Nina Conti

Review: Nina Conti, Soho Theatre

The ventriloquist gives a fresh take on an old artform.

Review: Nina Conti, Soho Theatre

Nina Conti's show is called Dolly Mixtures but a better title might have been Baggage. The vivacious ventriloquist is surrounded onstage by holdalls in which her supporting cast lurk. One-by-one they emerge during a performance peppered with comic thrills and surprises.

Review: Nina Conti, Soho Theatre

Despite the existential themes, however, the emphasis is on giggly fun rather than anything really heavy. At barely an hour, there's certainly no excess baggage.

This week's new live comedy

Previews of Daniel Kitson, Lee Camp and Nick Revell, and Nina Conti.

Nina Conti finds her own voice in new sitcom

The ventriloquist daughter of Tom Conti is in the running for a Bafta - just as her latest show premieres in the US.

Nina Conti - review

Conti is at her best when she twists the old-school side of her artform into unexpected shapes.

The top ten comedy shows in May

Previews of Eddie Pepitone, Richard Herring, The Lumberjacks, Robert Newman, Eddie Izzard, Jack Dee, Nina Conti, Brian Gittins and The Horne Section.

Arguably the most successful stand-up show on British TV has returned for its eighth series on BBC One, and not much has changed.

This opening episode featured Dara O'Briain as the headline act, mostly talking about stupid things people do in their holidays, including his own experience at trying to surf in Australia. Guest Danny Bhoy also talked a lot about Australia, as well as the problems Scotland might have if they get into the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. However, the best act on the night for me was ventriloquist Nina Conti, who did a brilliant improvisation act which involved getting two members of the audience on stage and making them wear fake mouths which she controlled, turning the pair into life-sized dummies.

Live at the Apollo demonstrates some of the great comic talents that are out there, but once again the show still has the problems. Firstly is the length of the show. It used to be 45 minutes, now it's 30 minutes. Admittedly there are extended repeats, but for the last series they didn't appear until months later. Personally I think they should scrap the 30 minute format and just have the straight 45 minutes.

The other, bigger complaint Live at the Apollo gets is the lack of diversity among the comics chosen. The main one is the lack of women. Other than Conti the only other women appearing are Kerry Godliman and Sara Pascoe. Now given that Conti, who is both a woman and the first ventriloquist to appear on the programme, was the funniest person on in the latest episode, I think that's proof that a bigger range of performers could do wonders for it...

A stage. An audience. Three stand-up acts. TV comedy doesn't get simpler: half an hour of gags at a time of the week when that's ideal. The series returns with Dara O'Briain at the helm and his ten minutes are typically brilliant. Nobody turns an embarrassment into a golden comedy routine like Dara - in this case, his attempt to surf on Bondi Beach. After Dara comes radical ventriloquist Nina Conti, who turns two members of the audience into her dummies in an inspired piece of improv.