BGT finalist offers clarity in the avalanche of 24-hour rolling headlines
Daliso Chaponda has been writing jokes about the news for over a decade - on Have I Got News For You, Radio 4’s News Quiz, Australia’s Good News Week and he’s even been the news himself, making headlines across the world after his unforgettable run on Britain’s Got Talent.
Now he is on the road with his brand-new show Topical Storm, which comes to Peterborough’s Key Theatre Studio on May 10.
Recently, Daliso has found the headlines so absurd, chaotic and overwhelming that they’ve started to mock themselves. In his new show, he asks - where do we go from here?
Topical Storm is his response. A show not just about the news, but about news itself. Journalists, bloggers, fake news, satirical news - has the reporting of events become part of the chaos rather than the cure? Are we more polarised than ever? And would we be better off going right back to the first news bulletin - a caveman scratching on a wall - and starting over?
Daliso explores all this with the sharp one-liners, playful curiosity and thought-provoking punchlines that have made him one of Britain’s most beloved stand-up comedians. At once hilarious and timely, Topical Storm is comedy’s attempt to find clarity in the avalanche of 24-hour rolling headlines.
Daliso’s shows are never just about laughs: in Malawi, he once dared to joke about the arrest of two men for homosexuality, sparking dialogue where silence had reigned. For him, comedy isn’t about changing minds - but it is about starting conversations we’re too afraid to have.
Expect jokes about the latest absurdities, a journey through the history of journalism, and a finale that asks what role comedy (and we as citizens) can play in the storm.