All stories by Brian Logan on BroadwayStars

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
Sunday, October 23, 2022

Joe Rogan review – ‘dumb guy’ comedy grounded in an alpha male world by Brian Logan

O2 Arena, London The controversial US podcaster finds fertile material challenging society’s sensitivities – yet while his standup takes pains to short-circuit offence, fear of emasculat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:07AM
Friday, October 21, 2022

Brown Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not to Come review – candid carnal chatter by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonRubina Pabani and Poppy Jay hop between banter, song and comedy skits in a show with a solid emotional and political core You get a particular type of laughter, undergird…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:07AM
Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Jerry Sadowitz on his Edinburgh ban: ‘Cancel culture isn’t a culture. It’s a diktat that’s been imposed on us’ by Brian Logan

When his show was pulled this summer over reports of nudity, sexism and racism, it caused a furore. In his first major interview since, the comedian explains why he will never tone down his …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:33PM
Sunday, October 16, 2022

Dara O Briain review – the Mock the Week man gets intimate by Brian Logan

Hammersmith Apollo, LondonFine crowd-work, choice joke-writing and a standout set-piece about the comedian’s Kafkaesque efforts to trace his birth parents We have Covid to thank for So Whe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:03AM
Friday, October 14, 2022

Tentacular Spectacular review – wade through Oozing Gloop’s psychosexual swamp by Brian Logan

Fierce festival, BirminghamThis immersive cabaret invites you into a world of ‘goblin core’, drag ogres and live art happenings Birmingham’s Fierce festival opened this week with a com…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:49AM
Thursday, October 13, 2022

Dave Gorman review – a geeky rummage through what the rest of us overlook by Brian Logan

Hackney Empire, LondonThe crossword-setting comic has lost none of his zest as he noodles in the nooks and deep-dives into the details Struggling for comedy work under lockdown, Dave Gorman …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:13PM
Tuesday, October 11, 2022

‘I’m a venal narcissist’ – standup Leo Reich on skewering his inner Gen-Z monster by Brian Logan

The hotly tipped comic was the talk of Edinburgh with his blistering hour of hilariously hollow egomania – and audiences haven’t a clue whether to pity or deplore him UK standup has a ne…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:33PM
Friday, October 7, 2022

Michelle Wolf review – no taboo is off limits for spiky standup by Brian Logan

Leicester Square theatre, LondonThe American comedian goes straight for the jugular in a fearlessly off-colour and skilfully constructed show ‘Oh, your queen died,” says Michelle Wolf, f…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:55PM
Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Louis CK review – sordid, cynical and queasy comedy by Brian Logan

Wembley Arena, LondonThe standup returns to the UK with a set on morality, sex and religion that often excels but also stalls with casual misanthropy The last time Louis CK performed major U…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AM
Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester review – slick comedy boastfully told by Brian Logan

NetflixThe campaigning US satirist covers politics, parenthood and ‘the jurisprudence of jokes’ in a brash set delivered with major brio You can’t accuse Hasan Minhaj of not packing en…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:43AM
Monday, October 3, 2022

Hannah Einbinder review – inventive, off-kilter standup from the Hacks star by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, London A brief but brazen set by the HBO series co-star shows a talent in full control of her own brand of scattershot comedy Emmy Award-nominated for playing a standup comedia…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AM
Thursday, September 29, 2022

Isy Suttie review – charming comic on a wild childhood chase by Brian Logan

Old Market, Brighton A thoroughly likable autobiographical show, comparing Suttie’s domestic midlife and her past daredevilry, hits the comic jackpot with its songs When Isy Suttie was a g…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:55AM
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Stewart Lee review – underpowered show still stronger than most by Brian Logan

Leicester Square theatre, LondonLess richly structured than his best work, this looser-limbed evening has given the comic wing-spreading room to experiment “Pure. Simple. Classic.” That�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:07PM
Thursday, September 22, 2022

Sarah Keyworth: Lost Boy review – serious self-analysis whips up gales of laughter by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe standup was planning an altogether sillier show, but life got in the way, resulting in a set that spins grief and loss into an uproarious hour Before Covid, and in co…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:25PM

Kim Noble: Lullaby for Scavengers review – strange, tender and endlessly funny by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe notorious comic and performance artist explores loneliness and the human/animal divide in an intricately assembled scrapbook show It’s taken Kim Noble seven years t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:25AM