LipService Theatre was created by comedy duo Sue Ryding and the late Maggie Fox. During a 40 year career together they created 22 original comedies for the theatre, won multiple awards, plus a series on Radio 4 and many TV appearances.

"The Laurel and Hardy of literary deconstruction" The Guardian

"In terms of comic inventiveness they are unstoppable force" Time Out

To commemorate 40 years of LipService, Sue will write a new show, "Funny Stuff". In 2022 her comedy partner Maggie Fox died and Sue was left with a shipping container full of stage props, costumes, wigs, hats, shoes, sheep, you name it. This show looks at all the “stuff” we accumulate, hoard and hate to let go. In this humorous and creative response to grief, Sue struggles to part with a life sized stuffed sheep, a badger onesie, some ruby slippers, a sinking bog, Charlotte Bronte’s knickers and a host of soft toys. Touring anecdotes are combined with archive footage from LipService shows. We follow the stories of things Sue has already given away, the wicker horse that appeared every night in an improvised panto, the vintage suitcases turned into a sculpture in Stockport, the crazy Chief Exec of the Tall Ships Festival who dresses up as a fish! Not all the items will be making it back up the loft ladder, so the audience is invited to take something home. Sue is aiming to end up with “the right stuff”, a small selection that captures the essence of LipService Theatre to go into a national theatre collection. Help Sue on her journey of letting go.

Touring Spring/Autumn 2025

To coincide with the launch of the LipService Theatre digital archive at Manchester Central Library