My Evening with Nina Conti
Last night I went to the Paisley Town Hall to see Nina Conti - an acclaimed ventriloquist.
Ventriloquism — the art of speaking without moving your lips while giving voice to a puppet or character — is an extremely rare skill, with only 16 actively registered professionals in the UK.
The evening began with three Scottish comedians. The first, who was also the host, spent a bit too much time teasing the women in the front row.
One piece of advice to anyone attending shows like this: be careful where you sit. The front rows are a guarantee that at least one comedian will try to involve you, tease you, or interrogate you about your life.
When Nina Conti came on, she opened with her classic monkey puppet and began chatting to the audience, improvising wildly. The monkey made increasingly cheeky comments while she bounced flawlessly between voices — the kind of quick, sharp wit that reminds you why she’s a master of her craft.
Then came the masks. She invited members of the audience onto the stage, fitted them with cartoonish, moving mouth pieces, and effectively turned them into her life-sized puppets. The combination of physical comedy, improvised dialogue, and ventriloquism was hysterical. She even gave the masked “characters” Scottish accents!
Paisley Town Hall is absolutely beautiful — ornate, atmospheric, and a perfect backdrop for a comedy evening. A charming detail: Nina shared that her grandfather was from Paisley, and once had a barbershop in the town.
Despite the uneven warm-up acts, I had a fantastic night. My only real complaint? Her performance was only 30 minutes, which felt far too short. While ventriloquism is undoubtedly demanding, her set could easily have been extended to 45 minutes, giving the audience the full experience they came for. I hope that next time, Nina Conti & Friends truly means the ventriloquist with her puppets — not a chaotic host with mixed-level comedians to start with — so that she gets the time and attention she deserves.
Agnes Prygiel
23/11/2025