Monday 29th October 2007, 7.30pm

Pre-Show Supper at the Pilot Boat, 6pm

Sponsored by TheatreFriends, with a pre-show supper at the Pilot Boat. Howard has been invited to join us for a bite to eat. If he can take a few minutes out from his hectic schedule, he will join us at the Pilot Boat. There will an opportunity to ask him questions during the show.

£12.50 in advance, £14.50 on the door

Pre-show supper £6.50 (TheatreFriends £5.50)

From Lyme TIC 01297 442138

HOWARD MARKS : An Audience with Senor Nice

Smuggler. MI6 Agent. TV personality. ‘Folk hero’ Travel writer!!

On Monday 29 October you can have an opportunity to ask Howard Marks if he stands by what he is reported as saying: “If, as a result of smoking a lot of dope, one becomes schizophrenic, that’s reason for concern. If being slightly schizophrenic makes you want to smoke some dope to ease you through the day, I don’t think that is cause for concern. To find out which of these is true will require research.”  TheatreFriends are hosting this special evening, which will be full of “lively exchange of views,” welcoming Howard to the theatre where he will present his “An Audience with Senor Nice” at 7.30. Tickets £12.50 in advance from Lyme Regis TIC 01297 442138, £14. 50 on the door. TheatreFriends, who are growing in number and popularity as a social organization as well as a fundraiser for the Marine Theatre, are meeting before the show for a meal at the Pilot Boat, which is conveniently just round the corner from the theatre, and tickets for this meal can be bought with the theatre tickets from the TIC. The meal and the show are open to everyone and TheatreFriends particularly want to welcome newcomers to this event. .

Born in 1945 in Kenfig Hill, a small Welsh coal-mining village near Bridgend, Howard Marks rose to become “the most sophisticated drugs baron of all time” (Daily Mirror). With the help of  friends and fellow students at Oxford University, Howard built a world-wide smuggling network that allegedly became responsible for the majority of marijuana smoked in the western world throughout the 1970’s and most of the 1980’s. Once an agent for MI6 (Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and the orchestrator of  major cannabis deals direct with members of  the American CIA,  Howard had 43 aliases and over 25 companies world-wide as cover for his truly international smuggling  empire. His motivation became the legalisation of cannabis / marijuana, and a determined will to beat the system (he would not trade in any other drug and gave away most of the profits).

“The narcotic Tommy Cooper” London EVE STANDARD  “A folk legend... Howard Marks has huge charisma. He sounds like Richard Burton and looks like a Rolling Stone”   DAILY MAIL /  “A maverick phenomenon....... Marks is the Guv’nor!”   SUNDAY TIMES “A man most wanted.....his one man show is the biggest draw in town” INDEPENDENT “Frequently hilarious, occasionally sad, and often surreal”  GQ

Howard currently writes for the Observer, Time Out and the Times and is respected as an international expert on the pros and cons for the legalisation of cannabis. Howard has appeared on numerous TV shows discussing his life and views, from Richard & Judy to the 11 o’clock show to BBC Panorama to the Jonathan Dimbleby programme, and is extremely active within the UK debating forum circuit, including Oxford and Cambridge Universities to Government advisory panels.

“MR NICE”

“After two biographies “High Times” by David Leigh, and “Hunting Marco Polo” by Paul Eddy & Sara Walden, Howard set about writing his autobiography - Mr Nice (named after his most famous alias - Donald Nice). First published in 1996, Mr Nice has now sold over 836,000 copies in the UK alone and still (seven years later) remains an international best seller.  Mr Nice has been translated into German, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian and French.

“An Audience with MR NICE”

In December 1997, Howard performed his first live shows - extracts taken from Mr Nice, followed by often very feisty question and answer sessions. The five sell-out nights at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, were followed by excellent reviews throughout the national press. Over the past 7 years Howard’s show has developed into a one man stand-up cutting edge comedy show “layered with enough hilarious imagery to rival any stand-up comedian in the UK” Loaded

The year of 2003 saw Howard take his show to over 25 cities/ towns in the UK - performing to over 35,000 people and culminating in 3 sell out nights at London’s 3,000 capacity venue, Ocean, in Hackney. 2004 and 2006 also saw substantial UK tours and next year, 2007, will see Howard take his show as far a field as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

“SENOR NICE

Richly comic and charged with the sense of adventure that would induce an Oxford graduate to become the world’s most notorious marijuana smuggler, Señor Nice is the hugely entertaining sequel to Mr Nice. Senor Nice was published in hard back in October 2006 and has sold an amazing 120,000 copies (Jan 07). Its release in paperback in October 2007 will see a huge increase in sales and publicity.