Work in Progress Comedy Season: Volume 3

WORK

IN

PROGRESS COMEDY

SEASON Vol. III

December - February 020 7609 1800

All Tickets £5 pleasance.co.uk

WIP Offer - See any 3 shows for £12

WIP Offer - See any 3 shows for £12

Back by popular demand for the third year running, the Pleasance’s Work In Progress Comedy Season once again brings together some of the best acts on the circuit to try out their new material. This is your chance to see brand new jokes being tested in front of a live audience for the first (and quite possibly the last) ever time.

CARL DONNELLY & CHRIS MARTIN 9TH DEC/8TH FEB 7:45PM £5

MATTHEW CROSBY 4TH DEC/16TH FEB 7:45PM £5

CHRIS TURNER & THE HAIRCUT; OR, THE BARBERSHOP DUET 1ST DEC 7:45PM £5 Chris Turner Long-limbed award-winner tries to pin down the things that we should really let go. Live instrumentation, emotional manipulation, freestyle rap.

Things are going to get sad.

How would you like to become friends with a real-life comedian? Come to Matthew Crosby’s new show and that might just happen to you. A member of sketch heroes Pappy’s, he wrote and starred in BBC3’s Badults, he’s been on 8/10 Cats (both Countdown and the normal one); so obviously you’d want to be friends with him. Legal warning: Friendship with Mr Crosby is not legally binding and can be terminated without notice.

HUB 7TH DEC/1ST FEB 8PM £5 HUB is BACK! After an amazing Edinburgh Fringe run with sell out shows and 5 star reviews, we’re back in London to showcase the best acts as they test drive their new material.

Carl Donnelly (Foster’s Edinburgh Award Nominee 2013) and Chris Martin (“One of the UK’s best young observationalists” Guardian) from the Carl Donnelly & Chris Martin Comedy Podcast share an hour of new ideas and material.

They give you a sneak peak at their newest thoughts on things they’ve noticed and embarrassing moments that have happened to them this year.

“Top 10 comedy podcasts” Guardian “Destined for greatness” Sunday Times

The line up show to rival all others, booking advised.

The Haircut; or, the Barbershop Duet Two of the UK’s finest improvisers abuse their psychic link for your amusement in a high-wire hour of unscripted comedy.

MATT WINNING DAVID ELMS

6TH DEC/27TH JAN 7:45PM £5

LAZY SUSAN 3RD DEC 7:45PM £5 Lazy Susan are going surfing... On the airwaves that is! ... Hello? Join them as they present an evening of work in progress radio comedy. Blindfolds optional. Expect special guests and pointless visual jokes.

Foster’s Best Newcomer Nominees 2014.

020 7609 1800

Matt Winning will be doing his thing.

What ‘his thing’ will be is still, at this moment, unclear. Previously ‘his thing’ has been described as: “Attractively impish” Guardian “Straddles the line nicely between being the oddball spouting nonsense and a more accessible comic making the surreal relatable” Chortle “One-liners to rival Tim Vine’s funniest joke awards” List pleasance.co.uk

THIS COULD BE FANTASTIC! 8TH DEC 8PM £5 Your favourite three comedians Chris Betts (well reviewed obviously) Phil Jerrod (equally well reviewed) and John Hastings (a man) join forces to work on brand new jokes in front of brand new folks. WE LOVE YOU. 020 7609 1800

10TH DEC/9TH FEB 7:45PM £5 Lucky pup Elms is back chasing his tail again and this time he’s telling a story, learning about envy and, as always, love.

“A musical comic who offers something that feels entirely new” Guardian “As if someone has squeezed all the sweet and nice out of Stewart Lee and made a whole new comic with it” ★★★★ Scotsman pleasance.co.uk

WIP Offer - See any 3 shows for £12

WIP Offer - See any 3 shows for £12

FIN TAYLOR & PHIL WANG 18TH JAN 7:45PM £5

TOM CRAINE 11TH DEC 7:45PM £5 A work in progress show from Tom Craine. Co-writer of the forthcoming BBC3 sitcom Josh, host of The Tom Craine Story Show (Radio X), and a regular face on telly things from Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC3) to Drunk History (Comedy Central).

