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Avalon Edinburgh Preview: Marise Gaughan and Bella Hull
A double header of comedy as two top comedians warm up ahead of the Edinburgh Festival.
Marise Gaughan
Marise Gaughan is a critically acclaimed comedian and author from Dublin.
In 2022 Marise’s debut memoir, Trouble, was published by Monoray. It was described by The Irish Times as ‘a graphic, explicit, often visceral memoir that engulfs the reader’ as it traces Marise’s unravelling through sex, self-destruction and a near-miss with Scientology. The book went on to be an Irish Bestseller and received fantastic reviews in the press. It was published in paperback in 2023 and Marise is currently working on her first novel.
As a stand-up comedian, Marise started her career in Los Angeles, appearing in on stages including The Comedy Store and The Hollywood Improv. Since returning to the UK, her debut stand-up show Drowning explored her father’s (successful) suicide attempt and her own (unsuccessful) one. It premiered at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2019 where it was nominated for the Fringe’s Spirit of Wit Moira Brady Averill Award for artists whose work defies categorisation with bold and unconventional material and for the First Fortnight Award for shows that challenge stigma and prejudice about mental health. Marise was subsequently awarded the Women’s Irish Network Arts Bursary. She has also supported acts including Rob Delaney, Ari Shaffir and Jim Norton on tour.
'Gaughan’s humour is dark, biting, and painfully honest, but it is in the moments when she is being gentler to herself that her words are at their most transcendent' Irish Independent
'Trouble is an outstanding memoir, a text on addiction that gets to the heart of its implicit trauma and complications. Gaughan has a remarkable voice, self-assured yet vulnerable, frank to a staggering degree – and likeable even in her darkest moments' The Business Post
'An outstanding text on addiction and girlhood, equal parts vulnerable and witty' The Business Post
Bella Hull
Bella Hull is a stand-up comedian and writer. She is one of the UK’s most exciting young comedians and her television appearances include BBC’s Stand Up for Live Comedy, ITV’s The Stand Up Sketch Show and Comedy Central Live.
A hugely acclaimed live act, Bella regularly plays to sold out crowds both in the UK and abroad. She has taken two critically-acclaimed shows to the Edinburgh Fringe, Babycakes in 2022 and Piggie in 2024 and has supported Phil Wang, Russell Howard and Paul Chowdhry on tour.
Bella also co-hosts the Rats of the Roundtable and Last Night Ever podcasts and as a writer, Bella is working on a script commission with the BBC and has been featured on BBC Radio 4’s Newsjack and Flux Magazine.
'a new template for generations Z and Alpha to follow' Rolling Stone
'A gifted comedian…definitely see this' ★★★★ Bruce Dessau, Beyond the Joke
'very intelligent – and witty – comedy…an ambitious debut, Hull is clearly a very talented writer and performer' ★★★★ Veronica Lee, The Arts Desk
'There is just so much packed into this show…a sensational performance' ★★★★ Deadline
Studio
£12
Marise Gaughan
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Bella Hull
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Eshaan Akbar: Can’t Get No Satisfakshaan
Eshaan Akbar is back doing jokes on tour! His previous tour was described by The Times as 'pretty sick' (not an actual quote) so this one is likely to be mad good.
Eshaan has supported some of the biggest acts in the UK, including Micky Flanagan, Jason Manford and Kae Kurd.
He's been seen on Netflix's Sex Education, BBC's Mock The Week, QI and Live At The Apollo, Comedy Central Live and many more. Forthcoming TV includes Channel 4's The Last Leg and BBC's Pilgrimage. He's also been heard on award-winning podcasts Have A Word, Ninetwentynine and Spitting Image, as well as LBC, Times Radio, and BBC Radio 4.
