Daniel Kitson is working on a brand-new show, and comedy fans in Reading have the opportunity to see a sneak preview. The stand-up comedian is coming to South Street Arts Centre this summer ahead of his Edinburgh Fringe run.
The new comedy production is titled Thrum, and after the test run, it will head to the Edinburgh Festival and embark on a wider UK tour later in 2026.
True to his distinct style, Daniel Kitson hopes to create something that builds on his previous work. He describes the upcoming show as hopefully funny, maybe a bit sad, intermittently thought-provoking, slightly audacious, and ideally completely unfathomable.
Providing an eclectic preview of what audiences can expect, the performance features a characteristically lyrical and sprawling array of observations.
The material touches on everything from the sound of somewhere else, the permanence of a plant pot, the ubiquity of a phrase, and the heartbreaking brevity of a very long time, through to figs, worms, an old dog rejecting a blanket, a woman on a train wearing a badge, the first beep of a smoke alarm, a daffodil in December, and the condition of fruit.
The extensive, atmospheric narrative also weaves in a hand in bed, stuff on the stairs, a mark on a jumper, a massive tree in storage on a farm in Kent, the thought of rotting, the name of a feeling, the smell of tobacco, the twelfth floor of a hotel, and the far end of a platform at Tamworth train station.
It balances a duty to act against a resistance to growth, a new place up the road, a completely redundant volume control, a toilet in Hong Kong, a coffee shop in Melbourne, the passage of light through a building, and deliberately making things much more difficult than they actually need to be.
Daniel Kitson says he started properly thinking about the material in mid-January, and he knows it needs to be finished by August.
The comedian noted that this timeline should give audiences a clear sense of how far along in the process these particular shows are likely to be, in terms of the lump of stone-to-finished-sculpture ratio. On the upside, the performance features music more or less throughout, at least two funny voices, upwards of three jokes, and the work-in-progress dates have been priced accordingly.
When is Daniel Kitson coming to Reading, and how can I get tickets?
Daniel Kitson will perform at South Street Arts Centre on Monday, 20 July 2026, at 8pm. Tickets are priced at £8. The show has a running time of no longer than 90 minutes with no interval.
The production carries an age guidance rating of 16+ years, and there is a strict policy of no under 14s in the auditorium.
The event takes place at South Street Arts Centre, 21 South Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 4QU.
Bookings can be made online via the official venue website at whatsonreading.com or by calling the Reading Arts box office on 0118 960 6060.
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