Puella Eterna, Siân & Sam and a big Slay24 bash
Comedy shows to see this week :)
Hello!
A bit of a dramatic opening to this week’s newsletter, but here we go!
I’d normally put this kind of thing below the paywall, but I wanted to start with it because it’s important for people to know, both audiences and comedians with livelihoods to protect.
Over the nearly 4 (four!) years of doing LMAOnaise, I’ve recommended a lot of comedy from 2Northdown and 21Soho, due to the generally excellent programming and good vibes over the years. 2Northdown particularly was where I saw many of my now favourite comedians doing super early works-in-progress or appearing in comedy competitions at the very start of their careers.
Through no fault of the staff responsible for what made it so good, 2Northdown is now gone. There’s a lot of stuff that I don’t think I can talk about, but the thing I will allow myself to say is: please please please avoid 21Soho. SO much money is owed to people who have performed there and have been chasing for months, even over a year in some cases, to no avail. I love comedy (lol as if I have to say that), and the last thing I’d want to do is badmouth a comedy club in trouble, but it hurts to see people have their creative dreams taken advantage of. More to come on that, no doubt.
NOW onto nicer things :) I had a great time on Friday at Natalie Palamides’ Weer, which is as wild, messy and imaginative a show as you’d expect. Split down the middle, literally, she plays both halves of a couple, switching between them at frantic speed to tell the story of their relationship. It’s an incredible feat and, while her show Nate is still unbeatable in my eyes, there are moments of pure comedy genius. She’s at the Soho Theatre for another couple of weeks!
Comedy shows to see!
One year of SLAY24 Comedy Club!
Nov 22nd, 8pm
London Hospital Tavern. Tickets here
Happy birthday to SLAY24 Comedy Club, which is a whole year old (though they don’t look a day over 3 months). The comedy night of Kiran Saggu, Dom McGovern and Estefania Baha is celebrating with a line-up we’re ecstatic to reveal is Sharon Wanjohi, Rohan Sharma, Paddy Young and Sophie Duker. And because it’s an actual party, east London legend Milk Shandy is DJing!
If you haven’t already, you should also read Dom’s Meet the Comedian Q&A from Friday’s newsletter, in which he reveals the sexiest name in the world, among other important things.
Tarot: Shuffle (on tour)
On tour now! Tickets and locations here
Tis the season to be comfy, so it’s over to everyone’s favourite nightie-wearing comedian Tarot to remind you that you can achieve anything wearing PJs – even sketch comedy. Kath Hughes, Ed Easton and Adam Drake are on tour with their latest show, Shuffle, which uses the audience to determine the shape of the performance through the medium of tarot cards. The gang, which also includes your friends and mine Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ben Rowse, continues to give us one of the most fun comedy nights out you can have.
Excitingly for me, Tarot are next up on our whonderful wheekly whirlwind tour of the UK’s most fun people in Meet the Comedian. So look out for them in your inboxes on Friday!
Paulina Lenoir: Puella Eterna
Nov 13-16th, 10:30pm
Soho Theatre. Tickets here
I first saw Puella Eterna as a WIP in a little yurt in Edinburgh last year, and I thought to myself, this is going to be magic. It already was, and it continued to be. This summer, Paulina Lenoir brought her show to a much bigger platform that allowed all of her gorgeous design to shine alongside her performance. It’s a journey from birth to death through the eyes of a tulle-encased poet, and it’s absolutely beautiful. Read my full review of her Edinburgh show here.
Siân Docksey & Sam Nicoresti Comedy Specials Screening Launch Party
Nov 24th, 2pm
The Divine, Hackney. Tickets here
A Sunday afternoon at the movies! The movies are actually two special comedy specials that are about to be released, but which you can see before anyone else does. Siân’s show Pole Yourself Together! looks to pole dancing to cure existential dread, and saw her taking on the most physically taxing show imaginable (and somehow making a physically taxing show about dread full of joy; read my review of it here!). Sam Nicoresti’s Cancel Anti-Wokeflake Snow Culture is technologically giant, surrealist and frog-based and looks at the nonsense of right-wing rhetoric – but genuinely doing a show about cancel culture that is interesting, funny and innovative (possibly the only one there is?).
Two brilliant comedy specials, and all ticket sales will go to Trans Kids Deserve Better. So there’s no reason not to go!
The Miss Ellaneous Regret Gala
Nov 16th, 10:30pm
The Yard Theatre, Hackney Wick. Tickets here
Cabaret is back. It is with great Regret that Miss Ellaneous returns to the Yard Theatre for their latest gala. Held at the Regret-ropolitan Museum of blah-blah-blArt, the theme is Dress to Distress. Frankie Thompson and Charlie Wood’s host this cabaret night of peculiarities, with guests including Mx Fortune, Daddy Maki, Dr Phoebe Patey-Ferguson and The Doll. Prepare for drag, music and much more.
Straight Twink and Freak Gay 2
Nov 12th, 7:30pm
London Hospital Tavern. Tickets here
A controversial night of comedy from Jack Shep and Daniel McKeon: a straight man and a gay man, side by side? Who’d have thunk? Half an hour from both, each working on new shows. Both are very funny boys, and – a peek behind the curtain – both are in the upcoming newspaper!
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