Comedy night fundraiser returns to Kineton

The comic line-up returns to the Kineton Village Hall for the second time to boost funds for the local school at 7.30pm this Friday March 6.

Anne Docherty from Stratford and Mark Hinds from Warwick are the creative minds behind Comedy at Work, an innovative new business that brings stand-up to venues across the country in support of local charities.

Bringing on the laughs in Kineton will be a lineup of five comics, including Elliott (Ell) Powell, who will be back by popular demand for the second time to Kineton.

Apart from Ell, who will serve as the compere, it will be a completely different line up of comedians.

Anne said: "Word has got around the comedy world about what a great audience this is in Kineton, and we have a queue of comedians wanting to come and perform.

"We have Ben Lund travelling from the North. We have Samantha Day, who has fallen in love with comedy and given up her career as an accountant to pursue comedy full-time. We have Sachin Kumarendran, who was a finalist in last years Jason Manford’s Newcomer of the Year. Our headline act is Jake Pickford, who is travelling up from London."

Elliott (Ell) Powell, age 28 from Warwick, is a history graduate from Leeds University who then later took on a corporate sales job.

Ell worked selling Coconut Water to retailers in London. He said despite rarely hitting his targets he was still promoted several times and just didn’t give up, which meant he stood out.

He talks about a time when he was supposed to sell 30 boxes of coconut water, and he only sold one. Out of embarrassment he bought the other 29 on his credit card. He ended up selling them to his friends for £10 a box and taking a £50 loss on each box.

One day he had a sudden realisation that he didn’t actually want to be the King of Coconuts. Much to his parents dismay he gave up his sales job and moved back home at the age of 26.

After trying a few gigs and taking a course while in London he realised that comedy was the area he would like to focus.

Ell has spent the last year on the ‘comedy circuit’.

He said: "I love the creative freedom of comedy. I really enjoy the process of taking an idea and working on it until it is in a form that will make people laugh. The same way a carpenter would take a piece of wood and turn it into a chair.”

Tickets to the stand-up comedy evening are £10 from the Kineton Primary School office or online using the code FOKPS19 through the following web link: https://www.comedyatwork.com/home

Tickets are £12.50 online without the code through the Comedy at Work website, and £15 at the door.

The bar will again be run by Friends of Kineton Primary School.

Ryan Harris, the chair of the Friends of Kineton Primary School, said: “Once again we are very excited to be welcoming back the team from Comedy at Work for another comedy night at the Kineton Village Hall. When Anne first reached out to the Kineton village community looking for a local charity with which to work, we at Friends of Kineton Primary jumped at the opportunity.

"Not only does the selling of refreshments at such an event prove a great way of raising additional funds for the school, which are used to directly support our children’s education, Comedy at Work are providing a vital outlet that promotes a positive outlook on life through laughter, something that we at FOKPS believe is hugely important as our community here in Kineton continues to grow.”