27 Oct AWARD-WINNING NEWCOMER, CHELSEA BIRKBY COMES TO SOHO THEATRE
Chelsea was lovely, sweet, adorable. But not anymore! Think sex and drugs and rock n roll* (*Nickelback).
No More Mr Nice Chelsea is the highly anticipated debut stand-up hour from rising star Chelsea Birkby, whose credits include BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Comedy Club, writing on Mock The Week and reaching the final of both So You Think You’re Funny and Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year.
The show comes to Soho Theatre off the back of an incredibly successful Edinburgh Fringe run that saw Chelsea win the Amused Moose Best Newcomer Award, get nominated for Comedian’s Choice Best Show award and receive overwhelming praise from audiences, press and fellow comedians! After the Fringe, Chelsea reached the regional finals of the BBC New Comedy Award.
In this thoughtful, playful and punchline-rich hour, full of pop culture and philosophy, Chelsea asks: what is nice? Who does it serve? And don’t we need to let our darker side out occasionally?
Find out why Black Eyed Peas are the moral compass for a generation, how calling cash “spendo” might be ill-advised and why your secret diaries should maybe stay secret.
Chelsea brings a lightness of touch to what could be heavier topics, such as mental health and sexual shame, as she tries to reconcile her competing impulses and come out the other side.
An established club comedian, MC, and a student of Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, Chelsea Birkby has performed at the UK’s top comedy clubs including The Stand, Komedia, Backyard Comedy Club, Angel Comedy, The Bill Murray and Manford’s, theatres including Oxford Playhouse and Leicester Square Theatre and special events such as Stand Up Philosophy, Alternative Book Club and Cheltenham Literary Festival. Chelsea has been a finalist across the highest-profile new act competitions including So You Think You’re Funny Finalist (2018) and Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year (2021).
This year Chelsea won the Amused Moose Best Newcomer Award, was nominated for Comedian’s Choice Best Show award and made it to the final 30 comedians for BBC’s New Comedy Award, out of a field of over a 1,200 entrants.
Chelsea has taken two split-bills to the Edinburgh fringe (with Matt Hobs in 2018, and with Jamie D’Souza in 2019, ‘A show I guarantee anyone at the fringe will enjoy.’ **** Mumble), and she has shared the stage with some of the UK’s biggest stars, including James Acaster, Nish Kumar, Rosie Jones, Angela Barnes, Ed Gamble, Fern Brady, and Laura Lexx.
Chelsea’s broadcast credits include 5 live, BBC Radio Scotland, Times Radio, BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Comedy Club, Union Jack FM, BBC Radio Oxford (including co-host of The Laugh Lounge) Next Up and she was featured in Chortle’s ‘Most memorable gigs of 2020.’ She has also written for The Independent, and her jokes have appeared in Best Jokes of the Fringe collections in The Times and The Telegraph.
