The former Lib Dem MP will make his comedy club debut next month.
Former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik may have lost his seat in Montgomeryshire but he's got a new career move up his sleeve - stand-up comedy. You can catch Lembit's 10-minute performance on June 2nd, when he will make his first ever circuit debut at the intimate 70-seat Backstage Comedy Club in Leicester Square's Cafe Koha.
Backstage club promoter and journalist Robert Meakin, who regularly interviewed Opik for The Independent gossip column, Pandora, said: "Before the election, he told me he fancied coming down and doing a bit once the campaign was over. Of course, he didn’t know he was going to lose. But he called me on the Saturday after the election and said he was still up for it, and said he’ll do 10 to 15 minutes of observational material based on his misfortune."
After a colourful political and personal life, 45-year-old Opik will surely have plenty of material to choose from. There's the Cheeky Girl engagement, his part in the expenses scandal and that weird obsession with asteroids wiping out the human race...
Whether or not his first public gig is a success, the high profile politician has certainly demonstrated a good sense of humour in ther past. Minutes after learning he'd lost a 13% swing to the Conservatives, he promised: "In the words of Arnie Schwarzenegger, 'I'll be back'." He then appeared as a guest on BBC1's Have I Got News for You the next day, cracking jokes about his defeat.
At one point he said: "Can we get on with it? I've actually got an appointment at the job centre in about half an hour", before Paul Merton replied: "They phoned earlier, they cancelled."
Joining him on the line-up will be top ventriloquist Nina Conti, experimental musical duo Moonfish Rhumba, Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2010 Josh Widdicombe and more.
Lembit Opik will be appearing at the Backstage Comedy Club on June 2nd.
Photo credit: Alex Folkes
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