Last year Fin and Phil took shows to Edinburgh called ‘Stink’ and ‘Philth’. Their new stuff will probably be just as gooey.

“Stink is one of the punchiest, densest and most wide-ranging hours of standup at the Fringe” Scotsman “Wang is master of the intellectual dick joke” Time Out

RACHEL PARRIS 21ST JAN 7:45PM £5 Rachel Parris (Austentatious, The IT Crowd, Thronecast) presents a collection of songs, stories and stand-up about not having it all. No house, husband, child, wage? No problem.

“One sometimes doubts that Britain’s got talent - but Parris has it in spades” Guardian “Uproarious” Scotsman “A gifted performer” Times

HARRIET KEMSLEY 24TH JAN 7:45PM £5 Multi-award winning comedian Harriet Kemsley brings her second solo show to The Pleasance. Isn’t she brave... Winner of The Bath Comedy Festival New Act of the Year and Brighton Comedy Festival New Act of the Year.

“A quirky very funny new stand-up” Time Out

IAN SMITH 19TH JAN 7:45PM £5 Award-winning comedian Ian Smith (BBC1’s The Ark, BBC3’s Sweat the Small Stuff ) returns with a work-in-progress of his fourth solo show. It’ll be a lot of fun. ★★★★★ Mirror ★★★★★ Three Weeks “Proper star quality” Guardian

MAX & IVAN 22ND JAN/13TH FEB 7:45PM £5 Those adorable funsters Max & Ivan present the beginnings of something wildly exciting.

ISY SUTTIE 13TH DEC 7:45PM £5 Isy Suttie is an award-winning comedian, writer, songwriter and actress. Her TV acting credits include Peep Show, Shameless and Skins. She regularly performs to live audiences and on radio, including her Sony Award-winning BBC Radio 4 series Isy Suttie’s Love Letters, and has been nominated for a British Comedy Award three times.

Isy has written for Red, Glamour, the Guardian and the Observer.

“Gloriously upbeat” Evening Standard “A real gem” Guardian 020 7609 1800

KIRI PRITCHARD-MCLEAN 20TH JAN 7:45PM £5 Join Leicester Mercury Finalist and the brains behind multi award winning Gein’s Family Giftshop, Kiri Pritchard-Mclean as she performs an impossibly ambitious début hour show. She’ll be investigating genetics, gender and race - what a laugh.

Is Kiri likely to end up committing an accidental hate crime? Come along and find out! pleasance.co.uk

NOT FEATURING THE FOLLOWING SKETCHES: Zombie Napoleon goes to the disco, the Chinese waiter whose catchphrase is ‘Hot soup?!’, Nazi Napoleon goes to the cinema, some actual Jets versus some actual Sharks, the dentist with a soft spot (in his scalp), Mr Farts-Money and his lucrative adventures AND MANY MORE! ★★★★★ Times ★★★★★ Mirror ★★★★ Scotsman ★★★★ Independent ★★★★ Chortle ★★★★ Telegraph ★★★★ Guardian ★★ List :’( 020 7609 1800

DAN COOK 25TH JAN 7:45PM £5 This gig is your oyster, come shuck it. Big topics will be covered (TBC). How the hell do I sell this gig to you? You’ve never heard of me! Take a punt mate. I used to be in sketch group Delete the Banjax.

Heard of them? Thought not. I’m now in Poldark. Funny how your career works out. At no point will I be talking about that. It’s just weird wearing all those old clothes.

“Cook possesses a quality that simply makes him funny” List pleasance.co.uk

WIP Offer - See any 3 shows for £12

WIP Offer - See any 3 shows for £12

TWAYNA MAYNE & KATE LUCAS 26TH JAN 7:45PM £5 New Act of the Year Finalist Twayna Mayne and Leicester Mercury Winner Kate Lucas join forces to workshop new material for the Edinburgh Fringe.

RHYS JAMES & ED GAMBLE 30TH JAN 7:45PM £5 Rhys James (surely going places) and Ed Gamble (already at places) join forces to perform separate shows on the same evening all included in one singular cost. Ed’s been doing really well lately and been on Mock The Week a bunch of times. Rhys kind of looks like the ill ghost of Ed. What’s not to like? Please don’t answer that. It’s very much going to be a work in progress affair.

