Glasgow’s newest comedy club welcomes sell-out crowds
The Glee, one of the UK’s most successful independent comedy clubs, has opened its first Scottish venue in Glasgow.
Situated in a 400-seat site on the city’s Renfrew Street, The Glee Club Glasgow officially opened with a special programme of live comedy performances on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 February 2019.
Opening the club were top Scottish comedians Jay Lafferty and Gary Little, stand-up favourite Geoff Norcott, and 8 Out Of 10 Cats’ Sean Lock, making a very rare club appearance. Both performances, understandably, sold out.
Founded 25 years ago, the multi award-winning Glee Club is loved by comedians and fans alike for its expertise in producing brilliant comedy nights in high quality surroundings, featuring the best live comedy shows, tours and new comedy talent around.
Many of the biggest names in the comedy business first stepped up to the mic on Glee’s stages, and continue to support the club to this day – including Jimmy Carr, Kevin Bridges, Michael McIntyre, Lee Evans, Jack Dee, Jo Brand, Sarah Millican and Russell Howard, to name a few.
With a standing capacity of 800, live music will also be part of the Glasgow Glee experience, and Glee is renowned for booking hotly tipped music acts, with names such as Jake Bugg, Marina and the Diamonds, Mumford and Sons, Edwyn Collins and even Adele delighting Glee audiences on her ascent to music stardom.
The new Glasgow club features all the elements that have made Glee such an enduring success in the live entertainment world: a beautifully designed purpose-built interior, comfortable reserved theatre-style seating with great views to the round Glee stage, plus excellent lighting, acoustics and atmosphere. A unique mural, created by local artist Michael Scott, features Scottish comedians Billy Connolly, Kevin Bridges and Frankie Boyle, (as well as comedy legends Bob Hope, and Laurel and Hardy).
There’s an incredible programme of comedy talent to look forward to each week with The Glee’s Friday and Saturday Night Comedy Show providing the perfect entertainment for the weekend, each featuring four superb stand-up comedians.
The new venue hosts one of Glee’s trademark extra-long bars – designed to beat the queues and serve up a great quality mix of drinks, with a focus on pitchers, cocktails plus Scottish craft beers and spirits. A menu of delicious freshly made food uses local ingredients, serving up a tasty mix of gourmet bar snacks, pizzas and classic dishes. There’s also weekly food deals, plus the handy addition of a pre-order service, meaning guests can relax and look forward to their drinks and food being ready to serve at their table on arrival.
The Glee also specialises in group bookings, with custom-made packages ensuring that whatever the size or occasion, parties can look forward to a brilliant night out. Students are well catered for too, with the new Glasgow club offering a special deal on both nights for just £8 per student.
The Glee founder Mark Tughan opened his first club in Birmingham in 1994 to create a high calibre, dedicated comedy venue for the city. His success with this venue led him to build the Glee business with further openings in Cardiff (2001), Oxford (2010) and Nottingham (2010). Glasgow is Glee’s fifth venue, and Mark explained that Scotland was an easy choice.
Says Mark: “Scotland has given us some of the world’s funniest comedians over the years, as well as having some of the best comedy festivals and a great culture of coming together to enjoy live entertainment. As a lifelong fan of Scotland’s comedy scene, opening our first Scottish Glee Club is extremely exciting for me and the rest of the team. Glasgow is such a vibrant cultural city and there is a huge amount of fresh comedy talent coming through on the scene here.
“We will be bringing everything that works and is great about The Glee to our new Glasgow venue, with a distinctive Scottish slant – a brilliant comedy line-up every week, great food and drink, friendly staff, plush interiors and a few surprises along the way. It’s a whole night out sorted, and we can’t wait to welcome Scottish audiences and to introduce them to the Glee experience.”
Following the opening weekend, The Glee has lined up a load of comedy treats for Glasgow which are now on sale, with performances from comedians Sean Walsh, Paul McCaffrey, Jarlath Regan, Adam Rowe, Tom Wrigglesworth, Allyson June Smith, Rob Deering and Nathan Caton all confirmed. Local comedians Susie McCabe, Billy Kirkwood and rising-star Christopher Macarthur-Boyd are also on the bill.
The Glee Glasgow
11 Renfrew Street, Glasgow G2 3AB
Telephone: 0871 472 0400
Prices (from Feb 2019): Friday night tickets £11 / students £8 / ticket + food £20
Saturday night tickets £17 / students £8 / ticket + pizza + drink £27
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Above: Sean Lock at opening weekend of The Glee Glasgow
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