Some big laughs are promised in Wolverhampton this autumn as a popular comedy club is back and releasing tickets for its new season.

The Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club is returning to the Slade Rooms on Broad Street with some of the country's best TV and radio comedians. Five gigs are planned during the autumn, and the club will also be celebrating a milestone during the run – its 10^th anniversary of delivering comedy shows in the city.

During the past decade, LOL has brought some hilarious acts to Wolverhampton including local heroes Joe Lycett, a favourite on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and current host of The Great British Sewing Bee, and Jo Enright, who has starred on TV with both Steve Coogan in I’m Alan Partridge and Peter Kay in Phoenix Nights. LOL Comedy Club has also introduced international stars to the city including Canadian Tom Stade, known for his 'Meat Van' on BBC1's Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, and Malaiwan Daliso Chaponda who was a finalist in 2017’s Britain’s Got Talent.

The team behind the club has worked with the likes of Jason Manford, John Bishop, Sarah Millican, Alan Carr and Chris Ramsey before they hit the big time and are looking forward to introducing some more great acts this autumn.

Marking the anniversary gig on Saturday, September 18, will be comics Patrick Monahan, winner of ITV’s Show Me The Funny, Michael Legge from BBC’s Would I Lie To You? and promising new stand-up Simon Lomas. They will be joined by Brummie MC Susan Murray, one of Huffington Post’s top 100 funny women tweeters.

On Thursday, October 7, the laughs will be provided by Scott Bennett, who won the Comic’s Comic award 2020, comedy magician and Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Mandy Muden and Matt Bragg, who has supported both Harry Hill and Phoenix Night’s Clinton Baptiste. They will be joined by 8 Out of 10 Cats writer Roger Monkhouse as MC.

Comedians Danny Mcloughlin from BBC2’s The Premier League show, Danny Deegan of BBC3’s The Adam & Kelly Show and Yuriko Kotani, who has appeared on Russell Howard's Stand Up Central, will be on stage on Thursday November 4. Joining them will be MC Barry Dodds, the only comedian in the UK to have his podcast made into a Hollywood feature film, The Parapod Movie.

Festive fun will be offered on Thursday, December 2 by Britain’s Got Talent runner-up Robert White, Dudley’s own Sean Percival, a veteran of the UK’s comedy festivals, and the multi-award-winning Matt Rees. Barry Dodds will be returning as MC. And on December 16, Steve Harris, North West comedian of the year and support act for Johnny Vegas and Peter Kay, will join character comedian Keith Carter as Nige and Freddie Farrell, who has shared the bill with acclaimed comedians such as Sarah Millican and Chris Ramsey.

MC for the night will be the creative comic Damion Larkin, who will often improvise his entire set. The evening promises to bring the gift of chuckles for Christmas. Councillor Steve Evans, City of Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet member for city environment & climate change, said: “I’m delighted to see the return of the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club to our city.

“We’ve all experienced a tough time of late and we’re all in need of something to raise our spirits. The comedians who will be performing can certainly promise to do that. It’s also a wonderful way to help us to relight our city and show people what fantastic events Wolverhampton has to offer.

“And a very happy tenth anniversary to the comedy club, we’re thrilled to see you back with us.” All shows will adhere to the most up-to-date guidance around coronavirus (Covid-19) to ensure safety for our audiences.

Black creators on TikTok are refusing to choreograph new dances and calling out what they see as a new form of cultural appropriation on the app.

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion's latest song 'Thot Shit' was supposed to be a TikTok hit. Her previous single 'Savage' had more than 22 million hits on the app. 'WAP' generated 4m and there were 1.5m for 'Body'.

But this time a social media strike staged by Black creators on the viral-video-making platform has prevented her new single from taking off. Black creators have refused to make a dance for the song and instead mounted a digital walk-out.

Since June, the hashtag BlackTikTokStrike has been viewed more than 6.5m times on the app and has since been trending on social media platforms like Twitter. Black users are using the hashtag to voice their objections to what they say is preferential treatment.

Black creators say non-Black influencers use their work, reaping the financial and personal gains earned from views, but fail to acknowledge or give credit to originators.

"Even in the spaces we've managed to create for ourselves, [non-Black] people violently infiltrate and occupy these spaces with no respect to the architects who built it," Erick Louis, a Black TikTok creator who helped organise the strike. "This app would be nothing without [Black] people," Mr Louis, 21, wrote in a widely shared TikTok video.

The strike is about recognition and giving credit where it is due, he said. Black creators are not the only ones who agree. Rachel McKenzie, who is white, uses TikTok daily and supports the strike.

"Anyone that uses TikTok will tell you young Black creators choreograph the vast majority, if not all, of the dances that go viral," she said. "If you look at modern pop culture and its entirety, it's just another example of how Black culture sells and white people hijack it."

