Jason Manford announces 2013 UK tour

Jason Manford has announced details of a mammoth 113-night tour of the UK – including a double date at Middlesbrough Town Hall next summer.

Manford will bring his new show, First World Problems, to Teesside on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 July next year, before dates in Newcastle (25 October), York (6 November) and Sunderland (8 November).

He returns to the North East for the first time since a guest spot at Ten Feet Tall’s Comedy Gala in 2011.

The Gala, also at Middlesbrough Town Hall, featured a string of TV comics – including Hebburn duo Jason Cook and Chris Ramsey – and helped raise £8,660.74 for charity.

Ten Feet Tall promoter Peter Vincent said: “Jason was absolutely fantastic at the Big Mouth Gala last year. The gig was jam-packed with great comics, and he was only due to do a quick 20 minutes to round off the night.

“But he did pretty much a full gig, was still onstage at midnight, and went down an absolute storm.

“It’ll be great to have him back with a brand new show next summer.”

Speaking about the tour, Manford added: “Some of you might think I’ve had a career change what with all the opera and musical theatre I’ve been doing lately.

“Not a chance, I’m excited to be getting back to what I really love the most – stand up!”

Manford has also joined Sarah Millican in trying to combat excessive booking fees.

He told his Facebook fans that ticket prices for his new show have been dropped from £25 to £22.50 “since so many ticket website charge so much of a booking fee, I on figure we can go halvesit!”

Tickets for his dates at Middlesbrough Town Hall go on sale at 9am on Friday 21 September.

For more info, see: tenfeettall.co.uk.