Star of Dancing On Ice, a champion of Taskmaster and regular on QI, Lou Sanders brings her unique comedy style to the Nottingham Playhouse...
Emanating from the notion that a comedian is for life, not just for the Edinburgh Fringe, where she won the coveted Comedians Choice for Best Show in 218; Lou Sanders has become a totemic companion for many as she escorts us through life’s turbulent journey.
Tonight’s show No Kissing in the Bingo Hall is no exception, as Lou takes the stage in trademark lipstick, endearing charisma and daftness, that has the audience tittering with away the obligatory Robin Hood gag. Behind her relaxed, convivial and almost shambolic stage presence, where her routine appears to flow skittishly from one idea to another; there is the hallmark of a good comedian; great wit, astute timing and well-honed delivery.
She then usurps the convention. Selecting three random punters to join her on stage, two women and one fella - which is a fair representation of tonight’s demographics - to host her intimate and cosy chat show on a three seated sofa. The casual banter flows from relationship statuses to had the fella ever jizzed into a sock? This refreshing format of a chat show works. Personally, I’d love to see this alternative chat show on TV. Unsurprisingly, Nottingham once again let itself down, when letting slip he was from Derby, the audience react with a hostility not seen since pantomime baddie Fleshcreep last took the stage in the Playhouses Jack & the Beanstalk. This enmity finds a new level when he adds he’s actually Welsh causing one member of the audience, whom I’m certain had a pitchfork with him, to assert “He likes sheep.”
bouncing on a trampoline in a pub
The second half routine is peppered with observational jokes, resonating with the perils of women aging; like having to get dressed up in a 4ft football, then bouncing on a trampoline in a pub to attract the attention of potential male suitors, being caught trying to stowaway on 1st class and getting a wide-on when watching fellas driving with the palm of their hand.
Lou regales her intimate account of how wetting herself of Dancing on Ice, she was forced to wash her outfit with lavender hand wash, resulting in her fitting in with the elderly women of Margate where she now lives, smelling of wee and lavender.
To prove she is deadly serious, the show ends with a dropping the Mic moment, shooting off-stage before returning and going out in a blaze of glory, dressed as a 4ft football, bouncing on a trampoline, declaring if wrinkles on women appear where the smiles once was, then her vagina must have been smiling away for decades. Lou Sanders is certainly a a comedian for life.
Lou Sanders' No Kissing in the Bingo Hall performed at the Nottingham Playhouse on Friday 14th March 2025.
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