Roomzzz Proudly Sponsors the First Creatures Comedy Festival

The Creatures Comedy Club is Manchester’s first independent comedy club since the Comedy Store opened in 2000 and the only club to run 7 nights (and more than 15 shows) a week, but this is its first foray at organising a festival!

However, with over 30 acts performing over 10 days between 19th July to 28th July, ranging from newer comedians to the scene to TV regulars such as Larry David and Maisie Adam, there is a lot to look forward to.  Gary Skipper, Marketing Manager of Roomzzz went to the launch event to sample everything that the festival has to offer. 

Gary with Jess and Chelsey from the Creatures Comedy Festival Team

Evan Desmarais

The compere for the evening was Creatures Comedy Club founder and Canadian Evan Desmarais who effortlessly spun comedy gold from his interactions with the audience. Whether conversing with a group from Vancouver, a ‘proper’ man from Preston or a software engineer who loved himself a bit too much, his quick wit and experience meant that the jokes came thick and fast and he manage to avoid hitting any comedy cul-de-sacs which must less experienced comperes manage to do on occasions. 

Evan’s show ‘Golden hour’ is on Saturday 27th July at 5.15pm. Roomzzz guests can get a 50% discount on a limited number of tickets using the code ‘goldenhour’. 

Alex Stringer
First up was Scouser Alex Stringer. Sometimes it takes a while for an audience to warm up on a mixed bill night, but Alex had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand as soon as she walked on stage with her laid-back style and her tales of living with her ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ mum, gender revealing dates and the dangers of finding Tinder dates on the other side of the Mersey. 

Alex’s Show ‘Happy Hour’ took place on Saturday 20th July. 

Michael Mannion 

Although Michael Mannion doesn’t have a show at the festival, apparently, he will be popping up through-out, and the event will be a poorer experience without him. 

The Roast Battle Manchester co-founder immediately addressed the elephant in the room regarding his posh look and accent, although he addressed it in more direct terms that can’t repeat here! 

However, as he explained in his set, his poshness doesn’t run in the family and stories regarding exchanges between him and his extremely Mancunian dad made for a very funny routine. 

Kieran Lawless 

Kiernan Lawless didn’t dispel my belief that all Irish people are inherently funny. He had a really effable nature, bundles of energy and is a really natural on stage.  His years of experience on the circuit and MCing skills were obvious as a great deal of his set involved interacting with the audience which made his set feel like an effortless conversation rather than someone delivering a scripted comedy routine

Kieran’s show ‘Kieran Lawless vs Everyone Who Ever Lived’ was on Sunday 21st July. 

Ben Silver 

Ben Silver had a really nice laid-back approach on stage which was really engaging. It was obvious that he is a real comedy connoisseur as his set included a full array of joke types which ranged from puns which just fell on the right side between a groan and genius (a pun on the name of the largest music festival in the UK particularly stood out!) to a full-on meta dive analysing the material that he was actually delivering whilst also referencing his influences such as Stewart Lee and Daniel Kitson, both comedians’ comedians.

Brendan Reece 
The headliner for the evening was award-winning comedian and self-confessed mummy’s boy, Brendan Reece who you may have seen on Live at The Apollo, Celeb Coach Trip or Steph’s Packed Lunch. He even racked up over 6 million YouTube hits for his stint on Top Gear. 

Brendan brought the evening to a fine close with tales of his recent weight gain, his insightful take on the meaning of LGBTQIA+ and the ease of his role as a supportive ally, as well as his thoughts about the best way to wind up a gammon. 

Brendan’s show ‘Me Me Me’ is on Sunday 28th July, but is unfortunately already sold out. 

If the quality of the launch event is any indication of what is instore for the rest of the festival, then there is much to look to forward to and the Creatures Comedy Festival is certain to become a staple in the comedy calendar for years to come. 

Roomzzz guests can get 50% off tickets for the following shows (limited tickets available):

Elf Lyons – Wed 24 July `@` 20:45 (Code HORSES)
Evan Desmerais – Sat 27 July `@` 17:15 (Code GOLDENHOUR)
Harriet Dyer – Sun 28 July `@` 15:30 (Code SKIN50)

Book now!

Need somewhere to stay? Roomzzz Manchester Victoria is only a 9-minute walk from the venue.