk at the Edinburgh Fringe, The Paddock for Channel 4 and Live from Barry Island for BBC – but this is a show that is best witnessed live and up-close!

“The jokes come out of nowhere, are bark-out-loud funny, and the whole hour is startlingly live” – The Guardian

“One of the balls-out funniest show of the Fringe” – Chortle

“Tarot will not give you nightmares, though you might wake laughing your head off” – Evening Standard

Black Liver

Ruth is from Blackpool. Keith is from Liverpool. Together they are BLACK LIVER.

Born out of the boredom of lockdown 2020, Black Liver (AKA comics Keith Carter and Ruth Cockburn) has become a surprise hit. The rock ‘n’ roll comedy duo are currently on nationwide tours with two of their shows, putting sounds and words together to make you smile inside and out.

“Iconic” – The Forgotten Arts Festival

“Theatre, comedy, musical, cabaret… you get them all with these two!” – Stage Handed Magazine

“Part music duo, part double act – Black Liver are that quirky couple you want as your best friends…” – Northern Uproar

Joe Kent-Walters

BBC New Comedian of the Year 2023

Joe Kent-Walters is a multi-award winning comedian from Huddersfield. He has been delighting audiences up and down the country with his idiosyncratic style of outrageous character comedy, most notably with his comic creation Frankie Monroe, MC of a working mens club in Rotherham that is a portal to hell.

His performance as Frankie saw him win the 2023 BBC New Comedy Award after a “barn storming” (Ibid) set at Glasgow’s Kings Theatre Joe is now in development with the BBC and is one of Jiksaw’s 2024 ‘Faces of Comedy’.

Prior to his BBC success Joe won the 2021 Chortle Student Comedy Award which saw him play the main comedy stage at Latitude festival and tour Australia, performing at the Sydney Comedy Store.

“Mesmerising and unpredictable presence” – Chortle

Lee Kyle

In his never ending quest not to have a proper job, Lee Kyle spent time as part of an all male Spice Girls tribute act before spending a decade as a professional wrestler.

Managing the difficult trick of being both odd and relatable, he did a show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013 that he heard was well received but he doesn’t read reviews because his psyche is too fragile to handle them so he isn’t totally sure what they said.

Armed with props and a rapid gag rate he cuts a confident, if off-beat figure on stage. His jokes veer between the clever and the silly and deliver more than their fair share of belly laughs.

“Had everyone on their feet – Sublimely ridiculous” – The Northern Echo

“A brilliant performance.. Pure genius!” – NARC Magazine

“Quirky and original – the highlight of the night” – Giggle Beats

Note: Line-ups are subject to change in extreme, and unavoidable, circumstances.

Show may contain strong language and adult themes.

Doors 7.30pm, Show starts 8pm

Ticket price: £10