PRESS RELEASE

Monday 10 - Saturday 15 July

Emo Comes to Newbury Comedy Festival

Newbury Comedy Festival recently announced a major coup, as American comedy legend Emo Philips has confirmed three performances exclusive to this year's event.

Appearing in the UK for the first time in five years, Emo will perform on Thursday 13 - Saturday 15 July (7.30pm) at The Corn Exchange.

Emo Philips started over five thousand shows ago back in 1976, when there were but half a dozen comedy clubs in the United States. The Chicago area had two: the Comedy Womb (Where Comedians are Born) and the Comedy Cottage - Emo performed at both clubs five nights a week.

Emo's big break was an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman in 1984. That appearance was followed by an award-winning comedy album ("E=MO Squared"), a half-hour Cinemax Comedy Experiment, a one-hour HBO special/second comedy album (Emo Philips Live at the Hasty Pudding Theatre) and several more Letterman appearances.

A huge fan of British comedy since discovering Monty Python as a teenager, Emo was ecstatic to be flown to England in 1986 to do the Bob Monkhouse Show. This, along with an appearance on Friday Live the next year and on Saturday Live a year after that, made Emo a household name (at least in relatively-hip households) in Britain as well as in America. In 1989, Emo was the undisputed hit of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and he followed that up the next year with a two-week West End theatre run and a national UK tour.

Since then, Emo has been no stranger to British stages and television (including a series of adverts for Sony.) And on his triumphant return to the Edinburgh Festival in 2001, he sold more tickets than any of the other 600-plus acts on the Fringe.

Emo also counts himself very fortunate to have performed in Ireland (where he is a four-time Kilkenny Festival favorite), Australia (on his website, he proudly cradles a koala), Canada (happily and steadily since 1984, including many appearances at the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival) and France (for an ultra-sophisticated, English-speaking audience in Paris )

The third Newbury Comedy Festival runs from Monday 10 - Saturday 15 July, tickets will be available from Monday 20 February for Friends of The Corn Exchange and from Monday 27 February for the general public. Box office: 01635 522733 online: www.newburycomedyfestival.com.

Newbury Comedy Festival is sponsored by Vodafone, with additional support from other local and national organisations.

"His jokes are more perfectly constructed and his personality more compelling than anyone else's." The Guardian

"A glitteringly sharp comic mind...it's hard to criticise when your windpipe is in a reef knot from concussive laughter..." Sunday Herald

"It's a relief to discover the straightforward gagman... as a master of one-liners; he's way ahead of anyone else." The Independent

"Flawless comic timing." People Magazine

"Hilariously funny... a breathtaking performance." New York Post

Contact Details

General marketing enquiries: Tony Jones . The Corn Exchange . 01635 582666 x249 . tonyj@cornexchangenew.co.uk .