Cambridge Footlights' iconic comedy variety night with stand-up, sketch, songs and film from the university's funniest students.
Cambridge Footlights are back with their Playroom Smokers, running on Tuesday 20 October and Tuesday 10 November, both at The Corpus Playroom in St Edward's Passage. These are the Footlights' variety nights, and the format is pretty straightforward: a rotating cast of the university's funniest students take to the stage with new material, working in five-minute slots. Over the course of a single night, that adds up to a fair bit of ground to cover, with the acts running from stand-up and sketch to songs and film. The tone shifts as the night goes on, too, moving from the naturalist to the absurd, and from the cute to the satirical.
The venue itself is part of the story. The Corpus Playroom opened in 1979 in disused Corpus Christi rooms on St Edward's Passage and has since become Cambridge's primary fringe space. It's run by the college's amateur dramatic society, the Fletcher Players, and it's a room that's seen a lot of names go through it over the years — Hugh Bonneville, Sam Mendes, Emma Corrin and Stephen Fry are among the alumni. The Smokers are one of the regulars there, and they're suitable for ages 16 and over.
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Because the cast rotates, no two nights are the same, and since everyone's bringing new material, you're seeing things as they're being worked out rather than a polished set. The five-minute slots keep it moving, so if one thing doesn't land, the next is only a few minutes away. Both nights start at 21:30, and tickets are £5-7.
