Fresh, off-beat comedy from two former Cambridge Footlights.

Louisa met Níamh at University and knew immediately she was the banana to her split. Their relationship began when Níamh locked Louisa in a kitchen for no reason. Things began to escalate when Louisa forced Níamh to gate-crash a party in character as landlocked yacht owners. Recently they’ve both gotten into splitting things in half – cakes, xylophones, the atom – and thought they’d split an hour show too.

Join us for the weirdest damn sundae you’ve ever eaten.

Louisa Keight is an alumnus of Soho Theatre Young Company, winner of the Quantum Leopard Champion of Champions Award 2021 and was a finalist in the 2021 Funny Women Stage Awards. Witty and cerebral, her brand of stand up pairs the whimsical with the mundane. “A smart operator” – Chortle. “Refreshing” – DIVA magazine.

Níamh Curran was quarter finalist of the Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year Awards. Her style offers a dry and dark take on the life of a millennial who grew up in a post-troubles Northern Ireland. Described as "unflinchingly dark ... packs a punch" by Varsity, she is personally disliked by Jordan Peterson.

August 14, 2022    The Student Newspaper

In the aptly named ‘Wee Room’ at Three Sisters, Niamh Curran and Louisa Keight take to the stage in Banana Split for an hour of clever and assured stand-up comedy. Both comics are alumni of Cambridge Footlights and bring with them a confident stage demeanour, putting the audience at ease despite the tiny cramped room and poor air conditioning (what Curran refers to as the ‘karaoke-themed sex dungeon’). There is an audible performance going on next door, and Keight jokes that as a result they have a vested interest in the show tanking so it becomes less noisy for their audience.

The show is structured into two halves, with Curran taking the stage first. She discusses growing up in Belfast, the place where the Titanic was built and ‘where everyone has PTSD, but no one is dealing with it’. Her liberal Catholic upbringing forms the basis for much of the routine, which left her with ‘all of the guilt and none of the morals.’ There is a funny section about Curran’s minor cameo in Game of Thrones, as well as dating moronic English men with bizarre sexual fantasies in regards to Northern Ireland’s sectarian past. Keight is up next, and opens with a good joke about Liverpool and the Beatles – both of whom ‘lost their most commercially-viable asset in the 1980s’. She talks about her posh upbringing and moving to London, where toddlers are increasingly being dressed like business-people. The close proximity of the ‘Wee Room’ to a show for kids next door means that Curran has to run quickly back into the room and slam the door shut as a line of children walk past whilst Keight is describing the intricacies of what exactly constitutes a ‘fem-dom.’

The act is perhaps flawed by its slightly odd format. Both comics are funny and likeable performers who build a good rapport with the audience, but as a consequence it feels a shame that the show is split into two. The limited time prevents either comedian from developing a more structured or cohesive routine, and so instead we are rushed through a fragmented series of, mostly very good, jokes and stories. Curran and Keight also seem to enjoy a good on-stage relationship and, alternatively, it would have been interesting to see them explore this dynamic more instead. Nonetheless, it is an hour of well-crafted and intelligent comedy by two impressive young performers. Click Here For Review

August 12, 2022    Broadway World

Banana Split: A Stand-Up Comedy Show, an aptly named show at this year's Fringe considering it is quite literally a stand-up comedy show that is split in two.

Taking place in The Wee Room of The Three Sisters, the aptly named show also takes place in an aptly named room, specifically because the room is, as the first comedian of the afternoon Niamh Curran called it, a karaoke room. Tiny.

There are certainly better places to be during a heatwave, but in the hands of these two comedians you'll quickly forget about the heat (granted the massive fan in the room does help).

The show kicks off with Niamh Curran who warms up the crowd for both her and her partner's sets, asking the names and occupations of audience members. Things get off to a hilarious start when she happens to speak to a festival programmer and a critic back-to-back, a situation which she uses to jokingly slump under the pressure, but really it is clear that she takes it in her stride.

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After the first 30 minutes the second performer of the afternoon enters the stage, Louisa Keight. Right off the bat Louisa is full of energy, rattling through a series of jokes but always feeling cool and calm, not rushing it.

... Click Here For Review