An Audience with Arthur Smith

Often described as the compère beyond compare, Arthur worked as a road sweeper, dustman, market researcher, teacher and advertised chicken burgers in supermarkets dressed as a fox before becoming a fully-fledged playwright, panellist, performer and stalwart of the Edinburgh Festival,

A career in comedy was the only one that could follow a build up like that. He was one of many stand-up performers on the alternative comedy scene in the Eighties.

Twenty years on he still performs in much the same manner, perhaps ironically, he now describes himself as a “semi-professional” comedian.

To BBC radio and TV audiences, his career has been split between appearing on top quiz shows and fronting the funny section in Loose Ends. On TV, he’s been a regular Grumpy Old Man and Countdown wordsmith.

His plays include the award-winning An Evening with Gary Lineker, My Summer with Des and The Bed Show. He has presented Radio 4’s Excess Baggage and Radio 2’s The Smith Lectures and is a regular guest on Loose Ends. He describes himself as Radio 4’s “bit of rough”.

Presented in association with Clive Conway Productions

Show Details

Date of event:

20th January 2024

Event details:


7.30pm £22/£24

How to book

In person at The Ropewalk

Maltkiln Road, Barton upon Humber, DN18 5JT, which is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm, and Sunday and Bank Holidays, 10am to 4pm. There is no additional charge for cash and card transactions in person.

By telephone 01652 660380

Please pay by credit or debit card. An additional charge of £2 is applied to cover customer not present transaction cost and postage.