The Highlight of Your Night at the Home of Live Comedy

For a long time in the UK, the options available to those who wanted to enjoy something a little different during their night on the town were rather limited. Edinburgh comedy clubs and those elsewhere didn't really exist outside of the working men's clubs and student union bars, for example.

If you weren't a fan of the busy city centre pub and sweaty nightclub scene then your options were either to head to the cinema or theatre, or perhaps if you felt really extravagant you could go ten pin bowling. Alternatively, you could always opt to stay at home with a mug of Horlicks and the television for company to see if you could find something to amuse you.

Then in the 1980s things began to change. With the increasing interest in stand up comedy, comedy clubs began to spring up in venues across Britain. Soon, comedy clubs were commonplace across the country, spawning the next generation of comedic talent that has since gone on to grace the screens in television and film.

King of the early comedy club scene in the 80s and 90s was undoubtledly Jongleurs. From its original club in London, acts such as Al Murray, Eddie Izzard, Paul Merton and Jo Brand all took their first steps towards comedy legend status. Jongleurs clubs opened across the UK and offered a chance for local comedians to gain a wider audience.

However, in 2009 the bite of the recession struck. With fewer people attending comedy clubs and going out in general, Jongleurs clubs across the country were forced to close as their parent company went insolvent. It seemed in the modern era, a stand-alone comedy club would struggle to survive in the depths of an economic downturn in an increasingly competitive market.

From the ashes of the demise of Jongleurs, however, rose Highlight. A new venture under the guidance of iNTERTAIN chief executive John Leslie, the key to Highlight's undoubted success has been its declaration as the new king of London, Birmingham or Edinburgh comedy clubs.

The key to Highlights success is a whole new approach to a comedy night out. Traditionally, punters would head into town to visit a comedy club, have a bite to eat before or after the gig at a city centre restaurant, watch the comedy and then head off into town for a drink and to dance the night away.

In addition to being a selling point for comedy clubs that offered something different, it was also its death knell. As the recession bit hard in the UK, the fact that comedy clubs did not or could not, diversify into other areas, such as the nightclub scene, offering bar or restaurant facilities that would attract and keep their customers at the club for most, if not all, of the night, proved to be fatal. As good as the comedy was and is, the fact is that people were simply not spending enough at the clubs to justify their costs.

Having learned from that, Highlight offers its patrons a one stop shop that offers not only the finest stand up comedy in the country every week, but also some of the finest food and drink available - not to mention a fantastic nightclub, all for the price of one entry ticket!

As Mr Leslie put it: "By focusing on entertainment we aim to create a clear divide between iNTERTAIN venues and other operators on the high street. We want to give people new reasons to get off their sofas and into our venues."

Highlight has ten venues across the country, all of which offer a fantastic night out. Once you've purchased your comedy tickets online for one of the venues, you can simply head off to the best of Birmingham comedy clubs, for example, to watch some of the best stand up comedy talent in the UK. On arrival at the club you can avail yourself of one of the several bars at the venue, or even order yourself a hearty meal from the restaurant. So popular has the Highlight club become that they are now part of the social scene for many trendy youngsters across Britain, many of whom are knocked out by the atmosphere, entertainment, value and diversity of the entertainment on offer.

Having enjoyed the comedian show, a drink or three and perhaps something to eat, there is now no need to leave the club in order to find a nightclub. Highlight venues offer a fantastic after show parties that are unrivalled on the nightclub or comedy club scene. After your comedy the venue then reverts to a fantastic, state of the art nightclub complete with incredible light show and top quality resident DJs who are guaranteed to give you a fantastic end to your evening.

Also, what is impressive about the Highlight clubs is their scale. No longer is the comedy club a domain of the dingy basement room, or tiny room in a pub. Highlight clubs are large scale, opulent and attractive. Some clubs can easily cater for 500 customers on any given night (which is fortunate given their increasing popularity amongst the trendy youngsters who are increasingly making up a large percentage of regular clientele).

The bars and food on offer are fairly priced, the comedians are a mix of the young and upcoming talent seeking their break on the stand up scene and the more established UK comedians such as Bob Mills, Junior Simpson and Paul Tonkinson, and the nightclub is as trendy and fashionable as any you will find in the town or city centre.

So, whether you are looking for a fantastic night's entertainment at one of Highlight's Camden, Battersea, Watford, Portsmouth, Reading, Leicester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh or Leeds comedy clubs, you can be assured of a fantastic, fun packed evening in one venue, for one ticket for one memorable night to remember!

It truly will be the Highlight of your night!

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