After spending last year being cluster-bombed with yoghurt on 'Taskmaster' and half-killed by Bear Grylls, multi award-winning Mark Watson returns with a UK National Tour doing what he's best at: being indoors.
Inspired by the basically shocking state of the world his children are growing up in, and a genuine, urgent desire to do something about it, Watson's new show is about empathy. 99 percent of the world's population is made up of other people: why can't we understand them? As scrawny and impassioned as ever, Mark tears into his topic with his notoriously high joke and rant-per-minute rate. And as the title suggests, in this show he takes his unusually collaborative approach one step further, aiming for an evening which will last longer in the mind than the hour the audience spend with him...
Mark is one of the country's most beloved and critically acclaimed live comedians, and has had a long and notable Fringe career since he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2005 Perrier Awards, before being awarded the 2006 if.comedy Panel Prize for performing one of his now-legendary marathon stand-up shows. Away from Edinburgh, he's taken home the Time Out Critics Choice Award, been nominated for a Barry Award from the Melbourne Comedy Festival, as well as winning Best Show at both Sydney and Adelaide.
Last year saw Mark write songs, hurl coconuts and beg piggy-backs as part of Dave's BAFTA-winning Taskmaster. In a less pleasant TV engagement, he lost almost three stone and faced a crippling lifelong phobia during a much talked-about stint on The Island with Bear Grylls (C4). Mark has also regularly appeared on BBC 2's Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and Mock the Week, BBC 1's Would I Lie To You and Have I Got News For You. He has performed stand-up on BBC 1's Live At The Apollo, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow and Channel 4's Comedy Gala and was the star of Dave TV's Road to Rio, as well as the host of BBC 4's We Need Answers. He's won Celebrity Mastermind and Celebrity Pointless and he once dressed up as a badger for terrible Sky One show Wild Things.
As well as his TV and live work Mark has been a Radio 4 mainstay for a decade, with his various series Mark Watson Talks A Bit About Life, Mark Watson Makes The World Substantially Better and Mark Watson's Live Address To The Nation. For the past two years he's hosted the final of the BBC New Comedy Award - one of the only comedy shows on the network to go out live.
On top of his comedy stardom Mark has seven books under his belt. Since last Edinburgh, his graphic novel Dan and Sam has been optioned as a feature film by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and is now in development.
What the press have said about Mark Watson:
'Unstoppably funny'? The Times
'Belly laugh brilliant...the audience was weeping with laughter'? Time Out
'Hugely entertaining, craftsmanlike, remarkable' The Telegraph
?'Mark Watson is a Prodigy'? The Guardian
'He sparkles with originality and verve' Chortle
'Arrive early for the longest queue in Edinburgh' The List
Tour Dates:
Friday 7th December Jersey: Opera House
www.jerseyoperahouse.co.uk / (01534) 511 115
Sunday 3rd February Bristol: Old Vic Theatre
www.bristololdvic.org.uk / 0117 987 7877
Wednesday 6th February Bromsgrove: Artrix
www.artrix.co.uk / 01527 577330
Thursday 7th February Bromsgrove: Artrix
www.artrix.co.uk / 01527 577330
Saturday 9th February Wimborne: Tivoli Theatre
www.tivoliwimborne.co.uk / 01202 885566
Friday 15th February Leicester: Little Theatre
www.thelittletheatre.net / 0116 255 1302
Sunday 17th February Salford: The Lowry
www.thelowry.com / 0843 208 6000
Friday 22nd February Colchester: Arts Centre
www.colchesterartscentre.com / 01206 500900
Thursday 28th February Pocklington: Arts Centre
