jen brister comedy tour 2023

Jen Brister

Jen Brister is a stand up comic, writer and comedy actor.

'Brister ticks all the boxes – she's confident, energetic and knows how to deliver a line more...

• Apr 12 Fri London, Bush Hall Bush Hall Presents with Jen Brister View Tickets
• Apr 20 Sat London, Woolwich Works Live at the Works Paul Chowdhry, Jen Brister, Michael Odewale, Abi Clarke View Tickets
• May 02 Thu London, Hoxton Hall Theatre Jen Brister Tatty MacLeod, Flo & Joan, Catherine Bohart, Sophie Duker… View Tickets
• Jun 15 Sat Bristol, Queen Square Bristol Comedy Garden 2024 Sara Pascoe, Sindhu Vee, Marjolein Robertson, Red Richardson, Jen Brister View Tickets
• Jul 06 Sat Brighton, Preston Park Sara Pascoe Sindhu Vee, Dan Tiernan, John Kearns, Jen Brister View Tickets
• Jul 20 Sat Cambridge, Parkers Piece Cambridge Comedy Garden 2024 Sara Pascoe, Jamali Maddix, Dan Tiernan, Sindhu Vee, Jen Brister View Tickets

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Jen Brister: The Optimist review – expertly calibrated crabbiness

Bloomsbury Theatre, London No one rages against life and the world better than Brister, but the comic is too good to be confined by her furious persona

H er touring show is called The Optimist, but fans can rest assured: it reflects no brightening of Jen Brister ’s crabby disposition. Its only optimistic idea is that anyone might take that title on trust. Brister’s stock in trade is scorn and rage at the state of her life and the world, delivered with meticulous technical control. Nothing in comedy is more expertly calibrated than the way the 47-year-old pivots from passages of cool restraint, amusingly pregnant with the next outburst, to the outbursts themselves, as her fury erupts at her twin boys, or some doltish criticism of her standup, or the idiocy of her fellow citizens.

Is there an argument that Brister is too good a comic now to be quite so reliant on that essentially two-dimensional persona? I think there is. Tonight’s material on that softest of targets, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website, feels like something Brister has conjured up just to give her something to be publicly splenetic about – and very amusingly too. Elsewhere, we travel back to Covid quarantine, where our host is failing to home-school two free-spirited 5-year-olds. A set-piece about toy walkie-talkies tests our patience to the limit in the service of a gag about the patience-testing frustrations of lockdown parenthood.

That routine, as many do tonight (the one about sourdough obsession in her native Brighton; the one about vulva deodorant) climaxes with Brister clawing at her own face in exasperation. But she knows how to modulate the acrimony, as with a jaundiced routine about clapping for the NHS that swaps in withering sarcasm where breast-beating rage might have served. There’s some fine joke writing amid the cynicism too, like the punchline about getting sunburnt in Dundee, or the one about a menopausal facial hair you could “cut cheese with”.

That gag comes in a closing section, about life in your 40s, that’s more upbeat – at least until a late revelation about Brister’s personal life. I welcomed the change in tone. No one does furious better than Brister, but she is too good to be confined by it.

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Jen Brister extends Tour into 2023

20th December 2022

Following the success of her tour ‘The Optimist’ in 2022, Jen has extended the tour into 2023. Jen will be performing across the country. Many shows are already selling out with 3x London shows selling out and 4x Brighton shows.

If Jen Brister has learned anything in the past 18 months, it’s that she’s no good in a crisis. (Unless you count getting into the foetal position in under 30 seconds.) Has the pandemic changed her for the better or is she the same old pessimistic naysayer she’s always been? I think we all know the answer to that. Let’s just hope she can make it funny.

“Furiously funny.” The Guardian

“Her energy is explosive. Her use of space and delivery, mesmerising.” The Sunday Times

“A phenomenal display of sinewy stand up.” Chortle

Photo Credit: Matt Crockett

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Jen Brister: The Optimist

• 10th Sep 2022 - 12th Feb 2023

If Jen Brister has learned anything over the pandemic, it's that she's no good in a crisis. (Unless you count getting into the foetal position in under 30 seconds.) Has the pandemic changed her for the better or is she the same old pessimistic naysayer she's always been? I think we all know the answer to that. Let's just hope she can make it funny.

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Stand up comedian, writer, actor, dickhead

My special is now available!

The optimist.

If middle age has taught Jen Brister anything, it’s that optimism does not come naturally to her. In fact it’s fair to say that her cup is very much half empty and she’s making no attempt to fill it. Can Jen work against her natural instincts and finally see the light? Or will she stay the same old pessimistic naysayer she’s always been. I mean, I think we know the answer to that, but let’s try and be optimistic.

“No one does furious better than Brister” - The Guardian “A phenomenal display of sinewy stand up” - Chortle “Her energy is explosive. Her use of space and delivery, mesmerising" - The Sunday Times

Plus the Digital Audio Album for Under Privilege are also included.

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Ed Gamble, Fern Brady, Jen Brister - Live At Christmas

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First Half: 19:30 - 20:05

Interval: 20 min

Second half: 20:25 - 21:05

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