ALAN CARR - LENNY HENRY CONFIRMED AS ROCK WITH LAUGHTER 09 HOST

LENNY HENRY CONFIRMED AS ROCK WITH LAUGHTER 09 HOST

Comedian Lenny Henry has been announced as the new host of Christmas variety festival Rock of Laughter.

Taking the reins from previous compere Jasper Carrott, Henry will preside over a comedy and musical lineup at the Birmingham LG Arena.

Alongside award-winning comedians such as Lee Mack and Alan Carr are musical guests including 80s legends the Blockheads - with Phill Jupitus - and chart-topping girl trio the Sugababes.

Speaking about the Rock of Laughter shows in December, Henry commented: "Jasper's done a brilliant job of rocking the audience during his tenure and now that task falls to me and I'm really beside myself with joy."

He added: "We've got our best line up ever this year. In the house we have - the gorgeous Alan Carr, the Abbaesque Bjorn Again, the absolutely hilarious Lee Mack, the very funny Shappi Khorsandi, the tres funky Blockheads with Phill Jupitus, the mighty Dara O Briain, the absolutely flipping fantastic Sugababes and - dig this - the bloody brilliant Village People!

"For those about to Rock with Laughter – we salute you - this is gonna be a show!"

Rock of Laughter 09 takes place at the LG Arena at The NEC in Birmingham on Friday December 18th and Saturday December 19th.

Tickets are priced at £32.50 plus booking and transaction fee and are on sale now at theticketfactory.com or by calling The Ticket Factory on 0844 33 88 000.