Kevin Bridges tickets are no laughing matter for short-changed Scots

But as Kevin Bridges confirmed an eighth night at Scotland’s biggest indoor arena, it has emerged that his Scottish fans are being asked to fork out around £10 more for a ticket to see him than fans south of the Border.

Comedy critics have said it is “very unusual” for big-name acts to charge different prices depending on the venue.

Bridges, from Clydebank, was a relative unknown until he appeared on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow TV show just two years ago, shortly before a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

He made his debut at Glasgow’s SECC the following year and has now sold 320,000 copies of his first DVD.

But he broke the SECC’s box office records by shifting 45,000 tickets in one day when his first five shows went on sale last month. Further shows have since been added, including an eighth on Friday, with another in the offing.

But tickets for the show at the SECC, where Bridges will be performing next September and October, cost £33.60 per person, including £3.60 in fees, even if booked directly through the venue’s website.

However, Scotland on Sunday has discovered that tickets for venues elsewhere on the comic’s “The Story Continues” tour cost £23 or under, including major cities such as Birmingham, Newcastle and Cardiff. Some venues are charging as little as £21, without any booking fees.

Bridges’ fans are also having to fork out £33.75 to see him in Aberdeen, while tickets for his shows in Dundee, Dumfries and Edinburgh come in at £29.50, £25.95 and £31.25.

The price structure for Bridges’ tour is in sharp contrast to big-name comics such as John Bishop, Michael McIntyre and Frankie Boyle, who are charging the same for shows across the UK next year.

Bridges’ promoters Off the Kerb said the pricing of tickets for Bridges’ tour was “purely down to overheads”.

PR manager Alison Peters said: “A show at somewhere like the SECC is obviously going to cost a lot more than a show in a smaller venue.

“You could have 150 people working on his show in Glasgow, depending on the production of the show, and whether there are giant screens involved and so on. An arena show is going to have different overheads from one in a theatre.”

However, Scotland on Sunday comedy writer Kate Copstick said: “This is outrageous. His promoters are just taking advantage of his popularity by doing this, as he is clearly more popular in Scotland than he is down south.”

Another comedy critic, Jay Richardson, said: “The normal practice is for all tickets for a tour to cost the same, so it is unusual to see this.”