Little Lark of London

“You guys are gonna have to buckle up”

Lucas Zelnick, a New York-based comedian, recently made his London debut at the Leicester Square Theatre. Zelnick begins with the crowd work that many have come to associate him with thanks to his viral videos on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, mostly focusing his attention on a South African man who seems to be hesitant to admit why his family had to flee. Zelnick is constantly referring back to this particular audience member, which is hilarious, and it was good of Zelnick to check with the man that it was okay for him to be poking fun at him so much. 

The first opening act, Murahd Shawki, has some fantastic stories, including one about the number of painted baby penises in the Louvre and another about the geometry of receiving oral sex from a tall woman. I particularly loved his more punny jokes like his DJ name, “Shawty Arabia,” and the term that he comes up with to be the male equivalent to the sexual term “Size Queen,” “Grip Baron.” 

Bella Hull, our second opening act of the night, tells us a story about what it was like being at an all-girls school and one of her friends being the first in their group to lose her virginity. The comparisons Hull makes between herself and the girl who lost her virginity are hilarious, with her nickname for herself, “Muggins with the Massive Minge” (it makes sense in context, I promise!), getting the biggest laughs. She also discusses what it was like to go through puberty when she was eight years old, labelling her past self as a C.I.L.F. 

After the two openers, Zelnick returns to the stage, opening with a strong line of, “It’s been good to be here – I’ve been having a lot of nightmares.” Indeed, there are a few nightmarish topics that are brought up very quickly in the show, including Nazis, though Zelnick declares that he liesk “to make the Nazis lame” in his jokes as a Jewish comedian. As one would expect from a comedian from New York, there are a few American-specific bits throughout, including one segment on how conservatives will simply do the opposite of whatever liberals do, which leads to him suggesting that liberals need to support Donald Trump and that “every trans woman should buy a guy.”

The show gets a bit heavier later in its runtime, with Zelnick bringing up his brother who had been addicted to heroin and his sister who has special needs and how that affected the lives of his family. Though that’s not to say that these moments aren’t funny, as they are, including the incredible line from Zelnick’s sister, “America is horses.” There is a segment on anxiety versus denial that actually makes some great points, proving Zelnick’s ability to perform observational comedy. 

At the end of the show, Zelnick asks the audience if it’s okay for him to try out some new material, which is greeted with cheers. Some of the themes of the new material include what it is like to be a rich white male comedian, Kosher food and God sending down Dance Dance Revolution signals. There was also a section on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that could have gone down quite poorly but Zelnick was able to get some laughs. 

Ultimately, Lucas Zelnick gives a strong comedy show, especially for an American comedian performing in the United Kingdom for the first time. There is certainly a culture shock but Zelnick takes it in stride and I look forward to seeing his confidence grow when he hopefully returns to London!

Lucas Zelnick continues to tour in the United States through December 2024. More information and links to purchase tickets can be found here.