Later this month, Dame Meera Syal heads to Albert Hall with Vigilauntie!, an intimate evening of hilarious, heartfelt and candid stories drawn from an extraordinary life and career in British comedy.
Growing up as the only Asian family in a West Midlands mining village, Syal channelled her unusual dreams of stage stardom into an English degree at the University of Manchester – winning both the National Student Drama Award and the Edinburgh Scottish Circle Critics’ Award while there – and an illustrious comedic oeuvre, co-creating Goodness Gracious Me, starring as the inimitable Granny Ummi in The Kumars at Number 42, writing novels and screenplays, and becoming one of Britain’s most celebrated comedy performers along the way.
Now, following the publication of her first memoir, Vigilauntie: A Memoir – Innit?, Syal brings the stories to life with her signature whip-smart humour and unflinching candour.
From the wisdom of her mother and aunties and her grandfather’s attempts to arrange her marriage to her working life as an actress and writer, journey to motherhood and changing attitudes towards women, the evening promises an array of revealing insights into the experiences that have shaped her.
Funny, painful and brutally honest, Vigilauntie! offers a more personal side to one of Britain’s best-loved comedy legends, with plenty of the warmth and wit that have defined Syal’s work across the decades.
Book tickets below.
Thu 22 Oct, 6.30pm, Albert Hall, 27 Peter St, Manchester, M2 5QR, From £27
- Words:
- Wolf McFarlane
- Published on:
- Wed 7 Oct 2026
