Paul Mayhew-Archer

Incurable Optimist

The debut stand-up show from the co-writer of 'The Vicar of Dibley'

As seen on 'The One Show' and heard on 'The Now Show' & 'Quote... Unquote'.

“I know Paul as ‘F***wit’. He’s always been very funny, but now he has Parkinson’s,
he’s ‘F***wittier’” – Dawn French
“Very funny, and moving too” – Richard Curtis

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Incurable Optimist - Tour

MARCH
19th - 23rd - London: Soho Theatre - Date Passed
26th - Glasgow: Oran Mor - Date Passed
27th - Edinburgh: Assembly Roxy - Date Passed
30th - Chipping Norton: Chipping Norton Theatre - Date Passed

APRIL
5th - Tiverton: Tiverton Arts Theatre - Date Passed
14th - Bristol: Bristol Improv Theatre - Date Passed
17th - New Milton: Forest Arts Centre - Date Passed
25th - Newcastle: Gosforth Civic Theatre - Date Passed
26th - Otley: The Courthouse - Date Passed
27th - Selby: Selby Town Hall - Date Passed

MAY
1st - Bath: Rondo Theatre - Limited Availability
4th - Brighton: Komedia - Limited Availability
5th - Brighton: Komedia - Limited Availability
6th - Hastings: White Rock Theatre - Limited Availability
10th - Norwich: Playhouse - Limited Availability
12th - Colchester: Arts Centre - Tickets
16th - Liverpool: Epstein Theatre - Tickets
21st - Cambridge: Junction - Tickets
30th - Leicester: Sue Townsend Theatre - Limited Availability
31st - Hexham: Queens Hall - Tickets

JUNE
1st - Barnard Castle: The Witham - Tickets
2nd - Chorley: Little Theatre - Limited Availability
6th - Oxford: Old Fire Station - Sold Out
7th - Oxford: Old Fire Station - Sold Out

Tickets Via TicketText Here

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Biography

Following a brief career in teaching, during which he organised a school trip and got left behind, Paul Mayhew-Archer has spent the last 40 years trying to make us laugh. 

He is a multi-award-winning writer whose credits include 'The Vicar of Dibley’, “Mrs Brown’s Boys” and the screen version of “Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot” starring Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman. He also produced the much loved Radio 4 shows ‘I'm Sorry I haven’t A Clue’ and ‘Old Harry’s Game’, and as a script editor he has worked on everything from ‘Spitting Image’ to ‘Miranda’.  

In 2011 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. It’s an incurable illness that gets progressively worse and has over 50 symptoms. It is also - as Paul quickly found out - funny.   

Since then he’s had some of the best times of his life.   

In 2016 he made his first documentary, “Parkinson’s: The funny Side”, for which he won the Grierson Award for Best Documentary Presenter. In 2017 he started doing stand-up about Parkinson’s, first at the Royal Albert Hall then at The Comedy Store. In 2018 he took part in his first podcast, sitting next to The Archbishop of Canterbury and performed his first ever One Man show, "Incurable Optimist”, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  In 2019 following the hugely successful run at Edinburgh, he is now touring the UK.  

  Paul can scarcely believe his luck. “I'm 66 and I’ve got the chance to travel the country making people laugh. On a bus pass.”  

"Incurable Optimist” is an inspiring show about the therapeutic power of comedy and laughter from a man who is not contagious but is well worth catching.

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Press

‘An entertaining hour with an engaging raconteur who refuses to take his illness too seriously’
★★★★★ - The Wee Review

‘Light and moving all at once… a laugh from start to finish’
★★★★★ - LungHa

‘A master of story telling, timing and delivery… an expertly conceived and delivered hour of comedy’
★★★★ - Fringe Review

‘Charmingly funny & warmly delivered… The well-worked punchlines should appeal to every age’
★★★★ - What’s On London

‘Eloquent storytelling reminiscent of the likes of Terry Jones and Peter Sellers… sets the room into fits of laughter’
★★★★ - BroadwayBaby

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Contact Me

Paul Mayhew-Archer is represented Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.
Professional enquiries: abby@casarotto.co.uk
Tour Enquiries: hello@berksnest.com