Ventriloquism, Laughter, and a Dash of Chaos

 

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, had plenty of energy — though he 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. 

The second comedian, originally from Paisley, showed real potential. His bit about adopting guinea pigs in pairs to keep them from getting depressed had the audience laughing at his surprisingly thoughtful take on animal mental health.

Nina Conti: The Half Hour of Magic

After a break, Nina Conti finally came on, and immediately lifted the whole atmosphere. 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!

The Venue

Paisley Town Hall is absolutely beautiful — ornate, atmospheric, and a perfect backdrop for a comedy evening. The stage worked wonderfully for a show involving both puppetry and audience participation.

A charming detail: Nina shared that her grandfather was from Paisley, and once had a barbershop in the town. The audience loved that, and it gave the evening a warm, local connection.

Final Thoughts

Despite the uneven warm-up acts, I had a fantastic night. Nina Conti’s versatility is extraordinary: performing multiple voices, animating puppets and audience members simultaneously, improvising entire conversations, and doing it all without visibly moving her lips. She is one of those rare performers who can make an entire room dissolve into laughter — I genuinely had tears in my eyes from laughing.

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’m very glad I went, and I just hope that next time, Nina Conti & Friends truly means her puppet friends — not chaotic warm-up acts — so that she gets the time she deserves on stage.

Agnes Prygiel

23/11/2025