Fresh from a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Harriet Kemsley has taken her new critically acclaimed show ‘Honeysuckle Island’ to the Soho Theatre and is now touring nationally this autumn.
Fed up with being told how to look and behave since she was a teenager, Harriet is taking a long hard squint at the beauty industry through her two remaining false eyelashes. She channels her personal experiences into this hilarious show, sharing anecdotes and jokes on the vicious cycle of beauty enhancement.
When she was 11, Harriet designed a dream holiday destination called ‘Honeysuckle Island’. It had waterfalls and ziplines, wild animals and everything a preteen could ever wish for. And on rediscovering her design last year, Harriet spotted that she’d also included a cellulite machine.
Since having a baby daughter at the end of 2021, Harriet has been reassessing societal pressures on women, bringing a funny, light, and crucial message of self-acceptance, embracing one’s uniqueness and Harriet’s unusual solutions to current beauty trends.
Harriet began her stand-up career in 2011 and won the Funny’s Funny contest within months. Harriet’s other accolades include the Leicester Mercury New Act of the Year Finalist, Up The Creek New Act of the Year and Leicester Square New Act of the Year Finalist.
She has been described by Time Out as ‘a very funny rising star’ and as one of Rhod Gilbert’s ‘Ten Comics to See’ in the Mail on Sunday. Harriet last appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in 2018 with her sell-out show ‘Slutty Joan’, which went on to tour nationwide.
Harriet’s television appearances include performing on Live at the Apollo (BBC1, BBC2), as a panellist on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4), Hypothetical (Dave), Roast Battle (Comedy Central), Guessable (Comedy Central), As Yet Untitled (Dave), Comedy Central at The Comedy Store and her own show with her husband Bobby & Harriet Get Married (Viceland & Comedy Central).
She also hosts a podcast, ‘Why Is Harriet Crying?’ with fellow comedian Sunil Patel. As an actress, she has appeared in both film and TV, including the film Bonobo and on Channel 4’s Damned and BBC’s Doctor Foster. She also provided the voice of Nashandra, the final boss of the video game Dark Souls II.
Upcoming television appearances include more of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4) and Hypothetical (Dave) as well as House of Games (BBC), This is My House (BBC 1) and Question Team (Dave).
What the press has said about Harriet Kemsley
“A quirky, refreshingly charming comedian at the dawn of her TV career”
Radio Times
★★★★ “Packs in high calibre jokes”
Guardian
★★★★ “A masterful hour… one of the most rewarding shows of the Fringe”
Skinny
★★★★ “An extraordinarily talented young woman with a gift for comedy and a story to tell.”
The Scotsman
★★★★
List
★★★★
Fest Mag
Harriet Kemsley: Honeysuckle Island is on at The Glee Club in Oxford on Friday 28 October
