Udderbelly Festival at Southbank

The Udderbelly Festival comes to the Southbank every summer, inhabiting a flexible structure (a large upside down purple cow!) that seats four hundred and hosting many creative performances including plays, concerts and comedy shows. Boasting twelve weeks of affordable entertainment on the beautiful Southbank and an eccentric garden that has many delicious food and drink stalls, it is a great place to hang out in the warm summer months.

In the coming weeks comedy legends like Jason Byrne and Mark Dolan will be strutting their stuff for the London crowds. The shows I am most excited about are ‘Frisky and Mannish’ and ‘Showstopper’. Frisky and Mannish: The College Years is the newest show from an extraordinary comedy duo - they never fail to produce a great show, and are both exceptionally musically talented and hilarious. More unmissable entertainment is sure to come from Showstopper! who improvise a musical. Each show the brilliant cast create a brand new musical on the spot, making every performance different and unique.

I stumbled across Udderbelly by chance a few weekends ago, while out on the Embankment with a few friends. We stopped to see what was on offer, and sat in the sunshine with a glass of cider each. It has a great atmosphere, and with free entry anyone can walk in and enjoy an event.

Shows on every day until 17 July, book here.

Frisky and Mannish at The Bloomsbury Theatre

I had a peek at Frisky and Mannish at Latitude Festival earlier this year; I couldn’t get more than a snatched look because their tent was overflowing with fans. I decided I would try and see them properly on the next F & M tour, and this I did. The final date of their tour took place in London at the Bloomsbury Theatre, a popular venue for established comedy acts. Frisky and Mannish presented The College Years, a sequel to their critically acclaimed debut ‘The School of Pop’.

The eccentric duo stormed the stage and immediately commanded the attention of the Bloomsbury audience. It was soon clear that many of my fellow audience members were seasoned F&M supporters, accustomed to the pair’s favourite tricks and jokes.

I would describe the act as a collage of songs with an injection of attitude and comedy. The College Years focuses on lessons about collision theory and grammatical errors in pop music, as well as some hilarious poptastic pairings, including Lily Allen with Noel Coward and Florence and the Machine with Peter Andre – Frisky belting out Florence (uncannily accurate) and Mannish taking on the role of ‘the machine’. The performance was polished and great fun to watch. There was some audience participation, but none so brutal that it was embarrassing, thank goodness!

Frisky and Mannish are brilliant comedians, but more than that they are very talented musicians, and this aspect makes their act unbearably addictive.