Chris Kirby

Chris Covington gave himself the stage name 'Chris Kirby' when he left school in Adelaide, South Australia. And, by the time of his first identity crisis, his new label had gained him enough notoriety to make reverting to the family name a bad career move.
His comedic skills had made him a popular teenage host on a daily t.v. kid's show. He later moved to Sydney from where he built a solid reputation on stage and television all around the country.

In the late Sixties he was asked to perform on the famed ED SULLIVAN SHOW in New York. Then on to England where he appeared on SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM, A BLACKPOOL SUMMER SEASON with Tommy Cooper and touring with Ken Dodd. Client Ovations: "Funny, frightening, extraordinarily well written...One liners combine with surrealism and psycho-sexual imagery...A witty and disturbing cocktail...Lips is very very good."

Jim Schembri - Melbourne Age

"An astonishing ability!"

Sun Herald, Sydney

"A theatrical coup...Lips does what theatre does best...splendid mix of fact, fiction and fantasy...a thread of classic horror."

Theatre Australasia

"A professional at suspended disbelief!"

On Stage - Melbourne

"...a fine and versatile actor...a comedian in his own right...a pleasure to watch him work."

Jewish News - Sydney

"Fascinating, bizarre play...tremendously engaging performer...LIPS is the most original show on the fringe...comes from the same dank and wonderful reservoir of the imagination as Being John Malkovitch; the kind of a play that has the rare power to infiltrate one's dreams."

Robert Lloyd Parry - Hampstead ' Highgate Express

"Handled with deft sureness of tone...without once losing his footing...a deliciously unsettling spin under the text...a hugely impressive piece of work...accessible, witty, moving, involving."

The London Company International Plays Ltd. Reader's Report

"fresh new spin...clever and intriguing...we are with him all the way...deft at suspending our disbelief...a highly original and amusing evening's entertainment."

Southern Cross Magazine.

"...he uses this vaudevillian and somewhat creepy 'gift' in ways that will astonish ...a surreal and clever piece of theatre...A disturbing psychological journey... takes the dying art of ventriloquism to new places: dark, surreal and even psychosexual places...a unique theatrical experience, LIPS is brilliantly performed and innovative."

Kylie Northover - TNT Magazine.