Ben Elton announces shows in Milton Keynes and Aylesbury for latest UK stand-up tour

Ben Elton is heading to Aylesbury and Milton Keynes during a bumper UK stand-up tour planned for 2024.

Back in 2019 the Blackadder writer completed a critically acclaimed sold-out tour and he is now performing to live audiences for the first time since Covid.

Ben, 64, had not performed in 15 years prior to his 2019 comeback, now he is going back on the road with a brand new live show – Authentic Stupidity.

In total, the quick-witted comic, who broke through in the 1980s, will be cracking jokes at 54 venues. He opens at York Barbican on 1 September and culminates in London’s West End on 18 November.

He visits Milton Keynes Theatre on 15 September and the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury on 7 October.

The world has changed a lot since Ben last toured five years ago - a whole new existential threat has emerged to challenge our very existence: Artificial Intelligence. Ben is dismissing AI as the greatest threat we face and instead making the case for: Authentic Stupidity.

He said: “The verdict’s in! Humanity is thick! Homo halfwit. The idiot branch of the Ape family! We need signs to tell us to step off escalators, we elect gibbering fools to lead us and now we’ve invented Artificial Intelligence which is actually going to replace us! I’ve spent 45 years in comedy exploring the outer limits of human idiocy and my mission has never been more timely. Forget AI! It’s AS we need to be worrying about!”

Across his 45 years in comedy, Ben has worked on some of the most celebrated television shows in UK television history: The Young Ones, Blackadder, and Upstart Crow. And also penned some famous West End musicals: We Will Rock You, The Beautiful Game, Close up: The Twiggy Musical.

He has also written best-selling novels and been a trusted voice in political commentary throughout his career. Channel 4 will also broadcast a special recording of Ben’s last stand-up tour - ‘Ben Elton Live’ which will air on 15 December, to coincide with tickets going on sale for Authentic Stupidity.