Comedian Leigh Francis, best known for his character Keith Lemon, has announced his first ever tour across the UK next year.
Francis has announced 18 dates of My First Time, kicking off in Bath on March 6 next year, including a date at the London Palladium, before concluding in his home town of Leeds.
As part of the 2024 tour, the comic will include characters such as Keith Lemon, Bear and Avid Merrion, as well as celebrity spoofs including David Dickinson and Ant and Dec.
However, there has been no word on whether he will be resurrecting his caricature of Craig David, one of the main characters of his Noughties Channel 4 show Bo Selecta!, which was once criticsed as racist by Craig David himself.
“I’m doing my first ever tour!” Francis said, announcing the live dates. “Never done one before. It’s gonna have masks in it! The Bear, Avid Merrion, Amanda Holden’s Gran, not her actual gran but me playing her.
“I’ll also be playing Keith Lemon, I look just like him! It’s me doing all the characters I do that hopefully have the intent to provoke hilarity! So many exclamation marks, and the word ‘intent’ and ‘provoke’ twice! I’m excited!
“Come see ME being other people LIVE for the first time! It’ll be your first time and my first time! Hence the title of the tour MY FIRST TIME! (There’s another exclamation mark) how exciting!”
Who is Leigh Francis?
Leigh Francis has been well known for his character Keith Lemon in recent years, although he originally rose to fame for various characters on Channel 4’s sketch comedy show Bo’ Selecta!.
The Leeds-born comedian, actor, writer and TV personality then went on to find fame presenting ITV shows Celebrity Juice and Through The Keyhole.
Celebrity Juice came to an end in December last year after 309 episodes, which Francis hosted as Keith Lemon, which won him a BAFTA.
Bo Selecta! ran from 2002 to 2009, but was pulled from All4 in 2020 in agreement between Francis and the broadcaster after backlash over its frequent use of blackface; in addition to Craig David, the show featured portrayals of Mel B, Michael Jackson and Trisha Goddard.
David himself criticised the show, saying “Leigh Francis had normalised bullying by making it comedy” and said he felt like the comic had a “vendetta” against him.
Earlier this year, David said: “It was very reminiscent of days at my school, when I was growing up, when I’d been bullied…. Once you’ve experienced it, it’s like a trauma that sticks with you.
Francis has apologised but said David should just move on, telling The Sun: “The only way it’s ever going to go away from him, if he feels people are going on about it, is to stop talking about it. It’s ages ago, isn’t it? It is, 20 years ago.”
When and where is he performing?
Below are the full dates for Leigh Francis’ tour:
- Wednesday, March 6 – Bath, Forum
- Thursday, March 7 – Guildford, G Live
- Friday, March 8 – Bournemouth, Pavilion Theatre
- Saturday, March 9 – London, Palladium
- Thursday, March 14 – Cambridge, Corn Exchange
- Friday, March 15 – Sheffield, City Hall
- Saturday, March 16 – Halifax, Victoria Theatre
- Sunday, March 17 – Salford, The Lowry
- Wednesday, March 20 – York, Barbican
- Thursday, March 21 – Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
- Friday, March 22 – Hull, City Hall
- Saturday, March 23 – Bradford, St George’s Hall
- Sunday, March 24 – Buxton, Opera House
- Thursday, March 28 – Newcastle, Tyne Theatre
- Friday, March 29 – Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
- Saturday, March 30 – Liverpool, Philharmonic
- Sunday, March 31 – Birmingham, Symphony Hall
- Saturday, April 6 – Leeds, Grand Theatre & Opera House
How to get tickets
Tickets for the tour go on sale from 10am on Friday.
They are available to purchase here.
