20 years in stand-up for the Taskmaster cheeky texts icon, multi-award winner, YouTube cult figure, Radio 4 favourite and recently ‘Baby Reindeer’ actor: Watson returns after seasons at the Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Edinburgh comedy festivals. A recent encounter with a stranger caused Mark to spend some time pondering the uncertain future facing humanity. He explores this – along with equally pressing matters like the worst word he has ever said in public, the current state of the UK sausage industry, and much more – in a typically frantic and fun-packed new show!

Eliza Marshall, Flute Nick Ellis, Clarinet Camilla Pay, Harp Haydn Sonata in E major H.XVI No.32 Debussy 2 Arabesques L.66 Villa-Lobos Choros No.2 Saint-Saens Danse Macabre Harty In Ireland Frances-Hoad Vocalise Tournier Au Matin Arnold Grand Fantasia de Falla Ritual Fire Dance Comprising the beautiful and unusual combination of Flute, Clarinet and Harp, the Korros Ensemble has been performing together since its formation in 2001 during the musicians’ studies at the Royal Academy of Music. With a strong vision of introducing something new and original to the chamber music world, Korros continues to cleverly rework its favourite repertoire - creating an exciting and fresh way of listening to beloved orchestral, chamber and solo works. The group performs with dynamism and flair, and the sound world they produce is lush and mesmerising.

Tom Aldren, Violin Gemma Sharples, Violin Christine Anderson, Viola Anna Menzies, Cello Bach Art of Fugue Contrapunctus XIV Sofia Gubaidalina Reflections on B-A-C-H Beethoven String Quartet Op. 18 No.1 Shostakovich Quartet No. 8 The Gildas Quartet is praised for its ‘energy, verve and refreshing approach’ and has performed to critical acclaim at major venues including the Barbican, Kings Place, Wigmore Hall and on BBC Radio 3. The Quartet, known for its bold and engaging performances, was recognised with the Audience Engagement Award first prize at the International Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition, Graz. Passionate advocates of music from all periods, the quartet enjoys frequent collaborations with renowned musicians and composers. They have worked closely with Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Colin Matthews, Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Philip Cashian among others. This is a change to the previously advertised programme.

Was Sacro-Profano (Jeremiah Stephenson, organ & Massimo Modoni, baritone) Now Norman Harper (Former Director of Music at St George's Metropolitan Cathedral, Southwark

Bruckner Os justi (arr. Hicks) Gabrieli Exultavit cor meum in Domino (arr. Knight) J.S. Bach Christmas Oratorio: Wie solo ich dich empfangen (arr.Knight) Gabrieli Canzon II a 4 (arr. Knight) Bruckner Locus iste (arr. Knight) Bruckner Christus Factus Est (arr. Cox) J.S. Bach Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor (arr. Cirtina) Wagner Procession to the Minster Laurisden O Nata Lux from Lux Aeterna (arr. Cirtina) Prokofiev March & Scherzo from 'The Love for Three Oranges' Mahler Urlicht Rachmaninoff Music from the 'All Night Vigil' Gershwin Song Book, various including Fascinating Rhythm and S'Wonderful Following on from their sold-out concert at The Hawth, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Brass Ensemble returns for another evening of beautiful music. This concert weaves together the sacred grandeur of Bruckner’s motets (Locus iste, Os justi, Ave Maria) and the joyous Renaissance polyphony of Gabrieli (Exultavit cor meum in Domino, Canzon II a 4). Then, revel in the timeless swing of the Gershwin songbook, featuring beloved classics like I Got Rhythm, Fascinating Rhythm, and ‘S Wonderful.

Eton College Organ Student Programme to be confirmed. The Concert Hall and the Berkshire Organists' Association present a series of lunchtime organ recitals by locally and nationally renowned organists. All recitals begin at 1pm and last approximately 45 minutes.

