Monday, October 12, 2015
Brixton Academy, LondonThe US standup likes to shock, but not just for the sake of it: he does it because conventional wisdom needs questioningAt one point in his new touring set, the Arizon…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:03AMWhen his first solo show flopped, Kieran Hodgson feared he wasn’t interesting enough to be a comic. Then the disgraced cyclist gave his career a shot in the armYou’d have a job imagining…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12AMFriday, October 9, 2015
Novelty singles gave this art form a bad rap but acts such as Flight of the Conchords and Frisky and Mannish have brought it countercultural cachetIt was like taking a step back in time, wat…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:31AMThursday, October 8, 2015
G-Live, GuildfordWiddicombe’s tone of plaintive adenoidal consternation is as funny as his best gagsThere are words, of course: about contactless debit cards, about secret Santa, about an …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:22AMMonday, October 5, 2015
A New York Times article suggests that ‘public truth-telling has become the responsibility of comedians’. For evidence, look to Tig Notaro, Bridget Christie and Shazia MirzaUnfunny jokes…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:50AMHammersmith Apollo, LondonTwo hours of machine-tooled musical parody cover every big chart hit since the early 80sThe artwork for Weird Al Yankovic’s album and tour posits the “white and…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:39AMFriday, October 2, 2015
O2 Arena, London The comedian delivers a decidedly unadventurous set, but manages to fashion unpromising raw material into killer lines and vivid comic images Related: Michael McIntyre spy-c…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:19AMMonday, September 28, 2015
In a recent glossary of theatre terminology, our own Michael Billington translated the term 'devised play' as 'a total mess'. Let's clear it up: that's nonsense.Prism of success... Devised t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:28AMSunday, September 27, 2015
Leicester Square Theatre, London"It doesn't interest me," said Jerry Sadowitz in a recent interview, when asked about his now notorious 1980s routine that branded Jimmy Savile a pa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:20PMLeicester Square theatre, LondonTonight sees bilious US comic Doug Stanhope at his best and worst. When his scorn and loathing is intelligently applied, he tears away the veil of socialised …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:28PMTricycle, LondonThere are laughs to be had in Mirza’s passionate, taboo-busting comedy but she’s let down by duff puns and an aversion to logical argumentShazia Mirza dislikes performing…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:38AMFriday, September 25, 2015
Soho theatre, LondonIn a richly strange set, this year’s Edinburgh award-winner snorts cereal, obsesses over the audience’s legwear and acts out everyday annoyancesIt’s a rare feat to …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:56PMA new documentary suggests comedians are tortured geniuses, a breed apart. But it’s time to forget the tears-of-a-clown cliche – they’re just regular people working hard at their craft…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:15AMWednesday, September 23, 2015
The Invisible Dot, LondonThe Canadian comedian questions our rigid stereotypes of gender and sexuality, with the aid of some goofy anecdotes A review of Mae Martin’s first comedy gig, aged…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:33AMFriday, September 18, 2015
A man being persuaded to compromise on his lofty ideals could make for great comedy – but given the best satire kicks against the strong, it could be hard to wring gags from the underdog C…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AMTuesday, September 15, 2015
Hammersmith Apollo, London The Glaswegian comic’s new show may be more personal than political but he still makes for a sharp social commentatorKevin Bridges’ new show restores observati…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:56AMMonday, September 14, 2015
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghRussell Hoban’s tale of an adventure to a lollipop mountain is adapted with some lively flashes but this show loses the original’s oblique charms I’m all …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:56AMSunday, September 13, 2015
Novello, LondonWhen Stephen Daldry's An Inspector Calls appeared at the National Theatre, it was lauded for its three-way timeframe. This expressionist refit was set in 1912 (when its action…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24PMSaturday, September 12, 2015
I’ve just left the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where Camden People’s Theatre associate artist Sh!t Theatre scored a hit with its comic tour
SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:00AMFriday, September 11, 2015
Veteran comic Bobby Ball has a new job teaching vicars how to be funny – but humour and religion don’t always coexist comfortablyIf you want a crash course in how to be funny in front of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AMTuesday, September 8, 2015
UnderbellyAlfie Brown is opening himself up to ridicule – more even than the comedian's usual share. The 25-year-old has set himself up as a passionate critic of our cultural life, and of …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:15AM‘At the end of the show I’d just hide’ … the actress-comedian’s Edinburgh fringe hit lays bare her relationship anxieties with furious inventiveness and painful honestyThere’s a …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:32AMGet ready for comedy on a grand scale: Kevin Bridges is doing a mammoth Glasgow run, two huge double acts (Harry and Paul, Vic and Bob) return, and Sara Pascoe is reinventing ChristmasNinety…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:32AMThursday, September 3, 2015
Soho theatre, LondonThe Australian comedian offers technically adept set-pieces and sends up his relentless misanthropy, but it takes a long time to go from snark to laughsComedy doesn’t h…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:38AMMonday, August 31, 2015
Pleasance Dome, EdinburghThe duo’s latest multi-character show looks at what the (many) residents of Sudley-on-Sea do with their last moments on earth, in a richly enjoyable hour They’ve…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:41AMSaturday, August 29, 2015
Australian standup takes prize for best comedy show at the fringe, while Sofie Hagen is named best newcomer and Karen Koren gets panel prizeEdinburgh comedy awards: explore all the past winn…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:00AMFriday, August 28, 2015
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe angular New Zealander has the audience in raptures with his wonky physical comedy – and a brilliantly inventive finaleThere’s nothing new under the sun,…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AMStand Comedy Club, EdinburghEdgy material about liberal concerns – Bill Cosby, Ebola – lacks the confidence required for such a bloodless deliveryIf fans of The Daily Show are seeing any…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AMPolitical comedy used be an orthodox, tub-thumping affair. Today, it’s a far subtler art, with Nish Kumar, Sheeps, Stewart Lee and Ahir Shah all reinventing the form You can tell plenty ab…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AMHeroes @ The Hive, EdinburghThere are goofy set pieces aplenty in this exuberantly silly show in which Jones’s alter ego, The Herbert, gets a ‘proper job’From Mr Bean to Mr Tumble, the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:22AMThursday, August 27, 2015
Assembly George Square studios, EdinburghThe comedian’s heartfelt story about the shark-infested waters of her teenage life sits uneasily with the truth, but this makes for a gripping expe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:30AM 
