A comedy gala will take place on Monday 21 May in support of comedian Louise Reay at the Lyric Theatre in London. Comedians confirmed to perform include Aisling Bea, Sara Pascoe, Nish Kumar, Josh Widdicombe, David O'Doherty, Josie Long, Rachel Parris, Ed Gamble and Lolly Adefope, with more names to be announced in due course.

Dubbed ‘Ex Appeal’, the gala will raise funds for Louise’s legal defence in the case being brought against her by her ex-husband. All profits will be donated to the crowdfunding campaign that Louise has set up for her defence. Click on gofundme link below to find out more and to donate.

Louise Reay is an award-winning stand-up comedian and documentary maker. On 30 January 2018, Louise was served with defamation, privacy and data protection proceedings by her husband, from whom she is separated. The claim is in relation to a comedy show that was performed in 2017. Ex Appeal is the only large-scale funding effort currently underway to support Louise and uphold comedians’ freedom of speech.  

Reay has been performing stand-up since age 16. She is a fluent Chinese-speaker and has made a range of documentaries on social issues for the BBC and Channel 4 and has written and performed in two live shows questioning our attitudes to language, immigrants and race: It’s Only Words and Que Sera (些拉). She has been nominated for Best Comedy Brighton Fringe (2017), Brighton Fringe Tour Award (2016) and Edinburgh Fringe Groundbreaker (2016), and won the Adelaide Fringe Best Emerging Artist (Weekly Award, 2017), South Africa Arena Prize (2017) and Alternative New Comedian of the Year (2015), becoming a finalist for the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year (2015). She most recently performed the third instalment of her provocative trilogy on power and oppression, Eraserhead, at Adelaide Fringe 2018.

​Buy tickets here: 0330 333 4812 / exappeal.co.uk

To donate visit: www.gofundme.com/comedian-being-sued-free-speech