'Funniest climber' tours new Mind Your Head theatre show

Author, stuntman and UK's only 'stand-up' climber, Andy Kirkpatrick, is back on UK stages

Award-winning, best-selling author and mountain-climbing comedian, Andy Kirkpatrick, returns to UK stages with his seventh 'audience with…' style lecture show, Mind Your Head: Holidays from Hell, touring to theatres across the UK, presented by adventure-based speakers' specialists, Speakers from the Edge.

"The Ranulph Fiennes of British Climbing"
-THE TODAY PROGRAMME, BBC R4

A unique storyteller and comedian, Andy climbs in some of the most inhospitable places on earth, from Greenland to Alaska, Patagonia to Antarctica. A natural performer as the UK's only 'stand-up mountaineer', Andy is one of Britain's most prolific - and funniest - climbers, with a desire for climbing in extreme conditions.

"Gut-wrenching, entertaining and challenging – appeals to the adventurer in all of us"
-THE GUARDIAN

Andy summarises his new show, "In the space of a year I went from living somewhere were it was -50 degrees C to +50 degrees C (Denali and Kuwait), my house burnt down, I was deported, there was a worldwide pandemic, and also had a baby aged 49, and so the talk is about dealing with extremes, hardship and change. 

The show includes tales of being in the middle of a shoot-out, attacked by baboons and elephants, floods, broken bones, near starvation, and how the challenges we face, and the way we face these challenges, define who we are".

As with all of Andy's shows, Mind Your Head: Holidays from Hell is a mash up of thoughts and experiences, good times and bad, laughter and maybe even some tears, but certainly an enthralling journey

Andy courted controversy in 2012 by taking his 13-year-old daughter to become the youngest girl to summit Yosemite's vertical 3000ft El Capitan, filmed for Children's BBC's My Life series.

"…a strange penchant for the long, the cold and the difficult…"
-CLIMBING MAGAZINE

This new theatre show, set to tour 19 venues across the UK, blends narrative with audio-visuals to give audiences a taste of the realities of venturing on major expeditions. 

 "Entertaining, funny and a bit mental"
- ZOO MAGAZINE

Andy is a hugely popular and accomplished storyteller, as comfortable on stage as he is lashed to an ice-clad mountain in a 100mph storm. Andy has previously funded his bizarrely dangerous expeditions by working as a Film & TV Stunt Safety Adviser, most notably with Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and for the BBC's Dalziel & Pascoe. Andy has also enjoyed the success of his books, most notably Psychovertical and Cold Wars, both of which won the Boardman Tasker Prize.

Mind Your Head: Holidays from Hell is touring UK theatres in autumn 2021. To book tickets, or for further details, visit www.speakersfromtheedge.com

TOUR SCHEDULE 

OCTOBER '21

Sun 24 SHEFFIELD Octagon Centre gigantic.com

Mon 25 BUXTON Buxton Opera House 01298 72190 buxtonoperahouse.org.uk

Tues 26 LEEDS Carriageworks Theatre 0113 376 0318 carriageworkstheatre.co.uk

Thurs 28 SALE Waterside Arts Centre 0161 912 5616 watersidearts.org

Sat 30 STIRLING Albert Halls 01786 473544 stirlingevents.org/alberthalls

Sun 31 INVERNESS Eden Court 01463 234234 eden-court.co.uk

NOVEMBER '21

Wed 3 PENRITH Rheged Centre 01768 868000 rheged.com

Sun 7 BRECON Theatr Brycheiniog 01874 611622 brycheiniog.co.uk

Mon 8 SHREWSBURY Theatre Severn 01743 281281 theatresevern.co.uk

Wed 10 NEWCASTLE Tyne Theatre & Opera House tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk

Fri 12 LANCASTER The Dukes 01524 598500 dukeslancaster.org

Sat 13 DERBY The Market Place 01332 255800 derbylive.co.uk

Sun 14 HORSHAM The Capitol 01403 750220 thecapitolhorsham.com

Mon 15 ABINGDON Amey Theatre 01235 849063 abingdon.org.uk/sports-and-leisure

Wed 17 CHELTENHAM Town Hall 01242 528764 cheltenhamtownhall.org.uk

Thurs 18 EXETER Corn Exchange 01392 665938 exetercornexchange.co.uk

Sat 20 CHRISTCHURCH Regent Centre 01202 499199 regentcentre.co.uk

Sun 21 BATH Komedia Bath 01225 489070 komedia.co.uk/bath

Mon 22 ANDOVER The Lights 01264 368368 thelights.org.uk