www.pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk / 01759 301547
Friday 1st March Leeds: City Varieties
www.cityvarieties.co.uk / 0113 2430808
Saturday 2nd March Northallerton: The Forum
www.forumnorthallerton.org.uk / 01609 776230
Sunday 3rd March Liverpool: Epstein Theatre
www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk / 0844 888 4411
Friday 8th March Berwick Upon Tweed: The Maltings
www.maltingsberwick.co.uk / 01289 330 999
Saturday 9th March Aberdeen: Lemon Tree
www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/venues/the-lemon-tree / 01224 641122
Sunday 10th March Glasgow: The Stand
www.thestand.co.uk / 0141 212 3389
Thursday 14th March Bath: Komedia
www.komedia.co.uk/bath/ / 01225 489070
Friday 15th March Worcester: Huntingdon Hall
www.worcesterlive.co.uk/huntingdon-hall.asp / 01905 611 427
Friday 26th April Tring: Court Theatre
Saturday 27th April Tring: Court Theatre
Thursday 2nd May Aldershot: West End Centre
www.westendcentre.co.uk/ / 01252 330040
Sunday 5th May Birmingham: Old Rep Theatre
www.oldreptheatre.co.uk/ / 0121 359 9444
Friday 10th May Hertford: Theatre
www.hertfordtheatre.com / 01992 531500
Saturday 11th May Loughborough: Town Hall
www.loughboroughtownhall.co.uk / 01509 231914
Thursday 16th May Kendal: Brewery Arts Centre
www.breweryarts.co.uk / 01539 725 133
Friday 17th May Stockton: ARC
www.arconline.co.uk / 01642 525199
Saturday 18th May Sheffield: Leadmill
www.leadmill.co.uk / 0114 2727 040
Thursday 23rd May Brighton: Komedia
www.komedia.co.uk/brighton / 01273 647100
Friday 24th May Reading: Town Hall
www.readingtownhall.co.uk / 0118 937 3400
Saturday 25th May Cambridge: Corn Exchange
https://www.cambridgelivetrust.co.uk/cornex / 01223 357851
Sunday 26th May Wells: Cedars Hall
www.wells.cathedral.school/events/ / 01749 834483
Friday 31st May Swindon: Wyvern Theatre
www.swindontheatres.co.uk/Online/ / 01793 524 481
Saturday 1st June Bridgewater: MacMillan Theatre
https://mcmillantheatre.com/ / 01278 556677
Sunday 2nd June Coventry: Warwick Arts Centre
www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/ / 024 7652 4524
Thursday 6th June Maidenhead: Norden Farm
www.norden.farm/ / 01628 788997
Friday 7th June St Albans: Alban Arena
www.alban-arena.co.uk/ / 01727 844488
Saturday 15th June Canterbury: Gulbenkian
www.thegulbenkian.co.uk/ / 01227 769075
Friday 21st June Ivybridge: Watermark
www.ivybridgewatermark.co.uk/ / 01752 892220
Saturday 22nd June Falmouth: Trebah Amphitheatre
www.trebahgarden.co.uk/whats-on / 01326 252200
Sunday 23rd June Exeter: Corn Exchange
www.exetercornexchange.co.uk/ / 01392 665938
Thursday 27th June New Milton: Forest Arts
www.forest-arts.co.uk/ / 01425 619983
Friday 28th June Isle of Wight: Medina Theatre
www.medinatheatre.co.uk/ / 01983 823884
Saturday 29th June Andover: Lights
www.thelights.org.uk/ / 01264 368368
Friday 5th July Carlisle: Old Fire Station
www.oldfirestation.carlisle.city/ / 01228 598596
Friday 19th July Crawley: The Hawth
www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/The-Hawth / 01293 553636
Saturday 7th September London: Bloomsbury Theatre
www.thebloomsbury.com/ / 020 3108 1000
Thursday 12th September Chorley: Little Theatre
www.chorleylittletheatre.com/chorleytheatre/ / 01257 264362
Friday 13th September Selby: Town Hall
www.selbytownhall.co.uk/ / 01757 708449
Saturday 14th September Barnard Castle: The Witham
www.thewitham.org.uk/ / 01833 631 107
Sunday 6th October Winchester: Theatre Royal
www.theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk/ / 01962 840 440
Friday 11th October Pontardawe: Arts Centre
www.npttheatres.co.uk/pontardawe/ / 01792 863722
Friday 18th October Farnham: Maltings
www.farnhammaltings.com/ / 01252 745444
Saturday 26th October Newcastle: The Stand
www.thestand.co.uk / 0191 300 9700
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