Venue opens first overseas branch

The Comedy Store is to open its first overseas club – with a new venture in Mumbai.

A 300-seat venue in the High Street Phoenix Mills shopping and entertainment complex in the centre of the city is due to open later this year. It will host three international comics each week, performing six shows over four days.

However, the club says it is also keen to develop the Indian stand-up scene. It plans open mike nights for local amateur comics, who will be offered workshops with the Comedy Store’s regular comedians from the UK and beyond.

The Comedy Store first opened 30 years ago in London, providing a vital base for the emerging alternative comedy scene. In 2001, a second venue was added in Manchester, but an attempt to branch out into Leeds in 2003 failed after just eight months.

Comedy Store chief executive Don Ward has joined forces with Indian businessman Amar Agrawal to open the 15,000 sq ft club to serve Mumbai’s 14million people.

He said: ‘I wanted to do something special to celebrate our 30th anniversary, and what better way than to open a club halfway round the world.

‘Mumbai is a vibrant city and feels like Manchester and London all wrapped up in one. We will be bringing the very best in British and International stand up to India and I am confident that we can replicate our success overseas.

‘At present there is no emerging comedy talent in India, and we hope to change all of that - we’re looking for the first Indian stand-up superstar and you never know, we may find the Paul Merton or Lee Evans of India. It’s an incredibly exciting venture.’

The Store programmes expat gigs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, but this is its first dedicated overseas venue.

Published: 21 Apr 2009