Bringing Serious About Comedy to a hilarious climax, STAND UP will feature performances by Annette Fagon, Gráinne Maguire, Jo Enright, Josh Pugh, Mrs Barbara Nice, Shazia Mirza, Steve Day and Jay Droch.

The Rep and the University of Birmingham present a comedy line-up with some of the UK’s funniest comedians and local stars of the future. Don’t miss it!

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This April Fools’ Day Birmingham proclaims itself… SERIOUS ABOUT COMEDY.

Under Artistic Director Sean Foley, Birmingham Rep is set to become the only major theatre in the UK that takes Comedy seriously. And SERIOUS ABOUT COMEDY initiates a major new collaboration between The Rep and the University of Birmingham.

They say it’s good to laugh… but is it?
They say some comedians should be cancelled… should they?
They say satire is dead, but is it saying ‘satire is dead’ that is actually dead?
They say you can’t learn comedy… but can you grow funny bones?
And they say Birmingham’s a joke… but who’s laughing?

Co-directed by Sean Foley and Professor Ewan Fernie, Culture Lead for the College of Arts and Law and Director of the Everything to Everybody Project, this one-day event kicks off an ongoing research conversation about comedy. What does it mean, and how does it work – in plays, stand up, films, music, novels, and popular culture of all types.

Serious About Comedy starts a red-nosed enquiry into the most democratic of art forms. A new and ongoing forum where the comedy industry dances provocatively with academia and the public, in a shared pursuit of learning and laughs. But not necessarily in that order…