The Middle East’s longest-running comedy night, The Laughter Factory returns this November with Dave Fulton, Mick Ferry and Alistair Barrie headlining the stand-up comedy tour.
One of America's finest exports Dave Fulton goes head to head with two Brits on an all-star Laughter Factory bill in November.
An effortless raconteur and hard-living survivor, Fulton comes from the straight-talking, risk-taking school of US stand-up – a comedic cowboy who is taking no prisoners.
He will face competition from the relaxed delivery of Mick Ferry, a bemused observational Englishman who highlights madness in the mundane, and has already firmly graduated to the big leagues with slots on hit TV showcases Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and John Bishop’s Only Joking.
A third voice comes from the slick, topical and slyly witty Alistair Barrie, an Edinburgh Festival regular who has twice been nominated for best show at the Fringe.
Comedy may not be a competition, but we think you'll struggle to pick a winner here.
Abu Dhabi will see the return of The Laughter Factory on Wednesday, November 9th at Park Rotana Abu Dhabi.
Tickets priced AED 140 are available online at thelaughterfactory.com
For more information: +971 50 878 6728
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Introducing the comics…
Dave Fulton
There is not a comic on the planet who sounds like Dave Fulton – an angry American with a chip on his shoulder, a drawer full of jokes, and a commandingly hoarse croak to deliver them in. A longtime resident of the UK, his work is that of a detached, cynically observational outsider.
In the words of Time Out London, Fulton represents “the tough talking, risk-taking school of yankee comics – intelligent, remarkably relaxed on stage and clearly out to create a bit of mischief.” Alight, then. In his own words, Fulton started in comedy “when it was popular and profitable – and decided to stay on past the point of when it wasn’t”.
Well, he still got to warm up for both Michael McIntyre and Jack Dee. Pulling material from his chequered, crazed life, expect to hear about near-death experiences, rampant hedonism and movie-like cliffhangers. Weirder moments include being detained under the terrorism act and surviving an avalanche. Hope to hear about both. Once described by Comedy Central as “looking like the underfed brother of Billy Connolly”, Fulton brings the swagger of a veteran and the humility of a survivor, a kind of rugged comedic cowboy – ironic, embittered and ready for one more crack of the whip.
Mick Ferry
Mick Ferry tells it like it is. A plain-talking Northern bloke in the second half of his life, his thoughts on marriage – or “comfortable hatred”, as he dubs it – are shockingly funny. And he makes it look so easy.
So easy, UK newspaper The Mirror gave Ferry a five-star review, hailing him as the sole flag-waver “keeping the art form of the belly laugh alive.” A consummate veteran, in 2013 Ferry was crowned Best UK Live Stand Up, and this year he was a winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards’s Panel Prize, as a member of the all-star Funz and Gamez team.
On the small screen, Ferry has been invited aboard Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, John Bishop’s Only Joking, as well as Comedy Blue and Comedy Central at the Comedy Store.
Mick made his big screen debut alongside legendary footballer Eric Cantona in Ken Loach’s Palm d’Or-nominated Looking For Eric, and worked as a writer on A-lister John Bishop’s Britain. His employer repaid the favour, saying “see him or regret it” – time to take Bishop’s advice.
Alistair Barrie
Alistair Barrie works fast – and thinks fast. He has to. This thoroughly likeable and charismatic comic’s material can be searingly topical, tackling the day’s headlines, as he does presenting the BBC satire Breaking the News. For five years Barrie also co-produced, wrote and performed in topical monthly show No Pressure to be Funny, praised by broadsheet The Observer as one of the top ten podcasts of 2015.
Effortlessly likeable and slyly witty, Barrie’s smart work has also been singled out by the UK’s Independent newspaper, which praised his “analytical nous and store of snappy gags.” But beneath the civilised facade, Barrie remains an accessible everyman, who “drops from the highbrow to the gutter in the draw of a breath,” according to the daily tabloid Metro.
Sharp, slick, effortless and dynamic are other words critics have heaped on Barrie, who has toured across Europe, most of Asia and parts of Africa, dropping in along the way for shows in Afghanistan, on a ship in the North Sea and at the world’s highest gig on top of a mountain in France. He also, somehow, finds time to crop as a core member of the weekly The Cutting Edge team at London’s Comedy Store.
An Edinburgh Festival regular with seven shows under his belt, 2012’s Urban Fogey and last year’s No More Stage Three were both runner-ups for best show at the Fringe, prompting dates at London’s prestigious Soho Theatre. As an actor, Barrie has shared the stage in plays with Adam Hills and Phil Jupitus. Another personal highlight was comparing the hilarious ‘Bye George – a comedian’s farewell to George W Bush, hosted at London’s Southbank Centre in 2009.
About The Laughter Factory
The Laughter Factory is the Middle East’s longest-running comedy night, proudly making the GCC laugh since 1997. Thanks to a longstanding partnership with the UK’s Comedy Store, The Laughter Factory hosts a fresh bill of three different professional comedians every month, many already familiar stars of the screen on hit UK TV shows.
With a reputation for quality and a sharp eye for talent, The Laughter Factory has showcased reams of A-list comics on their way to superstardom, including Michael McIntyre, Russell Peters, Ed Byrne, Dara O’Brien, Ross Noble, Jason Manford, Sean Hughes, Kevin Bridges and Frankie Boyle.
The Laughter Factory’s commitment to comedy has been recognised by numerous publications, winning several accolades over its two-decade history, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Time Out Dubai in 2013.
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