Eight facts about the octopus, one recurring conclusion. Louise Leigh brings you the show she didn’t plan to make.
Louise Leigh has spent the last year researching octopuses. She has also spent the last year on motorways and in green-rooms; then there’s the lifetime she’s spent loving men. These things are more connected than you think.
Octopus is an hour of mostly stand-up, music and frankly inadvisable home-made costumes, stitched around eight things Louise has learned about her favourite animal.
Did you know an octopus has nine brains? That they camouflage themselves completely to survive in hostile environments? That the males die shortly after mating (which honestly explains a lot)? Each fact leads somewhere unexpected: the naming of worms, getting a crush on a truck and a pigeon eating a KFC. And yet somehow, it keeps coming back to men.
“I became interested in octopuses because they’re basically doing everything I’ve been told I should do – multitasking, concealing themselves, using all nine brains at once – and yet they’re still getting eaten by the Spanish. There’s a lesson in there somewhere. I’m not sure what it is yet, but I’ve got an hour to work it out.”
Louise Leigh is a wordsmith living in an idiot’s body. Her comedy is warm, sharp and frequently physical; the kind that makes audiences laugh at things they recognise about themselves and then feel seen in a way they didn’t entirely sign up for. She’s been performing stand-up for a decade in some of the UK’s best comedy clubs.
Multitasking indeed: on top of writing and performing, Louise also channels those ‘nine brains’ into supporting others as a Glitter Project Mentor for Funny Women, helping new performers find their voice, build confidence, and shine.
You can see Octopus at Slice 5, Hoots @ Hilton, 8.10pm, 7th-30th August. Tickets and more information can be found here!
Leigh is also appearing daily with her friend and fellow Certified Fun Aunt, Pauline Eyre as the Aaagony Aunts, joyfully escorting the world famous Salad Spinner of Destiny to its Fringe debut.
