All stories by Rachael Healy on BroadwayStars

Monday, November 11, 2024

‘People feel terrible. They want to laugh’: can comedy make light of Trump 2.0? by Rachael Healy

A second Donald Trump presidency may be darker than the first, but his victory has unleashed the creative energies of satirists and standups “When Trump first won, there was almost a nove…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM

Alternative comedian Joe Kent-Walters: ‘I used to do a strip tease with carrier bags’ by Rachael Healy

The Yorkshire-born standups’s surreal take on a working men’s club has bagged him comedy awards and a BBC radio pilot. But even as he dreams of a Mrs Merton-style talkshow, he’s still …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM
Saturday, November 2, 2024

Edinburgh fringe artists owed up to £15k each amid venue’s dispute with HMRC by Rachael Healy

Performers who staged work at Summerhall have not been paid as firm that runs site challenges corporation tax claim Artists and theatre companies who staged work at the major Edinburgh fring…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24PM
Tuesday, October 15, 2024

‘I will be hunted down for my Taylor Swift jokes!’ Rose Matafeo on her scary return to standup by Rachael Healy

She won comedy’s top award, reinvented the romcom and now hosts Junior Taskmaster. So why does the New Zealand comic need Buddhist podcasts to get through the day? Rose Matafeo is bad at e…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42PM
Monday, October 14, 2024

‘Now I only do dick jokes when I want to’: how Texan standup Kemah Bob found freedom in Britain by Rachael Healy

Their Miss Fortunate show – which takes in bipolar disorder, financial ruin and a shocking scamming in Thailand – will ‘take the charge paddles to the chest’ of a comedy career that …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12AM
Friday, October 4, 2024

‘We want to put audiences on edge’: the team bringing A24 horror film Saint Maud to the stage by Rachael Healy

A new theatre adaptation is giving Rose Glass’s creepy tale of religious obsession an industrial north-east slant – but it hasn’t lost the film’s fear factor “We’re telling a sto…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM
Friday, September 20, 2024

Princess Essex review – black beauty queen turns Edwardian idiocy on itself by Rachael Healy

Shakespeare’s Globe, LondonVaudevillian musical stages the story of a woman who cast herself as Princess Dinubolu of Senegal to become a beauty queen in 1908 Southend In Southend-on-Sea, 1…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PM
Friday, August 23, 2024

A marathon of mirth and stress: comics with chronic health issues on completing Edinburgh fringe by Rachael Healy

The festival’s relentless pace is demanding for performers, especially with an underlying health condition. Three acts explain how their month has gone An hour before she was due on stage …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54PM
Thursday, August 22, 2024

Rob Copland: Gimme (One With Everything) review – mesmeric controlled chaos by Rachael Healy

Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh It starts with boundless energy … then gathers momentum, as this comic’s silliness builds a tale of desperate ambition Rob Copland rockets into the room, pur…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42PM
Tuesday, August 13, 2024

After Baby Reindeer: how comedians are telling true stories of trauma and toxic relationships by Rachael Healy

There are benefits and perils in talking about your personal experiences – as Richard Gadd found after his TV show went viral. So how are Edinburgh acts handling it this year? ‘If you’…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:00AM
Saturday, August 10, 2024

Batshit review – grandma’s moving story highlights pathologisation of women’s mental health by Rachael Healy

Traverse theatre, EdinburghLeah Shelton plays her grandmother, incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital, in this one-woman show that draws on research, recordings and videos to link 1960s Aust…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:46AM
Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Ugly Sisters review – deft duo riff on Germaine Greer’s encounter with a trans woman by Rachael Healy

Underbelly Cowgate, EdinburghCharli Cowgill and Laurie Ward revisit an article by the author of The Female Eunuch in this thought-provoking hour ‘Thank you so much for all you have done fo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:10AM
Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Chris Thorburn: Cineman review – heard the one about Sex Times at Spring Break High? by Rachael Healy

The Stand, EdinburghThis movie-mad comic lampoons Hollywood through sketch and song but some of his material could have been left in the cutting room Films are the best art form, declares Ch…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:00AM
Monday, August 5, 2024

Rachel Fairburn: Side Eye review – devilish, seven-headed humour by Rachael Healy

Monkey Barrel, the Hive, Edinburgh The acerbic standup delivers a character-comedy show playing some captivatingly awful yet extremely relatable individuals A scouse woman in a glittery head…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:33AM
Sunday, August 4, 2024

Main Character Energy review – boudoir cabaret deconstructs Temi Wilkey’s inner celeb by Rachael Healy

Roundabout @ Summerhall, Edinburgh The writer-performer’s playful show sends up actorly tropes while battling intrusive thoughts that could derail her bid for stardom Temi Wilkey is chasin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:10AM
Thursday, August 1, 2024

Fringe benefits: 10 of the best shows to catch at this year’s Edinburgh festival by Rachael Healy

From ruminations on life, love and being Keir Starmer to dance-theatre unpacking toxic masculinity, here’s our pick of 2024’s ‘Burgh necessities Edinburgh fringe comics pitch their own…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:00AM
Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Edinburgh festival 2024: six of the funniest comedians at the fringe by Rachael Healy

Looking for rising stars this summer? Try gossipy standup, an end-of-the-pier homage and a ‘gay witch sex cult’ Frankie Monroe, the impish proprietor of a working men’s club who has ma…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AM
Sunday, July 21, 2024

From OnlyFans to medical trials - the extreme measures artists take to fund Edinburgh festival shows by Rachael Healy

Crowdfunding and finding patrons are among less painful options as cost of performing at the fringe soars In the run-up to the Edinburgh festival fringe last year, comedian John Tothill was …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AM
Friday, July 19, 2024

‘It’s about how you find hope after abuse’: Laura Horton on Alan Partridge’s PA and coercive control by Rachael Healy

Downtrodden sitcom assistant Lynn Benfield is the inspiration for a play about a woman who escapes a relationship and starts a band. Its creator explains why its more true-to-life than you�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:02PM
Sunday, July 14, 2024

Live comedy in UK has become serious business worth £1bn a year, study claims by Rachael Healy

Researchers say standups’ contribution is unsung, and hope findings will help to bolster the industry’s credibility The live comedy industry in the UK contributes more than £1bn to the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM

‘Is it nostalgia or were the 90s just wicked?’: millennial artists revive ‘Cool Britannia’ era by Rachael Healy

Fashion and music from the 90s are with us again - not to mention a Labour landslide. Next month’s Edinburgh fringe will capture the mood As Labour swept to a landslide win on 4 July to th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM
Saturday, June 22, 2024

Surprise election forces comedians to tear up Edinburgh festival scripts by Rachael Healy

For this year’s fringe, performers will be rapidly updating their shows to reflect the outcome at the ballot box “Let’s just say, I didn’t make a bet on the election date, and if I h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24PM
Tuesday, May 28, 2024

‘This is a ticking time bomb’: why are so many entertainers forced to work past retirement age? by Rachael Healy

From jobbing workers to familiar names, legions of entertainers are working well into their 70s and 80s. Why? Our writer uncovers an alarming story of shrinking budgets, axed royalties, misg…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:32AM
Sunday, April 21, 2024

Banging Denmark review – misogynist podcaster meets feminist scholar by Rachael Healy

Finborough theatre, LondonChanneling the Gamergate saga and the world of the online pickup artist, Van Badham’s disturbingly timely play offers dark laughs and rewarding nuance Jake Newhou…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02AM
Sunday, March 24, 2024

An Evening With The Fast Show review – chummy chat and catchphrase classics by Rachael Healy

Warwick Arts CentreTed and Ralph, the ‘Suit you!’ tailors and the rest of the gang’s most fondly remembered characters reconvene for a 30th-anniversary greatest hits sketch show, inter…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:02AM
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

‘The outrageousness of what Louis CK did is totally lost’: the film about the backlash faced by his accusers by Rachael Healy

Sorry/Not Sorry tells the story of the comedian’s sexual misconduct through the eyes of the women who spoke out – and endured a vicious backlash from fans, podcasters and fellow standups…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:48PM
Monday, March 4, 2024

Arnie, Dolph and me: Musclebound, the show working out pleasure, pain and bodybuilding by Rachael Healy

Growing up, Rosy Carrick was fascinated by Schwarzenegger, Lundgren and other shredded 80s screen stars. Now she is exploring what they helped her realise about her sex life Is there a gap b…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Thursday, February 29, 2024

‘Why would you not want to be woke?’ Inside the TV comedy workshops infuriating the right-wing press by Rachael Healy

They’ve been called ‘a disaster for the arts’ and lambasted for ‘pursuing a heavily woke agenda’. So what actually happens at a comedy workshop? Our writer joins 30 working-class s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Thursday, January 25, 2024

Celya AB: Second Rodeo review – secrets and lies from the French standup by Rachael Healy

Soho theatre, LondonIn a show revisiting her childhood and dissecting comedy tropes, the performer has captivating presence but her material meanders Celya AB offers us a promising premise: …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM
Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Get the joke: how live captioning lets more comedy fans enjoy every punchline by Rachael Healy

Lara Ricote is among the standups whose gags have landed with deaf and hearing people thanks to the work of stenographer Claire Hill When Lara Ricote watches fellow comedians’ gigs, she li…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Friday, January 12, 2024

Janine Harouni: ‘When you’re pregnant you’re massive. It felt powerful to be big on stage’ by Rachael Healy

The US standup’s career was in its ascendancy before miscarriage and then a friend’s death knocked her for six. So she took stock – and turned her feelings into a show contextualising …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime