Wrestler turned to comedian to perform debut show at Tyne Theatre

A North East comedian is set to perform his first ever show at Newcastle’s Tyne Theatre and Opera House.

Jarrow born Lee Kyle will be performing his show England’s Best Comedian at the iconic theatre venue on Saturday, April 20.

Before turning his hand to comedy, Kyle was a professional champion wrestler, and released a book about his career in wrestling named Spandex Ballet: How I Wasted My Twenties Wrestling in 2016. He is now a podcast host as well as a comedian.

“It’s difficult to say why I got started in comedy, I was about to hit 30 and panicked and suddenly felt very old and signed up for a new act night and assumed I’d be brilliant,” the 44-year-old explained.

“Incredibly, I was very wrong. But I tried very hard and was able to leave a job I hated in 2013 and have scraped a living since. 

“It’s been dead good, it’s let me meet wonderful people and go to some places I never thought possible while simultaneously being plagued with a lot of fun self doubt.”

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While Kyle is making his debut at the Tyne Theatre, he has actually performed as a stand up comedian for the past 15 years, gigging all over the UK, while also regularly performing at Newcastle’s comedy club, The Stand.

His previous show, Disco Twix was recorded at The Stand and released on YouTube, but the funny man is now set to take to the Tyne Theatre stage for his second show, England’s Best Comedian.

Kyle gave us an insight into what to expect from his brand-new show, as he said: “It’s a show about trying to listen to the part of you that believes in you rather than the 99% of you that doesn’t. 

“I feel like so many of us have held ourselves back because of this and I’m tired of doing it.

“It’s called England’s Best Comedian because you can’t argue with facts, even one you’ve made up.

“It’ll have some dark stuff and some daft stuff a clever bit but I’ll make them dead funny.”

Kyle continued: I'm super grateful to the Tyne Theatre for taking a chance on me, I’m genuinely very chuffed and excited.”

Tickets for Lee Kyle’s stand up show England’s Best Comedian are available from the Tyne Theatre and Opera House website, and start from £13.