What to See at Machynlleth Comedy Festival
Sian Brett
Before the stellar month of comedy that is the Edinburgh Fringe comes Machynlleth Festival, a hub of comedy in a little market town in Mid Wales, featuring everyone from up and comers to established acts. There are hundreds of shows going on across the weekend, so we’ve picked out the ones we’re most excited for.
If you missed any of last year’s Edinburgh shows then Mach is the place to seek them out!
Kiri Pritchard McLean is taking her hit show
Appropriate Adult where she talks about mentoring vulnerable children. You can also catch
Tom Allen’s show
Absolutely as part of the comic’s fabulous debut tour.
As well as last year’s Edinburgh shows there’s also the chance to see Works in Progress of the ones that will be smash hits by the end of the summer. Check out
Olga Koch with her WIP of her debut hour
Fight, an hour of stand up about Koch’s father getting stopped on the Russian border and the strange year that followed in her family’s life. Comedy poet
Rob Auton will be working out a new show, ‘The Talk Show’. Auton’s work brilliantly and smartly blurs the boundaries between theatre, comedy and spoken word and this show looks set to be no different.
Image Credit: Julian Ward via Rob Auton instagram
One of last year’s Edinburgh Award nominees
Jordan Brookes is not only bringing his nominated show
Body of Work to the festival but also a work in progress,
Wait Till the Guys Hear About This. Double bill them to see the most of Brookes, one of the most exciting comics we have. Another previous Edinburgh award nominee is
Lucy Pearman, bringing a new work in progress to Mach. It’s simply titled
Work in Progress, but expect grapes, worms, and hilarity.
Another double bill opportunity is
John Kearns, the only person to ever win both the Best Show and the Best Newcomer Edinburgh comedy award in one year. Kearns is not only bringing his show
Don’t worry They’re Here but will also be appearing with Pat Cahill, in
110% John Kearns and Pat Cahill where the pair discuss their favourite topics, bloopers, songs, and welcome their friends from the alternative comedy scene for a night of weird comedy fun.
Another alternative comedy gang making their way to the festival is
Sheeps, who after a brief hiatus are returning to the comedy scene. The trio, made up of Liam Williams, Daran Johnson, and Al Roberts, are bringing their
weird sketches to the festival in the shape of
Live and Loud Selfie Sex Harry Potter. If that title doesn’t get you excited, then we don’t know what will.
Image Credit: Sheeps
After the success of his Netflix stand-up series,
James Acaster brings some new stuff to Machynlleth –
Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 and
Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 2017 examine both the best and worst years of Acaster’s life, 18 years apart - the
1999 edition may be sold out but there are still tickets left for the
2017 edition. You can also catch James performing
Babysits at the festival, a show where James gets the audience of children to write and perform a play.
Image Credit: Mach Comedy Fest
And lastly, for the welsh speakers amongst you,
Elis James, star of Radio X podcast brings his welsh language stand up to the festival, where he will tell his favourite stories from 2015 in his natural habitat – a school hall in Machynlleth.
There’s plenty more on at Machynlleth and you can find the whole programme here. The festival runs from 4-6 May.