Laughing Cows returns to Manchester with Suzi Ruffell
(c) Andy Hollingworth Archive
North West comedy promoters Laughing Cows are kicking off 2015 with another brilliant line-up featuring up-and-coming comic Suzi Ruffell.
Ruffell will top the bill at Laughing Cows’ first show of the year at Manchester’s Frog and Bucket on Sunday 25 January.
Fresh from her double-header UK tour with Romesh Ranganathan, Ruffell has previously supported Alan Carr, Josh Widdicombe and Kevin Bridges.
Touted by The Guardian as a “stand-up gem”, she has made appearances on BBC Three’s Ed Comedy Fest Live, XFM Comedy Specials, as well as penning gags for 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Last Leg and Stand Up For the Week.
Support on the night comes from Nicola Holt, Rachel Morris, Denee Cassidy and Sam Whyte, with resident MC Kerry Leigh overseeing proceedings.
Laughing Cows began life in London in 1998, when founder Hazel O’Keefe took up the gauntlet thrown down by a well-established club promoter, after he confessed he wouldn’t “risk” booking two female acts to play the same bill.
O’Keefe set up her first club within the bar she was then running in London. A few years later she returned to her native Manchester where she opened an additional club. Sixteen years on there are Laughing Cows club nights all over the country including Edinburgh, Cardiff, Shrewsbury, Liverpool, Uttoxeter and Todmodern as well as in Berlin and Belgium.
Not content with promoting existing female talent, Laughing Cows also operates a new act night, Laughing Calves. Both Hayley Ellis and Kerry Leigh cut their teeth there, while Sarah Millican was a resident MC early in her career. Laughing Cows continues to host to big name comics, such Jo Brand, Jenny Éclair, Janice Connolly, Donna McPhail, Gina Yashere, Isy Suttie, Shappi Khorsandi and Jo Caulfield.
Of the club Isy Suttie noted: “I have always loved gigging for Laughing Cows, they have such a love of comedy and look after the acts so well. As a consequence the gigs are a joy to play because they’re not out to make a fast buck; they really care that everyone – acts and audience – have as much fun as possible.”
Laughing Cows, feat. Suzi Ruffell, Nicola Holt, Denee Cassidy, Rachel Morris, Sam Whyte, and compere Kerry Leigh, The Frog and Bucket, Manchester, Sunday 25 January, 8pm, £7 advance/£10 on the door.
