Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Mrs Manning

Mrs Manning, The Staff Room at The Free Sisters, 1 to 25 August (except 13) 11pm, Free

Mrs Manning, widow of a certain fat, sweaty, racist, sexist comedian, escapes his sizeable shadow to tell the tale of her and her (in)famous husband and how she became Manchester’s top care homes comedienne.

This is one-woman character comedy from Helen O’Brien, BBC New Comedy Award Winner and Funny Women Finalist. She has been performing sketches as Mrs Manning for a couple of years, but this is the first time the pensioner has had a show all to herself.

Helen has performed as part of sketch group Domestic Goddi at the Edinburgh Fringe and around the country. She has been touring her other one-woman comedy show Bronagh’s Big Weekend at venues such as The Lowry Theatre and the Belfast Waterfront, and is also bringing that Irish dancing comedy to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in the Cellar, Pleasance Courtyard.

When not writing and performing, Helen teaches subtitling at Surrey University and works with adults with learning disabilities. When not performing nervously, Mrs Manning plays bingo and enjoys Bergerac repeats.