PATRON of Ludlow Fringe, Alistair McGowan, has persuaded his friend and former touring partner, Jasper Carrott, to give a rare interview at Ludlow Assembly Rooms as part of the medieval town’s summer 2023 Fringe Festival.

The pair, both brought up in the West Midlands, began touring together in 2014 and have since shared the bill in about 100 stand-up shows in venues around the country.

But for them this will be a very different performance.

“Travelling around Britain with Jasper gave me plenty of opportunities to ask one of my comedy heroes about his amazing career,” said Mr McGowan.

“Our one-off show together in Ludlow will now give me the chance to ask those questions in front of an audience.

“The audience at the Ludlow performance will hear, first-hand, about Jasper’s early days in the comedy and folk clubs, and how he broke the mould and became one of our first observational comedians. You’ll hear about his time in America and his rapid rise to fame back home, which saw him have a chart-topping single and then prime-time TV shows of his own for nearly 20 years. And you’ll also hear how, at one time, Jasper was on the board of his beloved Birmingham City FC .”

Anita Bigsby, Ludlow Fringe organiser said it was good that the town has been able to attract such a big comedy star.

“It will be a fascinating evening as Jasper is one of the biggest comedy stars this country has ever produced,” said Ms Bigsby.

“We are thrilled to have him here and I’m sure his interview with Alistair will be full of reminiscences, insight and more than a few laughs. I would encourage people to book to avoid disappointment.”

The show takes place on the evening of Saturday, July 1 and the Fringe have already released a batch of “early-bird” tickets to people who have joined their Friends Scheme, which, on joining, will enable members to have 10 per cent off all tickets for a year, find more details on the Friends Scheme on their website.

Tickets for the show went on sale last Saturday and demand is expected to be high.

Ludlow Fringe runs from Saturday, June 17 to Sunday, July 2, 2023, with comedy, music, theatre and poetry events, plus the carnival and talks that are staged in venues all over the town.