Compassion and care on the agenda for major University conference

Will the recycling be put out on the right day?  Who is going to smooth over the top of the margarine? How many lights are on upstairs when everybody is downstairs? Watch Jon pretend that these aren’t his foremost concerns as he leaves home on his first tour since the last one. Best known as a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Cats Countdown, host of Dave’s Ultimate Worrier, and upcoming sitcom Meet The Richardsons. As well as Would I Lie To You, Have I Got News For You, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, and Taskmaster.

Following his ground breaking 2018 show, Deaf Comedy Fam, Ray Bradshaw’s new stand-up show, Deaf Com 1, covers his recent fatherhood, teaching his young son sign language and a disastrous trip to Bahrain! International award-winning comic, Ray, spent 2021/22 touring the UK as John Bishop’s handpicked support act, having previously toured with Frankie Boyle in 2019.  Ray was the first comedian to ever win a Scottish Culture Award and is a regular host of Scotland’s most popular radio show, Breaking The News. Ray is a CODA (like in the Oscar winning film) and grew up with deaf parents. All of his shows are performed in both BSL and English, with Deaf Comedy Fam becoming the first ever live comedy experience for more than 800 deaf audience members. Ray’s clever, charming and very funny comedy has received critical acclaim from critics and fans alike.

Few artists can lay claim to international success spanning five decades but, beginning with his very first release, Chris de Burgh has achieved just that.  On his latest tour, Chris will be performing live on guitar and piano tracks from his new album The Legend Of Robin Hood together with many of his hits from throughout the years.  The show has been a great success across Europe this summer and it promises to be an exciting evening full of all your favourite songs.

Suzanne Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980s when, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, she sang what has been called contemporary folk or neo-folk songs of her own creation in Greenwich Village clubs. Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has given sold-out concerts in many of the world’s best-known venues. Known for performances that convey deep emotion, Vega’s distinctive, “clear, unwavering voice” (Rolling Stone) has been described as “a cool, dry sandpaper-brushed near-whisper” by The Washington Post, with NPR Music noting that she “has been making vital, inventive music” throughout the course of her decades-long career. Bearing the stamp of a masterful storyteller who “observes the world with a clinically poetic eye” (The New York Times), Vega’s songs have tended to focus on city life, ordinary people and real-world subjects. Notably succinct and understated, her work is immediately recognizable—as utterly distinct and thoughtful as it was when her voice was first heard on the radio over 30 years ago.