If one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to see more live comedy OR spend more time in cave-like venues then this is the listicle for you! The always fantastic VAULT Festival is returning from 23rd January – 17th March with over 400 shows, more than 2000 artists and showcasing some of the best new writing in theatre and comedy, cabaret, immersive experiences, late night parties and more. It’s bigger than ever, as well as putting on events at their hub in The Vaults, Waterloo, this year VAULT Festival is also going to be at other venues, including The Network Theatre, Travelling Through…, The Horse & Stables and a variety of pop-up and vehicle venues.
In no particular order here are our picks of the VAULT Festival!
Heidi Regan: Work in Progress
Heidi promises this WiP will be “an hour of cerebral, weird, silly and fun stand up… it’s all pretty gentle and odd storytelling”, we promise this will be extremely funny and can’t wait to see what the 2017 BBC New Comedy Award winner has come up with this year. For more information click here!
Desiree Burch: Work in Progress
As if we’d miss 2015 Funny Women Awards winner Desiree Burch’s brand new hour! Since winning our Awards in 2016 Desiree has featured on Have I Got News For You’, QI, Frankie Boyle’s American Autopsy and 8 Out of 10 Cats, so we can’t wait to catch up with her. For more information click here!
Elf Lyons: Love Songs to Guinea Pigs
Elf Lyons had planned a show of physically demanding clowning and the splits, however after spinal surgery Elf had to have a rethink and instead the 2013 Funny Women Awards finalist presents a surreal tale of love and loneliness. In the style of a 1980s Elton John rock concert. For more information click here!
Micky Overman Presents: Presenting Miss Micky Overman
Now 2016 Funny Women Awards finalist Micky Overman has a flat, a career, and a boyfriend she likes (show off), she’s beginning to feel at home. The Dutch comedian is on a mission to become a proper, well-mannered member of British society and we can’t wait to see what Micky’s interpretation of this is! For more information click here!
Egg: Work in Progress
Comedy duo Egg warn us to “expect the unexpected, if what you don’t expect is off-beat observations, beautiful sketches, witty repartee, startling wigs, intense social commentary and crackling sexual chemistry.” They had us with “startling wigs”. We’re looking forward to seeing Anna and Emily’s follow up to their 2018 Edinburgh show Richard Pictures. For more information click here!
Catherine Bohart: Work in Progress
After the success of her Edinburgh debut show Immaculate 2016 Funny Women Awards finalist Catherine Bohart has some new jokes she wants to try and we want to find out what she has up her sleeve! For more information click here!
Yuriko Kotani: Overwork in Progress
Born and raised in Japan, 2015 BBC New Comedy Award winner Yuriko Kotani now lives in the UK. With her unique perspective, she is going to tell stories of her experiences and thoughts as a work-in-progress. We wouldn’t miss it! For more information click here!
Maddie Campion: Truly, Maddie, Deeply (Work in Progress)
We loved Maddie’s Edinburgh show 20 Uses for a Lovedoll, so we’re excited to see her debut hour, which promises to be both “spooky” and “sexy”. When a psychic gives Maddie some surprising news about a ghost, she takes it upon herself to do a little detective work. For more information click here!
Janine Harouni: The Millionth (Work in Progress)
Winner of the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year 2018 and one third of critically-acclaimed sketch trio Muriel, Janine Harouni plans to take us to 2024, the world is on fire and there’s one spot left on the last ship to Mars and a reality TV gameshow will decide who gets it… For more information click here!
Esther Manito: Work in Progress
This debut hour is both a work in progress and a Crusade from So You Think You’re Funny 2017 finalist and 2017 Funny Women Awards regional finalist Esther Manito. A whirlwind observational tour of what life is like in 2018 for an Anglo- Arab mum with anger issues. For more information click here!
Helen Bauer: Work in Progress
She’s a 2018 BBC New Comedy Award finalist, ultimate Babe and hotly-tipped new stand up comedian, so naturally we’re interested to find out Helen Bauer’s thoughts, feelings and emotions on pretty much everything. We’d share three bottles of wine with this woman any day. For more information click here!
Olga Koch: Button
Her debut Edinburgh show Fight was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award, now the self-proclaimed Taylor Swift of the London comedy scene is back with more stories to tell – this time through the medium of computer programming… For more information click here!
Chloe Petts: Alpha (Work in Progress)
2017 Funny Women Awards runner up Chloe Petts explores what it’s like to be a masculine woman living in the 21st Century and asks important questions about the size of tiny clutch bags. For more information click here!
Find out who else is performing at VAULT Festival here!
