Plus new deals with Tesco and nightclubs

Jongleurs is hoping to cash in on the success of BBC One’s flagship stand-up shows – by launching its own night called Jongleurs Live At The Apollo.

The move is unlikely to quell the row between the club chain and comedy super-agent Addison Cresswell, whose production company Open Mic makes the Live At The Apollo TV show. Relations have been frosty since Jongleurs used pictures of his clients Lee Evans and Michael McIntyre on giant posters advertising a new club in Bournemouth, without permission – prompting Evans to launch a £50,000 lawsuit.

Now Jongleurs has hired out the 3,000-capacity Hammersmith Apollo, the same London venue used for the BBC One shows, for its Jongleurs Live At The Apollo show in March. Founder Maria Kempinska said it would be the first of many big gigs being planned by the company, which largely operates nightclub shows at present.

The company, which last month received a £2million cash injection from investment firm Ingenious so it could expand, is about to launch regular nights at four more clubs: Oceana in Leeds and Cardiff, Project in Norwich and Liquid in Newcastle

Jongleurs also says it is in negotiations to buy a flagship London venue in the West End, where it has never previously operated. It would be its second permanent home outside Nottingham.

Meanwhile, the company has also signed a deal with Tesco so customers will be able to use Clubcard points to buy comedy tickets from the new year.

Kempinska said: ‘Jongleurs Live at The Apollo will be the first in a series of huge concerts and further proves that comedy can be a transient art that can assist leisure businesses in widening their appeal, something that is vital in these current trading conditions.’

Published: 21 Dec 2010