All stories by Brian Logan on BroadwayStars

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Crybabies: Bagbeard review – sci-fi caper boldly goes down a storm by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe sketch trio throw a lot into their screwball adventure, from pagan festivals to alien apocalypse, but every gag pays off With the Delightful Sausage’s recent show,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00PM
Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Jokes about the climate crisis? Why not! Standup champ Lara Ricote targets another taboo by Brian Logan

The disabled Mexican-American scooped best newcomer at Edinburgh with her scathing send-up of identity politics. But can she really wring some laughs out of the end of the world? It would be…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:19AM
Sunday, January 15, 2023

Jen Brister: The Optimist review – expertly calibrated crabbiness by Brian Logan

Bloomsbury Theatre, LondonNo one rages against life and the world better than Brister, but the comic is too good to be confined by her furious persona Her touring show is called The Optimist…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:21AM
Monday, January 9, 2023

Frankie McNair: Relax Your Knees review – silly, rediscovered by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, London The sparkling Aussie brings their award-winning Melbourne comedy festival show to the UK When Frankie McNair started taking comedy seriously, they tell us, it got boring…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM
Wednesday, January 4, 2023

The Art of Illusion review – a little less than meets the eye by Brian Logan

Hampstead theatre, LondonAlexis Michalik’s time-hopping French hit about the history of stage magic is a diverting jeu d’esprit but there isn’t much to see once you look past the misdi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00PM
Monday, January 2, 2023

Rhod Gilbert: ‘I think about my cancer 24/7. But there’s humour in there, definitely’ by Brian Logan

The Welsh standup used to direct his fury at service stations, baked potatoes and the tog-rating of duvets. Now he’s tackling anxiety, infertility – and his own battle with the cancer th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:08AM
Friday, December 30, 2022

Comedian Catherine Cohen: ‘Look, I find myself quite annoying, too’ by Brian Logan

The US comedy sensation is making up for lost time after Covid with a new show – still self-obsessed, but ‘a bit darker’ – and an opportunity for us to observe a quintessentially mil…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM
Monday, December 26, 2022

The best theatre, dance and comedy tickets to book for 2023 by Arifa Akbar, Lyndsey Winship and Brian Logan

Danny Boyle’s Matrix-inspired spectacular opens in Manchester, Succession star Brian Cox returns to the stage and standups Maisie Adam, Guz Khan and Catherine Cohen are on tour More from t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:48AM
Saturday, December 17, 2022

The best comedy shows of 2022 by Brian Logan

From dazzling comic debuts at the Edinburgh fringe to occult sketches, soul-searching standup and deeply strange revelations, it was a top year for laughing matters • More on the best cult…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54AM
Friday, December 16, 2022

Derren Brown: Showman review – a performance that will blow your mind by Brian Logan

Apollo theatre, LondonThe veteran illusionist outdoes himself with an evening of bewildering trickery that holds a mirror to our deepest feelings Having followed his stage work for years, I …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM
Thursday, December 15, 2022

Jack and the Beanstalk review – no expense spared for giant all-star entertainment by Brian Logan

London PalladiumDawn French, Julian Clary and Alexandra Burke join an animatronic giant with a vast beanstalk in an innuendo-heavy, story-light show Pantos are usually cheap and cheerful, so…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM
Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Jazz Emu review – a joyful hour with a delusional musical star by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonWith his Scandi-nowhere accent and cool-dude aspirations, Archie Henderson’s comic character is improbable, clever and very funny ‘I’m in control,” sings Jazz Emu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM
Monday, December 12, 2022

Behold the spine-chilling TerrorTome: Garth Marenghi puts the ‘boo’ into book tour by Brian Logan

Matthew Holness’s fictional horror author is on the road reading from his novel – prepare to be terrified at the tills while we dream of his full return to the stage When is a show not a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12AM
Friday, December 9, 2022

Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed returns as Mr Swallow – and he’s not just for Christmas by Brian Logan

Once an under-the-radar live comedy jewel, Mohammed’s alter-ego impresario is hogging the spotlight in two new stage shows. Is the character destined for TV? Any assessment of the best cha…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:32PM
Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Ricky Gervais: Armageddon review – smug, macho, playground bants by Brian Logan

Apollo, ManchesterThere’s ample room in comedy to tease at woke over-earnestness but this weak and boorish set fails to engage Ricky Gervais gives us a little lecture after curtain call to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM
Friday, December 2, 2022

Peter Kay review – from tried and tested everyman routine to jaw-dropping pageant by Brian Logan

