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Kathy Maniura: The Cycling Man

 
Marianne Lemond Review by Marianne Lemond 5 Published: 30 May 2026 Komedia Studio Show Dates: 29 May 2026-29 May 2026

Oliver Greaves is the Cycling Man. A middle-aged Tory voter and Oxford alumnus working in financial services (or it could be consultancy – he’s "not sure and it’s too late to ask"), he cycles every morning from "his house in central London to his office in slightly more central London". He has all the gear, from the obligatory Lycra that creates "mysterious and offensive bulges" to the GoPro camera on his helmet (to protect him from being wrongly accused of sexual assault, of course). A proud member of Islington Cycling Club (ICC – pronounced "ick"), he spends his weekends cycling all over the UK (but mostly the south) and has spent the equivalent of an NHS nurse’s salary in sports shop Decathlon.

His sexual awakening was Margaret Thatcher.

Ironic, then, that he has ended up in an NHS emergency room after crashing his bike. Forced to wait hours for treatment despite being with Bupa, he tries to account for how his life has reached this nadir. For it emerges that Oliver is a man on the edge: his wife, Sarah, recently left him and he’s been cycling across the country, not just because it’s a way of "being with other men without having to talk to them" but because he has been desperately searching for her. Although he reassures us that she has now come to her senses and returned to him, he remains baffled as to why she ever left. With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation featuring graphs and diagrams, he attempts to unravel the mystery of how his wife went from being a City lawyer who reminded him of Margaret Thatcher (the latter was his "sexual awakening") to a human rights lawyer with a "bad haircut". Along the way, we learn more about Oliver and, in particular, the "mummy-shaped hole" that neither his wife nor bike can fill.

The result is a hilarious concoction of character comedy, drag performance and musical theatre, with a song extolling the virtues of the three-quarter-zip sweater a particular highlight. Writer and performer Kathy Maniura captures the archetypal Cycling Man, skewering his sexism and class privilege while revealing the "lost boy" within. His favourite musical is, fittingly, Oliver!, and there is a funny rendition of the song Where Is Love? Shortlisted for the BBC New Comedy Awards in 2023, Maniura is clearly going places and, unlike the obnoxious and deluded Oliver, you’ll find yourself rooting for her all the way.

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The Blurb:

One of the best reviewed shows of the Edinburgh Fringe 2025. Middle-aged and newly single, The Cycling Man has spent the salary of an NHS nurse in Decathlon and he’s on the verge of a breakdown. Get to know this absurd and deeply flawed man as he gets to know himself. Goofy drag king show from award-winning British character comedian Kathy Maniura, BBC New Comedian shortlisted, 2023 and Sketch Off winner, 2020. “Simply genius” ★★★★★ EdFringe Review “A masterclass in character comedy” ★★★★ The Skinny “A brilliant, side-splitting parody” ★★★★ Broadway Baby "A cracking ride” ★★★★ Fest Mag "A complete gem of a show” ★★★★ One4Review Directed by Cecily Nash.