Decca Records have announced that they will release James Acaster: ‘Hecklers Welcome’ (Live at the KLV, Kettering) exclusively on vinyl. Limited to 1000 copies, a portion of which will be available with signed inserts, it is set for release on Friday 1st November 2024. Preorder here.

 

The release is a modern-day illustration of Decca Records’ longstanding association with comedy, dating back to the label’s foundations in the 1930s.

 

Dubbed ‘the strongest show of his career’ by The Times, with the Daily Telegraph calling it ‘one of the funniest and most brilliantly constructed shows of the year’, ‘Hecklers Welcome’ saw a return to stand-up for Acaster, the critically acclaimed comedian, actor, Sunday Times bestselling author and co-host of the hit podcast Off Menu.

 

Touring the show throughout 2023-2024, ‘Hecklers Welcome’ saw Acaster recount the formative childhood experiences at the root of his love/hate relationship with performance, whilst obliging himself to embrace any interruptions from the audience. Heckles, phone checks, popping to the loo – Acaster would have to accept the direction in which those audience disruptions may take the show, even if it meant deviating from his meticulously crafted stand-up.

 

James Acaster said: “It’s an honour and a privilege to release this show on wax with Decca, especially because we recorded it in Kettering in a venue I’ve been going to since I was seven. I’m also delighted because we managed to capture one of the more chaotic gigs of the tour, full of moments that never happened before or since.”

 

On top of new releases from today’s leading comedians such as Acaster, Decca are to remaster legendary performances from Spike Milligan, Frankie Howard and Marty Feldman, and make them available to stream for the very first time.

 

In a time when record players were the only form of entertainment outside of live performances, Decca was the home of comedy. Starting in 1931 with the release of ‘Rhymes’ by Jack Hylton and his Orchestra, releases continued throughout the 50s and 60s from the likes of Ivor Cutler, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Frankie Howard, recorded predominantly at Decca’s Broadhurst Gardens studios in West Hampstead, before being cut to vinyl. 46 years ago, in 1978, Decca went full circle and released another version of ‘Rhymes’, that time with added lyrics by Spike Milligan.

 

 

 

 

The show was recorded in May 2024, in Acaster’s hometown of Kettering.

Recorded at the Lighthouse Theatre (part of the ‘KLV’ Kettering Leisure Village).

Recording Engineer: Pete Flinton

Mixed at Turtle Canyon Media

Mixed and Mastered: Alastair Clayton