‘An artfully pointed, refreshingly funny hour that suggests a big talent in the making' ★★★★ The Times
'A fine comic entertainer, an intelligent maker of points and a wealth of fascinating facts' ★★★★ The Scotsman
'Genius stand-up comedy' Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
'A story that’s likely to go far' Chortle
Courtyard Theatre
£18.50
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Avalon Edinburgh Preview: Rob Auton and Joe Kent Walters
A double header of comedy as two top comedians warm up ahead of the Edinburgh Festival.
Rob Auton
Rob Auton released his book I Strongly Believe in Incredible Things with Harper Collins in Autumn of 2021 to critical acclaim.
He has written seven five star rated Edinburgh fringe shows, The Yellow Show, The Sky Show, The Face Show, The Water Show, The Sleep Show, The Hair Show, The Talk Show (the second best reviewed show at the Edinburgh Festival 2018) and The Time Show, which was one of the best reviewed shows at the Edinburgh Festival 2019.
He has performed his unique brand of comedy on The Russell Howard Hour (Sky One) and on Rob Delaney’s Stand Up Central (Comedy Central). The latter set went viral on Facebook with 4.7m views and couniting.
Rob has had three collections of writing and illustrations published by Burning Eye books and has had his poetry turned into short films and shown on Channel 4.
Rob made his television acting debut as a corduroy jacket wearing poet in ITV’s Cold Feet 2018. Since then, he performed in series 2 of The End of The Fing World (Netflix/ Channel 4), and Miracle Workers (TBS). Rob also starred in and co-wrote the short film The Peamaster which was nominated for best short film at the Milan Film Festival. Rob was a finalist for The Arts Foundation Spoken Word Award and a winner of a Three Weeks Editors Award. He is a regular poet at Bang Said the Gun (voted best poetry night in the UK by The Times).
Rob is also the creator of The Rob Auton Daily Podcast which took home The Best Daily Podcast Award at the 2020 British Podcast Awards.
Joe Kent-Walters
Joe Kent-Walters is a multi-award winning comedian and actor from Huddersfield. He has been delighting audiences up and down the country with his idiosyncratic style of outrageous character comedy, most notably with his comic creation Frankie Monroe.
His 'mesmerising and unpredictable presence' (Chortle) performing as Frankie saw him win the 2023 BBC New Comedy Award after a 'barnstorming' (Ibid) set at Glasgow’s Kings Theatre. Joe is now in development with the BBC and Hat Trick Productions.
His debut solo show Frankie Monroe: LIVE!!! has already played to sell out crowds across some of the country’s best comedy festivals including Machynlleth, Hastings, Glasgow and Leicester where it picked up the main award for Best Show. Frankie Monroe: LIVE!!! was also awarded the Keep It Fringe bursary and will be playing at The Monkey Barrel throughout this year’s Edinburgh Festival.
Prior to his BBC success Joe won the 2021 Chortle Student Comedy Award which saw him play the main comedy stage at Latitude festival and tour Australia, performing at the Sydney Comedy Store.
Joe’s double act The Lovely Boys have also been causing a splash in the UK alternative scene. Their eponymous 2022 debut show received critical acclaim and cult status with Jay Richardson. They now run a regular ‘& friends’ gig at Hackney’s Moth Club with Knock2Bag.
Studio
£12
Rob Auton
Rob's Website
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Joe Kent-Walters
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Avalon Edinburgh Preview: Glenn Moore and Pierre Novellie
A double header of comedy as two top comedians warm up ahead of the Edinburgh Festival.
Glenn Moore
Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Glenn Moore is a comedian, actor and one of the best and most prolific joke writers in the country.
Glenn is a regular face on TV, having appeared on the likes of Live At The Apollo (BBC), Have I Got News For You (BBC), Mock The Week (BBC), 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4), The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), Guessable (Comedy Central), and The Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV2). He is a regular guest on The Great American Joke Off (CW network) in the US.
He has his own Radio 4 comedy series Glenn Moore’s Alamanac. He can be heard daily as one quarter of The Dave Berry Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio, the UK’s biggest commercial radio breakfast show. He’s also appeared regularly on The News Quiz (Radio 4) and The Now Show (Radio 4).
