Luisa Omielan: Am I Right Ladies?! Gateshead & Salford
A few years ago, Luisa Omielan was an almost completely unknown comic on the London circuit. Then her debut full-length show What Would Beyoncé Do?! – a comparison of Omielan’s own life with that of Mrs Jay Z – became an unexpected smash, with a national tour and lengthy London run. Some might think she’d shot her bolt, but this follow-up show has, if anything, been even more successful. Omielan’s shtick is rooted in empowerment, but of a celebratory rather than overtly polemical kind. She attacks everything that’s designed to make women feel bad about themselves, a classic example being her cheerful demolition of the “thigh gap” in a Melbourne comedy festival clip that’s now gone viral. Not content with making her audience laugh, Omielan’s shows are a properly life-affirming experience which frequently end with the crowd on their feet, cheering her like a prophet.
Baltic Square, Gateshead, Sat; The Lowry, Salford, Sun; touring to 15 Aug
Hilarity charity gala, Wolverhampton
Given that opportunities in the arts seem to be ever more the preserve of the privately educated, it’s worth supporting any initiative that tries to redress the balance. The Hilarity charity gala has been set up to raise funds for the Central Youth Theatre, to ensure its programmes remain accessible to young people across Wolverhampton. And they’ve managed to net an extraordinarily starry lineup. In addition to the BBC3-endorsed sketch group Pappy’s (two of whose members benefited from the Central Youth Theatre), acid panel-show queen Katherine Ryan and Inbetweeners favourite Greg Davies, they’ve managed to secure the influential Daniel Kitson as MC. Kitson rarely performs conventional stand-up these days, preferring to concentrate on his experimental storytelling shows. Any chance to see him exhibiting the skills that once made him unassailable as the finest compere in the country is well worth taking.
Max And Ivan: The End, London
You may very well have seen Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez in W1A, the hit comedy about BBC life, seemingly designed to shrug off any of the cooperation’s last remaining defenders. On screen, they play a pair of arrogant and useless “digital strategists”, but in their live work they bring to life an eclectic range of characters, all of them sharing a brash, larger-than-life quality. Their shows tend to involve elaborate concepts: previous outings have been themed around a group of con artists assembling for one last job and a most unorthodox school reunion. This latest one is based around a small seaside village facing imminent nuclear attack, but that’s really just a jumping-off point for the duo’s latest collection of grotesques, all delivered with a cut-through charisma that puts other sketch acts to shame. Don’t be fooled by the title, either: this is just the start for these two.
