Storyhouse Women: TOKEN Collective Comedy Night

Closing Storyhouse Women’s festival with a BANG, we’ve got a comedy night from our resident comedy collective, TOKEN.  

TOKEN flip the script and have a “token” cis-het white man, with the rest of the bill being filled with ace acts who fit one of the usual token spots.   

Hosted by TOKEN Comedy Collective founder, Lulu Simons, with her trademark cutting wit and waggish charm.  

Also featuring TOKEN Comedy Collective members and headline opening act.    

This is the third comedy night hosted by TOKEN after rave reviews at Storyhouse Women 2025, and Storyhouse Childless – we can’t wait to have them back.  

The Line Up

Lulu Simons – Host 

Winner of best newcomer at Women In Comedy Festival 25 and as founder of the TOKEN. Comedy collective; she’s out to try and change what she can on the stand up circuit for acts she’d like to see a hell of a lot more of!  

TOKEN. Was set up for women, people of global majority, LGBTQIA+ and people with disability – with the simple motivation of knowing these are important voices we want to hear more of on our comedy circuits!  

Kiri Pritchard-Mclean 

Welsh comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is a multi-award winning comedian, satirist and writer.

A regular on the radio, with her own weekly show on BBC Radio Wales, Kiri was also the host of Newsjack. Kiri has now become the host of her own Radio 4 panel show, Best Medicine  saw her embarking on her fourth and biggest stand-up tour to date with her new show, Peacock. 

Selam Amare 

Selam Amare is a cultural producer, comedian, and champion of migrant stories in London. Her comedy is as rich and layered as an Ethiopian coffee ceremony—bold, warm, and guaranteed to keep you coming back for more.

She was awarded the winning spot at TimeOut x Nando’s Extra Hot Comedy Club Competition 2025

Joy France  

Joy France is ageing playfully. 

She is a truly badass pensioner who will probably leave you evaluating your life choices. 

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”  

In her early 50s she discovered her voice through spoken word / poetrySince then she’s refused to be silenced! 

Tracy Bevan 

Tracy is a comedian based in Chester. She may be too old to be described as ‘up and coming’ (doing two things at once can leave her exhausted for days) but she is new to the comedy circuit. 

 She first took to the stage in her 50s, performing in Liverpool to a crowd of 250 enthusiastic, drunk, people and she’s been hooked ever since. Sharp witted, menopausal and cross, she has replaced all her oestrogen with sarcasm and now runs off humour.  She lives a true Jekyll-and-Hyde existence: positive psychologist by day, prowling the bars with her stand-up by night. 

Fran Ayla

Fran started off 2026 by getting rejected from a job after *four* rounds of interviews and a 10-page campaign proposal that she pitched to them as part of a writing test.  

So she’s taking a break from job applications and focusing on telling jokes, to spark more joy! 

In 2021, she started Bitches in Stitches — Hong Kong’s first, all-femme stand-up comedy troupe to address the gender gap in the comedy scene. Throughout her time at its helm, Bitches in Stitches Hong Kong sold out every single show. Her work with the group to build a more inclusive comedy scene, earned her a nomination for Tatler Hong Kong’s 2022 Front & Female Awards.

James Allen

We’re inclusive at TOKEN. So we wouldn’t have a line up without a cis, het white guy too! But only the very nicest ones!  

A 2018 Chortle Student Finalist, James Allen delivers whimsical tales of personal embarrassment that have seen him support George Lewis and Hayley Ellis on tour!