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Cardiff Queer Comedy is back, and we've managed to get another banging headliner: it's co-founder of The Lol Word, star of Netflix's 'Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda' and lauded Edinburgh Fringe artist, Chloe Petts! As ever, the incredible Leila Navabi will be joining to host the night, after returning from her second Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she'll be premiering her brand new show, 'Relay'! Rounding up the line-up are Ciara O'Connor and Jen Zheng, who are making their Cardiff debuts!Leila Navabi
Leila is a writer and comedian from South Wales. In 2023, she made her Edinburgh Fringe debut with a sellout run of her musical comedy hour Composition. Described as 'the actual future of comedy' (LMAOnaise), her television and radio stand-up credits include BBC New Comedy Awards 2022 (BBC), Live at Aberystwyth Pier (BBC), Stand-up Sesh (BBC), Stand Up in My House (BBC) and The Leak (BBC). She is bilingual, with Welsh Language credits including Ffyrnig (S4C) and Ni y Nawdegau (BBC Cymru). She has provided tour support for Jessica Fostekew, Laura Smyth and Nish Kumar.
Ciara O'Connor
Ciara O’Connor represents one of society’s most marginalised communities… girls who peaked in Year 9. Having performed at venues such as The Clapham Grand, and with writing that has featured on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, O’Connor is an up-and-coming voice who ponders the big questions (why do we dedicate benches to dead people?).
In addition to performing as tour support for Kate Butch’s 2025 UK tour, O’Connor is in the process of writing her debut solo hour, with a streak of sold out work-in-progress shows across Manchester, Birmingham and London.
Jen Zheng
Jen Zheng is a BAFTA nominated, Queer Northern Irish grown Chinese comic who’s good at diving clit first into spreadsheets and glitter. She regularly performs at Angel Comedy and wins various things: Nandos New Comedian 2025, BBC New Comedian Shortlist 2024 and Leicester Square New Comedian Semi-Finalist 2024.
Chloe Petts
Chloe Petts’ is “one of the most compelling young comics” (Brian Logan, The Guardian) and “clearly a rising star whose name will soon be in lights” (Bruce Dessau, The Evening Standard). This has established her as one of the most exciting up & coming acts on the circuit.
Chloe’s new show Big Naturals will premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2025. Previously, Chloe returned to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 with her third stand up show How You See Me, How You Don’t.
On television and radio, Chloe has appeared on Have I Got News For You (BBC 1) three times across 2024 and 2025, as well as Bake Off: An Extra Slice (Channel 4), and hosted her own segment every Saturday morning on Sky Sports News. She has also been a regular on The Frank Skinner Show (Absolute Radio), World Cup Breakfast (Sky Sports) for the Men’s Football World Cup 2022 and previously for Good Morning Euros (Sky Sports) for the UEFA Women’s Euros. Further appearances include MOTDx (BBC), Jonathan Ross’s Comedy Club (ITV), The Stand-Up Sketch Show (ITV2), Richard Osman’s House of Games (BBC Two), Random Acts (Channel 4), Hypothetical (Dave), Fighting Talk (BBC Radio 5 Live), BBC Three Quickies (BBC Three), as well as winning Pointless Celebrities (BBC One). In terms of podcasts, Chloe has appeared on Off Menu, Films to Buried With and co-hosted The Guilty Feminist.
She is a co-founder of The Lol Word, a queer comedy collective that hosts sell-out monthly London nights, boasting the finest female and non-binary queer acts on the circuit. Their most recent Edinburgh run was a sell-out. Diva Magazine has described it as “a space that is demographically queer, inclusive, and safe, and on top of all of that – the comedic talent is smart, insightful, hilarious, and completely relatable.”
Further Information
Alcohol will be served at this event. This is a seated event. Loud sounds may feature as part of the performances.
Accessibility Information
Our events are situated in the Royal Arcade, Morgan Quarter. Access to this can be gained via our shop front entrance, which includes a step or via our side entrance, which is level with the ground but please let us know in advance if you would like to use this one as it is often locked. There is also a disabled toilet on site.
The Queer Emporium is situated at the lower half of St. Mary's Street. There is a taxi rank diagonally across from the space and Uber cars are able to collect people from the Marriott Hotel, which is approximately 0.4 miles away. Here, many buses also stop to collect passengers and allow them to alight. Parking is available in St. David's Hall 2 and the John Lewis Car Park, both of which are approximately 0.2 miles from The Queer Emporium.
Pay It Forward
If you are facing any financial barriers that may prevent you from attending the event, please contact us. We have a limited number of Pay It Forward tickets available for all of our events.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
2-4 Royal Arcade, Cardiff, United Kingdom
Tickets
