“tremendous performance, encapsulating the politics of modern day Britain”
★★★★★ Lewis McKenzie, The Herald
“our foremost satirical stand-up…Whatever your politics, you’ll find excellence here”
★★★★ Stephen Armstrong, The Sunday Times
“Possibly the best political comedy show on the Fringe”
★★★★★ Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph
Following his biggest tour to date the UK’s leading political comedian Matt Forde (Spitting Image, British Scandal, The Last Leg, Have I Got News For You) has extended with a month long run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 3rd – 28th August at 8pm at Pleasance, Beyond. There are wallies everywhere and half of them are running the country. The other half are trying to. In Clowns To The Left of Me, Jokers To The Right, Matt satirises the right, left and centre. And chucks in some funny voices and football chat too.
Alongside performing stand-up, Matt is interviewing Scottish political heavyweights over three live podcasts at the festival. Matt is set to speak to one of the most significant ever figures in British politics, former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the 7th August, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar on the 15th August and Scottish National Party MP for Edinburgh South West Joanna Cherry on the 22nd August.
After 70 sold out Political Party shows at Westminster’s The Other Palace, Matt moved to the West End’s Duchess Theatre for a fortnightly residency in September 2021. Upcoming guests include the Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle on 11 July and former Home Secretary Alan Johnson on 25 July. Since 2013, Forde has interviewed political figures including Keir Starmer, Nicola Sturgeon, Tony Blair, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Angela Rayner, Michael Heseltine, Anthony Scaramucci, Alastair Campbell and Gary Neville.
The UK’s leading political podcast has over 7 million downloads and is regularly included in iTunes’ Top 10 comedy podcasts. The British Podcast Award nominated show was recently listed by Mace Magazine as the Number 1 Political Podcast and by The i newspaper as one of the 50 Greatest Podcasts, adding to top podcast picks in the press from titles including The Observer, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Radio Times and ShortList.
Political Party and Clowns To The Left Of Me, Jokers To The Right tickets are available to buy now at mattforde.com
Matt has voiced and written for two series of the Spitting Image. Since returning in 2020 the show has delivered record subscribers for BritBox UK, the BBC and ITV created streaming platform, as well as picking up huge critical acclaim. Across official social media channels, series content has been hugely popular with over 200 million views globally, three No. 1 trending videos on YouTube and achieved praise across political the political divide.
Matt is currently co-hosting British Scandal with Alice Levine, a new audio series exploring the gripping stories, fascinating characters and critical questions arising on a journey through some of the biggest UK scandals and available on all major UK podcast platforms. The debut episode shot straight to the No 1 slot in the Apple podcast chart.
Matt’s first book Politically Homeless was listed by The Sunday Times as one the Best Political Books of 2020. The paperback was released in paperback by Quercus in May.
Matt has hosted four series of Unspun with Matt Forde on Dave, receiving several nominations at the Broadcast Digital Awards, and has numerous other broadcast credits including: Spitting Image (BritBox/ITV), Have I Got News For You (BBC One), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV), The Last Leg (Channel 4), Mock The Week (BBC Two), 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4), Hypothetical (Dave) Rory Bremner’s Coalition Report and Rory Bremner’s Election Report (BBC Two), Question Time (BBC One), This Week (BBC One), Newsnight (BBC Two) and Daily Politics (BBC Two). Matt currently presents Absolute Radio’s weekly Rock n Roll Football Show.
For more information and press tickets, please contact: Victoria Wedderburn at [email protected] / 07557160139
What the Press Have Said About Matt Forde’s Previous Shows
“Forde is as gratifyingly sane as comedians come… smart, funny ideas”
★★★★ Dominic Maxwell, The Times
“Is there a better political comic than Matt Forde currently working in the UK? I can’t think of another to touch him”
★★★★½ Jay Richardson, Chortle
“Matt Forde never fails with his state-of-the-nation address, a mix of bang-on-the-money political takedowns and spot-on impressions”
★★★★ Mark Wareham, Mail On Sunday
“Matt Forde is the consummate political comedian”
★★★★ Tim Cornwell, The Scotsman
EDINBURGH FRINGE LISTINGS INFORMATION
Matt Forde – Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right
Venue: Pleasance, Beyond
Date & Time: 3rd – 28th August at 8pm
Duration: 60 min
Matt Forde – The Political Party with Gordon Brown
Venue: Underbelly Bristo Square, McEwan Hall
Date & Time: 7th August at 3.30pm
Duration: 60 min
Matt Forde – The Political Party
Venue: Gilded Balloon Teviot, Debating Hall
Date & Time: 15th (Anas Sarwar) and 22nd (Joanna Cherry) August at 2pm
Duration: 60 min
Web: mattforde.com
