ELF Lyons concludes her autumn travels at the Burning Duck Comedy Club in York on November 21, but this tour might never happened.
In August 2018, comedian, writer and actress Elf – real name Emily Ann – was planning a physical clown show with dance, tap, rock’n’roll and the splits, but soon disaster struck.
She was taken to hospital and told it would be best that she never performed again. After months spent lying on her back and being wheeled in and out of MRI machines, she had to rethink how to return to the stage. Thankfully inspiration struck, and Love Songs To Guinea Pigs was born.
Elf, the 28-year-old daughter of an economist and painter, presents a surreal tale of love and loneliness, embodying her inner Katherine Hepburn through an absurd narrative of heartbreak and love with live music, terrible mime, silly characters, enthusiastic accents and true stories. “This is Brief Encounter, but with rodents,” she says.
Love Songs To Guinea Pigs is billed as “the perfect show to take a tinder date to, a friend who is going through a difficult divorce, your step-mum as an attempt to ‘bond’ or indeed just come on your own and be a legend”.
Tickets for next Thursday’s 8pm show in The Basement, City Screen, are on sale via thebasementyork.co.uk/elf-lyons or burningduckcomedy.com