Richard Coles is set to embark on a brand new UK Tour, Borderline National Trinket, from 7th September to 3rd December 2023. The run includes some of the UK’s most iconic venues such as Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Leeds’ City Varieties Music Hall and The Lowry in Salford.
The first vicar to appear on Strictly Come Dancing. The only vicar to have had a number one hit. The inspiration for a popular sitcom (on which he was a consultant). A fixture on national television and radio, the long-time host of Saturday Live, a Celebrity Masterchef contestant, latterly a bestselling writer.
Occasionally the job of summarising someone’s life in a press release is almost impossible. Indeed, we doubt he’ll be able to do it justice even in an entire evening. But what is guaranteed is that it will be hugely entertaining to watch him try.
Having passed the age of 60 and stepped away from clerical duties, Richard is – as the pyjamas and cuppa suggest – technically retired. Why, then, is he as busy as he’s ever been in his life? It didn’t help that his memoir of loss, The Madness Of Grief, was a huge bestseller, transfixing readers with its honesty and insight. Nor that he then went and wrote a novel, Murder Before Evensong, which reached number one in the paperback charts, meaning that he’s had to write another one (A Death In The Parish).
Oh, he’s also the Chancellor of Northampton University. Of course he is.
And now – after years as a coveted after-dinner speaker – the (retired) Rev embarks on his first full tour of the country, presenting a warm, witty, gossipy evening of comedy and chat. Impatient Productions are truly proud to unleash the talent and personality of a man who, if anyone does, surely deserves the title of national treasure. Although, being Richard, he’s happier with the billing his late partner suggested: borderline national trinket. Whatever label you put on him, this is a tour not to be missed – and that comes directly from God Himself*.
*Richard would like to stress that he does not in fact have the authority to make this claim.
Reverend Richard Coles is a former pop star as one half of 1980s band The Communards, turned Church of England vicar, broadcaster and bestselling author. Until retirement in 2022, he was a parish priest in the quintessentially English village of Finedon, Northamptonshire, where two of his ancestors were vicars in the seventeenth century. During the 1980s The Communards had three UK Top 10 hits, including Never Can Say Goodbye and the biggest selling single of 1986, Don't Leave Me This Way. This, therefore, affords Richard the unique position of being the only vicar to have had a No.1 hit record.
Richard co-presented BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live from 2011-2023 and is also a regular contributor to Pause for Thought on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He is a frequent guest panellist on shows such as Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You? and QI.
Often described as Britain's most famous vicar, Reverend Richard Coles was the inspiration for the main character in the BBC hit comedy Rev, a programme for which he also served as consultant. In 2017, he was a contestant on the BBC’s BAFTA-winning prime-time show Strictly Come Dancing, and the year previous he was a semi-finalist on Celebrity Masterchef. He has a keen interest in classical music, art and ceramics, and co-hosted the BBC’s Big Painting Challenge alongside Mariella Frostrup in 2017 and 2018. In 2022, he presented Good Grief?, a Channel 4 documentary exploring the subject of how to live positively with grief.
As a prolific author, Reverend Richard Coles has written six books including three memoirs; the bestselling Fathomless Riches: Or How I Went From Pop to Pulpit (2014), Bringing in The Sheaves: Wheat and Chaff from My Years as a Priest (2016) and Sunday Times best-sellers The Madness of Grief (2021) and Murder Before Evensong (2022).
Buy tickets here.
Listings Information:
Date
Town
Venue
Thursday 7th September 2023
Havant
Spring Arts
Friday 8th September 2023
Horsham
The Capitol
Saturday 9th September 2023
Henley On Thames
Kenton Theatre
Tuesday 12th September 2023
Cardiff
Sherman Theatre
Wednesday 13th September 2023
Carmarthen
Lyric Theatre
Sunday 17th September 2023
Kettering
Kettering Arts Centre
Tuesday 19th September 2023
Chorley
Chorley Theatre
Wednesday 20th September 2023
Chorley
Chorley Theatre
Thursday 21st September 2023
Chelmsford
Civic Theatre
Wednesday 27th September 2023
Bury St Edmunds
Theatre Royal
Thursday 28th September 2023
Norwich
Norwich Playhouse
Sunday 1st October 2023
Winchester
Theatre Royal
Wednesday 4th October 2023
High Wycombe
Old Town Hall
Thursday 26th October 2023
Milton Keynes
The Stables
Sunday 29th October 2023
Colchester
Colchester Arts Centre
Monday 30th October 2023
Swindon
Wyvern Theatre
Wednesday 1st November 2023
Blackheath, London
Blackheath Halls
Friday 3rd November 2023
Loughborough
Loughborough Town Hall
Saturday 4th November 2023
Cheltenham
Cheltenham Town Hall
Sunday 5th November 2023
Bath
Komedia
Friday 10th November 2023
Brighton
Brighton Dome Concert Hall
Sunday 12th November 2023
Leeds
City Varieties Music Hall
Wednesday 15th November 2023
Exeter
Corn Exchange
Thursday 16th November 2023
Plymouth
The Quad Theatre
Sunday 19th November 2023
Guildford
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
Tuesday 21st November 2023
Hayes
The Beck Theatre
Sunday 26th November 2023
Southend on Sea
Palace Theatre
Saturday 2nd December 2023
Crewe
Crewe Lyceum
Sunday 3rd December 2023
Salford
The Lowry
Picture: Matt Crocket
