Tony Cowards

Very few funny things have come out of East Anglia...Nik Kershaw's mid-eighties pop career, the Ipswich Town defence and Delia Smith's motivational half-time speeches being the exceptions...but all that has changed with the arrival on the comedy scene of Tony Cowards.

Tony, originally from sleepy Suffolk but now an adopted "cocker-knee", was practically press ganged into the world of
comedy, having previously been a member of the short lived (1 performance) "Comedy Forensic Squad" at the Comedians' Graveyard in Wood Green but has
now been performing his particular brand of hilarity all over the country since January 2004.

A genial gagster whose material covers a wide spectrum (mostly semi-autobiographical and observational with a pinch of topicality), his quick wit has made him sought after as an opening act and compere by Mirth Control, Christian Knowles Productions and various independent promoters around the UK.

Tony’s likable ‘everyman’ character and wide ranging humour means that he is comfortable in front of any audience and is regularly booked to host comedy evenings for the military (entertaining various regiments, from the Irish Guards to the Royal Army Dental Corps) as well as universities, football clubs and for corporate work.

Tony has also made the breakthrough into both TV (as a football pundit on "Anglia News" previewing the "Old Farm" Derby, and also, briefly, "The One Show" on BBC1) and film (as "Comedy Club Customer #2" in the horror classic "Hellbride").
Last year also saw the debut of his solo hour-long show, “Festival of Football” at the Edinburgh Fringe, a stand up show combining football with comedy (much like Ipswich Town) which was well received by critics and audiences alike and that he has since performed at the Leicester Comedy Festival, the Offside Bar in London and various football clubs around the country.

Quotes;
“Tony Cowards makes stupid jokes that are funny” – Ava Vidal, Channel 4’s ‘King’s of Comedy’

“My favourite joke of the Festival so far was told to me by a Suffolk stand-up comedian and die-hard Ipswich fan Tony Cowards’ – Hardeep Singh Kohli, The Scotsman on Sunday (and BBC1’s “The ONE Show”)

“genuinely funny” – The Stage review of “Festival of Football”, Edinburgh Festival 2007

‘a great way to spend an hour" - Freshair.com review, Edinburgh Festival 2007

"Tony Cowards is a great new MC who sets the audience up perfectly, with a nice self deprecating manner" - Jo Caulfield, Radio 4 and ‘Mock the Week’

“Tony Cowards got the evening off to an uproarious start, with our loudest crowd ever. Tony’s laddish, low-key, relaxed story telling style went down a treat.” – John Jacklin, promoter Big Jack’s Laughter Club, Reading