Arrow RightLeft ArrowDate IconDropdown IconFullScreen IconLocation IconPlay IconTime Icon

Wow. Wow. Wow. We have ONLY just recovered from what was simply an incredible night!

On Tuesday 21st September we hosted ‘An Evening of Comedy with Jason Manford and Guests’, and to be honest we are still on a high..

but you all may be wondering? Why did we host this? How did it all come about? Check out this blog where we will go through everything!

So why did we host this?

Well, its simple really. We just want to give back to the people of Derby. It’s been an incredibly tough time during the past 18 months. Covid has torn many lives apart and the high street in particular has suffered. We hosted this event as our aim is to give people the confidence to return to the city centre following the pandemic as well as giving back to the community for all the support you have given us.

How did the setting up go?

Setting up was a massive logistical challenge. Its sometimes easy to forget that we are just a independent business and despite being known for putting on some awesome events in the past, we had NEVER put on an event this big. Due to our size, we unfortunately could only sell a limited amount of tickets so one of the biggest challenges was trying to sell tickets in the fairest way possible. This meant we did 3 different ticket windows to give people as much chance as possible.

We also had to completely change the way the restaurant looked, all the tables were removed so we could fit as many chairs as possible in the restaurant facing towards the stage area. We hate to be bias, but we thought it looked amazing - and what a job by the Derby team as well! They worked flat out ALL DAY in the build up to the gig. Without them, the Restaurant wouldn’t have looked half as good as it did. Amazing job guys!!

On the night as well we knew we couldn’t run our full menu for the night so we opted to run a reduced, refined menu, with a few of your favourite burgers as well as hot snacks including; loaded Nachos, Corn Dogs, Curly fries and a one off special -the Sweet Dough Boy. We also of course had our bar open, with a wide selection of drinks.

How did the night go?

The night went absolutely amazingly. We had a full house, and not a single person appeared to have a bad time. Laughter, smiles and an absolutely electric atmosphere the way way through. It was a extremely frantic time! So many of you turned up when doors opened - and how funny were the comedians?! It truly felt like the past 18 months had been forgotten about.

So, what’s next?

Well, to cut it shortly, we wanna do more! Seeing the hundreds of happy faces has given us a drive and despite the extreme efforts from the whole team at Annie’s to make this happen, we want to do more! We hope that Jason Manford will be the first of many popular comedians to step foot into Annie’s! Who would YOU like to see next? Let us know!