Aye aye! Ahoy hoy! The unstoppable talking panjandrum is back in town! Celebrating 50 years afloat on the showbiz seas! Dead men tell no tales – so might as well get ’em all told now! Avast! Two thundering hours guaranteed!

You've seen her cuddling orangutans, being "Wide Awake" on Saturday mornings and almost skating to glory on Dancing on Ice. Now, wildlife TV legend Michaela Strachan swaps the binoculars for the spotlight in her brand-new live theatre show "Not Just A Wild Life". Marking 40 years in the public eye - on our screens, in the wild and sometimes out of her depth. From The Wide Awake Club, The Hitman And Her and The Really Wild Show to Countryfile, Springwatch and beyond, the show laughs at the chaos of TV, celebrates the beauty of nature and reflects on what it means to grow up - and grow older - on screen. It's a high energy, funny and heart-warming journey through four decades of conservation and re-invention. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be upstaged by an elephant, wrangle the likes of Chris Packham, or ice skate on National TV looking like Julie Andrews, then this show is for you! Not Just A Wild Life promises an evening of inspiration, nostalgia and genuine connection - for nature nerds, nostalgia lovers, and anyone who’s ever wondered how a rubber chicken can change the course of your life.

Sindhu Vee is an award-winning comedian, writer and actor. Since swapping a career in investment banking for one in comedy, Sindhu has fast become one of the most exciting and sought-after talents on the UK circuit.

Expect behind-the-scenes insights, hilarious anecdotes, and Harry’s signature charm that has made him a household name both on and off the pitch. Whether it’s tales of managing iconic players, locker room antics, or his time braving the critters in the Australian jungle, this evening promises to be an unmissable event.

Mark Simmons combines hilarious one-liners with an irresistible love of performing, to resonate with audiences at virtual and in-person events. His award-winning stand-up is a cut above the rest, setting Mark apart on the booking circuit and leading him to perform on some of the most prestigious comedy stages in the UK.

Straight off the back of Taskmaster, A League Of Their Own, and Last One Laughing, Maisie Adam is back with her brand new show Whatsherface. Join the "tall, chaotic one with the weird hair" as she returns with her trademark wit, firecracker gags, and probably a few angry outbursts along the way. A genuine description given by her best friend's Mum at a wedding this year.

Coming off the back of his SOLD OUT “Don’t Listen To Me” UK tour, Kane brings you his brand-new show ‘Crowd Work King’. One hour of purely unscripted, unplanned comedy; all based around audience participation. Everything is made up on the spot so you can witness the comedy unfold in real time. A new exciting dynamic to a comedy show when nobody knows what’s coming next (not even the comedian!) Each show will be uniquely different, so you can come along time and time again. Including support from some the UK’s funniest comedians. “Kane Brown is the most naturally talented standup with a crowd I’ve ever seen.” - Guz Khan Ages 16+ Only - Live Stand-Up - Adult Content See all Town Hall Comedy HERE

A decade older, but not necessarily wiser, Susan has found herself in some improbable situations over the years. Tall Tales is a show about Cruising, driving tanks, cats and getting older. You might have seen her on the television or heard her on the radio but the absolute best way to see her is live on stage. You won’t believe how short she really is. Prepare yourself for an evening of barely believable stories, laughter and probably some dancing. As seen on Grand Day Out, Cruising with Susan Calman, QI, House of Games and (a long time ago) Strictly Come Dancing.

