Footlights is one of the oldest and most famous comedy troupes in the UK. Owing to their extensive successful comic alumni, membership of the society signals industry-level credibility. In turn, they attract young people to join, who – alongside their academic pursuits – aspire to future careers in comedy. For several members, the Spring Revue represents an entry point into the perilous comic industry, because it’s the annual, graduating members’ showcase: a sketch show devised by third-year undergraduates approaching the end of their tenure in the Cambridge scene. The two-hour romp through “miscellaneous” performance styles, references old and new, is – even more than the jokes themselves – about the personalities of the performers involved. So, who’s being showcased this year?

“It was clear that very voice here has built a USP”

I went along to this weekend’s rehearsals for the 2026 Spring Revue, Don’t Mind if I Do, in the lead-up to its imminent premiere. As I spoke with the cast in the intermittent breaks between their quickfire exchanges of ideas, it was clear that every voice here has built a USP. After all, Footlights’ yearly cohorts are curated via a competitive process; those chosen aren’t just funny people who popped an application in on a whim, but have amassed substantial credits with the troupe’s open-audition productions and withstood the tests of that process by cementing an individual brand. They were, however, occasionally shy about it. I asked Gabriel Owens what he brought to the table, and he joked: “People can’t stop me writing sketches about Keir Starmer […] I don’t know if they’re very good, but I keep doing the voice.” When I pressed that this presumably wasn’t what he’d put in his membership application, he relented that his involvement with musical theatre was unique. I can attest that the opening number he’s devised for the show is a lovely highlight, and that he also has a particularly strong duo-dynamic with Matt Edge, a fellow performer. Likewise, Flora Maxwell commented in jest that she brings “height” and “a zest for life,” but also admitted that she’s strong with accents – and I can tell you she has charisma in buckets, which is put to excellent use in a monastery sketch where a singing and smiling Maxwell chides a fellow nun.

“If this upcoming Spring Revue is an invitation to see Footlights as a society of eclectic experimentation and collaboration then it is an exciting endeavour indeed”

It seems that one of the foremost creative challenges in creating Spring Revue is balancing the vibe. For example, Lizzie Riley described herself as a “down-the-line” comic educated on classic TV sitcoms and sketch shows like Black Adder and That Mitchell and Webb Look, whereas James Allen made his mast in Cambridge comedy with the surreal trio Lukewarm Goo. There isn’t an explicit theme in this show, which co-directors Grace Wakeman and Emma Beth Jones felt has produced a potentially divisive mix. Wakeman said: “It’s a bit chaotic, lots of fun,” and “you might not love every sketch, but you’ll hopefully love some of the sketches”. I’m inclined to agree. Bohemian viewers are likely to enjoy Martha Alexander’s clownesque ‘sour-cream man’, while I’d imagine that mainstream city-local audiences will find the ‘Thursday Murder Club’ sketch a hoot. That said, this ensemble worked hard to complement – rather than contrast – one another. When it comes to building scenes structurally, it seems that they play off of each other’s strengths. Eve Tully noted: “Ending sketches is hard… Martha [Alexander] definitely helped me with the ending of one…[called] Half-Past Two.” Multiple performers also emphasised their attempts to counterweight ostentatious onstage presences with ‘deadpan’ performers. Although few names were mentioned, the vibrant Riley and the stolid Tully come to mind as two effective individuals whose contrast, stylistically, makes the cast appear more dynamic.

When I asked about the name, Don’t Mind if I Do, the co-directors explained that, on a practical level, it won a vote from a 20-odd shortlist. However, Wakeman added: “I think the reason [that it] won that vote was because it speaks to an ethos of Cambridge comedy. I think everyone that’s involved in Footlights […] is at some point or another going, ‘Maybe I give that a try. Maybe I do a smoker, maybe I get involved’, and it snowballed from there.” The endearing openness of this sentiment took me aback slightly, because Footlights has occasionally built a reputation as an enclosed system, one that needn’t make outreach a priority because the serious performers are in the know already. Yet this membership cohort assured me they want to dispel those assumptions. Wakeman lamented: “We’ve got the whole history of the society that sometimes looms over […] Sometimes I think people don’t want to come and engage but […] We’re all nice people, you come chat to us in the bar beforehand.” Likewise, when I asked Lorna Beal if she had any thoughts to leave with the world, she jumped in to say: “Well, people should join Footlights […] We need more people. Not that we mean in numbers, but in spirit.” Maxwell immediately agreed: “It attracts people and it also repels people, and it would be good to repel less people because of the [society’s] status.” Well then, if this upcoming Spring Revue is an invitation to see Footlights as a society of eclectic experimentation and collaboration – one where all comic voices are welcome – then it is an exciting endeavour indeed.