The Hills Are Alive to the Sound of Laughter

11th December 2016 | James Rampton, Mayrhofen

Last modified on July 28th, 2022

We have been coming to the Alpine fun fest for many years now, and we have always found it one of the most entertaining ways to spend your après-ski hours.

The festival offers visitors the opportunity to enjoy perhaps two of the best things on the planet: skiing and stand-up comedy.

Tim Minchin, the hugely successful comedian who wrote the hit West End and Broadway musical, Matilda, has declared that, “Altitude is awesome!”

And who are we to disagree?

The Festival, which runs in Mayrhofen from Monday to Friday this week, was co-founded a decade ago by comedians, Marcus Brigstocke and Andrew Maxwell, who is never seen without his trademark Lederhosen for the duration of the entire festival.

Altitude co-founder Marcus Brigstocke does his best Buzz Lightyear impersonation: “To Mayrhofen and beyond!”

Marcus Brigstocke

Altitude co-founder Andrew Maxwell overturns centuries of misconception and proves that wearing Lederhosen can be cool.

Maybe.

Andrew Maxwell

The line-up for Altitude this year looks particularly strong.

Headlining the bill at the Europahaus on Monday are Abandoman, a dazzling comedy duo who spend the entire show creating a brilliant rap song based on the life story that an audience member has just given them.

Topping the bill on Tuesday is Jimeoin, a really quick-witted Irish comedian, who is also huge in Australia.

The Evening Standard once said that, “If laughter is the best medicine, Jimeoin is a course of steroids.

Jimeoin is already in the resort and has got into the spirit of Altitude, tweeting pictures from his day snowboarding and urging his many fans to, “Get your asses over here.”

We also really looking forward to the return of Terry Alderton, an extremely amiable stand-up and one-time star of EastEnders.

Eddie Izzard once said that Alderton is, “A very funny comic with a fantastic comedy mind,” although he is also someone who should seek some sort of professional help!

Alderton made a great splash when he appeared at Altitude three years ago.

And what could be more exciting comedy prospect than the legend that is Eddie the Eagle?

He is the man who parlayed finishing last in the ski jump at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics into a successful career.

On Tuesday at the Festival, the popular former plasterer from Gloucester gives a talk entitled “The Eagle That Dared”.

The following day, he leads a skiing trip on the nearby Hintertux Glacier in the morning, and in the afternoon hosts a screening of a German language version of the likable recent biopic about his life, which the Festival is calling “Eddie Ze Eagle”.

So as you can see, a thoroughly enjoyable week of winter sports and wit beckons in Mayrhofen. PlanetSKI will be filing regular reports from the Altitude Comedy Festival this week.

Let the chortling commence!

Terry Alderton

The Fact Box.

Tickets for the Altitude Comedy Festival can be found here.

Crystal Ski Holidays (crystalski.co.uk; 020 8939 0726) offers a week’s half board at the Sport & Spa Hotel Strass from £662 per person including flights from Gatwick to Innsbruck and transfers departing during January 2017. Departures from all major UK airports available (at a supplement starting from £25).

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