The time has come for critically acclaimed musical comedy duo Flo & Joan to write another bio as they make their highly anticipated return to the stage with a brand-new show. “Gosh, they are almost like a real band” (Bruce Dessau, Beyond a Joke). The pair will try and take up as much of the stage and as little of your patience as possible as they use another "real band's" setlist to write their own show - ruminating on themes such as ‘what is music?’, ‘how do you be a band?’, and ‘is comedy?’ in the sharp-tongued, deadpan way they have become accustomed to. As seen on Live at the Apollo, The Royal Variety Performance, Comic Relief's Red Nose Day Live 2023 and their own comedy special 'Alive on Stage' for Amazon Prime. “Musical comedy hasn’t been in such safe hands for years” The List “truly exceptional” Rolling Stone “extraordinary... #1 Comedy Show of 2024” The Guardian See all Town Hall Comedy HERE

Men want to be him, Women want their boyfriends to stop showing them his videos. The King of the Internet Jungle is back where he belongs, doing stand-up in front of a live audience. After the whirlwind success of his chart-topping podcast Fin vs History and interview series Fin vs the Internet, it’s his biggest tour yet. But with the shows on-sale so far in advance, the question remains: will he fall off the tightrope before the curtain comes up?  It’s the pre-emptive comeback special.  As seen and heard on Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For You, The Last Leg, Roast Battle, The Mash Report, 8 out of 10 Cats, Have a Word, Parenting Hell.

An exploration of the work of noted Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse, who lived in Reading and designed several of its most prominent buildings. Type of Walk Guided tour - learning something new / more talking and less walking More detail Alfred Waterhouse was one of the most notable architects of the Victorian period, designing Manchester Town Hall and the Natural History Museum in London. Yet he also lived for a time in Reading and designed some of its key landmarks. This architectural walk will view some of Waterhouse's key works in Reading, including Reading Town Hall (1876), Reading School (1868-74), Sumerleaze House (1875-77), Christ Church Vicarage (1870-72), and the Rising Sun Temperance Tavern (1877). Along the way we will also discuss other key landmarks of Victorian Reading, including Forbury Gardens, Reading Gaol, Huntley & Palmers, the Mount and Christ Church. Walk length / difficulty / accessibility 6 km / 4 miles / 3 hours / medium / wheelchair accessible with adaptation (pls contact RWF) Ticket price 3 About the walk leader Dr Stephen Gage is a lecturer and BSc Programme Director at University of Reading School of Architecture. He is an architectural historian specialising in the architectural, urban and landscape histories of C19 and early C20 Britain and America. Getting there Queen Victoria statue is a 2 minute walk from Reading Station and close to many Reading Buses routes. W3W https://what3words.com/forms.funded.owners

A guided tour of Reading's Georgian architecture by an architectural historian from University of Reading Type of Walk Learn something new on a guided tour - Less walking/more talking More detail Reading has a rich and often overlooked legacy of Georgian architecture, from early C18 houses on Castle Street and Church Street, to the Town Hall Assembly Rooms of 1785, the Royal Berkshire Hospital and Eldon Square in the 1830s. The early C19 expansion was especially remarkable, seen in the striking terraces ringing the old medieval centre along King's Road, Queen's Road, London Road, Castle Hill, Russell Street and others. This walk will encompass an architectural tour of Reading's Georgian legacy, starting at the Town Hall and circling around to the east and south of the town centre, and finishing at Holybrook House, Castle Street. Walk length / difficulty / accessibility 4 km / 2.5 miles / 2.5 hours / medium / wheelchair accessible with adaptation(pls contact RWF) Ticket price 3 About the walk leader Dr Stephen Gage is a lecturer and BSc Programme Director at University of Reading School of Architecture. He is an architectural historian specialising in the architectural, urban and landscape histories of C19 and early C20 Britain and America. Getting there Reading Town Hall is a 2 minute walk from Reading Station and close to most bus routes. W3W https://what3words.com/forms.funded.owners

