Ryan stands up to be counted with a comedy club first for Blackpool

Ryan Gleeson, from Thornton, who has run Comedy Station at various venues, including most recently Viva Blackpool, has now achieved his goal of having a permanent home for his shows.

He and his wife Jen have spent the past two weeks racing to get the former Under Bar in Bank Hey Street converted for tomorrow night’s big opening.

It is called The Comedy Station Comedy Club and will be able to host up to 250 guests.

Ryan said: “Having my own comedy club is pretty much the last thing on my bucket list. It is something I have always wanted to do.

“I started getting some health issues about four years ago which made travelling to do stand up gigs difficult and, at the same time, our Comedy Station nights at Viva were selling out, so this was the right time to get my own place.”

He said he had waited to find the prefect location and the right sized venue and was aiming to appeal to local people rather than the stag and hen audience.

“We have had catastrophe and after catastrophe getting the club ready, problems with the floors, the bar in the wrong place, the electricity but we are set to go now.

“The plan is to open Friday and Saturday nights and we will have top class comedians from TV shows such as Mock The Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats.

“It is the first dedicated comedy club for Blackpool and Lancashire. I want it to become known as the place to go for comedy entertainment.

“When my comedy heroes were working in Blackpool, Ken Dodd, Bob Monkhouse, there used to be 40 shows all the way up the sea front and they used to go from one performance to the next on the same day.

“There are quite a few comedy nights but no dedicated club, so this is something new for Blackpool.”