Jackie Weaver and top comedians to hold “the ultimate council meeting” to mark Handforth anniversary

Jackie Weaver and a panel of comedians are to celebrate a year since the infamous Handforth Parish Council meeting went viral by forming “the ultimate council meeting” for a special live comedy event.

The Comedians’ Council will see comedians Isy Suttie, Ken Cheng, Paul Sinha, Richard Herring, Glen Moore and Suzi Ruffell join Weaver at the Club Room at The Bedford, Balham at at 2pm and 6pm on 6 February 2022.

The comedian-councillors will tackle tough audience questions, such as – “is wearing socks and sandals a criminal offence?” or “can you really trust people who prefer baths to showers?”.

The questions will be posed by the live audience and, just like a real council meeting, the panel will engage in friendly debate before voting on each issue, the organisers said.

The meeting will also feature customised cocktails based on the characters from the Handforth Parish Council meeting. These include “Aled’s Mai Tai Pad”, “Chair Man-Hatten” and “of course, a delicious Jacquiri”.

This special comedy event is a spin-off of Jackie’s chart-topping podcast, “Jackie Weaver Has The Authority”, which Richard Herring and Isy Suttie have previously appeared on; other guests have included Anton Du Beke, Jack Whitehall and Julia Bradbury.

Since being thrust into the limelight earlier this year, Weaver has continued her day-job working with local councils, while finding time to have a starring role in the opening of Brit Awards; write a book; and launch the podcast - series 2 of which has already been recorded.

Weaver said: "I have spent my career managing meetings and keeping the peace between strong personalities, so this event shouldn't be too different! It has been a rather bizarre year and so I look forward to this celebration of councils and their quirks, as well as finally answering some of life's ‘toughest’ questions". 

To buy tickets go to Design My Night. For those unable to attend the live event, it will also be streamed via Next Up Comedy.

The Comedians’ Council is sponsored by Hive and Brixton Brewery, and the charity partner is The Diana Award.