Following the route of Reading Councils Town Centre Heritage self-guided walk, this live circular walk takes in many of the key historic sites in central Reading. Type of Walk Guided tour - learning something new / more talking and less walking More detail The walk follows a route taking in key historic sites in central Reading. Starting outside St Laurence's church, in Town Hall Square, it passes by the Forbury Gardens, Abbey Gateway, Abbey Ruins and Reading Gaol, and the Huntley & Palmer factory site, before going by the Kennet & Avon Canal towpath to The Oracle shopping centre (on the site of the Simmonds / Courage brewery) and on to St Mary's Butts, the Saxon heart of Reading, and Reading Minster, from which it returns via Broad Street and the Market Place to St Laurence's and the Town Hall. The walk starts and finishes at Reading Town Hall, where The Pantry cafe will be open. Toilets at Reading Town Hall and The Pantry (ask for the code). Walk length / difficulty / accessibility 2.5 km / 1.5 miles / 1.5 hours / easy / not wheelchair accessible Ticket price 3 About the walk leader John Painter is the Secretary of the Friends of Reading Abbey and offers group walks around the Abbey Precinct. He is also a volunteer Station Ambassador for REDA, providing tourist information and advice on Reading at Reading station on a weekly basis. Getting there The start of the walk is about 30 minutes walk from Mortimer station or Mortimer Glenapp Grange stop on Lime 2a route from Reading town centre. Parking available - Calleva Atrebatum, Wall Lane, Silchester, Reading, RG7 2HJ. W3W ///biggest.play.reclaimed [https://what3words.com/biggest.play.reclaimed]

Exploring Reading and Caversham's impressive pilgrim history. Type of Walk Sociable walk - make new friends while walking More detail Reading Abbey was a leading centre of pilgrimage in England during the Middle Ages, focused on the Hand of St James. Lower Caversham also had the shrine of Our Lady of Caversham, which in the 20th Century has been re-established at St Anne's RC Church in Caversham. The walk, from the Abbey Precinct in central Reading, crosses the Thames to visit the site of the medieval shrine, and the current shrine at St Anne's, whilst then taking in St Anne's Well in Priest Hill, and the site of St Anne's chapel on Caversham Bridge before returning along the Thames Path to where we started. There will be a break at St Anne's RC church in Caversham. Walk length / difficulty / accessibility 5 km / 3 miles / 3 hours / medium / wheelchair accessible (with some adaptation - pls contact RWF) Ticket price 3 About the walk leader John Painter is the Secretary of the Friends of Reading Abbey, and helped REDA develop the Caversham pilgrimage trail. Getting there Town Hall Square is well served by local bus routes and is a 2 minute walk from Reading Station W3W https://what3words.com/thigh.thus.zebra

“Paul Merton and Suki Webster’s Improv Show” is a night of fast, and fabulously funny improvised games, scenes, stories, songs and laugh out loud surrealism. All deftly conjured up on the spot and based on suggestions by you: The Audience! These two masters of Comedy Improvisation are joined by two fabulous guests each week to create cascades of laughter and joyful silliness.

A fast, forensic show of big ideas and gag-dense overthinking from one of the nation’s sharpest stand-ups. Rhys has made a discovery that could fix everything. It’s been staring him in the face the whole time, in a mirror held behind his head. If he can ignore his own problems for long enough, he might just be able to solve yours. Star of TLC’s Mock The Week and BBC Radio 4’s Rhysearch, also seen furrowing his brow on QI, Live At The Apollo and his viral U&Dave lecture, ‘I Stalk Strangers Online’.

The Unthanks are an English folk group known for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk, particularly Northumbrian folk music, with other musical genres.

It's the night before the Grand Opening of the Bricksville Museum and there has been a break in. Someone has stolen the Golden Egg that should take pride of place in the entrance hall. Bricksville Police department need the help of our Master Builders to catch those crooks and solve the crime! Join us for a two hour creative adventure with 1000’s of LEGO bricks, Minifigures and LEGO components. Immersive brick building experience for LEGO fans aged 5+. Session Time: 11.30am - 1.30pm Reading Town Hall - The Soane Space Blagrave St Reading. Rg1 1qh Parents can drop off and make use of The Pantry Café & Kitchen, right next door. The children’s creative achievements will be shared with Parents/Carers at the end of the two hour session. What is a master builders workshop?

