Daniel Kitson to play Regents Park, and tour

Open-air theatre gigs with musician Gavin Osborn

Daniel Kitson is returning to Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre for a series of gigs this summer – and will also tour with his new work-in-progress show Outside.

The comic will be sharing many of the gigs with musician Gavin Osborn, including the London ones. But even the venue admits: ‘It’s entirely unclear what the "thing" is they’ll be doing. It may involve them both being on stage at the same time, winking at each other, giggling or taking turns to do a nice little dance for everyone. Lovely.’

Their three shows will take place on Sundays June 19, July 24 and August 21 as part of the venue's 90^th anniversary season.

Also announced today are two comedy fundraisers in support of The Trussell Trust’s London food banks in Sunday June 12. Suzi Ruffell hosts a 5pm early show, which also includes Sukh Ojla and Brett Goldstein, with Chloe Petts hosting an 8.30pm late show, featuring Ria Lina and Kerry Godliman.

Tim Key brings his show Mulberry to the Open Air Theatre on Sunday June 19, with ‘ruminations about the great indoors and a bit of stamping around, while Austentatious will be improvising a new Jane Austen novel on July 31. General booking for all Regents Park shows opens at 11am next Thursday.

Meanwhile, Kitson has also announced details of his new show, Outside.

The blurb reads: 'Daniel hasn’t been on stage for over two years.

And, to be entirely honest, he’s not really missed it.

'It is, however, his actual job and everyone’s gone back to work now. So, he’s picked out a comfy pen, bought a new notebook and booked himself a summer's worth of outdoor shows to find out whether he can still do his job and what, if anything, he has to say to large groups of people he doesn’t know.

'Please note: What with the two-year gap and the lack of practice this entire tour will be, to a greater or lesser extent, work in progress and the shows are likely to be relatively rickety affairs. But on the upside, they will sometimes feature support and/or collaboration from Gavin Osborn (when his schedule allows) and Daniel’s already written the question "Do worms feel fear?" in his new notebook, so we should be okay.

'Also, if it gets boring – you can just use the time to look at the sky and feel small.'

Daniel Kitson tour dates

May 23-25:  Stillington, North Yorkshire The Old Mill
May 29:  Thorington Theatre, Suffolk.
June 7-9:  Stillington, North Yorkshire The Old Mill
June 17: Birmingham Midland Arts Centre Outdoor Theatre
June 18 (Afternoon) Derby Melbourne Hall, Walled Garden
June 22-23: Huddersfield Lawrence Batley Theatre Courtyard
July 17: Chester Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre
July 18: Birmingham Midland Arts Centre Outdoor Theatre
July 20-23  Bristol Windmill Hill City Farm