Manchester ArenaAfter 12 years away from the stage, the slimmed-down entertainer is more unapologetically nostalgic than ever No hotcake ever sold in greater quantity than tickets for Peter…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48PM
Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Mat Ewins review – digital gagster is full of nerdy fun by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonEven when the grouchy wannabe game-show host’s set is buffering he still delivers a winning formula of hi-tech comedy and twisty jokes In Danger Money, we find Mat Ewin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36PM
Monday, November 28, 2022

Jack and the Beanstalk review – sumptuously OTT panto has a big heart by Brian Logan

Lyric Hammersmith, LondonA streetwise Jack sells his cow for a tin of baked beans in this sugar rush of a show, which is underpinned with an anti-greed moral about the collective good Your e…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18PM
Thursday, November 24, 2022

The Delightful Sausage review – delicious cult comedy by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe tale of two ‘mucky northern oiks’ on a quest for success is less important than the joyful jokes, backchat and smutty puns en route The barely realised comic play…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM
Friday, November 18, 2022

Sara Pascoe: Success Story review – family beats fame for warm hilarity by Brian Logan

Dorking HallsPlayful material about Pascoe’s life on the celebrity B-list is eclipsed by a heartfelt second act focused on private truths about new motherhood Sara Pascoe isn’t the first…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM
Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Jerry Sadowitz: Not for Anyone review – an evening of incessant offence by Brian Logan

Hammersmith Apollo, LondonAfter his show was pulled from the Edinburgh fringe, the comic continues his efforts to outrage, resulting in deep discomfort as well as bleak brilliance “Winner …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06PM
Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Mark Thomas: Black and White review – soft targets and hard feelings by Brian Logan

Cambridge JunctionThe political comedian’s new touring show takes on Liz Truss and the Tories but too often swaps subtlety for stridency Mark Thomas’s last show drew on his lifetime of p…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:12PM
Sunday, November 13, 2022

Harriet Kemsley review – a smutty uprising against idealised femininity by Brian Logan

Palace theatre, SouthendThe manic 35-year-old riffs on pregnancy, childbirth and how she can make the world a less sexist place for her 10-month-old daughter The comedian reconsidering her l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM
Friday, November 11, 2022

Welcome back, Peter Kay, Britain’s big-hearted maestro of the mundane by Brian Logan

The standup is returning to the stage to welcome us back into his lovably parochial world. But will we ever know the man behind the homely persona? It can’t be easy to become the nation’…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PM
Wednesday, November 9, 2022

‘You should remain silent’: John Shuttleworth squares up to his own creator by Brian Logan

Graham Fellows’ film Father Earth records the Sheffield comedian’s trip to Orkney with his dad – and a bid to step out of his alter ego’s shadow When I last saw Graham Fellows in cha…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06PM
Sunday, November 6, 2022

Peter Pan’s Labyrinth review – wig out with Barrie, Bowie and Del Toro by Brian Logan

The Vaults, London Slapdash daftness propels Sleeping Trees’ glam mashup of a Christmas show, though more risk-taking would summon the magic to really fly Sleeping Trees are known for thei…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM
Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Elf Lyons: Raven review – fierce and funny fright-night by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonLyons raises her personal demons so she can publicly refuse to play by their rules in this complex comedy-horror crossover The eye-popping final sequence of Elf Lyons’s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24PM
Monday, October 31, 2022

Harry Hill review – reliably, joyously madcap as ever by Brian Logan

Milton Keynes theatreWhile not quite reaching previously attained heights of absurdity, the comic still pulls off a successful stream of nonsense It’s been a decade of tumultuous change si…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42PM
Thursday, October 27, 2022

Maybe a Ghost Story review – Daniel Kitson scares up a sparkling Halloween yarn by Brian Logan

Shakespeare’s Globe, LondonThe comedian is as spontaneous as ever in this unadorned show featuring a one-ghost campaign to rewild the sanitised customs of All Hallows Eve ‘Just a very lo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:33AM
Wednesday, October 26, 2022

‘My parents wanted to give me horse hormones’ – Sam Campbell, comedy’s new champion by Brian Logan

He breezed into the Edinburgh fringe late with just half a show – and won the ‘Oscar of comedy’. In his first ever face-to-face interview, the eccentric Aussie standup reveals what’s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:37PM
Monday, October 24, 2022

Suzi Ruffell review – self-mocking snapshot of hapless parenthood and cats’ behinds by Brian Logan

Farnham Maltings, Surrey The Portsmouth native is good company, cheerfully goofing around for our entertainment, but the set feels one draft short of its full potential New baby. Spiking anx…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:07AM

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 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic