FACTORY SETTINGS Will Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe
The solo comedy will run at Monkey Barrel 4 for a limited three-show engagement.
Serena Terry will premiere her first ever one-woman play, 'Factory Settings', in an exclusive three-performance run at Monkey Barrel Comedy (MB4, 12.45pm) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 from Wednesday 12th – Friday 14th August.
With more than four million followers across social media, two Sunday Times bestselling novels, sold-out standup tours and arena shows becoming the first female comedian to sell out Belfast's SSE Arena, and a reputation as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary comedy… Terry has spent the last five years building a devoted audience both online and on stage. In this new performance, after suffering a debilitating nervous system crash, Serena joins a clinical trial marketed at those desperate to settle their anxious minds and reset to a more calm and secure mentality.
The newly developed Cogreset chip promises to remove debilitating anxious tendencies, dramatised overthinking and pessimistic thought processes, something Serena has been trying mercilessly to achieve for years. Will she miss her outdated Irish programming, chaotic inner voices and feral family “settings”? Or will she finally find peace when the chaos of her cognition is silenced?
In this new performance, Serena attempts a futuristic mental factory reset chip after suffering a debilitating nervous system crash. Unfortunately, her outdated Irish programming, chaotic inner voices and family “settings” refuse to uninstall.
Funny, heartfelt and painfully relatable, the show follows Serena as she tries to delete old coping mechanisms, inherited beliefs and self-sabotaging habits, only to discover that some of the glitches she's desperate to remove may be the very things that made her who she is.
Blending humour, heart and a distinctly Irish perspective, Factory Settings is a story about growing up, breaking down and learning that not everything needs fixing.
“This is something I've always wanted to do,” says Terry. “The characters I've created online have connected with millions of people, but I've often felt constrained by the short form nature of social media. You have seconds to grab attention and minutes before people are scrolling again. Whilst writing books gives me the opportunity to explore stories in greater depth, theatre allows me to do something different again, to bring those characters and ideas to life in a longer format, in front of an audience, tell a story exactly as I see it and in a more immersive way.”
“I still adore standup and creating online content but this little passion project in the interim allows me to take audiences on a journey in a different way, to spend more time with characters, and to explore the moments between the laughs as well as the laughs themselves.”
“Factory Settings is the most ambitious thing I've written. It's funny, chaotic and deeply personal, and I'm excited to premiere it at the Fringe before returning to the Therapy tour in September.”
Terry has become renowned for blending sharp observational comedy with unforgettable characters and brutally honest storytelling. Now, during a short break from touring her critically acclaimed Therapy stand-up tour (touring the UK Sept – Oct 2026), Terry is taking a bold creative step with Factory Settings – offering Fringe audiences an exclusive first look at a major new work from one of comedy's most exciting and distinctive voices.
ABOUT SERENA TERRY
Serena Terry shot to fame during the pandemic after posting light-hearted videos on her Mammy Banter TikTok account, which centred around the trials and tribulations of family life. Since then, she has amassed more than 4 million followers across her social media, with over 80 million cumulative likes on her TikTok content.
She embarked on a stand-up career in 2022, already selling out two UK & Ireland tours, and went on to write two Sunday Times bestselling novels – The Secret Life of an Uncool Mum(March 2022) and The Sh!te Before Christmas (November 2022). In the last two years, Terry has won the Content Creator award at the Funny Women Awards, and the Audience Award at the 2023 Chorts! Awards, for her sketch 'Explaining Menopause To 6 Year Olds'.
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