Damien Warren-Smith and Olivia Jacobs
MONKEYs EVERYWHERE
A family show about mental health, told through clowning, silliness, real heart and a brain is full of monkeys.
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Created by Damien Warren-Smith (as his alter ego Garry Starr) and directed by Olivia Jacobs (The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom), Monkeys Everywhere follows Garry as he tries to write but is constantly derailed by the monkeys flying through his brain. Genuine fun for all ages, it also gives audiences — kids and adults alike — real language for nuanced conversations about mental health. It premiered at Edinburgh Fringe, where it was nominated for The List’s Best Show and won the Bestie for Best Kids Show.
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SPACES AND VIBES
Proscenium, black box, thrust or flat floor hall. 50 minutes. Genuinely cross-generational — programs equally well in family or comedy strands.MARKET FIT
Festivals and venues wanting an award-winning family show that lands with adults as hard as it lands with kids — strong option for comedy festivals expanding into family programming.THE DATA
Toured to The Malthouse and Melbourne International Comedy Festival (2025), The Lowry Manchester UK (2024) and Edinburgh Fringe, The Pleasance (2024). WINNER Best Kids Show, The Besties 2024. WINNER Best Children’s Show, Entertainment Now. NOMINEE Best Show, The List 2024.
“Riotous, clever, sensitive, hilarious”Get Your Coats On “A tremendously enjoyable show”—The Guardian
“This performance is an unmissable treat”—One4Review
Behind the Work — Monkeys Everywhere is created by and stars Damien Warren-Smith as his acclaimed alter ego Garry Starr, directed by Olivia Jacobs — the director behind The Gruffalo, Gruffalo's Child and Room on the Broom. A comedy performer known for pushing an audience into hysterics, paired with a director who's built a career on trusted, beloved family theatre, working together to build a show that carries a genuine mental health message underneath the clowning.
Touring history — The Malthouse, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, 2025; The Lowry, Manchester, UK, 2024; Edinburgh Fringe, The Pleasance, 2024.
Presenter Logistics Snapshot — Plays proscenium, black box, thrust, tent or flat floor hall. Fifty minutes, family audience, one of the most venue-flexible titles on the slate.