DARREN WALSH 28TH JAN 7:45PM £5 Fresh from winning Dave’s Joke of the Fringe last year, and becoming tired of telling it 41 million times, Darren Walsh set himself the task of coming up with a completely new set of jokes by February.

Darren combines animations, videos, sound effects, drawings, ad-libbing and surreal nonsense.

JOHN HASTINGS 2ND FEB 7:45PM £5 John has been through things. He needs to write a show he has two ideas for and has no idea which one will show up with him but he hopes you enjoy it.

Amused Moose Best Show Finalist 2015, Just For Laughs 2015 and as seen on Seann Walsh’s Late Night Spectacular and The One Show.

“This fast growing comic is a pleasure to watch” ★★★★ Times ★★★★★ Mirror ★★★★ Herald ★★★★ Herald on Sunday

Rhys: “Destined for great things... charismatic, clever and self-aware” Guardian “Has star in waiting running through him like Blackpool through a stick of rock... if you want guaranteed laughs look no further” Bruce Dessau, Beyond the Joke

PETE FIRMAN 4TH FEB 7:45PM £5 Join the star of BBC1’s ‘The Magicians’ as he thrashes out new jokes and tricks for his next project. Pete is recognised as the UK’s leading comedian/magician. Expect his own trademark blend of crowdpleasing comedy and jaw-dropping magic.

“The new poster-boy for British comedy magic” Telegraph

Ed: Some chump.

‘Punbelievable!’ ★★★★★ Mirror

WILL DUGGAN & JAMES MEEHAN 3RD FEB 7:45PM £5

JOHNNY COCHRANE & SOPHIE WILLAN 29TH JAN 7:45PM £5 BBC’s Johnny Cochrane and Magners New Act of the Year Winner Sophie Willan join forces to present a work in progress of their highly anticipated debut stand up shows, ahead of the Edinburgh Fringe. As seen on BBC3, ITV2, and Channel 4 and as heard on Radio 1 & 4.

020 7609 1800

JOEY PAGE 31ST JAN 7:45PM £5 Joey Page, 31, has moved out of his mum’s and is worried about the apocalypse, heartburn and white van men who smoke outside his window. He is in awe of washing machines and wants to escape reality.

Have a swim around inside his head for an hour, the water’s fine and there’s a wicked slide. pleasance.co.uk

Will knows that something is wrong, and is pretty worried that the answer might be ‘everything’. Will is a stand up comic and a real swell guy. As well as this he is Bonzo the Dog from Foster’s Award Winning Funz and Gamez. He likes lots of things, including you. Will is brilliant at writing about himself in the third person.

Multiple award winning comedian James (with both Gein’s Family Giftshop and Funz and Gamez) presents a work in progress of his debut solo show.

One man’s journey into finding out what the shit he’s doing with himself. A look at class, race, growing up and whether or not he’s actually called James.

020 7609 1800

BIRTHDAY GIRLS 5TH FEB 7:45PM £5 Following the smash-hit sell-out success of 2014’s Party Vibes at the Edinburgh Fringe and Soho Theatre, the acclaimed sketch trio bring you an early outing of their brand new show. ★★★★★ “This is joy” Skinny “Exuberantly silly, consistently imaginative and delightfully playful” Guardian pleasance.co.uk

WIP Offer - See any 3 shows for £12

WIP Offer - See any 3 shows for £12

PIERRE NOVELLIE 6TH/21ST FEB 7:45PM £5 Award-winning comedian Pierre Novellie comes to Pleasance to try some new stuff out. Come, people of London, and aid me in discovering what is hilarious and what is not so hilarious.

Your impact on my comedy will last a thousand years.

“Phenomenally good jokes” Guardian “One to watch” Time Out “Well-crafted, hilarious routines” Sunday Times

JAMES VEITCH JOHN KEARNS 10TH FEB 7:45PM £5 A work in progress from a man who made comedy history by wearing a wig and false teeth. Come see how easy it really is.

Winner of the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award 2014 and Newcomer Prize 2013.

12TH FEB 7:45PM £5 Thematically loose, structurally tenuous.

James Veitch’s work in progress will have loads of adverbs followed closely by adjectives. It’s that time of year again and Veitch presents his new show with the brave, if tentative, embrace of a comic persona that many have described as “his own.” Genuinely intrepid. Fundamentally misguided.

