‘Comedy king’ Russell Howard coming to Hawke’s Bay

Russell Howard, ‘the uplifting comedy king’, will be performing at Toitoi Opera House for one night only on February 11, 2024.

As we reel from one global crisis to the next, join Russell Howard, ‘the uplifting comedy king’, as he puts the world to rights in his own uniquely hilarious way.

Howard, who was named “one of the world’s top comedians” by the Sunday Times, will be performing at Toitoi Opera House for one night only on February 11, 2024.

The English comedian, television presenter, radio presenter and actor is well-known for his television show Russell Howard’s Good News.

Toitoi presenter services manager Glen Pickering said they were really excited to have Russell Howard coming to Toitoi in February 2024.

“Since re-opening, we’ve worked hard to build our comedy programme and audiences, and now we’re known for getting and delivering the best, they all want to come here.

“It’s the success of events like our own comedy festival Laugh Your A** Off, as well as internationals like Jimmy Carr and Bill Bailey, that have quickly established our reputation as one of the top comedy venues in New Zealand,” Pickering said.

Selling more than 300,000 tickets, Russell’s previous third and biggest sell-out world tour to date, Respite, saw him play in the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and took him to 79 cities across 24 countries in three continents.

During this tour, after gaining special permission from the New Zealand Government, Howard became the first comedian from the Northern Hemisphere to perform in the country since the global lockdown.

The tour concluded with Howard taping his second Netflix special Lubricant, which is streaming internationally now. The accompanying documentary Until The Wheels Come Off follows his attempts to keep performing throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the release of Lubricant, Howard became the sole comedian to have two of the top 10 most-streamed specials across all platforms in the UK.

Presale tickets go on sale today at 11am and general tickets go on sale at 9am on Monday, August 7.