Friday, August 10, 2012
Gilded BalloonWhen you think musical comedy, you don't think this. Rubberbandits are an Irish phenomenon heading Britain's way – in revenge for Bloody Sunday and the potato famine, as they…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05AMThursday, August 9, 2012
Pleasance Courtyard"Standup is the only artform that can't be contrived," David Trent tells himself in his debut fringe hour Spontaneous Comedian. That's the paradox: live comedy requires ri…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:08PMJust the Tonic at the CavesThe term character comedy doesn't quite cover what San Francisco standup Will Franken does in an underground cave, late at night on the Fringe. Yes, he flits in an…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AMUnderbellyWhat's so funny? Book clubs, according to Harry Potter actor Jessie Cave. Her Edinburgh debut is a meeting of the spoof book group Bookworms United, inspired, she says, by obsessiv…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:17AMFrom a play about coalition government to a standup show by a journalist, the fringe is finding new takes on political satireA Liberal Democrat party stretched to breaking point by the deman…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:57AMWednesday, August 8, 2012
Pleasance CourtyardAdmit it: we've all Googled ourselves. Few have had Marek Larwood's experience, however, of discovering that the word most frequently linked to his name in searches was "r…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:05PMAssembly, George SquareThe Pajama Men have a head start on other comic acts turning to improv. They first met as improvisers in Albuquerque, and in their terrific series of hit shows they do…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:01PMThe 'spirit of the fringe' is pitted against capitalism as awards director dismisses standup's complaints about commercialisation of Edinburgh comedyBest of this week's newsHalfway through w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:55AMAssembly RoxyWhat's so funny? The radio, if American performer Drennon Davis is to be believed. Davis's beatbox-comedy show, performed with his sidekick Monique Moreau, presents an hour's wo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:30AMTuesday, August 7, 2012
GlobePolitical protest, as Chris Coltrane points out in his free fringe show, never used to be much fun. A million people marched against the Iraq war, and the government sent the …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:34PMThe Jam House, EdinburghWhat's so funny? The fact that Phill Jupitus first made his name in performance poetry. In the mid-80s, Jupitus traded under the name Porky the Poet, an act that he n…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:29AMMonday, August 6, 2012
Pleasance CourtyardIn this theatre last year, Humphrey Ker had a huge hit with his second world war pastiche Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher. I was reminded of it when watching this enjoyable of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:29PMJust the Tonic at The Caves, EdinburghWhat's so funny? Billy the Mime is the silent, white-faced alter ego of American actor and comedian Steven Banks. If you know him at all, it'll be from …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AMThe Assembly Rooms, EdinburghWhat's so funny? Kristine Levine is being brought to us by the same producer who imported Doug Stanhope, Hans Teeuwen, Maria Bamford and other fine comics to Edi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:29AMSunday, August 5, 2012
Daniel Kitson doesn't do tours, interviews, TV or DVDs. So how a reclusive enigma become the most sought after standup of his generation? As the comic prepares to appear at Edinburgh, Brian&…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:30PMDaniel Kitson doesn't do tours, interviews, TV or DVDs. So how did a reclusive enigma become the most sought after standup of his generation? As the comic prepares to appear at Edinburgh, Br…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:30PMPleasance CourtyardRich Peppiatt is not, by his own admission, a comedian. And his show barely qualifies as live comedy: it's mainly video clips, screened in a tent at the Pleasance until, y…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:05PMPleasance CourtyardConsciously or otherwise, New Zealand comic Rhys Darby's set keeps recalling Flight of the Conchords, the HBO sitcom that made his name. In this show's tenuous framing dev…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AMWednesday, August 1, 2012
Edinburgh corporatisation is the new hot topic, while American comic Dane Cook courts controversy by joking about the Aurora shootings – plus your take on the week's comedy eventsBest of t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:59AMTuesday, July 24, 2012
Lilian Baylis Studio, LondonFor those wondering what this month's overblown corporate carnival in the East End has to do with sport, here's a reminder that the Olympics were never simpl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:30PMGervais collaborator gets his own TV pilot, Pegg's Comic-Con costume fetish causes offence, and Russell Brand wants to be a vicar ... so it seemsBest of the week's newsStephen Merchant is wo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AMGervais collaborator gets his own TV pilot, Pegg's Comic-Con costume fetish causes offence, and Russell Brand wants to be a vicar ... so it seems Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AMWednesday, July 11, 2012
John McEnroe suffers a sense of humour failure over use of his catchphrase and comic Daniel Tosh seems to think rape is a laughing matterBest of the week's newsSo what have we learned about …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AMWednesday, July 4, 2012
Arcola Tent, London"I was a faghag when to be a faghag was a glorious thing," says the performance artist Penny Arcade. Now 62, Arcade (real name: Susana Ventura) worked with Andy Warho…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:07PMTuesday, July 3, 2012
Russell Brand's new TV show Brand X fails to wow the US critics, while Eddie Izzard treats LA to a French-speaking gigBest of the week's newsWith his recent select committee appearance, tour…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:37PMTuesday, June 19, 2012
Accusations of tax avoidance, the most influential people in comedy, Russells, and Alastair and Armando square upBest of the week's newsThe 8 Out of 10 Cats host, Jimmy Carr, finds himself s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:15PMMonday, June 18, 2012
Got any stupid video recordings from the age of VHS? Brian Logan meets two men who are turning their love of 'found footage' into a comedy festivalReading this on mobile? Click here to viewS…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:50PMThursday, May 17, 2012
Soho theatre, LondonMike Birbiglia's girlfriend can win arguments without actually arguing. "That's how I feel," she will simply say – which is as conclusive as it is infuriating. My Girlf…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:10PMWednesday, May 2, 2012
Shakespeare's Globe, LondonWatching Shakespeare, we usually get to savour the most beautiful words ever written. In this latest instalment of the Globe to Globe international season, the phr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:38AMSunday, March 18, 2012
Secret location, London"Did you get it?", asks a caption on a wall as we exit A Tender Subject, Mark Storor's new performance installation for Artangel. Well, yes and no. The event, which ta…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:29PMWednesday, March 14, 2012
Jermyn Street, LondonWhen Rainer Hersch started performing his mix of comedy and classical music, he found himself repeatedly compared to Victor Borge. He didn't know who Borge was – few n…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:09PM 