"As a white woman, I think it's important to speak to those who continue to deny credit or trivialise matters like this," she said. Going viral on TikTok has proven to have an impact far beyond popularity.

Some TikTok users have made millions in revenue from their videos. Moreover, viral songs on TikTok have had a huge impact on the music industry, influencing which songs become hits and gaining more streams and thus more money for artists.

While the strike started with Megan Thee Stallion's latest song, the problem has been highlighted before. In March, talk show host Jimmy Fallon invited TikTok influencer Addison Rae, who is white, to his show.

She performed numerous viral dances created by Black dancers who were not mentioned or featured on air. One of the dances for which she received lots of views was the 'Renegade' - created by Jalaiah Harmon, a 14-year-old Black TikToker.

After Rae's rendition of the dance, it began to trend. Even celebrities recreated it. But while others became the face of the dance, Jalaiah struggled to receive credit or compensation since TikTok pays for views.

Rae made nearly $5m (£3.6m) from TikTok in 2020 alone, getting views from videos she made recreating dances from Black choreographers. Although her exact earnings are unknown, according to one estimate Jalaiah made about $38,000 the same year from the app.

"I was excited and frustrated because they weren't tagging me or giving me credit," she said. Since the initial backlash, celebrities have attempted to make sure Jalaiah was acknowledged for her creation.

Fallon acknowledged his mistake, inviting Jalaiah and many other Black TikTokers on to his show in April, in an attempt to give a voice to the many unknown creators of viral dances. Jalaiah made appearances on The Ellen Degeneres Show, was featured in a music video and performed at an NBA All-Star game.

But many other Black TikTok creators still are fighting for recognition and credit they feel they deserve. TikTok has since released a statement highlighting its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

"Over the past year, our teams have continued working to elevate and support Black voices and causes, while fostering an inclusive environment on our platform and within our workplace," it said. The company said that it was training staff to better understand more nuanced content like culture appropriation and slurs and endeavoured to give users the tools to empower our community. It has not addressed the strike directly.

Supporters of the TikTok strike say it isn't just about the app. "Celebrities like the Kardashians, among many others, successfully exploit Black trends and behaviours that black pioneers have been persecuted for embracing," said Ms McKenzie.

"I think it really boils down to the inconvenient and uncomfortable nature of confronting systemic racism head-on." She says that sees obvious reluctance from some TikTok influencers to give Black creators credit as an example of how comfortable a lot of white people are sitting in such a skewed exploitative power dynamic.

Supporters say they will continue the strike indefinitely, although this does not include abstaining from the app entirely. While there is no clear indicator if the strike has been a success, it has started conversations and had an impact on trending dances.

Mr Louis said: "It just speaks volumes. We have these experiences outside of TikTok. As Black folks, we're used to galvanising, marching, protesting, having to scream and yell to have our voices heard.

"It's supposed to be a safe space but even in those spaces we're forced to make a statement and protest," he said.

Major Ruse are gearing up for an exciting year ahead with a residency in Newcastle at Sage Gateshead this Summer where we will be finishing up our debut album and taking part in various music industry masterclasses.

They have opened up our Major Ruse Merchandise shop early to a select few
with an exciting promotion. The first 12 people to purchase our Major Ruse Merch and send us a selfie rocking whatever you've purchased will win a free signed copy of our album plus two free tickets to our private album Launch Party.

They are looking forward to sharing this moment with the lucky winners!

“I’d never thought I’d be presenting on radio and have my own weekly show,” Marcus said.

“Happy Birthday to Radio2Funky and thank you so much for the opportunity and all that you do for our city of Leicester. Shout out to all the presenters on the station for all the hard work you do and big respect to Vijay for encouraging me to come on the station to express my love for jazz music and our local community and for providing the foundation for growth.

“Last but not least and most importantly thank you to all our listeners and supporters it’s truly appreciated! Here’s to many more birthdays! So, tune in for some good Jazz music and get involved in the conversation
with our special guests....

"This album is a body of work that explores themes of personal and external limitations, the idea of what binds us to who and where we are and the transcendence of perceived obstacles to become our authentic selves."

Marcus Joseph & Rob Charles - Wednesday 6-7pm. Radio2Funky 95.0FM
Streamed live on Twitch, YouTube & Facebook. Catch up on Spotify, Soundcloud & Amazon Music

Global superstar Tones And I has released her anxiously awaited debut album, Welcome To The Madhouse.

Available on all streaming platforms, her first full-length record details an intimately honest and vivid journey from busking in Byron Bay to international stardom to saying goodbye to her best friend. Tones And I weaves it all together into a moving and magnetic 14-track collection written entirely by the Australian artist with her co-producing every song.
 
Tones And I recently shared Welcome The Madhouse’s latest single “Cloudy Day,” and it has already clocked upwards of 20 million total streams and counting. Receiving critical acclaim, VARIETY hailed it as “the perfect pandemic anthem” while Tones And I delivered a debut performance of the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with another performance scheduled for this coming Monday, July 19^th.  