“A true comedy original” Time Out “One of the most riveting comedians at work today” Daily Telegraph

TEZ ILYAS 17TH FEB 7:45PM £5 Following the success of his smash hit debut show at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, rising star Tez Ilyas is back to workshop a brand new show.

As seen on BBC One, Channel 4 & E4 and as heard on BBC Radio 4. ★★★★★ Mirror

MAT EWINS 7TH FEB 7:45PM £5 Specialising in “well-produced bullshit” (Mat Ewins), Mat’s inspired use of video and multimedia, gag heavy sketches, instinctive comic timing and healthy dose of the absurd culminate in a truly unique, tricky to describe combination of stand-up, character, sketch and shambles.

“Unquestionably a very strange man... while delivering massive hilarity” Guardian ★★★★ Three Weeks ★★★★ Skinny ★★★★ Fest Mag 020 7609 1800

LOLLY ADEFOPE & ADAM HESS

TOM PRICE

11TH FEB 7:45PM £5

15TH FEB 7:45PM £5

Lolly and Adam are best friends. Come see them do their (separate) work in progress shows, they will be so nice and maybe you could be their best friend too!

Lolly: ★★★★★ Mirror ★★★★ Independent ★★★★ Time Out ★★★★ Fest

Another quest into the hilarious for Tom, who now has two children, even less hair, and a phobia of escalators. Topics will include: pasta, bearing up, fame, God, and Manuka honey. Not necessarily in that order. Topics are liable to change between the writing of this and the performing of the comedy.

Adam: ★★★★ Mirror ★★★★ Independent ★★★★ Time Out ★★★★ Chortle

“A Joy to Behold” List “Brilliantly funny. A Class Act” Scotsman “Excellent” Edinburgh Evening News

pleasance.co.uk

020 7609 1800

KAE KURD & MO GILLIGAN 18TH FEB 7:45PM £5 Two of comedy’s most exciting new stars, Amused Moose Laugh off finalist Mo Gilligan and BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Kae Kurd join forces to showcase new material for the Edinburgh Fringe. pleasance.co.uk

WIP Offer - See any 3 shows for £12

PAT CAHILL SAM SIMMONS

20TH FEB 7:45PM £5

19TH FEB 7:45PM £5

Pat Cahill brings you a WIP, he’ll be throwing his stuff at the Pleasance walls and sees what sticks.

It could be about animals, it could be about arseholes, we’ll just have to wait and see! Won’t we?

A work in progress from the winner of the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award 2015 “This really is Simmons at the top of his game: exhaustingly funny, daft and truly daring.” ★★★★★ Time Out

★★★★ “One of the strangest and most delightful shows taking place at the Fringe this year” Edinburgh Festivals ★★★★ “The sheer joy and silliness in Cahill’s material is irresistibly funny” Time Out ★★★★ Skinny ★★★★ Short.com

BOX OFFICE

FIND US

Carpenters Mews, North Road, London N7 9EF 020 7609 1800 www.pleasance.co.uk Mon - Sun 10am - 6pm

On performance days the Box Office will remain open until the start of the final performance.

UNDERGROUND Caledonian Road - Piccadilly line (5 minutes walk), Holloway Road - Piccadilly line (15 minutes walk).

OVERGROUND Caledonian Road and Barnsbury (15 minutes walk).

TICKETS

BUS Bus 393 stops right directly outside the theatre with buses 17, 91, 259 and N91 all stopping at Caledonian Road Underground Station, 5 minutes walk.

Please note tickets sold are nonrefundable and cannot be exchanged.

Latecomers may not be admitted.

PARKING Metered on-street parking is available outside the theatre Mon to Fri 10am 4:30pm with free parking evenings and weekends.

Tickets can be collected anytime during Box Office opening hours or posted to you for an additional 50p.

ACCESS

Pleasance Theatre strives to provide access for all. Our Main House is fully accessible via a lift from street level, we have infra-red hearing system in both performance spaces, accessible toilets and Guide Dogs are welcome. Sadly at present our StageSpace does not have step free access. Our aim is to make your visit as enjoyable as possible for further information or to discuss any access requirements please contact the Box Office.

020 7609 1800

pleasance.co.uk