50 Ways to Kill a Slug, Jo Griffin and Aber Comedy Festival

Comedy shows to see this week :)

left to right (in a sort of zigzag): Joana Nastari, Mark Silcox, An(dre)a Spisto, Janine Harouni, Lara Ricote, John-Luke Roberts, Jo Griffin

Hello!

I feel like it’s been a little while since I used this newsletter as my own personal life-storytelling medium and I think it’s time to do that again. This weekend, I had my best friend’s wedding – I bridesmaided, I gave a speech with my sister (cute), I wore a blue dress, I danced around the village hall as though it was all for me. It was a wonderful time. 

It was like weddings used to be – I can only imagine, being as extremely young as I am – nothing was outsourced, everything was done by the couple, us or the families. We spent the day before decorating the room and making enough daal to feed a village, and the day after taking it all down and distributing the five kilos of leftover daal between us. Not because nobody ate the daal, everyone ate the daal, but we made so much daal, you guys.

Being that involved in your friend’s wedding is such an honour and a privilege. When/if I get married, I want that. I want my best friends involved. I guess what I actually want is to marry all my friends in one big group wedding where we all live together happily forever and ever.

Right, this is important. I must remind you to order your LMAOnaise newspaper NOW. All the features are confirmed. Last season, we had 30 pieces by 30 comedians. This season, it’s 40 pieces by 40 comedians. And you know what that means! It means I am going to be working very hard. Which means that you have to buy it!! 

Now, happy new year (it’s Rosh Hashana this week), and enjoy this comedy:

50 Ways to Kill a Slug

Oct 11th, 7:30pm
The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol, tickets here

An(dre)a Spisto & Joana Nastari open PAPAYA Fest in Bristol with their multidisciplinary show filled with slime, lip-syncing, writhing and queerness. The show is a celebration of queerness and uselessness, embracing the idea of being radically slow. These are two of the most exciting artists performing right now, so to see them together is a real privilege actually. 

Jo Griffin: Last Chance Saloon

Oct 11-12th, 10:30pm
Soho Theatre, tickets here

Another addition to the post-Fringe Soho season is Jo Griffin, whose stand-up show Last Chance Saloon is all about shunning settling down in favour of day-raving with Gen Zs, maybe going to sex parties and overall maximising her fun quotient in the face of the biological clock ticking. Jo’s a great storyteller with lots of naughty stories up her sleeve.

Josh Glanc: Family Man

Until Oct 5th, 9:15pm
Soho Theatre, tickets here

Newly Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated Josh Glanc is back in Soho with his latest show, exercising his god given right to be a silly billy. Family Man has his usual collection of characters, songs and clowny physical comedy, but there’s an interesting way that vignettes weave in and out of each other, all held together by Josh’s charisma – which, when I saw it in Edinburgh, made audiences practically jump out of their seats to join him on stage. An hour has flown by before you know it. And if you simply can’t wait until then, here’s a little free preview – but there’s nothing quite like the real life thing so get tickets too.

Foxdog Studios: Robo Bingo (Spooky Edition)

Oct 4th, Nov 1st, Nov 10th
Moth Club, Hackney; King’s Arms, Salford; Shakespeares, Sheffield

Bingo’s back baby! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’d go to this every week if I could. Tech genius double act Foxdog Studios have turned their considerable IT skills to creating comedy chaos, this time with a spooky twist. Make sure your phone is charged because you’ll be playing along in this “interactive show for people who don’t want to talk to anyone”, which I think could be the perfect tagline for comedy fans. If you don’t think bingo is for you, go to this because it’s hardly bingo, but it IS one of the most creative and fun shows I’ve ever been to.

Early Days

Oct 8-11th, 7:30pm
Rosemary Branch Theatre, tickets here

Bighead Comedy is back at it again with a collection of honestly some of the best upcoming acts at the moment, working on brand, brand, brand new stuff. Early Days features comedians from across the board – stand-up, musical comedy, character, drag etc – all doing half an hour each of material for new shows. Four nights in a row feature Dominic McGovern, Rosalie Minnitt, Shalaka Kurup, Nikola McMurtrie, Fanny Bleach, Emily Bampton, Rosa Garland, Anna Hale, Alice-India, Flora Anderson, Kathy Maniura and Sascha LO. That’s wow.

Sam & Pravanya WIP

Oct 6th, 7pm
Common Press, Bethnal Green, tickets here

A lovely double bill from two best friends. Sam Williams and Pravanya Pillay are both working on new shows and want you to come and be their best friend as well*. Fresh from the Pleasance Comedy Reserve at the Fringe, Sam’s working on his debut hour with special shout-outs to Jesus, Buddha and Desperate Housewives (is that the Holy Trinity? I don’t know, I’m Jewish). Pravanya is working on a show called Bike Centaur, which is either about being a bit weird or a complete history of a human-bike hybrid that lives in the Olympic Velodrome.
*from afar, stay in your seat please.

Aberystwyth Comedy Festival

Oct 3-6th
Info, shows, tickets

Comedians descend on Wales again for a long and very packed weekend, including some of the Fringe shows you might have missed and new stuff from awesome people. Fresh from Edinburgh you’ll find the likes of Freddie Hayes, Amy Annette, Mark Silcox, Will Robbins, Kemah Bob, Eleanor Morton and John Tothill, and works-in-progress from Tamsyn Kelly, Molly McGuinness, Kathy Maniura, Mary O’Connell and Sharon Wanjohi. Loads more shows on sale too, so go check out the whole line-up. It’s very good. 

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