A refreshing dose of Ford-thinking

GUESS who's back in Bristol this spring - it's only bloomin' Andy Ford! The West Country wit, pantomime legend and family favourite is back out on tour and heading to Bristol to celebrate his 56th year in the business we call show.

- NATALIE BANYARD

Andy Ford's Flippin' World Tour of the West Country will be jam-packed with everything from hilarious stories, to bonkers jokes, to the most surreal of impressions all told in his unmistakable West Country burr and uniquely silly style.

Exeter-born Andy has been hard at work to create this very special tour his biggest yet - to mark 56 years of entertaining the masses. And where better to launch the run than here in Bristol, where he is lauded as our Panto King and loved for his live, ludicrous, and laughter-filled solo shows.

The daft-as-a-pancake comic has been performing since he was a young lad of 12, beginning his career in showbusiness as part of a band, before going it alone and moving into the cabaret scene. As he started to introduce more and more humour into his shows, so his audiences grew, and he began to catch the attention of various talent scouts and agents.

In 1997, he was featured on ITV's Big Big Talent Show hosted by Jonathan Ross, and his performance resulted in executive producer Nigel Lithgoe inviting Andy to appear on the Royal Variety Show in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary.

His infectiously funny and delightfully endearing style has seen him appear on many TV shows, including children's comedy show, Havakazoo, Des O'Connor Tonight and The Jonathan Ross Show.

Andy is now regarded as one of Britain's finest family-friendly comics. In 2017, he won first place in The Lost Review's Best Live Stand-Up comedy show in the UK ahead of Ricky Gervais and James Acaster and was rightfully inducted into the Panto Archive Hall of Fame.

In 2023, he released his brilliant autobiography, which is a charming, warm and witty read, covering his life from a four-year-old boy being put on stage by his teachers to entertain his peers, to becoming a pantomime legend. Plus everything in between (and there's a lot!).