Birdies Comedy (3 shows): The Savoy Tap, The Strand, London, 2019
Live @ Limehouse 3: The Star of The East pub, London, 2019
Flamingo Sparks Open Mic Night (2 shows): The Star of The East pub, London, 2020
Live @ Limehouse (3 Shows): The Star of The East pub, London, 2020
Live at Piccadilly: The Glasshouse pub, Soho, London, 2020
The Alternative Comedy Memorial Society: The Albany, Great Portland Street, London, 2020
Vix Leyton: #StayHome Online Interviews: Online: 2020
Mark Watson’s Watsonathon: Online: 2020
Vix Leyton’s Comedy Roulette: Online: 2020 continuing
Live In Conversation: Online: June 2020
Beefy’s Comedy Club: Online: 2020
Vix Leyton’s Comedy Arcade: Online: 2020
Comedy Kiss (2 shows): Radicals and Victuallers, Islington, London, 2020
Vix Leyton’s Comedy Arcade Live Online at the Leicester Comedy Festival: Online: February 2021
Neon Flamingo Cutting Room Floor Live Online at The Cavendish Arms: Online: 2021
Backyard Comedy Club Thursday Night: Backyard Comedy Club, Bethnal Green, London, 2021
Vix Leyton and Friends (Work In Progress): The Cavendish Arms, London, 2021
Cutting Room Floor East: The Star of The East pub, London, 2021
Vix Leyton’s Comedy Arcade Live at The Camden Fringe: The Water Rats Pub, Islington, London, 2021
Comedy Kiss: Radicals and Victuallers, Islington, London, 2021
Live @ Piccadilly: The Comedy Pub, London, 2022
Cracking Comedy In Aid of Women and Children First: Leicester Square Theatre, London, 2022
Vix Leyton’s Comedy Arcade: Underbelly, Bristo Square, Edinburgh, 2022
Vix Leyton: Pedestrian: The Pleasance Theatre, Islington, London, 2022
Vix Leyton’s Comedy Arcade: The Pleasance Theatre, Islington, London, 2022
Comedy Arcade Live: Leicester Comedy Festival 2023 – The Big Difference, Leicester, 2023
I have seen Vix Leyton perform at Birdies Comedy free showcase three times (in July, September and October 2019). Every time, she was cheery, confident, and likeable on stage and delivered a very well-written five-minute set.
I arrived late at Birdies Comedy when I went in September 2019. When I walked through the door, Leyton was half-way through her lively ten-minute set and what I thought was well impressive was how hard the crowd were laughing uncontrollably at her antics. She was hilarious and I was gutted to have missed the full set.
So, to put this right, I attended the Live at Limehouse 3 comedy night in November 2019 in which Leyton made a very engaging compere. Her personality was infectious, and she controlled the evening wonderfully with witty stories about her work and introducing a roster of new and established talent. I attended again in January 2020 for Live @ Limehouse 4 in January 2020 and Live at Piccadilly in February 2020 where I was delighted to see this again with Leyton at the helm.
Also, in January and February 2020, Leyton compared her open mic night Flamingo Sparks supporting new comedians. She was lively, energetic, and enthusiastic as she introduced the acts with uplifting vigour and was an absolute natural on stage.
I watched Leyton’s 100th gig at The Alternative Comedy Memorial Society and I was extremely impressed with her comic style, her stories about pettiness were inspired.
In March 2020, the world was hit by an epidemic that affected everyone and we were all forced to self-isolate in our homes. Comedians turned to online shows and Leyton had the brain wave for her #StayHome series. This was a collection of live online individual and weekly interviews most taking place every Sunday early evening during lockdown. It was a perfect time for a chat and Leyton was great company commanding proceedings from her home. She interviewed a variety of mainly comedians and other cultural figures. the line-up was an impressive rollcall: Jen Brister, Lesley Ewing Burgess, Rich Wilson, Jen Smith, Ilya Arden, Seann Walsh, Gary Michaels, Connie Orff, Fiona Allen, Sarah Keyworth, Bec Hill, and Jack Munroe. It was great to listen to all their fascinating stories. Leyton also conducted my first ever online interview talking about comedy as the first draft of my book had been completed. She was easy-going, enthusiastic, interested and let me recall some infamous stories that feature in my book. I enjoyed it so much that I agreed to be interviewed again the following week. I was so grateful and delighted that she gave me the opportunity for the interviews (which are featured in the Interview section of this blog). I really hope Leyton does more interviews as they were informative, entertaining, and very funny.
