Comedian Leigh Francis will be stopping off in Salford as part of his just-announced tour of the UK. Called ‘My First Time’, it will be the first time that the Bo' Selecta and Celebrity Juice star has ever embarked on a live tour.
So he’ll be bringing with him his iconic characters including Keith Lemon, Bear, Avid Merrion, 'David Dickinson', 'Ant and Dec' and Myrtle.
The show will comprise sketches and stand up from Francis, who burst onto the comedy scene with his unhinged sketch show Bo Selecta! on Channel 4 in 2002. He then went on to devise panel show Celebrity Juice, which ran for 26 series, and re-work ITV show Through The Keyhole.
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In an exclamation mark riddled statement, Francis said: “Hey, really exciting news! Well exciting for me! I hope it’s exciting for you! Or at least provokes some sort of interest! I mean, just look how many exclamation marks there is in this quote! It’s definitely news with exciting intent!
“So what is this exciting news? I’m doing my first ever tour! Never done one before. It’s gonna have masks in it! The Bear, Avid Merrion, Amanda Holden’s Gran, not her actual gran but me playing her.
“I’ll also be playing Keith Lemon, I look just like him! It’s me doing all the characters I do that hopefully have the intent to provoke hilarity! So many exclamation marks, and the word ‘intent’ and ‘provoke’ twice! I’m excited!
“Come see ME being other people LIVE for the first time! It’ll be your first time and my first time! Hence the title of the tour MY FIRST TIME! (There’s another exclamation mark) how exciting!"
Francis has run into controversy with some of his other characters, however, notably in 2020, when Channel 4 took the decision to remove sketches from Bo' Selecta in which the comedian lampooned celebrities like Michael Jackson, Trisha Goddard, Craig David and Mel B using black rubber masks. Francis later made a full apology, admitting that he 'didn't realise how offensive it was back then'.
He plays The Lowry on March 17, 2024. Tickets go on sale on June 23.
Here are the UK tour dates in full:
March 6 - Bath Forum
March 7 - Guildford, G Live
March 8 - Bournemouth Pavillion
March 9 - London Palladium
March 14 - Cambridge Corn Exchange
March 15 - Sheffield City Hall
March 16 - Halifax, Victoria Theatre
March 17 - Salford Lowry
March 20 - York Barbican
March 21 - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
March 22 - Hull City Hall
March 23 - Bradford St George’s Hall
March 24 - Buxton Opera House
March 28 - Newcastle Tyne Theatre
March 29 - Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
March 30 - Liverpool Philharmonic
March 31 - Birmingham Symphony Hall
April 6 - Leeds Grand Theatre & Opera House
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