New Chichester comedy club is launching

Stitches Comedy Club will make its debut at The Fishbourne Centre, Fishbourne on Friday, June 10 from 8pm-10.15pm (minimum age 18).

Award-winning comedian James hosts the evening and introduces three recognisable faces off the telly.

“Opening the show is Gareth Richards.

"Gareth is tour support for Frank Skinner when Frank is touring around the UK theatres, and you’ll also recognise Gareth from The Russell Howard Show and Live At The Electric on the BBC.

“Next up is Laura Smyth, a hilarious new act who has already performed on Comedy Central, Jonathan Ross’ show and Alan Davies as Yet Untitled.

“Headlining is the legendary Paul McCaffrey. Paul originally shot to fame on BBC’s Impractical Jokers but has since gone on to support the late Sean Lock on tour and appeared regularly on our TV screens on The Russell Howard Show and more recently the latest series of BBC’s Live At The Apollo.”

James added: “I have run comedy clubs for many years but they are always a big effort for people to get to, having to get into the city whether it is Brighton or Portsmouth or London.

"It just makes it feel like it is such a big thing and I have always thought, as do a lot of my comedy colleagues, that it is great just to do something much more local and smaller scale and more intimate.

"And the lovely thing is that if you do it regularly then people just love it because they feel that it is their own comedy club. They really do start to feel that it is theirs within a few months.

"And rather than some big 400-seater comedy club where you know no one, you go along with your friends and your partner or whoever and it is a really lovely atmosphere where people do feel like they know each other.

“We've got nights coming up in Fishbourne and also in Goring and we're starting in Bognor in September and I would like to start in Arundel, places that are not big city venues.

"These are places where they might have a small cinema and a few pubs but certainly not a big-city feel.

"And I feel that they are exactly the kinds of places that will really value top-quality comedy on their own doorstep.

“It will definitely be comedy for the over-18s, the kind of comedy that you would expect to get at the Comedy Store in London, the kind of comedy where the comedians are not restricted by the kind of censorship that they would have on the BBC.

"It will be comedy club comedy and there will be a big range of comedy, musical comedy or prop comedy or stand-up comedy.

"It will be the full breadth of the spectrum but just don't bring your ten-year-old. It is certainly not going to be crass comedy and it won't be heavy on adult comedy but it will definitely be something for the adults to have a grown-up night out at.”

More details on www.stitches.fun. Dates are Fishbourne June 10, September 9; Bognor September 24; Goring October 1, November 19.