Nina Conti: Talk to the Hand at 59e59 Theatre A



Pleasance Theatre presents the New York premiere of Nina Conti's and Bill Dare's Nina Conti: Talk to the Hand, opening at 59E59's Theater A on 10 Nov 2011, following previews from 8 Nov 2011, and closing on 13 Nov 2011, as part of the Brit's Off-Broadway festival.

Directed by Bill Dare, Nina Conti: Talk to the Hand features female ventriloquist Nina Conti and the hand puppets sassy Granny and the sardonic Monkey.

Press notes describing the show says, "Nina Conti bravely goes where no ventriloquist has gone before. Joined by the sassy Granny and the sardonic Monkey, Nina is off on a seat-of-her-pants adventure that has been called "unhinged comedy... It's Sartre meets South Park!" by Australia's The Age.

Nina Conti: Talk to the Hand comes to the Brit's Off-Broadway festival direct from sell out seasons in Edinburgh, London, Melbourne and the Sydney Opera House. Nina Conti is the only female ventriloquist to win the prestigious Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2008 (an honor she shared that year in a tie with comic Kristen Schaal). The Barry is the festival's highest honor and named after Barry Humphries, a founding patron of the festival.

Nina Conti (performer/co-writer) shot to fame in 2002 by winning the BBC New Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival. In 2008 she won the prestigious BARRY at Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her solo show 'Complete and Utter Conti.' She followed up with sell out seasons in Edinburgh and London with her show 'Evolution.' Conti also had a recent stint in Hollywood when she and Monk appeared in Christopher Guest's movie "For Your Consideration," playing a weather team on the fictional 'Wake Up L.A.', Nina went on to star in a short film with Spinal Tap in England. Christopher Guest then mentored her when she wrote, directed and starred in a ventriloquial documentary drama, "Her Master's Voice," which is set to hit film festivals next year. Nina's act appears frequently on television; most recent UK television credits include "Children In Need," "QI" and "The Rob Brydon Show."

Bill Dare (director/co-writer) is the producer of various popular comedy programs for the BBC, including "I've Never Seen Star Wars" (which he created and also served as writer), "The Mary Whitehouse Experience," "Spitting Image," "Dead Ringers," "The Now Show" and "The Late Edition." He wrote and appeared in his own Radio 4 sketch show, "Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue," which ran for five series. His first novel, 'Natural Selection,' is published in the UK and USA, and his first stage play, 'Touch,' was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007.

Nina Conti with 'Monkey'

Originally published on

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