All stories by Brian Logan on BroadwayStars

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Frankie Boyle gets satirical – and Two and A Half Men star says: stop watching by Brian Logan

Comedian claims satirists are pulling their punches, teen comedy actor turns on the show that made him a star and Brian Conley Gets Out of thereFrankie Boyle is back in the headlines, after …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:52AM
Friday, August 21, 2015

Butt Kapinski at Edinburgh festival review – playful private-eye curio by Brian Logan

Liquid Room, EdinburghAn interactive golden-age detective movie is created on stage with Deanna Fleysher’s alter-ego Kapinski leaning heavily on the audience for laughsA gumshoe in a mac a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:07AM
Thursday, August 20, 2015

Heard the one about the comedian? The standups joking about each other by Brian Logan

Comedians rarely repeat material by their peers. But plenty of comics are referencing each other at this year’s fringe – for good and illComedy has no equivalent to the cover version; co…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:30PM

Felicity Ward at Edinburgh festival review – a sharp take on toilet humour by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe Australian comedian’s experiences of anxiety, depression and irritable bowel syndrome are turned to fine comic use in this confident, fast-paced show“I …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:25AM

Kieran Hodgson: Lance at Edinburgh festival review – five-star comedy show takes the yellow jersey by Brian Logan

Voodoo Rooms, EdinburghHodgson draws on youthful memories, the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong and northern characters for plentiful laughs and bittersweet sentimentJust do it, cyclist Lanc…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM
Wednesday, August 19, 2015

The Pajama Men at Edinburgh festival review – gory and giddy by Brian Logan

Assembly Roxy, EdinburghThe US duo deliver several very funny moments but their show that is let down by its disjointed characters and hard-to-follow plotlineShenoah Allen has created many a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:18PM

The Wrestling at Edinburgh festival review – must be seen to be believed by Brian Logan

Pleasance Grand, EdinburghTwenty standups and wrestlers clamber into the ring and smack down in Max and Ivan’s spectacular sporting-panto free-for-all “Comedians. Wrestlers. Blood.” It…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:01AM

Is the Edinburgh fringe as middle-class as we think? by Brian Logan

The perception of the festival crowd as entirely middle-class leads standups such as Sarah Callaghan and Kevin J to package their working-class backgrounds as exoticIt’s a cliche that the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:34AM

Alex Edelman at Edinburgh festival review – unshowy and intelligent by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghBulletproof set-pieces exploring the theme of cultural identity confirm this Bostonian as a talent to watchAlex Edelman won the best newcomer gong at last year�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:34AM
Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Mark Thomas at Edinburgh festival review – a bulletin from the frontline of dissent by Brian Logan

Summerhall, EdinburghIt may not by very funny, but the standup and activist’s vehement, animated piece about the privatisation of public spaces certainly has a lot of convictionPicking up …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:30AM

Jo Brand at Edinburgh festival review – wry standup returns to the fringe by Brian Logan

Gilded Balloon, EdinburghOptimistic and less militant than in the past, the standup makes a welcome return to the fringe. Unfortunately, it’s with raw, under-rehearsed material“I was emo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:08AM

Edinburgh festival 2015: the six shows you shouldn't miss by Lyn Gardner, Mark Lawson and Brian Logan

A Desert Island Discs spoof, brooding circus performers who strip naked and a Yoko Ono-inspired love-fest … our critics choose their hot tickets at this year’s fringeO No!In less skilled…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:49AM
Monday, August 17, 2015

Modern comedy too sanitised? What a strange thing to say… by Brian Logan

Comedian Sam Simmons’s rant against ‘relatable’ comics in his Edinburgh show does both him and the festival a disserviceAussie absurdist Sam Simmons is one of the best-loved comedians …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42PM

Edinburgh festival review: Minor Delays – stripped-back, breakneck sketches by Brian Logan

Gilded Balloon, EdinburghNo stage frippery required – this comedy trio are strong enough to stand on their own, with sharp writing and some fine skewering of middle-class moresIt takes con…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:07AM
Sunday, August 16, 2015

Mark Steel review – an extraordinary story of family detective work by Brian Logan

Assembly George Square, EdinburghWith its explorations of identity, Mark Steel’s account of how he traced his birth parents is astonishingWhen the story is extraordinary and the comic’s …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:31AM

