Master impressionist Alistair McGowan is embarking on a brand new tour this Spring 2022 which combines his incredible comedy talents with his new-found passion for classical piano music.
Alistair McGowan – The Piano Show opened on Wednesday 6 April 2022 in Cheltenham, before heading to Ivybridge, Taunton, Cardiff, Blackburn, Selby, Liverpool, Poole, Shanklin, Radlett, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Scarborough, Canterbury, Hexham, Alnwick, Barnard Castle, Tetbury, and London’s prestigious Cadogan Hall.
After 25 award-winning years in the world of comedy, Alistair McGowan began playing the piano in 2015. Within two years, he had released Alistair McGowan: The Piano Album through Sony Classical which topped the UK Classical album charts and reached No 2 in the Classic FM chart. The album featured 17 short piano pieces by composers including Satie, Chopin, Field, Grieg, Schuman, Liszt, and Glass.
Mc Gowan said “Rediscovering the piano as an adult has been a great joy to me, and being able to share that joy with others is both a privilege and a huge pleasure – although I continue to be in total awe of trained pianists who can play far more intricate pieces than I could ever attempt.”
“After having to reschedule the tour due to the pandemic, I’m very much looking forward to this new tour and if it encourages someone else to follow their own dream, whatever their age, then that’s even better.”
The Piano Show (now in its third run) sees Alistair playing a series of short pieces which span the history of the instrument, from the 17th Century world of Bach via Chopin, Debussy and Satie, to the 21st Century and works by Philip Glass and Yann Tiersen, the man behind the exquisite score for the film Amelie. The music is interspersed with quirky anecdotes about the composers and some of Alistair’s newest impressions from Monty Don to Amol Rajan, and from Noel Fielding to Michael Mosley.
Alistair explains: “I keep saying it’s two shows for the price of one. And in a way it is, it’s a piano recital but with comedy bits in between. But it’s not what Bill Bailey or Rainer Hersch do, or even what Victor Borge did. I’m not doing funny music. I do bits of comedy and the music is very much there as a counterbalance to it, and I hope the music will move or relax people.”
Alistair McGowan – The Piano Show tours the UK until June 2022. Tickets available at individual venues.
