"One of my favourite venues": James B Partridge on his excitement to perform in Lancashire tonight
Fans of festive cheer and school assembly nostalgia are in for a treat this weekend, as James B Partridge brings his brand-new tour to Lancashire tonight!
James B patridge’s ‘The Big Christmas Assembly’ is on at the Chorley Theatre tonight (Saturday, December 20) and promises to be a joyful mix of holiday magic, singalong fun, and childhood memories
Before his sold-out Chorley show, James spoke to us about it so see what he had to say below...
How are you feeling about performing in Chorley?
“I’m thrilled to be coming back to Chorley for the Big Christmas Assembly show this December. I have performed at the Chorley Theatre a few times now and is one of my favourite venues in the country. It’s a great audience and lovely staff at the venue who really look after their artists
“Last Christmas I was very lucky to not just sing at the Chorley Theatre but also sing at the Chorley Christmas lights switch on! It was a great atmosphere in the town. One of my favourite moments from the show last year was a group that came dressed as the three wise men from the Nativity and started parading around the theatre while we all sang the carol We Three Kings. One man had even flown in from Morocco apparently!
Did you get to see much of Chorley last time andwill you have time to get up to anything else whilst there this time?
“Aside from singing at the Christmas lights, I managed to sample a selection of local treats which the venue very kindly left for me in the dressing room. Of course, my favourite has to be trying the theatre branded own Chorley cake. Delicious!”
How do venues shape The Big Christmas Assembly 2025 vibe? Do they alter the shows?
“Each venue definitely has its own vibe. This tour is my biggest yet in terms of capacity, and I love that the show works in such a wide range of spaces. Take Brighton Komedia, for example—I’ve played there five times already, and this Christmas will be my sixth. They’ve got two spaces: a cosy 70–80 seater and a larger 280–300 capacity room. The show works in both, but the atmosphere is completely different.
“I’ve performed in art centres, converted churches, comedy clubs—even a cocktail bar in Soho, which is where this whole idea started. It’s amazing how flexible it is. Festivals too—itjust clicks in so many different settings.
“The trickiest venues? Probably the big beer hall-style ones with long tables, lots of drinks, and lots of chatter. But even then, when people talk during my show, it’s usually because they’ve recognised a song or it sparks a memory: ‘Remember when this happened at school?’ or ‘Our teacher used to do this in assembly!’ It becomes part of the fun. And if things get a bit too noisy, I can always slip into teacher mode—’All eyes on me!’ or ‘It’s your own time you’re wasting!’—which always gets a laugh. It fits the school assembly vibe perfectly.”
What historical Christmas traditions have guided your song choices for this tour?
“My Christmas singing memories come from two places: school and church. I grew up going to my local carol service. For me, church was as much about community as it was about religion—it was where I met friends and joined in as part of something bigger.
“Some of my best childhood memories are of singing in the school choir, going around care homes at Christmas, or being part of the big carol service. I’m trying to recreate that magic now: that feeling of joy and togetherness that comes from communal singing. That’s what The Big Christmas Assembly is all about—bringing back that sense of wonder.”
Do hymns these days still reflect hope?
“I think so, absolutely. Whether or not you’re religious, hymns carry meaning. If you have faith, then the words themselves are full of hope and reassurance. But even for those who don’t, singing together creates a positive, hopeful experience. That sense of community is powerful—especially today, when so much of our lives happen online and society feels more divided. Singing together reminds us we’re part of something bigger.
“I’ve seen it first-hand in care homes. I’ve sung hymns, folk songs, even wartime tunes with people who have dementia. And even if they don’t remember what they had for breakfast, the lyrics of childhood songs are still there. Music lights up something in the brain—it’s a bit of hope in a dark tunnel. That’s why I think hymns, and songs we grew up with, will always carry that spark of hope.”
Do you find that these songs unite generations?
“Definitely. In fact, I’ve been testing it during my current shows. Towards the end, I’ll say, ‘I know it’s only [whatever month], but would you fancy a Christmas song?’ The response is always a deafening “YES!”
“Then we pick one using a proper old-school paper fortune teller—you know, the kind we all made in the playground. I put different songs behind each number, someone from the audience picks, and that’s what we sing. It’s silly, it’s nostalgic, and people always belt it out.
“Christmas songs are brilliant because they’ve barely changed across generations. Regular assembly songs might shift with the times, but Christmas tunes? They’re timeless. Sure, we throw in a few pop hits now—Mariah Carey or Wham! still dominate the charts—but those songs are decades old now, and everyone knows them. From grandparents to kids, the whole room joins in. That’s the magic.”
How do you modernise Christmas hymns while preserving tradition?
“Christmas is rooted in religious tradition, but almost everyone celebrates it in some way. Our whole working year is shaped around it, from the holidays to the adverts.
“If I had to write a brand-new Christmas song for schools, I’d want it to reflect the traditions of the season without being overly heavy on religious imagery. Something about family, coming together, that sort of thing.
“In my shows, I mix it up. We do the classic carols like O Come, All Ye Faithful or Hark the Herald Angels Sing, but we also throw in slightly newer songs like Little Donkey. That one’s based on the nativity story, but it was released as a pop single in the 1960s—so it straddles the line between traditional and modern. Then of course we do some Christmas number ones—because you can’t ignore the pop side of it.
“It’s that balance I love: honouring the old traditions while keeping things fun, fresh, and inclusive.”
So what’s the ultimate goal of The Big Christmas Assembly 2025?
“At its heart, it’s about joy. It’s about taking people back to that childhoodfeeling of singing together in school assemblies and carol services, but on a massive scale. Whether we’re in a tiny comedy club, a converted church, or a 1,500-seat theatre, the goalis the same: to get everyone singing, laughing, and remembering the magic of Christmas songs. For an hour or two, the world outside stops, and we’re all just one big, slightly chaotic school choir. And honestly, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Christmas.”
And have you got a message for anyone in Lancashire who missed getting tickets for this show?
“Hopefully I will be back again soon. In the future, people can expect a great communal singalong with plenty of laughs. Exactly what we need when things seem depressing in the news!”
And indeed James is back very soon! He brings his Primary School Bangers tour to the Blackpool Winter Gardens on April 20 2026. Full show information and tickets can be found here.