Lolly Adefope at Edinburgh festival review – a show of many faces by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghIn Lolly, her first fringe solo show, the up-and-coming comedian introduces many personas with varying degrees of success, but is never short of charismaFrom Ca…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:31AM
Saturday, August 15, 2015

Mike Wozniak at Edinburgh festival review – fine storytelling standup by Brian Logan

Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters, EdinburghThe Man Down star delivers a neurotic, convoluted tale of a stowaway cat that channels the Basil Fawlty archetype of the beleaguered EnglishmanTwo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:37AM

Richard Gadd at Edinburgh festival review – uproarious high-concept comedy by Brian Logan

Banshee Labyrinth, EdinburghWaiting for Gaddot, which enlists Ben Target and Ian Smith in the tale of a love rivalry amid a collapsing gig, could be the underground comedy hit of the fringeI…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:30AM
Friday, August 14, 2015

Edinburgh comedy roundup: the best of the rest – week one by Brian Logan

From the attractively impish Matt Winning to the pitch-perfect puerility of Gein’s Family Giftshop, here are seven festival sets I haven’t managed to write about yetOne week down, two to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:37PM

James Acaster at Edinburgh festival review – a mindbending comedy cracker by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThere’s no one better at constructing a show than Acaster – and half the fun is how emphatically he addresses vanishingly small subjectsSerial award-nominee…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:20AM

Beard at Edinburgh festival review – a real comic oddity by Brian Logan

Sneaky Pete’s, EdinburghThe audience are treated for head lice and a grandad plays chicken with his life-support machine in a show that explores a whole spectrum of strangeEcole Philippe G…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:09AM
Thursday, August 13, 2015

Fringe issue: Edinburgh, race and UK comedy by Brian Logan

The festival’s comedians were historically young, gifted and white. Now, shows by black and minority ethnic acts are popular, diverse and nothing to do with skin colour“Diversity in the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:55PM

Aisling Bea: Edinburgh festival review – peppy set from standup with star quality by Brian Logan

Gilded Balloon, EdinburghBea is an energetic storyteller with charm to spare but she’s going through the motions a bit with these observations about shame and confidenceMost comics perform…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:58AM

Katherine Ryan: Edinburgh fringe review – gossip comedy gets gasps and laughs by Brian Logan

The Stand, EdinburghRyan excels at the barbed comedy of supercilious abuse in a disjointed set that riffs on the Taylor Swift/Nicki Minaj row and has a standout section on Bill CosbyReported…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:25AM
Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Straight outta Edinburgh: a rap guide to the fringe's freestyling standups by Brian Logan

Wherever you look at the festival, comedians are unselfconsciously rocking the mic. Critic Brian Logan joins the party …Cue hip-hop beat. Middle-aged, middle-class, white comedy critic try…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:37PM

Joseph Morpurgo at Edinburgh festival review – one of the best comedy shows in town by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghPart musical comedy, part doomed romance and part Desert Island Discs, this is an eccentric, subversive work about the soundtrack to a life Joseph Morpurgo migh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:09AM

Nish Kumar at Edinburgh festival review – a thrilling instinct for political comedy by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghKumar directs his intelligence and moral fury toward race, privatisation and oppressed capitalists – and comes out triumphantAnother day, another article in a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:00AM
Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Welcome to the latest comedy trend … yay, smiley face, clapping hands by Brian Logan

Standups relish language and forms of communication, so it’s no wonder emojis are a feature of so many shows this year. But how much can you really say with yellow symbols?The Edinburgh fr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:01PM

Bridget Christie at Edinburgh festival review – sparkling political outrage by Brian Logan

The Stand, EdinburghThe fringe superstar returns with a mostly uproarious, sometimes sobering set in response to social injustices of every hueIs it a show? Is it a book launch? Fringe super…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:30AM

Tom Parry at Edinburgh festival review – soul-nourishing silliness by Brian Logan

The Tron, EdinburghThe anarchic member of sketch trio Pappy’s lets loose in an irrepressible and mischievous – but non-trivial – celebration of fancy dress and funFans of the sketch tr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM
Monday, August 10, 2015

Zoe Coombs Marr at Edinburgh festival review – psychic collapse of a cross-dressing caricature by Brian Logan

Underbelly Cowgate, EdinburghThe comedian is impressive as her sexist alter ego Dave, but the brand of chauvinist comedy depicted makes for a fairly soft target“I mostly hang out with come…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:44PM