The Etties are very much a bit of fun to celebrate those smaller shows and venues that all too often will get overlooked in the bigger awards. We’ve put together our shortlists with the help of our team of reviewers and much like all awards, it’s very subjective!
Our award for Best Comedy is absolutely an award for the real grassroots of London’s theatre scene. Here we’ve defined a fringe venue even more strictly than normal, so this is only eligible for venues of 100 seats or less. Whilst we love all our OffWestEnd venues equally, let’s be honest, those larger ones will be well represented elsewhere this awards season. So here when we say fringe we really mean FRINGE!
And with that in mind, our shortlisted shows for Best Comedy in a Fringe Venue are:
A Balloon Will Pop (At Some Point During This Play) @ Canal Café Theatre
This really was one of those hidden gems of a show, playing for just a couple of evenings before heading to Edinburgh for the festival. But we loved it and stated that ” it’s easy to imagine that this show will become a word-of-mouth success” and it certainly left enough of an impression to make it onto our Ettie shortlist!
Almost The Birthday Party @ Old Red Lion Theatre
Writer Paul Kalburgi decided to rework his original short piece and turn it into an hour long two act play for Old Red Lion Theatre’s GrimFest, and it turned into one of those pleasant surprises as you realise you’re watching something you may have completely overlooked normally. “As we switch from act one to two, it takes on an even stranger feel, just getting more outrageous, with the laughs coming thick and fast as we try to unpick just what madness this is.”
For the Love of Spam @ Camden People’s Theatre
When the start point of a show is spam (the tinned meat, not the unwanted emails), you know it’s going to be something quite different. It actually proved to be “a beautifully executed show, hilariously funny but intelligently provocative and moving.”
Houdini’s Greatest Escape @ King’s Head Theatre
All the best shows can be quite divisive in opinion, and this one is probably a prime example of that. As we said at the time “If you like your theatre subtle and thought-provoking, this probably isn’t for you.” But we also said it was “a hilarious and raucous romp about the world’s greatest escapologist” so our reviewer is clearly a lover of marmite!
The Fruity Prince @ The Space
Another show that probably isn’t for the lovers of subtle, afterall our reviewer starts his review by informing us that “It’s rare that I get a bra thrown at me at the theatre”! But they also said it was “lively, enthusiastic and, most importantly, funny” so it clearly ticked all their boxes.
The Glorious French Revolution (or: why sometimes it takes a guillotine to get anything done) @ New Diorama
If The Etties had a category for longest name, this would certainly be in the running! But as it is, it will have to settle with a nomination for Best Comedy. We thought that the company “have created a piece that starts by making you laugh at the past and ends by making you deeply uncomfortable about the present, and uncertain about the future.”
We will announce all our winners of our Ettie Awards during our live Runn Radio show on 3 March.
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