Shows


IDEAL - THE AWARD-WINNING TV SHOW STARRING JOHNNY VEGAS

The multi-award winning BBC TV sitcom IDEAL will transfer from screen to stage, with a special 20th anniversary theatre show. Created by the team behind the original hit TV series, the hilarious IDEAL live show will be premiering at Lowry, Salford, in September 2025, with a six night run, kicking off on September 8th. 

Johnny Vegas reprises his role as Moz: Manchester’s longest serving weed dealer, in a ‘dope opera’ of epic proportions. Featuring many of the beloved, long running BBC TV comedy’s most iconic characters and actors, the IDEAL live show is dark, surreal and laugh out loud funny.

Moz, and gangsters Psycho Paul and Cartoon Head must dispose of a dead body. But when they discover priceless diamonds inside the corpse, things spin out of control. Can they stop Cartoon Head from going on a killing spree? Will big gay Brian find true love? And can Moz survive the strangest night of his life?

Fans of the show will not be disappointed, as IDEAL’s most memorable characters reunite for this unmissable live tale. And for those just discovering IDEAL, thanks to all seven series recently dropping on BBC iPlayer, it’s a chance to get to know the wild world of Moz and friends up close and personal.

Written by Graham Duff, IDEAL is the critically acclaimed winner of several Royal Television Society awards. It was a major ratings hit, and ran for 53 episodes across seven seasons and has garnered a devoted, cult following,

Johnny Vegas commented: “Moz is back and he’s more chaotic than ever. Fans of Ideal will absolutely love the stage show, which is full of laugh-out-loud moments and bizarre twists and turns. It’s amazing to be able to breathe new life into the series and once again be stepping into the shoes of one of Manchester’s most well-known weed dealers. You’d be a fool to miss it!”

Photos: Andy Hollingworth

PRAISE FOR IDEAL

“Ideal is the best British comedy show on TV.” - The Guardian

“I couldn’t take my eyes off it.” - Variety

“Homegrown gold.” - The Daily Mirror

“Crackles with life... Effortlessly funny.” - Time Out

“Excellent... Uncompromising... Not for the faint hearted.” - Radio Times

“Incredible... Should be enthusiastically applauded.” - The Guardian

“A seriously good sit-com.” - The Independent

“A smorgasbord of surreal delights.” - Metro

“Has just about everything - a great script, characters and actors
and Johnny Vegas at his best.” - The Observer

“Pure unadulterated pleasure from start to finish.” - Daily Mail

 

Monday 8th September - Saturday 13th September 2025

The Lowry, Salford

Buy tickets

Monday 15th September 2025

Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

Buy tickets

Tuesday 16th September 2025

King's Hall, Ilkley

Buy tickets

Thursday 18th September 2025

The Fire Station, Sunderland

Buy tickets

Friday 19th September 2025

The Leadmill, Sheffield

Buy tickets

Saturday 20th September 2025

The Leadmill, Sheffield

Buy tickets

Monday 22nd September 2025

Stamford Corn Exchange

Buy tickets

Tuesday 23rd September 2025

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds

Buy tickets

Wednesday 24th September 2025

Norwich Arts Centre

Buy tickets

Thursday 25th September 2025

The Victoria Theatre, Halifax

Buy tickets

Wednesday 1st October 2025

The Subscription Rooms, Stroud

Buy tickets

Thursday 2nd October 2025

Workmens Hall, Caerphilly

Buy tickets

Friday 3rd October 2025

Cheese & Grain, Frome

Buy tickets

Saturday 4th October 2025

The Connaught Theatre, Worthing

Buy tickets

Shows


Dr. John Cooper Clarke

John Cooper Clarke shot to prominence in the 1970s as the original ‘people’s poet’.

Henry Normal

Henry is a writer, poet, TV & Film producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Literature festival) and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival.

Brian Bilston

Brian Bilston has been described as the Banksy of poetry and Twitter’s unofficial Poet Laureate; with over 200,000 followers on social media, Brian has become truly beloved by the online community.

Arthur Smith & Clare Ferguson-Walker

Two poets from different planets crash land onto stages across the U.K and Ireland, making a poetic and comedic show greater than the sum of its parts....(never ask a lady the sum of her parts). Expect poems, puns, laughter and tales from these two brilliant wordsmiths.

Nigel Planer

Nigel Planer was an original member of the comedy groups at the centre of the ‘Alternative Comedy’ movement in the 1980s and starred in the seminal TV series The Young Ones, and The Comic Strip Presents.

Graham Nash

Graham Nash, two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy award winner, will perform songs spanning his sixty-year career from The Hollies to Crosby, Stills and Nash, to CSNY and his beloved solo career.

Luke Wright

Whether he’s opening for the Libertines or reciting Georgian ballads down your local, Luke Wright is adept at taking poetry places it doesn’t normally go.

Toria Garbutt

Toria Garbutt is a spoken word artist from Knottingley - a former mining town in West Yorkshire