Terry Christian to relive the 90s and TV show The Word as part of Shrewsbury International Comedy Festival

Broadcaster, comedian and writer Terry Christian, will celebrate legendary TV programme The Word, with a unique one-man comedy show at this year’s Shrewsbury International Comedy Festival (SICF).

Taking place at St Mary’s Church in Shrewsbury town centre on Friday 11 July, Christian’s stand-up performance delves into the iconic and quintessentially ‘90s ground-breaking and hugely influential TV show, which also includes some rarely seen clips, followed by a no-holds-barred Q&A session.

Launched in August 1990 on Channel 4, The Word both revolutionised ‘youth TV’ and predated ‘reality TV’ by a decade. With its goal being to create something new and exciting, The Word pushed the conventional boundaries of broadcasting to court controversy and outrage the establishment.

It combined a diverse mix of cutting-edge bands like Nirvana, Oasis and Snoop Dogg,  as well as irreverent and anarchic interviews of A-lister guests including Whitney Houston, Dave Chappelle, Bill Hicks, Rikki Lake and Oliver Reed. Through stories from the margins of society and downright bizarre and outrageous studio stunts, The Word soon became loved by its target audience and loathed by the press in equal measure.

Terry Christian was voted 2nd in Celebrity Big Brother in 2009, sharing household duties with the likes of Coolio, LaToya Jackson and Ulrika Johnson.  He has appeared on many other TV comedy shows including 8 out of 10 Cats, Would I Lie to You, The Stayin in Show, You’ve Been Watching, Have I Got News For You, Room 101, Fantasy Football, The 11 O’clock Show, The Late Late Show (RTE), The Panel Show (RTE) and as regular panellist on the topical Channel 5 series The Wright Stuff and Jeremy Vine. He has also featured on BBC Radio 4’s Pick Of The Week, The News Quiz, A Good Read, Joe Lycett’s It’s Not What You Know, With Great Pleasure and Great Lives where his subject was Mr Manchester the late Anthony H Wilson.

In fact, Christian has never really been off the TV since the crazy days of The Word. More recently he appeared in a Channel 4 40th anniversary special of The Great Christmas Bake Off and reached the quarter final on BBC 1 programme Celebrity Master Chef and won Celebrity Mastermind.

The Huffington Post described him as ‘a natural and fantastically self-deprecating stand-up. He has found a natural home on the stage – a welcome reinvention for him and a great evening of laughs for those in the audience.’

SICF co-director Beth McGowan said: “For those… ahem… of a certain age The Word was compulsive Friday night viewing back in the day. Mildly chaotic at times; I think everyone remembers Oliver Reed’s drunken performance of Wild Thing; Terry Christian seemed to hold it all together with a sardonic grin and Mancunian drawl. It was great TV and I’m really looking forward to him recounting those heady days of the early-90s.”

Comedians performing at the other festival venues in Shrewsbury such as St Mary’s Church, Henry Tudor Inn, The Loft at The Old Post Office and the soon-to-be-opened Red Brick, (on Castle Street) include: Mick Miller, Nina Gilligan, Mrs Smith, Chris O’Neill’s A Comedy Tapas and A Political Brunch, Stella Graham, Josh Jones, Frankie Munroe, Dave Chawner, Tony Law and Sally-Anne Hayward, as well as up-close-and-personal shows by Tez Ilyas, Ignacio Lopez and Troy Hawke. The highlight of SICF will take place at Theatre Severn on the evening of Sunday 13 July and the Live At The Apollo format currently includes Abandoman, Cally Beaton, Lindsey Santoro, Tez Ilyas, Troy Hawke and MC Scott Bennett.

Tickets for the Terry Christian stand up performance on 11 July at St Mary’s Church are £25.00 and available through the Theatre Severn box office 01743 281281 or online.