The List

Artsdepot

A multi-genre arts centre in Barnet incorporating a 395-seat theatre, 148-seat studio theatre, gallery, café, bar and studios. The programme includes theatre, music, dance, comedy, family shows, art exhibitions and participation workshops. If travelling by underground the Artsdepot is between West Finchley, Finchley Central and Woodside Park stations on the Northern Line (High Barnet branch). North Finchley Bus Station is next to the venue and there are several pay and display car parks nearby.

What's On @ Artsdepot

Showstopper: The Improvised Musical

Showstopper: The Improvised Musical

15 May 2025 - 15 Dec 2025

The incredible ‘Showstopper! The Improvised Musical’ have announced more tour dates and West End shows throughout 2025! Spontaneous musical comedy at its finest, this is the first ever long-form improv show to have a full West End run and to be nominated and win an Olivier Award. For those who haven’t yet experienced the live phenomenon that is ‘Showstopper! The Improvised Musical’, the show is a fully-realised musical created on the spot from audience suggestions. The cast take ideas for settings, genres, musical styles and the show title and weave it into ingenious storylines with hilarious characters. From Lin Manuel Miranda to Stephen Sondheim, whether it’s set in a primary school, Ancient Egypt, or a mattress shop – if the audience thinks it, The Showstoppers can turn it into a hit musical. The majority of the cast also have much acclaim with founder member Ruth Bratt being part of the famous Comedy Store Players, the longest running impro show in the country; Pippa Evans being a regular on BBC Radio 4, has toured with I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue and wrote ‘Now That's What I Call A Musical!’ (that’s currently on UK tour). The pilot of Hopping, a new comedy from Lucy Trodd and Susan Harrison, aired on BBC Radio 4 and Matt Cavendish appeared on this year’s Royal Variety Performance with Mischief Theatre's ‘A Comedy About Spies’. Co-founder Adam Meggido directed the West End and Broadway hit show Peter Pan Goes Wrong. The incredibly talented West End star Miracle Chance (Roald Dahl’s The Witches at the National Theatre, Veronica Sawyer in Heathers at The Other Palace) has just joined the cast. The Showstoppers also regularly run improvisation workshops and courses for beginners and professionals and have a successful podcast - The Showstopper! Podcast, with recent guests including Zizi Strallen, Rufus Hound and Reuben Kaye. The Showstoppers have performed created more than 1,000 brand new musicals since they were formed in 2008 but they don’t stop working hard at their craft – they have to learn to improvise in the style of every hit show that comes to town, and they always encourage audiences to challenge them and keep them on their toes. As a result, they continue fill theatres, delight audiences and win awards. In 2024 they were in the Top 10 best reviewed shows of entire Edinburgh Fringe – for the second year running - no mean feat in their 15th year selling out the Pleasance Grand once more!
Shaparak Khorsandi: Scatterbrain

Shaparak Khorsandi: Scatterbrain

2 May 2025 - 10 Aug 2025

Having reassessed her life through the prism of an ADHD diagnosis in last year's funny and moving memoir, one of Britain's most beloved and most scatterbrained stand-ups lets you back into her mind (warning: it's cluttered in there). Among other things, this show will be a love-letter to letter-writing, a trip back through her early years as a comic and woman-about-town, and a whirlwind tour of a chaotic, hilarious brain. “She has plenty to say, and says it with pointedness and potency” Guardian “I laughed all the way through and left inspired” Funny Women
Jonny & The Baptists: Dance Like It Never Happened
Jonny and Paddy and back on the road again! Bringing their brand new show 'Dance Like it Never Happened' on tour. And they've missed you all! So what is this new hilarious show about? Grief. Its about Grief. In 2019, we lost another election, our place in Europe and, worst of all, a dearly beloved friend. We are no strangers to grief, but it hurt. Then in 2020, we all lost the world as we knew it. Our decades-long system of "dealing with emotions" (ignore them, drink heavily and make jokes) finally broke. We finally broke. In their most honest and personal show yet, Jonny & The Baptists learn to accept and engage with their grief, telling the story of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance through their trademark blend of silly, joyful songs, deadpan stand-up and riotous storytelling. Finding meaning, humour and beauty in the hardest part of life. So come and see us, have a laugh and maybe a cry - but definitely a laugh.
Sara Pascoe

Sara Pascoe

11 May 2025 - 29 Mar 2026

Apparently caterpillars completely break down into goo before they become butterflies. Come join comedian Sara Pascoe as she reconsiders and reconstructs herself after having two babies and very little sleep.
Nick Helm: No One Gets Out Alive

Nick Helm: No One Gets Out Alive

1 May 2025 - 29 Nov 2025

Gearing up for his greatest tour yet later this year, join your all-time favourite comedian Nick Helm as he glides through an hour of new stuff and changes the very fabric of your being. He. Is. Your. New. God.
The Smeds and The Smoos

The Smeds and The Smoos

27 May 2025 - 1 Jun 2025

Soar into space with this Olivier Award-nominated adaptation of the much-loved book by superstar duo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. On a far-off planet, Smeds and Smoos can’t be friends. So when a young Smed and Smoo fall in love and zoom off into space together, how will their families get them back? Music, laughs and interplanetary adventures for everyone aged 3 and up, from Tall Stories – the company who brought you The Gruffalo , Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo’s Child live on stage.
Johnny Ball: My Previous Life in Comedy
Johnny will reveal his crazy Liverpool experiences, his encounters with The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Roy Orbison, The Bee Gee’s, Ken Dodd and helping start Freddie Starr’s career. He was Bud Flanagan’s last ever TV straight man. So come and sit back while Johnny tells of the more than one thing he lost on his honeymoon, “The man who robbed a bank and caught a bus home?” Plus the time the Duke of Edinburgh suggested a wife swap, with pictures to prove it! Johnny Ball has inspired thousands through his children’s TV career. He was one of the hosts of Play School from 1967 onwards and a regular fixture on kids TV from the mid 70s onwards with science and technology programmes including Think of a Number and Johnny Ball Reveals All.

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