GEMMA & ROBERT ROSS’S COMEDY CARNIVAL with a Rehearsed Reading of Screaming Queens!

About GEMMA & ROBERT ROSS’S COMEDY CARNIVAL with a Rehearsed Reading of Screaming Queens!

“A really happy, fun – always interesting – feelgood day. A ‘Forget your troubles and let’s get Happy’ time.” Georgina Moon

Yes, they’re back! With the 8th in what has become an extremely popular treat for devotees of the Best of British Comedy, Britain’s Comedy Historian Robert Ross and the Official Carry On Historian, hosts another full day of hilarious anecdotes, rare clips from the vaults, and a roll-call of very special guests. And Gemma Ross, co-author of best-selling book The Carry On Girls, will, as always, be on hand to keep the fun forever flowing. Robert and Gemma will also be happy to sign any of their books you bring along on the day, as part of your ticket price.

We are thrilled that our Guests of Honour are Georgina Moon and Madeline Smith: in acknowledgment of outstanding contributions to British Comedy, on stage, screen, and radio, and as a heartfelt Thank You for their sterling support of these events over the years.

Close friends and colleagues, Georgina and Madeline share the role of Erotica in Up Pompeii, in the original television series, and the feature film, respectively.

Georgina’s many other comedy credits include: Bless This House, Carry On Camping, Carry On Behind, Galton & Simpson’s Clochemerle, Dawson’s Weekly, The Dick Emery Show, You’re Only Young Twice.

Madeline’s comedy career includes: Carry On Matron, Casanova ‘73, Cribbins, Happy Ever After, The Howerd Confessions, Milligan in Autumn, Percy’s Progress, Steptoe and Son, The Two Ronnies.

We will be celebrating Robert’s 30th anniversary as a published author, with his book The Carry On Companion first released in May 1996. Bring your copies of this perennial fan favourite, and Robert will happily sign them.

And our theatrical centrepiece, in celebration of the centenary of Kenneth Williams, will be a special, rehearsed reading of Robert’s play Screaming Queens!, starring Jessica Martin as Fenella Fielding and Steve Nallon as Kenneth Williams.

Jessica Martin’s vocal contributions to Spitting Image ranged from Barbra Streisand to Queen Elizabeth II, while her skill for impersonation was showcased in Copy Cats, and Bobby Davro’s TV Weekly. Jessica’s many stage triumphs include Elf: The Musical, Mack and Mabel, Me and My Girl, Spamalot, and as Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein. Jessica’s many associations with the worlds of Doctor Who have made her a cult figure, and she will be signing her best-selling graphic novels on the day.

Steve Nallon is best-loved for his myriad of characters on Spitting Image including David Attenborough, Alan Bennett, Roy Hattersley, Denis Healey, the Queen Mother and, most famously of all, Margaret Thatcher. Steve has also played the Iron Lady in The New Statesman, and on stage, in Dead Sheep, and The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson. As an author, Steve has created the Young Adults series The Swidgers, and written the acclaimed anthology Steve Nallon’s Ghost Stories. Copies will be available.

The three-act, one-hour fringe favourite received rave reviews when it was performed at the Waterloo East Theatre, in 2021 and now the original cast are back together again. See it again. Or see it for the first time…

Our other confirmed special guests this time include:

Carol Cleveland: who will be chatting live on stage about her times working with such comedy greats as Charlie Drake, Groucho Marx, Peter Sellers and, of course, the Monty Python boys. Carol will also be signing her memoirs Pom-Poms Up!

Roy Gould: Writer, Producer & Director ‘Allo ‘Allo, The Booze Cruise, Hi-De-Hi, Oh Doctor Beeching!, You Rang, M’Lord? and the brand new audio spin-off series James & Ivy.

Paul Minett & Brian Leveson: Writers The Booze Cruise, Carry On London, Frankie’s On…, Further Up Pompeii, The Little & Large Show, The Piglet Files, The Stanley Baxter Hour.

Tony Nicholson: Writer/Producer The Two Ronnies, A Question of Entertainment, best-selling biographer of Sir Ken Dodd and Larry Grayson, author of The New Messiah.

With more guests to be announced.