Glenn’s 2022 Fringe show sold out with rave five star reviews from The Mail on Sunday, Chortle and The Courier, amongst a number of other publications. His critically-acclaimed stand-up show Glenn, Glenn, Glenn, How Do You Like It, How Do You Like It was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award. He also toured the UK with his follow up hit Edinburgh show Love Don’t Live Here Glenny Moore. He was named one of Just For Laughs’ New Faces in Montreal in 2023.
He has written for numerous TV shows including The Mash Report (BBC) and Fantasy Football League (Sky), and has been a staff writer on the sketch comedy show Scrambled (CITV).
Pierre Novellie
Pierre Novellie is a stand-up comedian, writer, radio host and podcaster.
Pierre is co-host of The Frank Skinner Show on Absolute Radio, and his television appearances include World’s Most Dangerous Roads (Dave), The Mash Report (BBC2), and Stand Up Central (Comedy Central). Pierre’s first book Why Can’t I Just Enjoy Things?: A Comedian’s Guide to Autism was published by Bonnier in 2024.
In audio, Pierre co-hosts the hit Budpod podcast alongside Phil Wang which has over 3.5million downloads, has performed on The Now Show and The News Quiz (Radio 4), and hosts the BBC Sounds podcast series Obsessed With… SAS: Rogue Heroes. As a writer, Pierre was a regular writer on the rebooted Spitting Image (ITV/Britbox) and has also written on shows including Mock the Week (BBC2), The News Quiz (Radio 4) and The Mash Report (BBC2).
One of the UK’s most acclaimed live acts, Pierre‘s latest show Must We? saw a sold-out run at the Monkey Barrel at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and was his fourth show to have been placed in the top 20 best-reviewed comedy shows across the entire festival and will tour the UK in 2024. He has released two comedy specials, Quiet Ones and Why Can’t I Just Enjoy Things? via US comedy label 800 Pound Gorilla Records which have amassed over half a million views online.
'packed full of belly laughs – each topic could be a full show on its own' ★★★★★ Sharon Lougher, Metro
'A storming hour of punchy, exceptional stand up' ★★★★ Jay Richardson, The Scotsman
'Hilarious…he will go far' ★★★★ Dominic Maxwell, The Times
Studio
£12
Glenn Moore
Glen's website
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Pierre Novellie
Pierre's website
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Avalon Edinburgh Preview: Matt Forde and Chloe Petts
A double header of comedy as two top comedians warm up ahead of the Edinburgh Festival.
Matt Forde
Matt Forde is one of the country’s most in demand satirists.
Described as 'our foremost satirical stand-up' by The Sunday Times, Matt Forde has toured critically acclaimed shows nationwide including most recently Clowns To The Left of Me, Jokers To The Right in 2022 and Inside No. 10 in 2023.
Matt Forde’s hit live podcast The Political Party transferred to the West End’s Duchess Theatre in 2021 after over 70 sold out shows at Westminster’s The Other Palace, for a twice extended fortnightly residency continuing in to 2024. Matt has brought Parliament to life with his stand-up and debate with some of politics’ most powerful figures including Keir Starmer, Nicola Sturgeon, Tony Blair, Eddie Izzard, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Angela Rayner, Michael Heseltine, Anthony Scaramucci, Alastair Campbell, Gordon Brown and Gary Neville. Matt has received numerous nominations from award bodies including the British Podcast Awards and Chortle Awards and the show is regularly highlighted as a top podcast pick in the press.
Matt wrote and voiced characters for Spitting Image (BritBox/ITV) including Boris Johnson, Keir Starmer and Donald Trump. Matt currently presents Absolute Radio’s weekly Rock ‘n’ Roll Football Show. He is also the co-host of Wondery’s flagship British Podcast Award winning British Scandal alongside Alice Levine.
