Elf Lyons is a performer and writer known for her one-woman shows that combine theatrical spectacle, clowning, and comedy. UK theatre critic Lyn Gardner described her work in 2020 as “undefinable, which is always a good thing. Her shows break the boundaries that put theatre, comedy and performance art in distinct boxes.”[5] Similarly, Brian Logan of The Guardian wrote in 2022 that Lyons “can’t be accused of treading the conventional career path since none of her shows ever remotely resembles the next.”[6]
In 2017, after returning from studying at the École Philippe Gaulier, Lyons was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show and the Malcolm Hardee award for Comic Originality for her show Swan—a comedic re-imagining of Swan Lake. The show toured internationally, appearing at the Adelaide Fringe and Fringe World in Perth in 2018, where it was named Pick of the Fringe in Adelaide and nominated for Best Comedy Show at Fringe World. Fest Magazine awarded the show four stars.”[7]
In 2018, Lyons debuted ChiffChaff at the Edinburgh Fringe. Stephen Maxwell of The Times described the show as “expert clowning that’s by turns charming, silly, touching, and catastrophic.”[8] Later that year, Lyons premiered Medusa at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton, which Broadway World called “in-your-face and not afraid to be itself, or to get straight to the point.”[9] Following this production, Lyons experienced a spinal injury, which influenced her subsequent work.[10]
In 2019, Lyons toured her solo show Love Songs to Guinea Pigs, which explored her recovery from spinal surgery. The following year, she debuted two new shows: Gorgon: A Horror Story, an immersive horror experience at the Vault Festival, and Unlikely Darlings, a collaboration with Helen Duff exploring the life of painter Leonora Carrington. Unlikely Darlings was selected as one of The Daily Telegraph's Top Cultural Moments of 2020.[11]
In 2022, Lyons premiered Raven, a comedy-horror show inspired by trauma and the works of Stephen King, at the Edinburgh Fringe. The show received critical acclaim, earning five stars from The Telegraph and being included in their list of best Fringe shows that year.[12] Raven won Best Show at the Reykjavík Fringe in 2024[13] and Best Comedy at the Adelaide Fringe the same year.[14]
In 2023, Lyons made her stage debut at the Arcola Theatre, playing Rachel in Lisa Carroll's play The Misandrist.[15] She also created and performed Heist, a two-hander mime show in British Sign Language and Visual Vernacular, alongside deaf performer Duffy at the Soho Theatre. The show was nominated for the Neurodiverse Review’s Deaf Action Deaf Excellence Award.[16]
In 2024, Lyons’s show Horses achieved widespread success at the Edinburgh Fringe, receiving ten five-star reviews and winning multiple awards, including the (ISH) Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show, the Comedian’s Choice Award for Best Show, and the Mervyn Stutter Spirit of the Fringe Award.[17]
Lyons has appeared on television programs such as The Dog Ate My Homework, The Stand-Up Sketch Show, and Comedians Giving Lectures. She has been featured on radio shows and podcasts including Classical Fix (BBC Radio 3), Loose Ends (BBC Radio 4), Unexpected Fluids (BBC Radio 1), and Evil Genius (BBC Sounds), and has contributed writing to The Guardian and The Scotsman on topics such as polyamory[18] and the importance of play.[19]
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