Mark Watson tours only places starting with M or W

...so he won't need an A-Z

Mark Watson has announced a new tour in which he only performs in places beginning with his initials of M or W.

The letters can be either form the town, such as Matlock or Worthing – or the venue such as Birmingham’s MAC or the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar.

He is even performing on the Mersey ferry, the train from Marylebone to (High) Wycombe) and even a helicopter museum – chosen as it’s in the double-point-scoring Middle Wallop.

Only one of the 28 venues seems like a major cheat: The Theatre Royal, Dumfries, which he is claiming is near Whithorn (60 miles away), Wigtown (55 miles), Whinnieliggate (25 miles) and Whauphill (53 miles)

A spokesman said of the venues: ‘A few of these will be favourite old haunts like Winchester or Manchester, but quite a few of them are the result of Googling and some are so remote that he won't know they definitely exist until we get there.’

It kicks off in Mawnan Smith – a village in Cornwall with a population of 1,500 – on September 8 and ends in The Kings Hall in Ilkley – counded because it’s in the Yorkshire Dale of Wharfedale in February 2018.

Tickets for the MW tour go on sale via SeeTickets on Friday, and elsewhere on Monday.

His schedule is:

September 8: Trebah Garden Amphitheatre, Mawnan Smith
September 9: The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol
September 17: The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock
September 21: Chiltern Train, 19:53 from Marylebone – High Wycombe
September 22: Grand Pavilion, Matlock
September 23: Connaught Theatre, Worthing
October 6: MAC, Birmingham
October 7: Theatre Royal, Winchester
October 14: Redhouse, Merthyr Tydfil
October 15: Little Theatre, Wells
October 20: Maltings, Farnham
October 22: Castle Theatre, Wellingborough
November 10: The Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed
November 11: Theatre Royal, Dumfries (near places beginning with W, apparently)
November 17: The Platform, Morecambe
November 19: The Playhouse, Whitley Bay
November 24: Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
November 25: Museum of Army Flying, Middle Wallo
November 30: Ferry, Across the Mersey
December 1: Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven
December 8: Malvern Cube, Malvern
December 9: Westbury-on-Trym Village Hall, Westbury-on-Trym
January 19, 2018: Savoy Theatre, Monmouth
January 20:Wyllyotts Theatre, Potters Bar
January 26: Torch Theatre, Milford Haven
January 27: Playhouse Theatre, Weston-super-Mare
February 16: Norden Farm, Maidenhead
February 17: The Kings Hall, Wharfedale