A STOURBRIDGE comedy club is set to celebrate five years making Black Country audiences chuckle with a set from the comic who headlined the debut show.

Patrick Monahan will return to the monthly comedy club at Katie Fitzgerald’s in Wollaston this Friday (October 4), five years after closing the show of the first ever Fitz of Laughter Comedy Club in September 2014.

The club, founded by comedy promoter Wayne Beese and his wife Nikki, has seen the likes of Joe Lycett, Tom Stade, Reginald D Hunter, Seann Walsh and Gary Delaney appear over the years.

Wayne, from Dudley, said: “It squares the circle quite neatly, having Patrick here on Friday five years after he became the first comic to headline here for us.

“He went down an absolute storm that night and we’ve had him back twice since and he’s taken the roof off both times there as well.

“Very little of what he does is scripted, he likes to just improvise based on his interactions with the audience. With how well he does it, it guarantees a memorable experience you’re unlikely to forget.”

Monahan was the winner of ITV’s Show Me The Funny back in 2011, a comedy X Factor equivalent hosted by Jason Manford.

Beese said it had been a fantastic five years putting on comedy shows at the venue but picked out two particular highlights.

He said: “We’ve had some incredible nights, but two memories stick out particularly for me. The first was on the third anniversary in the summer of 2017. Joe Lycett was looking for smaller venues to try out stuff for his upcoming tour and we agreed to put him on in the middle.

“But we didn’t tell anyone in the crowd he was going to be on, we smuggled him into the venue and backstage while the opening act was on and then introduced him as a surprise mystery guest in the second section.

"The place went up, I can’t remember an act getting such a response coming out anywhere in all my time doing comedy. It was a really special lump in the throat moment."

“The other time was early on in the club’s history. I got talking to a lady in the front row who told us she was a Queen Elizabeth I impersonator in her spare time. She told us she only lived round the corner so I asked her if she would go home and get changed in the break, amazingly she said yes! She turned up after the break as the Queen in full regalia, I bowed down and welcomed her and she got quite the reception.

“It really is a special place to put on live comedy and I’d like to really thank Eddy Morton and Trina Keane, who run the pub, for allowing me to put the nights on and being great supports throughout.

“There have been ups and downs, and we haven’t had as many through the doors this year as we would have liked if we’re honest, but hopefully people will continue to support us and the nights can run on for quite a few years yet.

“If you haven’t tried it yet, or not been for a while, get yourself along on Friday night. You won’t regret it!”

Tickets for the fifth anniversary show on Friday cost £10 each and are available at the Funny Beeseness website.