Elf Lyons

Elf loves making work that stretches the relationship between comedy, theatre, and performance art. In the last few years, she has been lucky to work on creative projects with establishments such as the Barbican, the British Library, the London Science Museum, the Royal Society of Literature and the City of London to name a few. She is the most programmed artist at the Soho Theatre, London.

Elf's solo work has included solo shows re-enacting classical ballet using found items, musicals about the economy whilst dressed as a Lion, a mime show about a bank robbery and a comedy horror extravaganza inspired by the work of Stephen King.

In 2025 Elf toured the UK, Europe and Australia with her shows Horses, Swan, Raven and Chiffchaff and returned to the Edinburgh fringe with her acclaimed Bird Trilogy which sold out the entire run. In September 2025 Elf was awarded Best Comedy at the Sky Arts Awards. Her podcast Elfonomics released its fourth series, and she directed half a dozen shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, each going on to receive ★★★★★ reviews.

In 2024, Elf received 12 ★★★★★ reviews and had a sell-out run of her show Horses at the Edinburgh Fringe. She was awarded the (ISH) Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show, the Comedian's Choice Award for Best Show, and the Mervyn Stutter 'Spirit of the Fringe' Award. For her show Raven she was awarded Best Show at the Reykjavik Fringe, Iceland and was awarded Best Comedy at the Adelaide Fringe, Australia.

In 2023 Elf was listed as Number 25 in The Telegraphs' 50 Best Comedians of the 21st Century' and was nominated for the Deaf Action Award for Deaf Excellence for her comedy show Heist which she developed with the visual vernacular performer, Duffy. She performed and toured three different one hour comedy shows. These included HEIST - an absurdist comedy show conducted entirely in BSL with Duffy; TALKS DIRTY - a one hour straight stand-up show about filth; and RAVEN - her ★★★★★ mad-cap comedy horror show. In April 2023 Elf had her stage debut at the Arcola Theatre in the role of Rachel in Lisa Carroll's stage play The Misandrist where she received rave reviews for her performance. ​​​

Alongside her live work Elf is a well-respected writer. She has written for The Guardian, The Times, The Scotsman, The Telegraph, The Independent, Londonist, Cosmopolitan Magazine and Refinery29, among others. Topics have ranged from ethical non monogamy, the power of horror to economics.

Elf frequently guests on podcasts and radio programmes discussing subjects as varied as polyamory, economics, and a wide range of political and social issues. She has been featured and interviewed on Classical Fix (BBC Radio 3), Loose Ends (BBC Radio 4), Standard Issue, The Spectator Podcast, The Insider for The Economist, Unexpected Fluids (Radio 1), Evil Genius (BBC Sounds), and BBC World Service’s Stand-Up Show – London (BBC World Service) among many other acclaimed podcasts and radio shows. You can hear her frequently on The Breakfast Show and Culture Hour (Times Radio) and The Colin Murray Show (BBC Radio 5).

You can listen to her hit podcast Elfonomics on Apple Podcasts and her radio play Gorgon: A Horror Story on Bandcamp.