Ben Elton will embark on the ‘Authentic Stupidity’ tour in 2024, which will include 54 dates across the UK & Ireland.
The tour opens at York Barbican on 1st September 2024 and will end in London’s West End on 18th November. ‘Authentic Stupidity’ will be Elton’s first tour in five years and the world has changed a lot since then – a whole new existential threat has emerged to challenge our very existence: Artificial Intelligence. Apparently, it’s going to render all human life meaningless, but Ben is here to warn you that AI is not the greatest threat that we face; it’s ‘Authentic Stupidity’!
Elton said: “The verdict’s in! Humanity is thick! Homo halfwit. The idiot branch of the Ape family! We need signs to tell us to step off escalators, we elect gibbering fools to lead us and now we’ve invented Artificial Intelligence which is actually going to replace us! I’ve spent 45 years in comedy exploring the outer limits of human idiocy and my mission has never been more timely. Forget AI! It’s AS we need to be worrying about!”
Elton’s multi-award-winning career spans over four decades and includes seminal and groundbreaking television shows (‘The Young Ones’, ‘Blackadder’, ‘Upstart Crow’), West End plays (‘Popcorn’, ‘Upstart Crow’), West End musicals (‘We Will Rock You’, ‘The Beautiful Game’, ‘Close up: The Twiggy Musical’), best-selling novels (‘Stark’, ‘Dead Famous’, ‘Two Brothers’) and feature films (‘Maybe Baby’, ‘Three Summers’, ‘All is True’).
The full dates are:
| 1 September | York, Barbican |
| 2 September | Newcastle, Tyne Theatre and Opera House |
| 3 September | Edinburgh, Queen’s Hall |
| 4 September | Glasgow, Pavilion Theatre |
| 5 September | Aberdeen, Music Hall |
| 7 September | Warrington, Parr Hall |
| 8 September | Nottingham, Theatre Royal |
| 9 September | Birmingham, Symphony Hall |
| 10 September | Sheffield, City Hall |
| 11 September | Cambridge, Corn Exchange |
| 12 September | Bristol, Beacon |
| 15 September | Milton Keynes Theatre |
| 16 September | High Wycombe, Swan Theatre |
| 17 September | Bedford, Corn Exchange |
| 19 September | Colchester, Charter Hall |
| 20 September | Hayes, Beck Theatre |
| 21 September | St Albans, Alban Arena |
| 22 September | Basingstoke, Anvil Theatre |
| 23 September | Guildford, G Live |
| 27 September | Leeds, Playhouse |
| 28 September | Swindon, Wyvern Theatre |
| 29 September | Cardiff, New Theatre |
| 2 October | Wolverhampton, Grand Theatre |
| 3 October | Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre |
| 4 October | Stevenage, Gordon Craig Theatre |
| 5 October | Ipswich, Corn Exchange |
| 6 October | Canterbury, Marlowe Theatre |
| 7 October | Aylesbury, Waterside Theatre |
| 10 October | Salford, The Lowry |
| 11 October | Oxford, New Theatre |
| 12 October | Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall |
| 13 October | Woking, New Victoria Theatre |
| 14 October | Southend, Cliffs Pavilion |
| 15 October | Tunbridge Wells, Assembly Hall |
| 19 October | Poole, Lighthouse |
| 20 October | Portsmouth, Guildhall |
| 21 October | Hastings, White Rock Theatre |
| 24 October | Weston-Super-Mare, Playhouse |
| 25 October | Barnstaple, Queen’s Theatre |
| 26 October | Yeovil, Octagon Theatre |
| 27 October | Torquay, Princess Theatre |
| 31 October | Belfast, Ulster Hall |
| 1 November | Dublin, 3Olympia Theatre |
| 3 November | Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall |
| 4 November | Leicester, De Montfort Hall |
| 6 November | Northampton, Royal and Derngate |
| 7 November | Worthing, Assembly Halls |
| 8 November | Crawley, Hawth Theatre |
| 9 November | Weymouth, Pavilion Theatre |
| 11 November | Brighton, Theatre Royal |
| 14 November | Lincoln, Engine Shed |
| 15 November | Chatham, Central Theatre |
| 16 November | Dorking Halls |
| 18 November | London, Lyceum Theatre |
Tickets are on sale now from https://benelton.live.