In May 2020, Leyton appeared in a quiz for Mark Watson’s 24-hour charity online fundraiser The Watsonathon and in June 2020, Leyton launched her new show Comedy Roulette online. She had a great idea – spinning a bingo machine full of balls and then releasing one at random which had a topic for discussion. Guests for shows so far have been Jen Brister, Thom Tuck, Kate McCabe, Katy Brand, Mark Olver, Jen Smith, Sam Rhodes, Jess Aszkenasy, Esyllt Sears, Sarah Keyworth, Catherine Bohart, Hannah Dunleavy, Fiona Allen, Bec Hill, Colleen Cheetham Gerrard, Sara Barron, Sooz Kempner, Ilayda Arden, Maureen Younger, Taylor Glenn, Louise Leigh, Sikisa ‘Twix’ Bostwick-Barnes, John Luke-Roberts, Arch-Brooks Watson and a show featuring Tiernan Douieb, James Gill and me! Billed as my ‘comedy debut’, I am no comedian, but I was delighted to be asked to appear and enjoyed myself immensely. Topics included things you wish you had never said. A lie that’s caught you out, a burning grudge, film clichés, petty grievances, drunken behaviour, worst holidays, bad job interviews, grammar, online dating and famous people you have met.
The link to watch the shows is www.twitch.tv/neonmingo.
Leyton was the interviewer for an occasion Live in Conversation series which started in June 2020. The first interviewee was me talking about my experiences of lock down comedy and the second interview featured Jordan Brookes, the recent Edinburgh Comedy Award winner. She has also launched her own channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5dyY370KxLbUicknsWpiQ
I watched her perform a quality ten-minute set for Beefy’s Comedy Club online that I watched in July 2020 that was shocking, witty and delivered with extreme confidence and verve.
In September and October 2020, Leyton launched an online podcast Comedy Arcade and successfully revived the Live @ Limehouse comedy night where she proved again that she was developing into a great comedian delivering some brilliantly timed comic sets as she introduced the acts.
One of the hardest working comedians I know created yet another show for new and established comedy acts in the shape of Comedy Kiss devised with Jess Aszkenasy. Leyton compared two evenings in a pub in Islington as I sat at the back laughing and cheering at the entertaining nights.
Leyton took her successful podcast Comedy Arcade to the Leicester Comedy Festival online in March 2021 with guests Mark Watson, Thom Tuck and Esyllt Sears. It was a very entertaining hour with four brilliant comedians so much so that the show got nominated for best show at the festival. For all episodes of the podcast, please click on the link:
THE COMEDY ARCADE (comedyarcadepodcast.co.uk)
The comedian proved to be an excellent compere for Neon Flamingo Cutting Room Floor Live Online at The Cavendish Arms that I watched in April 2021. Leyton was lively, enthusiastic, extremely funny and a joy to watch.
Returning to watching live comedy, I was delighted to see Leyton on stage at the Backyard Comedy Club Thursday Night in May 2021, also at The Cavendish Arms for Vix Leyton and Friends (Work In Progress) and also Cutting Room Floor East in July 2021. Performing new material from her debut solo show I Feel P(r)etty, her confidence seemed to soar as she went along and the audience were extremely enthusiastic for her.
In the space of two years and with a worldwide pandemic in 2020 that halted live progress, the comedian’s track record is nothing short of amazing. I saw two of her show in succession in August 2021 – the first was a live version of her successful podcast Comedy Arcade where subjects are given to a panel of comedians to talk about. Host Leyton kept the conversation flowing as comedians Robin Ince, Robin Morgan and Rich Wilson tackled subjects with warmth, comic timing and clearly enjoying themselves. The second show Comedy Kiss compared by Leyton was a showcase for new and established comic talent. The show has grown from the launch that I attended and featured Jenan Younis, Sunil Patel, Luke Rollason, co-creator Jess Aszkenasy and headliner Wilson who commanded the room with ease.
I saw Leyton in February and May 2022 hosting both the Live @ Piccadilly comedy showcase and Cracking Comedy in Aid of Women and Children First at the Leicester Square Theatre. Confident as ever, she made an excellent compere making the audience feel really welcome as she delivered funny material in between introducing the acts.
To watch the comedian’s rise in the comedy ranks has been nothing short of remarkable and her hit podcast and show Comedy Arcade was a welcome addition to my Edinburgh Fringe programme for 2022. Delivering inspired anecdotes from wide ranging topics were amazing comedy guests from across the Fringe and Leyton made for a wonderfully upbeat compere.
In November 2022, I watched Leyton perform a double bill of shows for The Pleasance Theatre in London. First up was her solo show Pedestrian – a series of personal stories from an interesting existence describing life choices in a curious and engaging way. Her delivery was inspired and extremely funny with an enormous amount of confidence in her stage presence. Secondly, we were treated to another round of Comedy Arcade with guest comedians Thom Tuck, Rachel Fairburn, Victoria Olsina, and Marc Burrows with Leyton acting as a wonderful compere.
In February 2023, I was treated to watching another round of Comedy Arcade Live for the Leicester Comedy Festival with Leyton hosting with Leslie-Ewing Burgesse and guests Ishi Khan, Rich Wilson, Ishi Khan, Alexander Bennett and Garrett Millerick.
Leyton is a real comic talent brimming with ideas, energy, warmth, and enthusiasm; she is an excellent comedian who I am very pleased to have been at her first gig and watch her develop. I am looking forward to seeing again very soon.