Natalie Palamides, the LA clown who has become the toast of Off-Broadway, is preparing to bring her acclaimed solo show Weer back to the UK. The show, which premiered in Edinburgh in 2024, sees Palamides play both halves of a toxic romantic couple, with one half of her body portraying Mark and the other Christina. It has drawn celebrity audiences including Drew Barrymore, Kevin Bacon, Dua Lipa and Nathan Fielder during its recent run at New York's Cherry Lane Theatre.
Palamides, 36, described the physical demands of the three-month run, which left her with flu. 'It takes a lot of physical endurance to make it through the show,' she said. The performer, who previously won best newcomer at the Edinburgh comedy awards for her debut Laid, where she gave birth to eggs on stage, said she used cryotherapy and red light therapy daily to cope.
Weer builds on her earlier gender-bending show Nate, and is both a celebration and critique of 1990s romcoms. Palamides said she was determined to recreate the cathartic feelings of films like The Notebook, but also to explore the toxicity often present in such relationships. 'Was it possible to show the audience a relationship much more intense and toxic, and see if the audience still wanted them to be together?' she asked.
Alongside Weer, Palamides is developing a new project that she finds 'terrifying'. She has also directed Bill O'Neill's slapstick hit The Amazing Banana Brothers, is working on a clown cabaret called Lady Magic for a Las Vegas residency, and previously coached Hillary and Chelsea Clinton in physical comedy for their TV series Gutsy. A screen version of Weer is also in the works.