Speaking to her growing influence overall, Music Business Worldwide also recently chronicled her rise as “No.1 Songwriter On Streaming Services Last Year.” Tones And I commented on the significance of Welcome To The Madhouse explaining; “This album for me is very up and down and reflects the forever changing emotions in me. 

“There are songs on the album that were written before ‘Dance Monkey,’ about not knowing if busking was right for me. There are songs about my good friend T passing away and not wanting to deal with those emotions.

“The ups and downs of life in lock down and the mental challenges / struggles. Some songs make me laugh and some make me cry but there is no running theme or vibe to the album - the songs are unique to how I was feeling the day I wrote them.”
 
Regarding “Cloudy Day,” Tones And I elaborated on the single’s origins noting; “After my friend T passed away I was struggling to write any songs that were happy or that I even liked. I met up with a friend who told me this saying from his late mum – ‘on a cloudy day, look up into the sky and find the sun.’ I knew I wanted to use that as a lyric and the next time I went into the studio I wrote ‘Cloudy Day.’”
 
Tones And I Initially laid the foundation for Welcome To The Madhouse last year with the release of “Fly Away,” a poetic and powerful composition which has amassed over 215 million streams with Tones And I delivering performances of the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.  She followed it up in 2021 with the release of "Won't Sleep" which arrived alongside a Tones And I, Nick Kozakis and Liam Kelly directed official music video continuing what has become a tradition of highly unexpected and unforgettable visuals.  

Both tracks reflected the inimitable idiosyncrasies of Tones And I’s signature style, highlighting her clever lyricism, unpredictable songcraft, and indisputable knack for a hook. Tones and I's "Dance Monkey” was declared the most Shazamed single of all time, and officially became the 3^rd most streamed song of all time on Spotify making the track the most streamed song ever by a female artist on the platform.

The “Dance Monkey” official music video has surpassed 1.6 billion views on YouTube, while the track has eclipsed six billion streams globally and earned 4x platinum certification from the RIAA in the US as well as multi-platinum or diamond certification in sixteen other countries. Plus, "Dance Monkey” hit #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, making “Dance Monkey” the first top five Hot 100 hit solely written by a woman in over eight years. In Australia, “Dance Monkey” holds the all-time record for the most weeks spent at #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, while in the UK “Dance Monkey” has made Tones And I the longest running #1 of all time by a female artist on the Official Singles Chart. The New York Times detailed the making of “Dance Monkey” in their Diary of a Song video series, speaking with Tones And I about her journey from local busker to global star. 
 
“Dance Monkey” is featured on Tones And I’s RIAA gold certified debut EP The Kids Are Coming which earned her four major wins back home at last year’s ARIA Awards including: “Breakthrough Artist,” “Best Female Artist,” “Best Pop Release,” and “Best Independent Release.” Following the EP’s release Tones And I showcased her staggering voice across performances of “Dance Monkey” and standout single “Never Seen The Rain,” appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Voice, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Today Show.
 
Originally from Australia’s Mornington Peninsula, Tones And I traveled to Byron Bay in early 2018 to take a chance at busking. On the first day she had crowds spilling onto the street. Tones quit her retail job and decided to make Byron her new home where she lived out of her van for a year, honing her songwriting and busking every weekend. A year later, she had one of the biggest songs in the world with her global smash “Dance Monkey.” 
 

Ardingly Solar is a collaborative project between two science renowned schools - Ardingly College and Ifield Community College – to bring new, fresh thinking to the age-old problem of vehicle pollution. Tackling pollution ‘one car at a time’, the students have developed a series of innovative solutions over the last decade. The Institute of the Motor Industry has supported Ardingly Ifield Solar throughout its developments, playing a pivotal role in the construction of each of the solar cars, as well as developing an electric vehicle extracurricular course for pupils that will be trialled at Ardingly College and Ifield Community College this September.

Having endured a year where much of their innovation could not be showcased, the Ardingly Ifield Solar team are now embarking on a mammoth road trip, from John O’Groats to Haywards Heath, from 2nd to 11th August. Centre stage will be ‘The Basking Beasty’ – a car powered by solar energy. As Tom Porter from Ifield Community College and one of the students involved in the project explained it’s a really important venture: “As a pupil this trip is important to me as I get to have a voice to show what can be done in solar energy transport. It's exciting to know we are helping to build a better future”.

Under the guidance of MBE Dr Andrew Spiers, Ardingly Ifield Solar Car Project Manager, and with the help of volunteer companies, teachers and individuals including IMI regional member representatives, Douglas Wragg and Mike Reed, the students from Ardingly College and Ifield Community College had already made a name for themselves in the world of automotive innovation. Now they plan to go further with their road trip which will stop at sites of interest and those that have played a part in the manufacture and creation of this amazing and innovative car.

