The quick-thinking “queen of ventriloquism” and British Comedy Award-winner NINA CONTI returns to New York City with her five-star smash hit show, direct from sell-out seasons in London’s West End and at the Edinburgh Festival. The Dating Show is an entirely improvised and audience-interactive ventriloquial comedy show performed by Conti (with her vent puppet Monkey). Onstage Conti dons masks onto willing audience members and ‘voices’ them based on their gestures alone, bringing to life their dating history, romance tales and match-making singletons. This talent enables her to ‘voice’ multiple audience members on stage at once, leading to a crescendo of a performance. In this dating-infused live show, there’s no promise that true love will be found, but a firm guarantee of big laughs will be had in the reign of this ‘voice-throwing queen’.
The Dating Show completed a sell-out tour of the UK in 2020/21, including a sell-out run in London’s West End, before being one of the biggest-selling shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2022. It first opened off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse in January 2023 for a limited run, before returning in March 2023 – where ticket holders included several notable faces including Naomi Watts (who came twice), Susan Sarandon (who ended up onstage in the show), JJ Abrams, Richard Kind (who came for a third time) and more. The show is presented by the comic actor Michael McKean, best known for his roles in Better Call Saul, Spinal Tap and the gamut of Christopher Guest movies. “I can guarantee you’ve never seen anything like it,” says McKean. “It’s brilliantly funny and alarmingly deep.”
The show opens February 14th, Valentine’s Day and runs through March 2nd at The SoHo Playhouse in NYC. It is produced by Show And Tell, whose credits include North American tour dates and off-Broadway runs for a raft of UK talent including Mae Martin, James Acaster, Nish Kumar, Romesh Ranganathan, Dara Ó Briain and more. Come see Conti elevate this stagecraft to new heights!
Mentions: Shows February 14-17, 21-24, 27-29, & March 1-2 @ 9 PM. Tickets Info HERE. Location: SoHo Playhouse | 15 Vandam St, New York, NY 10013. Give Conti a FOLLOW on IG, TikTok and YT. Feed the algo.