Landing in the West End for 10 performances, Nina Conti brings her completely bonkers, truly thrilling and eye-wateringly hilarious new show to audiences.
A non-stop feast of exuberant joy, this is a wonderful and playful exploration of modern-day love. Featuring audience interaction, participation, ventriloquism and improvisation, Conti shows throughout that she is a natural on stage.
Beginning with a light back and forth with the audience, Conti immediately makes us feel welcome. Joined on stage by her fluffy friend Monkey, an adorable stuffed creature who has a twisted sense of humour, the two poke fun at one another, causing lots of delight. You could easily watch Conti do this all night, but she adds more layers to the show as the evening continues.
Throughout, multiple members of the audience are asked to come on stage. First up, a couple who have been dating for a couple of months. Conti wants them to re-enact their first day in front of us. To aid in this, she gives them both half-masks; latex offerings that cover the bottom of their faces. Attached to the mask are black chords that allow Conti to take control. She can press a button and the mouth moves - but the sound doesn't come from the mouths of the volunteers, but Conti herself. This is when she really shines; you are treated to a selection of accents, pitches, and dialects - Conti proves that she is certainly not a one-trick pony.
The night continues with more hilarity as an improvised song is sung, and Monkey goes speed dating; meeting several people in quick succession to find love. The final few of these dates remain on stage for a 5-way scene. There's a posh dude, a Scottish bloke, a Cockney geezer, a saucy old lady, and Conti, who moves between each of them, clicking on their mask device to provide joke after joke, leaving the audience with stitches they are laughing so much.
All in all, an excellent night, and well worth a ticket.
Nina Conti on tour until 28 August
Photo: Matt Crockett
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