‘Teddy told me that in Greek nostalgia literally means the pain from an old wound. It’s a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone.’
Ivo Graham, who has watched this Mad Men clip approximately 100 times, steps away from the frivolity of his stand-up and invites you onto his own carousel: around and around, backwards and forwards, to the places he aches to go again. A searingly direct, exquisitely soundtracked story of a life: good luck at your next meeting.
Ivo Graham’s Carousel makes a return to Park Theatre, following a critically-acclaimed sell-out run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024.
In the press
★★★★ ‘Graham at his absolute best… a beautiful, exquisitely judged confessional’
The Times
★★★★ ‘Reflective and poetic… confessional tale of fatherhood, separation, family ties’
The Guardian
★★★★ ‘A wonderful piece of storytelling’
The Stage
★★★★★ ‘A devastatingly beautiful show’
The List
★★★★★ ‘A perfectly balanced piece of theatre’
Everything Theatre
★★★★★ ‘A beautiful work of storytelling’
Broadway World
★★★★ ‘A compelling retrospective blending bittersweet poignancy and self-reflection’
Fest
★★★★ ‘Funny… with a wistful, potent nostalgia… a storytelling show that cuts deeper’
Chortle
Ivo Graham
Ivo has spent his entire adult life on the stand-up circuit, winning So You Think You’re Funny? aged 18 in 2009. His sell-out solo show The Game of Life received nominations for Best Show and Best Joke at that year’s Edinburgh Fringe. He’s appeared on TV comedies including Have I Got News for You, QI, The Last Leg, Mock the Week, and Live at the Apollo, quizzed with varying degrees of success on Pointless, House of Games and University Challenge, and toured the country with Fern Brady and Darren Harriott for Dave’s six-part travelogue British as Folk in 2021. He’s earned his parents’ respect with appearances on Radio 4’s The Now Show, The News Quiz, Just a Minute, and the drama Unite, and shoehorned Swindon Town references into many an episode of 5 Live’s Fighting Talk and BT Sport’s The Football’s On.
Off The Kerb Productions in association with Park Theatre present