Gervais in warm-up at theatre (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Gervais in warm-up at theatre

6:40pm Thursday 29th July 2010

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COMIC Ricky Gervais made a surprise appearance at Winchester’s Theatre Royal last Sunday, choosing the venue for the second time in a year to try out new material.

He was warming up for his forthcoming Science tour.

The Jewry Street theatre booked him at short notice after being approached by the comedian’s agent.

The theatre then emailed all of its most regular customers, and all 400 seats were sold within seven hours.

It was slightly longer than the two-anda- half hours it took to fill the venue for his last visit to Winchester in May 2009.

However, those tickets were on general release, which triggered sales that broke box office records.

Theatre chief executive, Fiona Burn, said: “We’ve developed a really good reputation for preview shows and this was Ricky Gervais’ last chance to polish his act before setting off on a national tour.”

She added that another comedian, Ross Noble, would also be using Winchester as a testing ground for his next show.

He is due to perform at the Theatre Royal on Monday, September 13, and some tickets were still available at the time of going to press.

Call the venue on 01962 840440 to book.

Did you go to Sunday's show? What did you think?

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