Underbelly Festival – the massive new festival experience which sees the hugely popular Udderbelly and London Wonderground festivals join forces – has added over fifty new shows to its line-up, including some of the top names in stand-up, sketch character and alternative comedy, as well as cabaret, burlesque, circus, music, variety and family shows.
Newly announced comedy highlights include master satirist Andy Zaltzman, big hitting stand-ups Gina Yashere, Luisa Omielan, Andrew Maxwell, Ellie Taylor and Tony Law, Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Richard Gadd, fellow nominee for comedy’s grand prize Kieran Hodgson and the stage version of Angus Deyton’s iconic Radio Active.
As well as this stellar comedy offering, Underbelly Festival provides a spiritual home for the very best of cabaret, burlesque and all of their weird and wonderful subgenres with highlights including Alternative Eurovision, 2016 Musical Comedy Award winners Four Femmes on the Thames, burlesque variety spectacular La Bouge Neon, drag legend Trevor Ashley and star of RuPaul’s Drag Race Courtney Act: The Girl from Oz.
Underbelly’s proud tradition of providing a platform for the most electrifying contemporary circus performers in the world will also continue with Jess Love (Black Cat, La Soiree) introducing her funny, heart-warming, visually spectacular solo show And the Little One said… Further circus highlights include all-female cyr wheel troupe Alula who are teaming up with Jackson’s Lane to create Hyena, and Gaulier trained Zach & Viggo adding a dose of slapstick hilarity in Thunderflop.
For the musical among us highlights include acapella all-stars The Magnets, the inimitable blend of beat box and surfer rock from Tom Thum & Jamie McDowell and Notes of a Native Song: Stew and the Negro Problem – a musical journey through the life and work of American artist and civil rights activist James Baldwin.
Underbelly Festival will likewise provide a brilliant range of entertainment for all the family, including Metta Theatre’s striking urban retelling of Jungle Book which combines circus, street dance, hip-hop and spoken word, pirate rom Arr We There Yet, children’s versions of cult comedy hits The Dark Room and Comedy in the Dark and magical variety from The Tap Dancing Mermaid.
Topping it all off are Underbelly Festival’s three spectacular headlining shows; Driftwood from acclaimed Australian circus company Casus (Knee Deep), Edinburgh Festival Fringe hit Catch Me (Attrape Moi) from impossibly athletic Quebecois troupe Flip FabriQue, and cult boylesque cirque-cabaret act known as Briefs, who will unveil their first new show in four years following their internationally acclaimed Second Coming.
Tickets on general sale at 10am on Friday 24th March: www.underbellyfestival.com with 80% of festival tickets under £20