The Manchester Comedy Festival was founded by Don Ward, who owns both the London and Manchester Comedy Stores, and Ian Wilson of  IMWP. The festival has the full support and endorsement of the Manchester City Council and its main media partners are The Manchester Evening News and Key West .

Over the ten days of the inaugural event in 2001, in excess of 50,000 people sampled the delights of Manchester Comedy Festival with upwards of 20,000 audience members enjoying over 50 hours of live comedy and 30 hours of street entertainment. During the six weeks leading up to the 2001 Festival, the official Manchester Comedy Festival website was visited by 10,000 people per week.

The Manchester Comedy Festival 2002 spanned eleven days with events at an increased number of venues within Manchester City Centre including The Buzz, The Frog & Bucket, The Dancehouse Theatre, Bar 41, The Wildcat Comedy Club, The Comedy Balloon, Clown Fish, The Craic 'n' Comedy Laughter Lounge, XS Mularkey and Mirth On Monday. Its administrative base is the Comedy Store in Manchester’s Deansgate Locks which will also staged shows on a nightly basis. Artists appearing in the 2002 Festival included Barry Cryer, Daniel Kitson, Josie Lawrence, Tony Slattery, Phil Kay, Dave Spikey, Omid Djalili, Nina Conti, Jim Gaffigan and Adam Hills.

And so to 2003....

For details of the Festival programme as it unfolds visit the Manchester Comedy Festival web site: www.manchestercomedyfestival.com

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