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James Acaster and Ed Gamble are bringing the Off Menu podcast live to Manchester

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Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 13th April 2023

James Acaster and Ed Gamble have announced they’re taking their smash-hit Off Menu Podcast on a tour around the UK and Ireland.

And Mancs will get to see the comedians live in action later this year.

Launched back in 2018, and going on to become one of the most successful podcasts in the UK, the Off Menu Podcast is an interview-style show where the two comedians and best mates invite special celebrity guests into their ‘restaurant’ to choose their favourite starter, main course, side dish, dessert, and drink.

The critically-acclaimed podcast became a hit right off the bat, and now regularly tops the podcast charts in the UK – having racked up over 120 million downloads over the last nearly five years, and scooping a few awards along the way.

Now, the pair gearing up is to take the podcast on its first-ever live tour across the UK and Ireland, with a stop off here in Manchester this October.

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Off Menu: Live is taking to the stage at the O2 Apollo Manchester on Sunday 29 October.

The prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, as well as in Birmingham, Glasgow, and Dublin are just some of the other places the duo will entertain crowds on the tour.

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Off Menu Podcast Tour 2023

  • Sunday 8 October – Birmingham Hippodrome
  • Tuesday 10 October – Royal Albert Hall
  • Wednesday 11 October – Bristol Hippodrome
  • Wednesday 18 October – Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
  • Saturday 21 October – SEC Armadillo Glasgow
  • Sunday 29 October – O2 Apollo Manchester
  • Saturday 25 November – Brighton Dome
  • Tuesday 28 November – Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin
Off Menu: Live is taking to the stage at the O2 Apollo Manchester on Sunday 29 October / Credit: Academy Music Group

The live show will recreate the same format as the podcast, where a magical genie waiter (played by James Acaster) and a maître d’ (Ed Gamble) will quiz a different guest each night about their dream dinner live on stage.

They’ll also weave in a few anecdotes and comical stories as they go.

Read more:

Tickets to Off Menu: Live have first gone on sale to members of the Off Menu mailing list today (Thursday 13 April) at 10am, but general on sale is available from 10am on Friday 14 April.

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Grab tickets here.

Featured Image – Off Menu Podcast

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Fawlty Towers – The Play is coming to Manchester Opera House next year

Danny Jones Danny Jones Fawlty Towers The Play Manchester tickets

John Cleese’s much-loved Fawlty Towers – The Play is landing at the Manchester Opera House next year and we cannot wait.

The critically acclaimed theatre adaptation of the iconic sitcom, still revered as one of the greatest UK comedies of all time, first came to fruition back in 2016 and is now set to land here in Manchester city centre for the first time ever.

We’ve been treated to Fawlty Towers The Dining Experience at The Lowry Theatre in Salford before, but this is the first time the smash-hit West End stage production has headed North and judging by the reviews, audiences are about to be belly-laughing all the way to Torquay.

Coming to Manc crowds this time next winter, you can expect this one to be a sell-out.

Still busy playing a fully booked-up run at London’s Apollo Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue, the twice-extended West End show is packing up its stage for a massive tour across the UK and Ireland.

Announcing dozens of dates next year and well into the summer of 2026, including shows in Leeds, Liverpool, York, Stoke, Sunderland and many more, the show has earned four and five-star reviews from countless publications.

The Arts Desk have hailed it as a “comedy masterpiece [that] makes a seamless transition to the stage”, with actor Adam Jackson-Smith playing the lead role of Basil Fawlty and the entire cast said to leave viewers cackling with some of the best bits from iconic TV series recreated in the flesh.

Speaking on the stage adaptation, John Cleese said: “When we came up with the idea of bringing Fawlty Towers to the stage, I never thought it would get the reception that it has.

“On 23 December it will be 50 years to the day since we recorded the pilot at BBC Television Centre and I’m delighted the audiences we’ve had in the West End still think it’s as funny as ever. The announcement of the tour means many more people will now have the chance to laugh themselves helpless.”

John Cleese, now 85.

Set to hit the road 50 years on from the broadcast of the first episode on BBC Two back in September 1975, before going on to win countless awards including two BAFTAS and even being voted the best British programme of all time as part of a British Film Institute poll, it all feels very full circle.

Brought to life on stage by a creative team consisting of Cleese and fellow writer Connie Booth and directed by Caroline Jay Ranger – best known for her work on Blood Means Nothing (2019), My Week with Maisy (2024), Early Doors: Live (2021) and the Monty Python live show, there’s non-stop talent both on and off the stage.

One of the best part parts about a series that was stretched across just 12 half-hour episodes of TV is that you can just about manage to squeeze in the majority of the most memorable highlights into the approximately 1h50m run-time.

You can see the cast’s recent interview on This Morning HERE and for a short trailer for a better look at what to expect down below:

Read more:

Fawlty Towers – The Play comes to the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, 4 November 2025 and will be there until Saturday, 8 November.

General admission is live as we speak, with ticket options starting from £20 and going all the way up to £147.50 for the best premium seats and experience in the house.

You can grab your tickets HERE.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Press Images (supplied)

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Iggy Pop announces landmark gig in Manchester next year

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

Pivotal punk icon Iggy Pop has released a massive Manchester tour date as part of a series of UK gigs taking place in 2025.

‘The Godfather of Punk’ and all-round rockstar last visited the music capital of the North way back in 1993 where he performed at Manchester Academy more than 30 years ago.

The latest comeback gigs announced next year will see the living legend headlining the O2 Victoria Warehouse, which can host up to 3,500 avid fans and attendees.

Manchester can expect his usual on-stage antics, shirtless attire, iconic hairdo and plenty of energy. We’re no stranger to hosting some of the most iconic gigs of all time anyway, so this should be ‘She’s a Business’ as usual.

The former Stooges vocalist turned successful solo artist has been keeping himself a mainstay in pop culture featuring on the bill of ‘I Wanna Be Your Slave’ by Måneskin in 2021.

It’s safe to say the star’s touring absence has been truly felt as this new date comes as the result of ‘overwhelming demand’ following the announcement of two other headline shows: one in London and an already sold-out Glasgow gig.

Iggy Pop’s Manchester tour date is for all his fans in the North, giving them the chance to experience his biggest anthems in an electrifying live setting and venue that never disappoints. This crowd is truly about to be ‘Livin’ on the Edge of the Night’.

Come on, how often do you get to throw out Iggy Pop puns?

Alongside being a hugely influential voice during one of the most important and historic eras of music, in more recent times, the man born James Newell Osterberg Jr. has been advocating for upcoming artists on social media in collaboration with BBC 6 Music.

In 2010, Iggy Pop was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of his work alongside fellow bandmates The Stooges.

This isn’t the only time Pop found himself rewarded for his work, receiving a Grammy in 2020 on behalf of his solo work titled the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. He is a true legend not just of the genre but the music world as a whole.

Whether you’re attending for ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ or his more contemporary work like the raw hit ‘Frenzy’, he’s sure to roll out a selection of songs that spans his truly impressive musical career, one which dates back to the 1960s.

Iggy Pop is performing at O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester on Saturday, 31 May 2025 with tickets on sale from Friday, 6 December. There is also presale available for MasterCard and O2 members, as well as through the venue itself.

You can grab your HERE.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image – Publicity Picture (Supplied)

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