Following a successful run at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, comedian, actress, writer, voiceover artist and podcaster Lucy Porter is set to embark on a national tour of her show ‘Wake Up Call’.

‘Wake-Up Call’ is a show about revelations, realisations and epiphanies - both large and small. Subjects covered include: Bin collection schedules, the novels of Jean Rhys, cats, school fair booze tombolas, the Scottish Enlightenment, pressure washers and Huel. It’s an exuberant, silly show with some wisdom sprinkled on top.

The show takes its inspiration from the unwanted Wake Up Calls we all receive in life. Sometimes the universe is like the aggressive receptionist at the Guildford Premier Inn, forcing you to do get up and do things when you’d rather just stay in bed. Like a really good episode of Casualty, this show starts with a medical emergency, and then expands to talk about anxiety, grief, love, loss, shame and regret, with a bit of sauciness thrown in for the dads. 

There’s also some practical advice on midlife crisis management. Lucy’s friends are crumbling around her amid the pressures of young children, elderly parents, and the depredations of age. Since Lucy’s midlife crisis has been chronic rather than acute (it started when she was about 25 and just won’t quit) she’s been dispensing tips on what to do when you realise all your achievements are meaningless, and that life is just one long banquet of disappointments on the way to the sweet release of death. 

Lucy is a regular face on our television screens, both with her acting work and her many appearances on some of the UK’s most beloved panel shows. She’s appeared on QI with both Sandi and Steven hosting, she’s been on Mock The Week, Have I Got News for You, and Would I Lie to You? (she is lucky enough to have done an episode with Bob Mortimer, when he told a classic  story about Chris Rea telling him to crack an egg in his bath.)

Her acting work includes her recent stint in BBC1’s Eastenders as well as the phenomenally successful stage version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in Edinburgh and London, and she also has some good stories about being the reluctant star of a Japanese cartoon series.

Wake Up Call captures the mood of introspection and reflection that has prevailed over the last few years, but looks to the future and asks where we go from here.

Listing information:

For tickets visit www.boundandgaggedcomedy.com

13-Jan-23        GUILDFORD              G Live

14-Jan-23        GUILDFORD              G Live

19-Jan-23        CAMBRIDGE              The Junction  

20-Jan-23        HAVANT                     The Spring      

21-Jan-23        HAVANT                     The Spring      

26-Jan-23        NORWICH                  Playhouse                  

27-Jan-23        CHELTENHAM           Town Hall        

28-Jan-23        COVENTRY                Warwick Arts Centre

02-Feb-23       BRISTOL                    Hen And Chickens

03-Feb-23       SWINDON                  Wyvern Theatre          

04-Feb-23       BORDON                    Phoenix Arts Centre

09-Feb-23       READING                   South Street Arts

10-Feb-23       SOUTHEND               Palace Theatre          

11-Feb-23       SOUTHEND               Palace Theatre          

16-Feb-23       ILKLEY                        King's  Hall      

17-Feb-23       SALFORD                   The Lowry      

18-Feb-23       MILTON KEYNES      The Stables

22-Feb-23       PLYMOUTH                Quad Theatre

23-Feb-23       LAUNCESTON           Town   Hall      

24-Feb-23       FOLKESTONE           Quarterhouse              

25-Feb-23       BASINGSTOKE          The Haymarket          

02-Mar-23       BRIGHTON                 Komedia                      

03-Mar-23       MAIDSTONE              Hazlitt              

04-Mar-23       SHREWSBURY          Theatre Severn          

10-Mar-23       CRAWLEY                  The Hawth      

11-Mar-23       CRAWLEY                  The Hawth      

16-Mar-23       MOLD Theatre           Clwyd  

17-Mar-23       COLCHESTER           Arts Centre    

18-Mar-23       TUNBRIDGE WELLS Trinity Theatre

23-Mar-23       BANBURY                  The Mill          

24-Mar-23       BANBURY                  The Mill          

25-Mar-23       BARNARD CASTLE   The Witham

30-Mar-23       FINCHLEY                  Arts Depot      

31-Mar-23       FARNHAM                  Maltings                      

01-Apr-23        TAUNTON                  Brewhouse                  

05-Apr-23        CANTERBURY           Gulbenkian                

13-Apr-23        EPSOM                       Playhouse                  

14-Apr-23        EPSOM                       Playhouse                  

15-Apr-23        BIRMINGHAM The      Old Rep

21-Apr-23        TWICKENHAM           The Exchange

22-Apr-23        DIDCOT                      Cornerstone                

28-Apr-23        MAIDENHEAD            Norden Farm  

29-Apr-23        NORTHAMPTON       Royal & Derngate

04-May-23       ISLE OF WIGHT         Quay

05-May-23       FAREHAM                  Ashcroft Arts Centre

06-May-23       FAREHAM                  Ashcroft Arts Centre

11-May-23       BECCLES                   Public  Hall      

12-May-23       BURY ST EDMUNDS Royal  Theatre

13-May-23       SOUTHAMPTON       Riverside Studios      

18-May-23       FAVERSHAM             The Alexander Centre

19-May-23       ALDERSHOT              West End Centre

20-May-23       ALDERSHOT              West End Centre

26-May-23       WATFORD                 Palace Theatre          

27-May-23       NEW MILTON             Forest  Arts Centre

28-May-23       NEW MILTON            Forest  Arts Centre