PUBLICAN Anthony Theophanous launched his ‘Fat Theo’s Comedy Club’ in Bromsgrove on the weekend, with four comedic acts taking to the stage before a packed audience.

Over 80 people attended the sell-out gig at The Duke of York pub in Sidemoor, which saw Anthony’s long-awaited return to the West Midland’s comedy circuit as compere – following the closure of his comedy club in Redditch nearly a year ago.

One-liner comedian Stephen Dodd opened the show on November 25. He was followed by The Punguin and Mr Badger, aka Donald Mackerel. 

Jonny Cole closed the show, championing the Black Country with his original, tongue-in-cheek musical comedy, which was a huge crowd-pleaser.

Despite the audience being fairly vocal at this stage of the night, Cole demonstrated his award-winning status as a performer and his parody songs ‘No Woman, No Sky’ and ‘Drink Like Yam from Tipton’ had the audience singing along with him, rather than heckling him.

The launch of Fat Theo’s Comedy Club in Bromsgrove was an emotional experience for Anthony Theophanous, who first embraced the world of comedy entertainment during his rehabilitation following a brain haemorrhage in 2016.

He said: “As part of my rehabilitation doctors suggested I explore activities to rebuild pathways in my brain and I discovered a course on comedy. I’d always been a huge comedy fan and during the course I caught the performing bug when I discovered people found me funny.”

He went on to organise comedy shows, making strong connections within the UK comedy circuit and became a promotor, championing upcoming talent. He opened his first comedy club in Redditch in 2022.

The next ‘Fat Theo’s Comedy Club’ event in Bromsgrove is on Saturday, December 23. For more information or a link to buy tickets visit Facebook @thedukeofyorkbromsgrove