About

I started performing comedy and spoken word sets on the small-scale cabaret and comedy circuit. I premiered my debut solo show, Reshape While Damp, at the Edinburgh Fringe.  Following a great reception, I took the show to FIRST: a Festival of Solo Performances, at the Tristan Bates Theatre, London. I also headlined Change, a festival of new writing for Pulse Ensemble Theatre in New York.

I’ve gone on to write and perform my own work across the UK.  I enjoy experimenting with style and content and finding out what works well for audiences in different settings. My performance incorporates monologue, spoken word and song, and my stories can be poignant, surreal and funny – sometimes all at once.

In 2018 I had a very successful 2-week run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with my solo comedy theatre show, Despite Everything, Price Still Includes Biscuits. I also toured a story-cabaret show Truth and Truffles during 2017-8 through Live and Local,  performing songs and true-life stories in rural venues with storyteller Cat Weatherill.

2019 was also a busy year. I toured the solo show to Wolverhampton, Leicester, Birmingham and Burton-upon-Trent.  I had a great run at the Brighton Fringe in May and the Buxton Fringe in July, with  brilliant audiences all round.  I had another excellent 2-week run in August at the Edinburgh Fringe.

In July, I delivered a creative travel writing piece and performed poetry at the Borders and Crossings conference at the University of Leicester. In the autumn, I co-organised and performed in the very successful ‘pARTy Lines – a Literary Cabaret’ for Birmingham Literature Festival.  You can read a blog about it here

I also took my solo show to South Scarle Community Centre near Newark and performed a work-in-progress ‘Whose Christmas is it Anyway?’ for PILOT Nights at Warwick Arts Centre. I performed the piece again in Loughborough and Burton-on-Trent to very appreciative audiences.

2020 began with a great show in Leicester at the Cosy Club.  Sadly, since then, so much has been cancelled or closed due to the spread of Covid-19.  If you are reading this, I hope you are safe and well.

I had a wonderful time as part of Live and Local’s ‘Living Room’ project.  During August and September 2020 I worked collaboratively with residents in the ‘new’ village of Meon Vale in South Warwickshire to create a spoken-word piece for the community.  Entitled ‘Snapshot Stories,’ the piece is based on true-life stories and experiences during the pandemic and also celebrates the place and its environment. We had a great response from the community and we collected material, recorded and filmed in Meon Vale during the 2-month period. BBC CWR featured the project on ‘Coventry Creates.’

Please enjoy the final film:  Snapshot Stories  You can watch the song again here!  The Promise of the Woods

This month, the film is also featured in a current online festival with theSpaceUK  here.

I hope to be able to resume shows and workshops in 2021 when it is safe to do so.

Listen to an interview with Paul Levy of Fringe Review about my work  – both writing and performing – recorded in Edinburgh in 2016. There is a more recent interview recorded at the Brighton Fringe 2019  here

 

Gigs

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2021 

January

The film for my recent Live and Local LivingRoom project ‘Snapshot Stories’ is being shown this month as part of an online festival run by theSpaceUK.

Just scroll down to the film section and watch it here: https://online.thespaceuk.com/

The film is also permanently available on YouTube and can be viewed here 

I hope to resume shows, performances and workshops in person this year when it is safe to do so.


Reviews

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Despite Everything... Buxton Fringe Review 12.07.19 CROPPED‘A sprinkling of nicely observed Victoria Wood-style songs add to the charm of her multi-layered subtle little show.’

– Ludlow Fringe, 2017
★★★★☆

‘Paul’s deadpan delivery casts a spell over her audience.”   

–  Edinburgh 49, 2016
★★★★☆

‘Naomi’s style of delivery is gentle, engaging and alert to audience responses Indeed the point of the biscuits she hands out is to provide a short break in which we can talk to each other. This is a fine comic celebration of modern Britain,  whose only comic victim is the odd Government minister.’

– British Theatre Guide, 2015
★★★★☆

‘Terrific deadpan delivery of material that is topical and relevant. Audiences loved it!‘

– Alexa Kelly, Artistic Director,
Pulse Ensemble Theatre, New York

‘Naomi Paul wowed the audience with her own brand of deadpan Jewish humour.’

– Jewish Telegraph

‘Fabulous: sharp, cultural, witty, poignant and very, VERY funny.’

– Audience member, Birmingham Fest

‘A quietly intelligent and entertaining show… highly recommend it. She is wonderful!’ 

– Audience member, Edinburgh

 

 

Workshops

I’m an experienced workshop leader, facilitator and teacher, working with a diverse range of participants in various settings.

‘Her writing, performance and considered wit guarantee a great session.’

‘The air buzzed with creative tension as we scribbled away.’

I’ve given workshops for Writers Without Borders on the structure of poetry and using humour. I also deliver performance workshops to help participants develop their stories for an audience, and co-ran a short course for Writing West Midlands called True Words – Personal Storytelling.

‘We astonished ourselves with the actual and potential humour in what we managed to create.’

‘The kindness, openness and gentleness of the group. An excellent place to try out difficult things.’

 

 

Read a Review

Contact

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If you would like to book a performance or workshop, please use the form below and I’ll send you more information. All work will be conducted in line with current Covid-19 restrictions.