DUDLEY — Comedian Lenny Henry launched his first stand-up comedy tour in more than 15 years, titled "Still At Large," in May 2024. The tour is scheduled to conclude on November 3.
Henry, who is 67 years old, paused stand-up touring approximately 16 years ago. He stated he found touring exhausting at the time and required a break. He said, "I got a bit tired of the travelling and I thought I didn’t want to do it for the rest of my life, but it turns out I didn’t want to stop it completely."
He decided to return to stand-up after audience members desired more unscripted interaction during his previous stage performances. He noted this occurred during his one-person shows, including August In England and Every Brilliant Thing. He stated, "When I did a one-person show I wrote called August In England, and then Every Brilliant Thing, written by Jonny Donahoe, I found that when I was interacting with the audience, they were egging me on to do more outside the script."
The comedian explained that the title of the current tour, "Still At Large," references his continued presence in comedy as well as the ongoing relevance of issues he discussed decades ago. He said, "The reason the show is called Still At Large isn’t only because I’m still at large, but because things I used to talk about in the 80s are still at large now – like racism, the rise of the far right, the tumult we’re in as a world at the moment. These are things we have to deal with, and I think it’s all right to talk about these things because I’m 67, so I’m allowed."
He began his career by winning the televised competition New Faces in 1975. The television series The Lenny Henry Show aired from 1984 to 2005. He also appeared on the television series Tiswas and Three Of A Kind. In 2009, He played Othello in a West Yorkshire Playhouse production that toured the U.K. before transferring to the West End. He also co-founded the charity organization Comic Relief and advocates for increased minority representation in the arts.
He was born and raised in Dudley. When he was six years old, Conservative politician Peter Griffiths won the neighboring Smethwick parliamentary seat with a campaign slogan that included a racial slur. Four years after the Smethwick election, politician Enoch Powell delivered his rivers of blood speech in Birmingham. He said, "I’m a massive fan of Billy Connolly, Richard Pryor and Chris Rock, and I feel that as they grew older they became better, because their authenticity came through stronger." A publication awarded the "Still At Large" tour a four-star rating.
No independent assessment of Lenny Henry’s claims was available.