The IMI is supporting the Solar Car Challenge and will be using the road trip to raise money for its nominated charity, Ben, as Steve Scofield, Head of Business Development at the IMI explained: “There is no question that we need the greatest minds working on the best ideas to tackle the global pollution challenges and the Ardingly Ifield Solar team are playing no small part in using their imagination and ingenuity to show that solar power could be part of the answer.

“It’s hugely exciting to be involved in this latest project from the team and we really hope that by touring the UK their message about using solar power will reach a wider audience. We are also delighted that we can use this event to help raise funds for automotive charity, Ben.”

To donate to Ben visit Ben - Motor and Allied Trades Benevolent Fund: Solar Car Challenge

Road Trip Stopping points

2nd August - John O’Groats – 9.00am

2nd August - Inverness – 1.45pm
Inverness castle, Inverness, IV23E

3rd August - Aberdeen - 3pm
Richard Thomson MSP
Aberdeen Energy Park, Claymore Dr, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, AB23 8GX

4th August - Holyrood - 3.30pm
Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DX

5th August - Durham University - 2.30pm
DUEM solar team & Flexible Solar
The Palatine Centre, Durham University, Stockton Road, Durham, DH1 3LE

6th August - York Shambles – 10.40am
York, YO1 7LX

6th August – Ben Home – 3.00pm
Brinklow Rd, Easenhall, Rugby, CV23 0JE

7th August - Warwick - 10:00 am
With Cambridge University at the British Museum EV show
British Motor Museum, Banbury Road, Gaydon, Lighthorne Heath, Warwick CV35 0BJ

8th August - Cambridge - 12:45pm
Engineering Department and Business Park
Trumpington St, Cambridge, CB21P

9th August - IMI HQ – 12.00pm
Fanshaws, Brickendon, Hertford, SG13 8PQ

10th August – Central London – 1.00pm  
Ministry of Transport, Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Rd, London, SW1P 4DR

11th August – McLaren – 11am
McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, GU21 4YH

11th August - Crawley Thales & Elekta – 3.00pm
Thales - Manor Royal, Crawley, RH109HA
Elekta - Linac House, Fleming Way, Crawley, RH10 9RR

11th August - Haywards Heath – 5.00pm
Ardingly College, College Rd, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, RH17 6SQ

The Board of the Belgrade Theatre today announces a major restructure to the senior leadership team for 2022. Chief Executive and Artistic Director Hamish Glen and Executive Director Joanna Reid will step down at the end of March 2022. Two new posts will be created – a Chief Executive responsible for overall strategy and to run the commercial side of the Belgrade, and a Creative Director, reporting to the CEO, to focus on the Theatre’s artistic output across both its professional and community areas.

There will be a scaled down leadership team of six. This team will lead on producing and programming, technical production, marketing, general management such as fund raising and income generation, financial management and commercial income and operations such as catering and conferencing.

These changes have been driven by two issues. The need to address the financial challenges of the pandemic and its aftermath, and the desire to develop a new vision and way of working for a 21^st century theatre.

Important to this new vision will be the legacy of Coventry’s year as City of Culture and Hamish Glen’s KEYS project. This was inspired by the story of Ira Aldridge, a young African-American actor, went came to Coventry in 1828 to manage a short season of plays at the old Coventry Theatre. 

Not even 21 years of age, he became the country’s first theatre manager of colour at time when slavery was still widespread throughout the British Empire. To honour this unusual event Glen wanted to ‘hand the keys’ of the theatre over to the next generation of young and diverse theatre-makers. 

Corey Campbell, Balisha Karra and Justine Themen were appointed as Co-Artistic Directors of the theatre for 2021, bringing with them a unique perspective that celebrates Coventry’s diversity and drives positive change. The three Co-Artistic Directors have driven the City of Culture programme of work with their own individual projects, as well as learning from Glen about the processes and challenges of running a major venue.

Hamish Glen and Joanna Reid said: “As with all theatres across the UK, the pandemic has proved uniquely challenging for the Belgrade, both financially and logistically.

“We’re proud of the way the whole team has pulled together, that we’re riding the storm with resilience and we’re excited for the work both inside and outside the building during City of Culture year. We feel that now is the right time to look to the future and to step aside, handing over a strong organisation to allow the next generation of talented and innovative theatre leaders to take the Belgrade forward.”

As previously announced, David Hanson will take over as Chairman of the Board later this year from Stewart Ferguson who has served as Chairman since 2012. Hanson is joined by Alan Pollock as Vice Chair, and other trustees joining the Board at this time are Nyasha Pitt, Tyrone Huggins, Thanh Sinden and Colin Bell.

Recruitment for the new CEO and Creative Director posts will begin immediately in July, with the aim that the successful appointees will be in post in January 2022.