Garry Starr: Classic Penguins tickets
About Garry Starr: Classic Penguins
Get Garry Starr: Classic Penguins tickets on TodayTix to see this hilarious (and mostly naked) solo show in which Garry Starr is on a quest to save great literary works from extinction. Taking audiences on a literary adventure, Garry Starr satirizes the world’s most iconic works of fiction from the Penguin Classic collection, from The Little Prince to Moby Dick and everything in between. Written and performed by Damien Warren-Smith, Garry Starr: Classic Penguins plays for a limited run at Studio Seaview from September 3–October 4, 2026.
Don't miss Garry Starr: Classic Penguins off Broadway where the hit play marks its United States premiere. The hysterical solo show enjoyed sold-out runs in London’s West End, Sydney, Melbourne, and the Edinburgh Fringe; now, it comes to one of New York's newest and most forward-thinking theatre companies, Studio Seaview. See Garry Starr: Classic Penguins in New York to experience the highly anticipated debut.
Know before you go
Rush tickets are standing room only.
Run time
1hr 10min. No intermission.
Venue
Categories
Age
Ages 18+.
Start date
September 3rd, 2026
End date
October 11th, 2026
“Naked clown chaos that bonds strangers through laughter”
Brilliantly Bonkers Literary Clowning Gone Wild
Garry Starr's one-man show has audiences howling with laughter as he performs the entire Penguin Classics catalog while completely nude. Reviewers rave about the show's wild originality, with many cal...
What It Feels Like
- Wildly unhinged
- Surprisingly intimate
- Pure absurdist joy
You’ll Love This If…
- You embrace chaos and don't mind full nudity
- You enjoy heavy audience participation and being part of the show
- You appreciate clever wordplay wrapped in outrageous physical comedy
This show was recommended to me by two acquaintances, the second after I'd already booked tickets on the advice of the first. Supposedly, it was the funniest thing the first acquaintance had ever seen, and she'd seen it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, at which she had herself performed her own piece. Also, supposedly, the show did NOT require the audience to be familiar with all the Penguin Classics that were to be included in the one-man performance. My guest is NOT a reader and that had been a concern. Lack of familiarity with the Penguin Classics, however, was not the chief problem. The show was disgusting. The naked performance did not bother either of us, but why, really, was it necessary to pull a midget doll from the actor's anus or highlight a bunch of other naked dancers, male and female, in the show's closing? Not funny enough, considering the hype, not relevant to anything and not of interest to me. The guest, who'd never been to New York in his life, said now he'd seen New York's good, bad and ugly. This was ugly. Not recommended.
A wacky experience with some laughs and outrageous antics
Every once in a while, a show comes to a reviewer's life that defies categorization, something so wildly entertaining and outrageous, unlike anything I've ever seen before, that I'm left with the only reasonable choice of giving it a five star rating. From the brave full frontal nudity throughout the entire show (!), to the irreverent and hilarious way the world's literary canon gets treated, ridiculed and disposed of, to the way it involves daring audience participation, this show is completely nuts in the best possible way. Despite it being clearly scripted and rehearsed, there's a constant sensibility of "anything can happen", that adds an air of excitement and danger unlike those I've felt at a theater in a long time. A must see!
Garry Starr: Classic Penguins cast and creative team
By: Garry Starr Damien Warren-Smith
Director: Cal McCrystal
Cast list: Garry Starr Damien Warren-Smith
Sets: Takis
Lighting: Lily Woodford-Lewis
More information about Garry Starr: Classic Penguins
In this new solo show, performer Damien Warren-Smith shares his beloved and wacky alter ego with his audience: Garry Starr, who is hell-bent on saving books from extinction. To do so, he will be performing every Penguin Classic novel ever written in under an hour — all while (mostly) naked. (Flipper fins will be on.)
The show has been an international hit. Garry Starr: Classic Penguins was nominated for both Best Newcomer and The Golden Gibbo at the 2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival as well as a number of awards in the U.K. His follow-up piece, Greece Lightning, picked up awards in Adelaide, Sydney, Gothenburg, and Manchester, and this clown means business: he studied acting at Actors Centre Australia in Sydney. He has also studied clowning at École Philippe Gaulier in Paris.
See all those trades — and literacy — come together for one crazy retelling of your favorite books.
What to watch for
- Cal McCrystal, a frequent collaborator with Damien Warren-Smith, directs.
- Warren-Smith has also studied corporeal mime at Atelier des Mimes in Berlin.
- This show features nudity, so it is intended for mature audiences ages 18 and older.
- Expect, in just over an hour, an evening of the utmost nincompoopery as one man retells classic texts in highly un-classical ways.