A comedy club that thought it had hosted its last show at a popular Luton venue is to continue at its home after Luton Town Football Club stepped in to save the world-renowned night spot.
Happy Shark Comedy Club has been hosted some of the country’s biggest stand-ups at their regular residency at The Bear Club, including the likes of Ross Noble, James Acaster, Ed Gamble, Sara Pascoe, Iain Stirling, Shappi Khorsandi and Josh Widdicombe.
At the start of the year, the future of the jazz and blues live music venue looked bleak with the news that the building had been bought be a developer who was not keen on retaining it as music venue, despite it being voted as one of the top 25 jazz clubs in the world in a 2019 poll by All About Jazz. That, in turn, meant that the Bear Club and Happy Shark thought it had heard its last laugh, though the comedy club had pledged to look for another venue.
A star-studded final stand-up show at The Bear Club in May featured headliner Seann Walsh and a surprise guest appearance from Jack Dee, alongside Russell Hicks.
After that show, Happy Shark posted on their Facebook page: “Our final night at The Bear was just as special as I’d hoped. An incredible bill and wonderful crowd. So much love for Karl and The Bear Club team that made every show an absolute joy. Thanks also to Justin, who started it all. News on a new venue will appear as and when there’s something to say. Thanks for all the support over the years and to everyone that has sent lovely messages or spoke to me last night.”
But then, in March, came the news that The Bear Club could be saved and two months later it was announced that the property arm of Luton Town Football Club, 2020 Developments, had stepped in to save it from closure.
The Hatters said at the time: “We simply could not stand by and let it happen. It means too much to the town” and last month it was confirmed that a new lease had been signed for The Bear Club to live on at its home in Mill Yard, off Guilford Street.
And now, Happy Shark Comedy Club has confirmed that it too is staying at the venue, announcing a new show for October 9, headlined by Desiree Burch, who has appeared on TV shows like Taskmaster, Live At The Apollo and Have I Got News For You.
In a statement, Happy Shark wrote: “Those who follow our socials may have already seen the news that we have a new venue. It’s somewhere you may be quite familiar with, a lovely little place called The Bear Club.
“As far as we were concerned May’s gig with Seann Walsh was going to be our last show there, however a few things have changed since then and we’re delighted to be back.”
Tickets for the October show went on sale this morning (August 9) at 9am from www.wegottickets.com/happysharkcomedy
