Now preparing for a 10th year on the Southbank and having smashed through the million-tickets-sold barrier last year, Underbelly Festival Southbank 2018 has added yet more names to the incredible array of talent on display by the Thames between April and September.
Among the outstanding comedic talent set to descend on the South Bank are Underbelly Festival legend turned Vegas superstar Piff the Magic Dragon, one of the sharpest young observational comic talents in the business Alex Edelman, dark and twisted sketch masters Late Night Gimp Fight, kings of musical variety shenanigans The Horne Section and Prime Minister turned drag diva Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho.
These unique and brilliant performers join comedy heavyweights Nina Conti, Ruby Wax, Stephen K Amos and Gina Yashere, as part of an astonishing programme of over 130 shows spanning every imaginable genre of performance.
Other shows announced today cover the full spectrum of performing arts, with the scintillatingly sensual House of Burlesque Revue, the fiery talents of Aurora Galore and the man whose voice creates musical movements, Shlomo, while, for those not content with the role of audience-member, Underbelly Festival Southbank will also be playing host to cult alternative club nights including group singalong Massaoke, a brilliant Silent Disco in the Spiegeltent and the legendary Club Briefs – the immersive clubbing spectacular from the undisputed Kweens of boylesque.
Fun for all the family includes Big Wooden Horse & Nick Brooke’s madcap theatrical adaptation the bestselling book Aliens Love Underpants and the funniest, most painless introduction to politics a child could want from Tatton Spiller (Simple Politics) and Comedy Club 4 Kids’ Tiernan Douieb: How Does This Politics Thing Work Then?
This year, London’s original, biggest and best pop-up arts festival will be marking a decade of excellence by welcoming four headlining circus shows from four different continents to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the artform, mere yards from where Philip Astley first took to the Ring in Waterloo in 1768.
African acrobatic spectacular Circus Abyssinia swings in from Ethiopia, before sodden slapstick circus SOAP slides in from Germany, Latin circus-concert sizzler Circolombia brings a taste of South America, and Circa premiere their latest masterpiece from Down Under, Peepshow.
All this incredible live entertainment comes at affordable prices – with most tickets under £20 AND 20% off when you book three shows or more – and is set within some of the capital’s best outdoor bars, with a fantastic range of street food and drink available, all of which make Underbelly Festival Southbank the ultimate London day (or night) out.
