Brian Bilston and Henry Normal

Brian Bilston and Henry Normal appear together for the first time in a show which one critic has described as “two people reading some poems”.

Along the way, they will be drawing on their vast catalogue of crowd favourites – and throwing in new poems, to prevent becoming their own tribute bands. Not ones to overpromise, Brian and Henry are prepared to commit to delivering the greatest poetry show in the history of the world or their names aren’t Brian Bilston and Henry Normal. An evening of poems to be enjoyed not endured.

• Brian Bilston

  Brian Bilston has been described as the Banksy of poetry and Twitter’s unofficial Poet Laureate; with over 400,000 followers on social media, Brian has become truly beloved by the online community.

  He has published several collections of poetry, including You Took the Last Bus Home and Alexa, what is there to know about love?, described by one reviewer as ‘the funniest collection of humorous verse I have seen in a long time’. His novel Diary of a Somebody was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award. He has also written poetry for children, including a collection of football poems, 50 Ways to Score a Goal, while his acclaimed poem Refugees was set to music by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and turned into a picture book.

  Days Like These: An Alternative Guide to the Year in 366 Poems is his latest book and is out now in hardback, a brilliant collection of poems that will take the blues out of Monday, flatten the Wednesday hump and amplify that Friday feeling, from January through to December.

  Socials: brianbilston.com / Twitter: @brian_bilston / Instagram: @brian_bilston

• Henry Normal

  Henry is a writer, poet, TV & Film producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Literature festival) and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival.

  In June 2017 he was honoured with a special BAFTA for services to Television.

  He co-wrote and script edited the multi-award winning Mrs Merton show and the spin off series Mrs Merton and Malcolm. He also co-created and co-wrote the first series of The Royle Family.

  With Steve Coogan he co-wrote the BAFTA winning Paul and Pauline Calf Video Diaries, Coogan’s Run, Tony Ferrino, Doctor Terrible and all three of Steve’s live tours and the film The Parole Officer.

  Setting up Baby Cow Productions Ltd in 1990, Henry Executive Produced all and script edited many of the shows of its 17 and a half year output during his tenure as MD.

  Highlights of the Baby Cow output during his time include the Oscar nominated film Philomena, I believe in Miracles, Gavin and Stacey, Moone Boy, Uncle, Marion and Geof, Nighty Night, The Mighty Boosh, Red Dwarf, Hunderby, Camping and Alan Partridge.

  Since retiring in April 2016, Henry has written and performed 10 x BBC Radio 4 shows combining comedy, poetry and stories about family. His 11th BBC Radio 4 show ‘A Normal Journey’ will be recorded this autumn.

  Born in St Anne’s, Nottingham in 1956, Henry now lives in Fairlight, Nr Hastings with his wife and screenwriter AngelaPell and their son Johnny.

  In April 2018, Two Roads publishers released his book of memoirs ‘A Normal Family’ which was written with his wife Angela Pell, drawing on his family experience. It immediately became a best seller on Amazon and has already beenreprinted. The paperback was released on 21st March 2019.

  Henry performs poetry at Literature Festivals around the UK and has eleven poetry books available from Flapjack. On 15th August this year Henry’s 12th poetry book entitled ‘Collected Poems Volume 3’ will be released, Henry’s 13th book ‘A Moonless Night ‘ is also set for release on 28th February 2024.

  He was recently given an honorary doctorate of letters by Nottingham Trent University, another by Nottingham University and has a beer and a bus named after him in Nottingham!

  ‘Succinct, heartrending and peppered with gentle punchlines’ Hannah Verdier, The Guardian

  ‘Shove up National Treasures. We need to make room for Henry Normal’ Simon O’Hagan – Radio Times

  ‘the Alan Bennett of poetry’ The Scotsman’

  ‘Dovetails bittersweet poetry with a sublimely observant wit’ The Guardian

  ‘A mixture of the absurd and downright wacky…a gentle giant of stand-up poetry’ The List

  ‘The poetry itself is stuff of proper substance, marrying the suburban beauty of Beatles ballads with the blunt candour of the kitchen sink’ The Guardian

  ‘Witty and uncannily accurate with his observations’ – The Stage

  ‘Distinctly funny” – Time Out

  ‘It’s a rare and lovely thing: half an hour of radio that stops you short, gently demands your attention and then wipes your tears away while you have to have a little sit down – The Guardian

  ‘It’s a real treat to hear a seasoned professional like Henry taking command of this evening comedy spot to deliver a show that’s idiosyncratic and effortlessly funny’

  ‘Not heard anything that jumps from hilarious to moving in such an intelligent, subtle way as Henry Normal’s show’ – Radio Times

• Access Information - The Point

  Seat size

  In The Point, seats in rows A-GG are 36cm (14“) wide and 39cm (151/3“) deep. They are 41cm from the floor (16″) wide and 44.5cm (171/2”) deep. The seats are 44cm (171/3”) from the floor, and have a 10cm (4”) gap between seats.

  Seats in rows H and W are stools, are 36cm (14“) wide and 40cm (152/3“) deep. They are 76cm (30“) from the floor, and have a 25cm (93/4”) gap between seats. The stools also feature a footrest 42cm (161/2”) from the floor.

  Seats in rows K-V and Box 1are 42cm (161/2 “) wide and 45cm (172/3“) deep, 47 cm (181/2“) from the floor, and have 6cm (21/3“) gap between seats.

  Seats in Box 2 are 36cm (14“) wide and 39cm (151/3“) deep, 41 cm (16“) from the floor, and have 10cm (4“) gap between seats. These are loose removable chairs.

  Armrests

  Seats in The Point do not have armrests.

  Legroom

  Seat in rows A-GG have 20cm (73/4“) of legroom in front of each seat, with restricted legroom in rows A-D.

  Seats in rows H and W are stools and have 35cm (14“) of legroom.

  Seats in rows K-V have 20cm (73/4“) of legroom in front of each seat, with restricted legroom in the aisle seats. Seats in row S also have a vertical backrest.

  Seats in Box 2 have 50cm (192/3”) of legroom in front of the seats.

  Further information

  If you have any questions about accessibility our Box Office team are always happy to help and can be contacted on 01642 525199 or by emailing [email protected] - you can also tell us about your access requirements when prompted to do so during the online booking process.

• Companion Ticket Scheme

  A free ticket is available to a companion accompanying a disabled person to an event, where it is an access requirement. To book a companion ticket or accessible seating as part of your order please contact the Box Office team on 01642 525199 or email [email protected]

  You can tell us about any other access requirements you have at the time of booking.