Rival takes over Highlight venue

Nottingham comedy club Just The Tonic is to open a new venture in Leicester – taking over the Highlight venue.

Last month, Highlight announced that it was to axe comedy at Leicester and three other sites, saying it had become ‘much less profitable’ than it hoped.

However, Darrell Martin – who has been running his Nottingham club for 18 years – believes stand-up is still viable there.

He said: ‘Leicester is a great place for comedy, as shown by Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival.

‘We really feel that we can bring some high quality comedy to Leicester outside of the festival to keep the city laughing. The venue has a history of comedy and it’s a great room.’

Leicester Comedy Festival boss Geoff Rowe welcomed the move, saying: ‘It’s great news... a real added boost to the existing comedy scene in the city. 

‘Just the Tonic have a great reputation for booking brilliant new acts as well as the biggest names as special guests and I’m delighted that they are reopening at the Highlight venue.’

The club will reopen for comedy on March 2, and has big names lined up including Milton Jones, Sean Hughes and Michael Winslow, from Police Academy.

Just the Tonic’s claims to fame include hosting Ricky Gervais’s first ever stand up performance.

The other Highlight venues to drop comedy are Glasgow, Portsmouth and Edinburgh – which may be set to close completely.

Published: 16 Jan 2012