Sooz Kempner to bring Playstation nostalgia to Leeds in gig at the Wardrobe

Now, she is looking forward to a show at the Wardrobe in Leeds on Saturday, July 8, the last date of her tour Playstation.

It explores her memories of growing up in the 90s through comedic anecdotes, song and multimedia accompaniments, drawing on nostalgia and the world of gaming.

Sooz, speaking from an airport before heading to perform in Canada, says: “It's about getting my Sony Playstation in the late 90s, as a teenager, feeling like a grown up because it was the first adult console. It's been 25 years, I haven't felt like I’ve grown up since.”

It is the third in a trilogy of sorts: she first developed a show about Sonic the Hedgehog for her 2018 Edinburgh appearance, which became Super Sonic 90s Kid, then followed up with Mega Drive, in reference to another games console.

Although she did her first gig in 2009, Playstation has been her debut UK comedy tour.

"I've only got one date left, in Leeds, and if that goes well I won't have had one duff performance of it,” she says. “The crowds have been so lovely.”

She regularly works with Richard Thomas (a writer of Jerry Springer the Opera) and outside of stand-up, hosts two podcasts, Mystery on the Rocks and QueenPod, the latter being about the band Queen.

She will soon be seen in the upcoming Amazon Prime series Dinner With The Parents, a-US remake of Friday Night Dinner.

Throug lockdown, Sooz made an impression with Twitter videos impersonating the likes of Nadine Dories and Liz Truss, and performing Donald Trump’s election claims verbatim in the voice and costume of Liza Minnelli.

“I thought when it (Covid) started, as we all did, oh God this is going to go on for a couple of months. And had I known that it would be sort of the next year and a half before things properly opened up again, and a lot of entertainment was online, I don't know if I'd just have throw myself into it straight away. I kind of went, well, there's nothing to do except for watch stuff at home and drink.”

Sooz, 38, of Gatwick, has also signed up to be the central character Doom in the Doctor Who multiplatform series Doom’s Day, which is coming out later this year as part of the sci-fi show's 60th anniversary celebrations. It will kick off on Doctor Who digital channels followed by products from Doctor Who Magazine, Titan Comics, Penguin Random House and more outlets.

In August, she will take her new show, Y2K Woman, to the Edinburgh Fringe.

For tickets to the Leeds show, visit: www.thewardrobe.co.uk/event/sooz-kempner-playstation/