Claiming to be the only comedian in the world named after a Lincolnshire village, the wonderfully eccentric BOOTHBY GRAFFOE comes to Bridport to perform a brand new set of his famously surreal songs at the Lyric Theatre on Friday 12th April at 8pm.
Boothby’s national spring tour ‘Nomad – No Sane Either’ coincides nicely with his new CD release. Despite being out of the spotlight when he ‘retired’ from stand up to concentrate on writing over the past few years, this song-singing comedian scored a massive result on a crowd-sourcing website with a record 500% over-subscription for his new studio music album ‘Nomad’. In just 21 days, backers from all over the world pledged over 5 times more money than the target set. ‘Nomad’ features musical accompaniment from Stewart Lee’s violinist Nick Pynn, Canadian super-group Barenaked Ladies’ member Kevin Hearn, and movie star comedian Omid Djalili – coincidentally a talented bongo-player. Boothby said, “I’m surprised and delighted by the response. I just hope everyone enjoys listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it!”
Graffoe has won several awards, including the 2002 Adelaide Fringe Award for Excellence and the Time Out Comedy Award. He has been nominated for British comedy’s prestigious Perrier Award. He has had five series on BBC Radio 4: two of The Big Booth featuring amongst others Steve Frost, Richard Thompson, Ned Sherrin, Glen Tilbrook and Kevin Eldon; three of No Particular Order featuring amongst others Art Malik, Steve Frost and Paul Zerdin. He’s also written three plays for the stage: The Condition Of The Virgin, God and Adam and Hitler Sells Tickets. When he’s not writing and performing stand-up Boothby tours with Barenaked Ladies as their support. You can catch him on Radio 4 with Stephen K Amos and watch him on Comedy Central’s Alternative Comedy Experience.
His dislikes include name-droppers and people who use celebrity connections to promote themselves in an unrealistic way… Stewart Lee describes Boothby as “a multi-talented, darkly hilarious, grade A British eccentric, who can twist your funny bone one minute, and break your heart the next. A musical comedy act who is more musical than most musicians, and funnier than most comedians.” Omid Djalili, for whom Boothby writes extensively, says “If I had to compare him to anyone, it would be Spike Milligan.”
Comedians love him, the press give him rave reviews – come and see for yourself when Boothby Graffoe performs at Bridport’s Lyric Theatre on Friday 12th April.
Tickets (£10) are available from the Bridport Arts Centre Box Office (Tues – Sat, 10am – 3pm), 01308 424204 and online 24 hrs a day at www.bridport-arts.com
