what we do
‘la-may·oh·nayz’
LMAOnaise started in 2020 as a weekly newsletter sending a selection of the best upcoming comedy shows straight into your inbox.
And it still is a newsletter! But it’s also so much more. It’s a magazine. It’s a newspaper. It’s a vibe. It’s the result of a pandemic-inflicted emotional, personal and industry-wide crisis. At one point that now feels like a fever dream it was a LIVE SHOW.
LMAOnaise is about the comedy we love the most. So expect to read about everything from the best new stand-ups to the wonderfully weird alternative stuff you rarely get to read about. We want to give some column inches to those acts the big sites and publications often leave out.
This is for those of us who can’t live without the regular laughs, and want to support the comedians who deliver them.
WINNER of the Best Entertainment & Culture Newsletter at the Media Voices Publisher Newsletter Awards 2024
Shortlisted for the Women in Journalism Georgina Henry Award at the British Journalism Awards 2023
house rules
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house rules 〰️
LMAOnaise aims to be a welcoming space to talk about the comedy we love. For this reason, we have some rules and regulations:
Everything is personal
Comedy is entirely subjective. Obviously. Journalists are often hung up on everything being unbiased and objective. NOT HERE. It’s impossible with comedy. We are proudly biased. Everything that we recommend is there because we back it. We don’t publicise a show in the newsletter just because we’re sent it, and if there’s some news that’s harmful or unpleasant, we’re not going to amplify it just because it will get clicks. There is a reason behind everything we publish, and you should be able to see upfront what our biases are.
No all-white line-ups
We will never recommend mixed-bill comedy nights that are just white people. No explanation needed.
Vocally inclusive
Live comedy has been and often continues to be pretty hostile to women, queer people, people of colour…not straight white men basically. This is why we make a point of being explicit, not implicit, in how important it is to us to make extra space for these voices.
No negative reviews
We began as a service to recommend shows to people who love comedy, and this is our approach to reviewing. If we didn’t like it, if the show doesn’t feel cooked yet, or if the performer was having an off day, we don’t think that needs to exist permanently online. We’d rather return at a later date. Constructive criticism is useful, but our style is talking about why we love the things that we love. We want to direct people towards comedy, not away from it.
No star ratings
We don’t love the reliance on star ratings in reviewing the arts. We are of the belief that you can’t boil humour down to a points system, and rating a comedy show out of five doesn’t really help performers or audiences, so we won’t be using stars. Ever. The comedy reviewing world has been built by handful of men - who says we have to do it like they do just because that’s how it’s always been done?
who we are
The LMAOracles
Zoë Paskett
founder & editor
Zoë writes the newsletters and reviews, and edits and designs the website and newspaper. She is qualified to recommend comedy due to her impeccable taste* and a history of writing about comedy and the arts for national and local publications.
She is an award-winning journalist, a former arts writer at The Standard and has reviewed comedy for Funny Women. She really doesn’t like star ratings and thinks reviewers should stop giving them.
*Maddy said this once and many have confirmed it since, so now it’s fact.
Georgia House
print designer & photographer
Georgia is our resident creative person for all things print and is integral in bringing the newspapers to life, from photographing and designing the covers to creating artwork and badges. She is the Merch Queen and can craft anything your heart could desire.
Georgia is a one-of-a-kind producer, and has worked on countless shows, tours and short films in the UK and Australia. She’s the best independent comedy producer Edinburgh Fringe has ever seen, as anyone who has been produced by her can attest!
The LMAOriginals
Maddy Bye
co-founder & producer emeritus
Maddy is half of sketch group Siblings (with her sister Marina), as well as one of the hardest working producers in the biz. She produced the hell out of the single LMAOnaise Live we streamed from the Clapham Grand during the pandemic.
She runs comedy night Siblings & Family Friends, and is a producer for Impatient Productions. She often acts as Zoë’s emotional support comedian.
Michael Julings
logo designer
Michael is a designer and comedy director, who made our gorgeous LMAOnaise logos. He runs Piñata, a comedy collective a hosting an awesome monthly variety night, and free new material night in south London.
For Zoë’s birthday, he made her a personalised jar of mayo with all the original mock-ups for our mayo logo lady. It remains unopened but she worships it.