“I’m bisexual – or, as my grandma calls it, a friend of Lucy and Yak,” says Justina Seselskaitė, easing us in with an early example of her zinging one-liners in this tight 45-minute show. It’s packed full of pop culture references that span her Lithuanian childhood or teenage years and her northern British adulthood.
Seselskaitė moved to the UK from Lithuania in 2014, and has since earned her metaphorical and physical stripes here (the physical ones being the fabulous stripe-adorned burgundy tracksuit she’s wearing – you’ll discover why that’s so appropriate when you see Settled).
Now established in the Manchester comedy scene, with a podcast to boot, she’s certainly got the northern knack for storytelling. Yet Seselskaitė has a fresh perspective on things, from songwriting to holidays, and the overarching themes of cultural identity and migration. She was also part of last year’s Best in Class Showcase, which highlights working class comedy talent.
As with many Fringe audiences, we have tourists from Europe and beyond at this show, so I’m one of the few that get Seselskaitė’s mentions of places like Wetherspoons and Hebden Bridge straight away. However, she gamely explains them all to those who might not grasp the significance. This could have ruined the overall pace and flow, or just killed her confidence, but she recovers each time and keeps hold of the narrative. She also keeps those tourists on side, which any Fringe performer knows can be a challenge.
She’s so able to win us over that it turns out Seselskaitė can make an audience endorse plagiarism. I should say, specifically Lithuanian plagiarism, because Lithuania does some absolutely banging covers of British and American songs, which she’s keen to demonstrate. She can lovingly mock her home country, in the way that you can rib your own sibling but nobody else is allowed to, while giving us a sense of what makes it special. Having been to Kaunas, Lithuania, earlier this year, I can highly recommend hopping over to the Baltics to see for yourself.
As Seselskaitė later tells us, this show is basically the stepping stone towards next year’s debut hour at the Edinburgh Fringe, and you can’t help but feel she’s pulled it off. It’s unsurprising that she’s just been long-listed for Best Newcomer at The (ISH) Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2026; I’m confident we’re getting a glimpse of someone who’ll become a household name.
Catch Justina Seselskaitė: Settled at Hoots @ Hilton Bread Street (Slice 1), 19:50, daily until 30th August; find tickets here!
For more from Justina Seselskaitė, follow her on Instagram and listen to her comedy podcast, The Favourites.
