Hullo.
I write & perform standup comedy, make radio programmes about classical music, take guided tours of the Royal Albert Hall, play the oboe, sing in a choir and live in a flat above a shop in Brook Green. I get tired easily and wonder why.
Facebook is more my tipple more than myspace, so join my group "The London Air-Accordion Society" and poke me over on the 'book if you want a quicker response... or email me on helen (dot) arney (at) gmail (dot) com.
DO YOU LIVE IN LONDON?
* * THEN COME TO THE LONDON AIR-ACCORDION SOCIETY! * *
It's a gig I run on the last Monday of every month near Oxford Circus. For a fiver you get four of my favourite acts from the circuit plus my bumbling compering with songs and stories and the like. "What a lovely night that was!" is exactly what you will say afterwards. If you like saying that sort of thing on a Tuesday morning, then The London Air-Accordion Society is definitely for you.
Oh - and it was every Monday in May at the Brighton Fringe too and got 4* reviews and things. Yes, even the good people of East Sussex could not escape the power of the Air-Accordion...
If you're looking for my next gig, here's what I'm doing soon:
:: 08-Jul :: LONDON :: Karaoke Circus @ 100 Club, playing with Martin White's Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra
:: 17 to 19-Jul :: LATITUDE FESTIVAL :: Playing with Martin White's Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra
:: 22-Jul :: LONDON :: Preview of my Edinburgh show "8+1/2 Songs about Love (and other myths) @ Punch Tavern, Fleet Street - also Luke Toulson Edinburgh preview, £5 both shows
:: 27-Jul :: THE LONDON AIR-ACCORDION SOCIETY @ Green Man, Riding House Street (nr Oxford Circus) :: with Terry Saunders, Tom Craine, Nat Luurtsema, James Acaster, Catie Wilkins, George Ryegold, Sami Stone and Sarah Bennetto (MC)
:: 7th to 31st AUGUST :: EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE ::
8+1/2 Songs about Love (and other myths)
My first proper show, like. With songs and stories and that sort of thing. It's a fiver. Come and see it, it'll should make you laugh but it shouldn't break your heart.
Venue 53 - The Spaces @ Royal College of Surgeons, Nicolson Street (opposite the Festival Theatre)
7th to 29th August (not Sundays) at 6.10 (45 minutes)
So, what am I like, in a performer sort of way? I'm fairly new but people have been saying nice things: "Arney is an elfin, charming and captivating being... intelligently funny..." (BBC Club, Jan 08) and “Sweetly bookish Helen Arney is one of the latest passengers to board comedy’s crowded geek train; exchanging bold swagger for a more whimsical, unashamedly educated, lo-fi approach.” (Chortle, Nov 2008).
During 2008 I was one of 25 semi-finalists in the Funny Women competition, a semi-finalist in So You Think You're Funny and an Amused Moose Hot Starlet. I've also been doing a fair bit of compering, running my own night and presenting music nights like album launches for turntable soul outfit Belleruche and experimental alt-folkers Sunday Driver.
Just in case you missed it, HOMEWORK FOR HEROES was the free show I took to the Edinburgh Fringe 2008 with Tom Goodliffe, Broderick Chow and Nat Luurtsema. It was a crushingly lovely stand-up show celebrating tiny acts heroism that are often overlooked for some bloke pratting about in a leotard with big pants on the outside. Full of jokes, stories, games and a sprinkling of root-vegetable-based violence, we filled our 50-seater room every day and had good times. Three Weeks said: "With an interesting theme, plenty of crowd interaction and, most importantly, a great attitude from the quartet, this is one of the better free shows at the Fringe."
Not entirely exhausted by all that? You could email me on helen (dot) arney (at) gmail (dot) com about gigs and stuff. Or about anything, really: Obscure feats of Victorian engineering, Mongolian overtone singing, favourite dark chocolate covered biscuits, like, whatever. Go for it.
Tidy.
Myspace Layouts at Pimp-My-Profile.com
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