How can it be you have spent a whole ten minutes staring at a banana? Why do you always do stuff like that? Why do you never do the other really great things where it’s much, much better - and afterwards you don’t want to saw off your own face and post it back to yourself with not quite enough stamps? Also, learn how to make breakfast not even knowing you are out of bed. Diagnose the mirror, reason with the mice and boil yoghurt blindfolded. Enjoy the fruits of hurtling cognitive decline and your neighbour’s sprawling ghastliness, absence of humanity and so, so much more. These times have not been easy. We Got This is the brand new show from BAFTA and Perrier award winning comedian Dylan Moran. It promises to be a joyously furious romp through the frustration and folly of modern day life.

BBC Radio 4 stalwart and veteran of a quarter century of highly acclaimed stand-up comedy Simon Evans has announced a huge UK tour of his new stand up show Staring at the Sun with over 50 dates from January - June 2026. Staring at the Sun sees Simon Evans (Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Simon Evans Goes to Market, One Person Found This Helpful) squinting at an uncertain future, revisiting the blue remembered hills of his youth and trying to stay human as the world around him gets smarter. With the AI singularity looming and “reality” feeling increasingly unstable, Evans looks ahead to the coming shockwaves of technology, and back to the analogue pleasures of hitch-hiking, pub bets, and getting properly lost. Turning his famously dry, surgically precise style on the big modern questions: Are we living in a computer simulation? What happens when your body starts issuing software updates you didn’t request? And is staring straight at a solar eclipse, against expert advice, actually an act of courageous self-sacrifice on the road to true enlightenment? Part philosophical exploration, part nostalgic joyride, Staring at the Sun is a hilarious analysis of reality and trust from a man desperately trying to keep his balance while the floor keeps moving. The tone is unmistakably Evans: provocative, literate, and playfully combative, but also soaked in self-awareness. Evans draws on theories propounded by philosophers and mystics since the days of Plato and Ecclesiastes, casting himself as a public intellectual but constantly undercutting his points with brutally funny domestic truths. Simon Evans is one of the UK’s most respected and best loved comedians who has been at the top of his game for over twenty-five years. His TV credits include two appearances on BBC One’s Live at the Apollo, one on Michael McIntyre’s Roadshow, and a season of Channel 4’s Stand Up for the Week. On BBC Radio 4 his series Simon Evans Goes to Market, delighting audiences with his witty and insightful take on the comedically-unpromising territory of economics, has had six seasons. He is also a regular on Radio 4’s The News Quiz, and various other panel games, and from 1998 to 2002 wrote and hosted eight series of the news satire, The Way It Is. He also stars in One Person Found This Helpful – a Radio 4 show he co-devised with Jason Hazely and Pozzitive Productions, that has fun with on-line customer reviews and hosted Headliners – a regular preview of the following day’s newspapers with two other comedians on GB News. Evans is also in demand as a columnist and has written extensively for The Spectator, The Telegraph and Spiked.

On Sale Friday 27 March 2026 at 10am. An intimate evening of songs, stories and silliness in the company of Nik Kershaw. Nik Kershaw exploded onto the UK pop scene in 1984. A string of global hit singles including ‘Wouldn’t it Be Good’, ‘The Riddle’ and ‘I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ saw him languish for 62 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, making him the UK's biggest selling solo artist that year. In 1985, he performed at Live Aid. After stepping out of the limelight to concentrate on writing and producing, Nik wrote Chesney Hawkes’s ‘The One and Only’ and collaborated with Elton John, Lulu, Petula Clark, The Hollies, Ronan Keating, Jason Donovan, Let Loose, Sia, Imogen Heap, Gary Barlow and Bonnie Tyler. In 1998, Nik returned to performing and has been crafting critically acclaimed albums ever since. Now he’s ready to look back with an intimate evening to coincide with the release of his new book. Expect songs, stories, and silliness from one of the nation’s most-loved performers. Runtime approx 1hr 50mins incl interval.