A series of open air comedy shows expected to go ahead this summer have been cancelled. John Bishop, Jason Manford, Katherine Ryan, Dara O Briain, James Acaster, Al Murray, Rob Beckett, Tom Davis, Fern Brady, Russell Kane, Desiree Burch and many more were due to appear at the Comedy In The Park events when they were originally scheduled in 2021. These rescheduled shows now not taking place are separate to the acts' other upcoming gigs and tours which are still all set to go ahead.
The promoters issued the following statement on their website: "It is with a heavy heart and deep regret that we must announce the cancellation of all of our scheduled events, and the end of operations for M&B Promotions Ltd and our ticket platform Simple Ticketing Ltd.
We have successfully delivered hundreds of events all over the country since 2019. With our final programme of events taking place in December 2021.
We were amongst many high-profile event organisers forced to reschedule many events due to the COVID 19 pandemic. With vast amounts of finance already tied up with artist deposits, suppliers, venues and marketing this has put a huge financial strain on the company.
Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, this combined with the extreme logistical and financial setbacks caused by the pandemic mean it’s no longer viable for us to continue trading.
We have contacted all customers, artists, venues and suppliers to notify them of this terrible situation we have found ourselves in.
We would like to thank the artists that have worked with us, the venues that have hosted our events and the thousands of people who have supported us by attending our past events.
To those who have been let down by this situation, we are deeply sorry. Ticket holders for any cancelled event who purchased tickets via easyticketing.co.uk should contact either Paypal for a refund or your bank/credit card provider to administer a charge back. If tickets were purchased anywhere else, please contact your point of purchase."
Jason Manford had said when the shows were announced: “I can’t wait to be able to get back out on the road again. Whilst it’s been great to get creative during lockdown, there’s nothing that compares to live comedy. After what’s been a testing year for all of us so far, it’ll be great to get up close and personal with audiences where we can all have a fun night and a big laugh together.”
Tickets were priced from £45. The promoters M&B had planned to transform each green space into a carnival of comedy with award-winning street food, pop up cocktail bars, cafés, bars, shops and stalls.