In 2019 alone, Matt hosted the Alternative News Desk for Channel 4’s election night coverage, chaired the One Nation Conservative leadership hustings and debated Britain’s withdrawal from the EU with Tony Blair for the Institute of Global Change.
Matt hosted four series of Unspun with Matt Forde on Dave, receiving several nominations at the Broadcast Digital Awards, and has numerous other broadcast credits including: Have I Got News For You (BBC One), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV), Mock The Week (BBC Two), 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4), Hypothetical (Dave) Rory Bremner’s Coalition Report and Rory Bremner’s Election Report (BBC Two), Question Time (BBC One), This Week (BBC One), Newsnight (BBC Two) and Daily Politics (BBC Two).
Matt’s first book Politically Homeless was listed by The Sunday Times as one the Best Political Books of 2020.
Chloe Petts
'One of the most compelling young comics' Brian Logan, The Guardian
'Clearly a rising star whose name will soon be in lights' Bruce Dessau, The Evening Standard
Chloe has established herself as one of the most exciting up and coming acts on the circuit.
Chloe is returning to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer with her new show How You See Me, How You Don’t. This comes after a UK Tour of her show If You Can’t Say Anything Nice which sold-out in the first week of the Edinburgh Fringe last year, leading to 6 extra shows being added to the run. In 2022, she performed her debut show Transience to sold-out audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and for two five night runs at Soho Theatre, which led to a tour around the rest of the UK which ended with an extra date added at London’s Leicester Square Theatre. Receiving rave reviews from publications including The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Evening Standard.
On television and radio, Chloe recently appeared on Have I Got News For You (BBC One), and hosted her own segment every Saturday morning on Sky Sports News. She has also been a regular on The Frank Skinner Show (Absolute Radio), World Cup Breakfast (Sky Sports) for the Men’s Football World Cup 2022 and previously for Good Morning Euros (Sky Sports) for the UEFA Women’s Euros. Further appearances include MOTDx (BBC), Jonathan Ross’s Comedy Club (ITV), The Stand-Up Sketch Show (ITV2), Richard Osman’s House of Games (BBC Two), Random Acts (Channel 4), Hypothetical (Dave), Fighting Talk (BBC Radio 5 Live), BBC Three Quickies (BBC Three), as well as winning Pointless Celebrities (BBC One). In terms of podcasts, Chloe has appeared on Off Menu, Films to Buried With and co-hosted The Guilty Feminist.
An alumna of the prestigious Pleasance Comedy Reserve, shortlisted for the BBC Comedy Award, finalist of Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year Awards 2017 and runner-up in the Funny Women Awards 2017. As well as supporting Ed Gamble on current Hot Diggity Dog UK tour and previous tour Electric, Chloe has supported Frank Skinner during his West End run and performed at Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year and last year.
She is a co-founder of The Lol Word, a queer comedy collective that hosts sell-out monthly London nights, boasting the finest female and non-binary queer acts on the circuit. Their most recent Edinburgh run was a sell-out. Diva Magazine has described it as a space that is demographically queer, inclusive, and safe, and on top of all of that – the comedic talent is smart, insightful, hilarious, and completely relatable.
Studio
£12
Matt Forde
Matt's website
Chloe Petts
Chloe's website
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Align and Flow Yoga
Led by Deborah Le Vene-Page
Align and Flow Yoga is influenced by the biomechanics and heart orientated philosophy of the Anusara Hatha style of yoga. With a specific alignment focus within the flow of postures the practice will tone and strengthen the body, improve posture and create more freedom in the body and mind resulting in a calm and relaxed state of being.
Each week there will be a different theme weaving its’ way through the session, but a typical class starts with breathing techniques to centre and ground, poses to warm up and then progresses to a fun and challenging mix of vinyasa and alignment yoga.
This class is designed to cultivate focus, stamina, strength, and flexibility. Leaving time at the end for a well-deserved relaxation.
Come prepared for an energising class that will also leave you feeling relaxed.
