A warm welcome to The Hen & Chickens; spiritual home of Fit To Burst and the ghosts of many other sketch groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Pete Gold and Nick Swift met at York University in 1995, where they were cast as two massive show-offs (the princes) in a student production of “Into The Woods”.

A sketch show inevitably ensued, featuring several of their friends, with lighting rigged and operated by Pete’s girlfriend Clare, who was only visiting for the weekend. 

(Reader, I married her).

Eventually, Pete, Nick, Bart, Andy and Malcolm graduated and moved to London, and the five set about performing regular shows at Fringe Theatre venues. 

After a stab at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1999, most of the troupe moved on to do sensible grown-up things, like writing and vicar-ing. 

Some bloke called Simon Farnaby joined Pete & Nick in 2000 and the three performed around London and at the next two Edinburghs, before Simon left to pursue an acting / writing career. 

History does not record what became of him. 

Nick continued writing and performing with his “Big Square Head” show in this very theatre ladies and gentlemen. 

Pete tinkered with stand up for a few years, and the pair made  a short comedy film “Minstrels: The Lute and The Fury”, but eventually it was time to put away childish things, so the wigs and clown noses were mothballed.

Pete and Nick have remained friends, and they spent the next two decades occasionally muttering about being funny together again. 

And then in 2022, Pete had a big birthday, for which Nick wrote him a sketch. 

From this grain of comedy grit was formed the hilarious pearl of a sketch show you are about to see, and having spent their 20s pretending to be awkward middle-aged buffoons, the boys  now found that no acting was required for these roles.

Some men manifest their mid life crises through sports cars and inappropriate trousers; Pete and Nick have chosen to put theirs on a stage and charge their friends to watch. 

So tonight, dear guests, join  Pete Gold (musical, nice, the voice of Virgin Trains when you get stuck in the toilet), Nick Swift (large, splenetic, Martin Clunes’ official stunt double) and Jules Mortimore (female, amazing at Australian accents and withering looks) for The Mid-Life Crisis Variety Hour.

You’ll leap from your seat in raucous laughter.  But not without going “Oof” and clutching your back afterwards.

And while you’re here, why not JOIN OUR MAILING LIST?

A few thankyous: 

Thanks to Jules Mortimore for her talent and dedication, and for her photography. 

Thanks to Sam Gold for remixing the theme tune. 

Pete would like to thank Clare for her support, patience, and inspiration, as always.

Nick would like to thank Harriet for so much more than can ever be said here.

Thanks to James Pearce and Denham Technical Services Ltd for doing such an amazing job on the lights and sound. 

Thanks to Jon Briggs for his voice overs. 

Thanks to James Wren and Mark Lyminster for welcoming us back to the Hen & Chickens.

Thanks to Aunty Alison for lending us her house. 

Thanks to Cat Humphries for her photography.

And of course, dear audience thank you for coming.