Flo & Joan

Flo & Joan are back at The Steamworks on Wednesday 18 November, with a brand-new show. They're a British-born, Toronto-based musical comedy duo and sisters — Nicola and Rosie Dempsey, one on piano and the other on percussion — who write and perform their own comedy songs.

The show is built around a peculiar premise: they take another real band's setlist and spend the night ruminating on questions like 'What is music?', 'How do you be a band?' and 'Is it comedy?'. They work through it in a sharp-tongued, deadpan style, so it's as much about the act of being a band as it is about the songs themselves.

They've played to sold-out audiences across North America and internationally, including Montreal Sketchfest, and have appeared on Live at the Apollo, The Royal Variety Performance and Comic Relief's Red Nose Day Live 2023. They also have their own comedy special, Alive on Stage, on Amazon Prime. Critics have compared them to a cross between Flanders & Swann, Flight of the Conchords and Garfunkel & Oates, which gives you a fair idea of where they sit — somewhere between the old-school music hall song and the dry, observational comedy of the last few decades.

It's a mid-week one, so keep that in mind if you're planning your week. The show starts at 7:30pm at The Steamworks in Little Sheffield, S24SJ, and tickets are £31.40, which includes the booking fee.