Welcome home! Al Murray returns to his roots for sell-out Stewkley show

Tickets for the Pub Landlord’s performance sold out in under an hour.

Murray performed on stage for more than two hours with all funds raised from the night going to the Village Hall.

The 47-year-old was born in the village and his parents Ingram and Juliet still live in Stewkley, and were among the audience of more than 200 people.

The comedian went to Bedford School and St Edmund Hall in Oxford where he read modern history.

Vice-chairman of the village Hhall committee Jill Scott said: “For the last five weeks we have been looking forward to Al Murray’s visit to the Village Hall as the ‘Pub Landlord’ and on Friday evening the buzz in the audience was a reflection of how much the show was enjoyed by all those present.

“On the day that we were selling tickets, the ‘booking office’ had a queue outside two hours before it opened and we sold all the tickets in under an hour.

“Even though we limited sales to four tickets per person some who had queued were unlucky.

“The hall is booked every day by a variety of local organisations and individuals, and it is a well used village amenity.

“We constantly strive to make improvements to the facilities and the funds raised from Al’s show will enable us to continue the work.”

During the show Stewkley became the capital of the UK as Al aimed to form a cabinet from the audience to implement his common-sense policies.

In the second half he did a Governor’s Question Time in which he gave his views on benefits, immigration and a host of other topical issues.

Afterwards fans tweeted the comedian to tell him how much they enjoyed the performance. Al made headlines last year for standing in the general election in the constituency of South Thanet against Nigel Farage.

He received 318 votes and finished sixth out of 11 candidates.

For a review of the show see next week’s Stewkley column in the Neighbourhood News section.