Hayley Ellis: Stop Showing Off In Front Of Your Mates

Stand-up comedy by Hayley Ellis, presented at The Wardrobe in Leeds: a comic hour built on a former girlband member's imagined alternative lives and a pop career that never quite happened.

This stand-up show by Hayley Ellis is a comic hour looking back at a pop ambition that did not take off. The performer was once in a girlband in the 1990s, convinced the group would become a major name. Years later that hope has faded, and the material asks what would have followed had the band succeeded.

The comedy runs through three imagined futures: a settled mother who invested sensibly, a wellness guru selling unusual incense, and a faded celebrity chased by photographers on a supermarket run. Other subjects include body image, the teen magazine Smash Hits and an indoor skydiving mishap. Hayley Ellis does not sing or dance on stage; the performance is spoken, and its humour comes from the sad side of a failed dream.

The Wardrobe is a Leeds venue that hosts concerts and shows. The hour suits audiences who enjoy nostalgic stand-up about missed ambitions. Once upon a time is credited alongside the performer.