Mr. Nice
Bernard Rose
UK, 2010, 121 mins, 18
In typically astute fashion, renowned raconteur Howard Marks will be gracing stages across the UK throughout October 2010 for a tour which coincides with the release of the highly anticipated film, Mr. Nice. Directed by Bernard Rose and following the thread of his best-selling autobiography, the film captures Howard’s audacious and unbelievable career as an international drug trafficker and all round charmer, played captivatingly by BAFTA-winning, Emmy-nominated Welsh actor Rhys Ifans.
The new stage shows will see Howard bare his incredible, mesmerising and somewhat ironically comedic life-story in a dynamic performance that rolls spoken word, book readings, personal photos and film clips into an irresistible package to be savoured and passed from audience to audience around Britain.
During the mid 1980s, Howard Marks had forty-three aliases, eighty-nine phone lines, and twenty five companies trading throughout the world. At the height of his career, he was smuggling consignments of up to thirty tons of marijuana from Pakistan and Thailand to America and Canada and had contact with organisations as diverse as the CIA, MI6, the IRA, and the Mafia. Busted in 1988 by the American Drug Enforcement Agency and sentenced to twenty-five years at America’s toughest federal penitentiary, Howard Marks was released on parole in 1995 after serving seven years.
Following his release from prison, Howard wrote the multi-lingual best-seller Mr. Nice – the auto-biography which cemented his transformation from outlaw to national treasure. Telling his extraordinary story on stage was a natural progression and his initial shows received excellent reviews leading to his now legendary one-man comedy show, An Audience with Mr Nice, which continues to sell-out at venues throughout Britain and Europe.
Howard Marks projects his recollections from the stage in an honest and animated no holds barred style, blended perfectly with his magnetic personality and exclusive insightfulness. This new series of shows will prove essential for anyone curious to hear the anecdotes from the man himself – the man whose thrilling story has captured the imagination and admiration of people worldwide.
Charismatic, loose, daring, addictive, magnetic, vulnerable and intellectual, it’s time to meet the real Mr. Nice.
Tickets are on sale now from the Komedia box office and are priced at just £12. The show will take place on Tuesday 19 October at 7pm.
Mr. Nice (the film) is screening throughout cinemas nationwide now.
