Comedian Mark Davison, who plays Colin from Portsmouth, and Anthony Richardson launched their first ever national tour earlier this month and will perform in Salford in October.
The 8pm show at The Lowry on Sunday 6 October sold out in just four days, so they added a matinee at 5pm which has also now sold out.
Exploding Heads are famed for their viral political and football commentary.
Colin rings into Anthony’s radio phone-in to vent his frustrations about the burning (and not so burning) issues, and he will not stop just because Anthony is taking a break from radio to embark on a theatre tour.
Colin famously ends his calls with “Love to the Family”.
James O’Brien uses it to end difficult calls on The Whole Show on LBC.
Speaking to Mark, he said: “Colin is ultimately sympathetic.
“He is just misguided and ill-informed.”
But the evening is not supposed to be about Colin.
The show is supposed to be An Evening With Ian Fiveankles, a former-professional-footballer-turned-pundit, played by Mark.
And yet the show is Colin from Portsmouth, so Colin will upstage Ian as two worlds collide.
Mark said: “As a stand-up, I also loved playing Manchester, so did Anthony.”
“The Lowry is an amazing venue.”
Incidentally, Anthony went to university in Manchester.
I thought I first encountered Mark and Anthony on X, at the time Twitter, during the Premiership of Liz Truss with their anti-growth coalition video.
The emphasis on and in Mumford and Sons, listing them as two separate entries, was particularly amusing.
I asked Mark if political satire is more difficult now “the adults are back in the room in Westminster,” as some say.
Mark said: “The Tories’ 14 years were a gift to satirists.
“As a satirist, it is now definitely harder.”
He added: “There is a lot of idiocy in the digital age. Nuisance has disappeared. If we have a purpose, it is to puncture angry pieces of misinformation.”
I also asked if Greater Manchester’s Steve Coogan was an influence.
Mark said: “(he) is a genius,” and “Alan Partridge is one of the greatest comedy creations ever.”
In 2019, I first encountered the duo when they just missed out on visiting all 20 Premier League stadiums in 24 hours.
And it is not the only the tour to which to look forward.
Mark said: “We are looking to unravel a new character maybe next year, we hope to do a third series of Sports Horn (their podcast) and we are talking to various TV production companies about turning Colin into a TV property.”
Indeed, they are shooting a 15-minute teaser.
Watch this space!
Feature Image: Exploding Heads by Steve Ullathrone.
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