Age guidance: 18+ years
Spring
Sat 11 Jan - 22 Feb (7 weeks)
Sat 8 Mar - 26 Apr (8 weeks)
£12.50 per session | £73.50 per 7 week course | £84 per 8 week course
Suitable for all levels of experience. Please bring a yoga mat with you.
- 18 Jan SOLD OUT
- 25 Jan from £1250
- 12 more dates...
Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet
Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet! put on fabulous, feelgood 70s and 80s disco nights for grown-ups at venues across London and the South East - and we’re delighted to welcome them back again after a funk-tastic sell out night here last year.
HSDY nights are recommended by everyone from Time Out and The Guardian to Stylist and Radio 4 and they have been described as 'Abba collides with Saturday Night Fever in a glorious mash up'.
DJ Lady G will be on the decks playing all your favourite soul, funk and disco tunes. Dancer Lady Boo will be showing you the moves to everything from Car Wash (complete with shiny rags) and Hey Mickey, to the 1979 Gonzales hit, Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet, after which HSDY take their name.
If you fancy dressing up (it’s not obligatory, but lots do) there are prizes for the best retro outfits, and free sweets and ice pops too.
In the words of Shalamar, it’s going to be 'a night to remember!'
10% profits from HSDY nights go to Cancer Research UK
Party the night away until 12am - with our Café Bar also open serving drinks until then!
Courtyard Theatre
£18
This is a standing/dancing event with some unallocated seating
Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet! website
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Crafternoons - Tuesdays
Led by Creative Eye
Norden Farm's Crafternoons are relaxed crafting sessions for older people.
Get crafty with a range of activities, or bring along your own projects to work on with support from tutor Kayleigh Robinson.
You can learn new skills, meet new people and try something new, a cup of tea is included with the ticket price. Come either Tuesday or Wednesday and join in that week's craft. If you are unable to attend in person you can log on from home to chat and join in the session.
Spring Season
Tues 14 Jan - Charcoal Drawing
Tues 21 Jan - Embroidered Photos
Tues 28 Jan - Decoupage Log Slices
Tues 4 Feb - No Session
Tues 11 Feb - Polymer Clay Octopus
Tues 18 Feb - Pin Board
Tues 25 Feb - Willow Suncatcher
Tues 4 Mar - Wire Flowers
Tues 11 Mar - Felt Keyring / Brooch
Tues 18 Mar - Woven Basket
Tues 25 Mar - Wool Hoop Art
Tues 1 Apr - Book Folded Sheep
Tues 8 Apr - Fabric Flower
Tues 15 Apr - Cube Bunny
Tues 22 Apr - Embossed Foil Decorations
Tues 29 Apr - Iris Paper Folding
Social Arts Crafternoons is a partially funded project run by Norden Farm with support from The Berkshire Community Foundation.
Local transport can be provided as part of the ticket price for those attending on a Wednesday.
If you need transport to Norden Farm for the Wednesday sessions please contact Jess Thompson at [email protected] / 01628 682563 to talk through your requirements.
Suitable for ages 60+ years.
2pm - 3pm
£6.50 per session, including a cup of tea
Bollybhangra Dance Fit
Led by Nanda Sharma
Welcome to Bollybhangra Dance Fitness Party sessions! Nanda teaches her original choreographies to top hits from Bollywood, Bhangra, Belly dance and also other international music and dance rhythms.
The joyful music and movements encourage us to open our hearts and minds to possibilities, improve wellbeing and body-confidence and encourage us to embrace our individuality.
Enjoy the benefits of dance on flexibility and balance, health and fitness, and mood, memory, in a fun and friendly environment, at your own pace - no pressure. Beginners welcome.
Every class feels like a party and your place awaits! Dress up or dress down, some colour, sequins and a jingly bellydance scarf will add to your experience!
Bring water, a towel, wear dance sneakers or trainers.
Spring
Tues 14 Jan - Tues 29 Apr
3pm - 4pm
£10 per session
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