Alan Partridge is to return to Manchester for his new tour ‘Stratagem With Alan Partridge'. Steve Coogan’s enduring comedy icon is, according to the pre-show blurb, all set to spread a ‘message of hope’ to the country.
He hits the AO Arena on May 13 and 14, and the content looks to be really first class. “Wearing a head-mic favoured by TED talkers, market hawkers, TV evangelists, backing singers and carnival barkers, Alan combines all these roles and more,” reads the accompanying bumf.
“It’s a manifesto for the way we can move forward, a roadmap to a better tomorrow, an ABC for the way to be. Devised, written, choreographed, performed, and funded by Alan Partridge, Stratagem sees Alan not just treading the boards but pounding them, atop stages graced by such luminaries as Michael Ball, Jack Whitehall and Welsh rockers the Stereophonics.”
As with all the new Alan Partridge material, from his documentaries Scissored Isle to his podcast From The Oasthouse, it’s been penned by Coogan alongside brothers Neil and Rob Gibbons.
Coogan is, of course, among Manchester’s most lauded comic exports, having been brought up in Middleton. Many of his early character creations, such as Paul and Pauline Calf, and Duncan Thicket, were notably Mancunian. He also began his comedy career alongside other celebrated Mancunian comics including John Thomson and the late Caroline Aherne.
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