All stories by Brian Logan on BroadwayStars

Monday, September 27, 2021

Sh**ged Married Annoyed review – hit podcast makes mildly amusing night out by Brian Logan

London PalladiumChris and Rosie Ramsey’s material about their married life is jolly enough, but a five-minute advertorial is rather less so It has 65m downloads and counting. It claims the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24PM
Sunday, September 26, 2021

Ricky Gervais review – white heterosexual millionaire titters at his own taboos by Brian Logan

London PalladiumThe veteran provocateur, with his usual equal offensiveness policy, is amusing when he isn’t railing at straw men in this revival of his 2019 show Supernature “I’m a wh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM
Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Blithe Spirit review – Jennifer Saunders can’t save this deadly revival by Brian Logan

Harold Pinter theatre, London A lovely physical performance by Saunders brings moments of joy to an otherwise unsettled production of Noël Coward’s comedy You can have a seance to get in …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:18PM
Monday, September 20, 2021

Russell Brand review – piety, politics and parenting by Brian Logan

Royal and Derngate, Northampton The spiritual comedian’s lofty aspirations make way for funny riffs on fatherhood and lockdown in a self-ridiculing set Are we here for laughs, or spiritual…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:12PM
Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Live at the Globe with Dara Ó Briain review – a tempest of great gags by Brian Logan

Shakespeare’s Globe, LondonThe Mock the Week man clearly enjoys his turn on the prestige stage, and Jen Brister, Athena Kugblenu and Nina Conti are able supporting players If you must ente…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM
Thursday, September 9, 2021

Olga Koch review – uproarious, gleefully obscene comedy by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe Russian-born comic racks up the punchlines as she auditions to be a Bond girl, considers British quirks and recalls her schooldays The comedian from far afield, obser…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18PM
Monday, September 6, 2021

The Mighty Kids Beatbox Comedy Show review – extraordinary vocal gymnastics and doofus energy by Brian Logan

London Wonderground, Earls Court, LondonJarred Christmas’s human cartoon antics and Hobbit’s virtuoso microphone skills jolly the crowd along – but the show wasn’t as interactive as …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24PM
Friday, September 3, 2021

Simon Amstell review – shame, self-analysis and great gags by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe comedian flops in a New York hotel room, sheds his inhibitions at an ayahuasca ceremony and visits a Berlin sex club as he explores his midlife crisis No one zeroes i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM
Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Henry Normal: ‘Comedy’s like sugar. It makes things better but I wouldn’t eat it on its own’ by Brian Logan

The producer whose TV hits include The Royle Family and Gavin and Stacey on finding the poignancy in life’s little moments, and heading back to the comedy circuit with his poetry Comedians…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36PM
Friday, August 27, 2021

Bloody Mary Live! review – an audience with the killer queen by Brian Logan

Assembly Festival Garden, CoventryOlivia Miller dazzles in this tart and punky solo show, which reimagines the Tudor monarch as an in-yer-face Gen-Z teen You might consider the fraught life …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12PM
Thursday, August 26, 2021

Diane Chorley: Modern Love review – Duchess of Canvey’s hymn to solidarity by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, London After months of being starved of social contact, David Selley’s celebration of togetherness couldn’t be better timed Diane Chorley’s show made a splash two years a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12AM

Clowntime review – it’s a crime not to be funny in John Feffer’s dystopia by Brian Logan

Online@theSpaceUKGuileless hero Christopher Blank is ‘born without a single funny bone in his body’ in a one-man play that paints a near future US in broad brushstrokes Comedians becomin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12AM

Hamlet, Cabaret and a fistful of Romeos: the best theatre, comedy and dance of autumn 2021 by Arifa Akbar, Brian Logan and Lyndsey Winship

Cush Jumbo tackles the troubled prince, Jessie Buckley and Eddie Redmayne head for 30s Berlin, while standup favourites and dance spectaculars burst back on the stage Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12AM
Monday, August 23, 2021

Dead Ringers Live review – genteel mimicry needs an audience to fire it up by Brian Logan

London WondergroundDon’t expect the shock of the new from the BBC Radio 4 stalwart, but audience suggestions and music really lift the second half Is it a live show – or an impersonation…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54PM
Sunday, August 22, 2021

Joe Thomas: the post-Inbetweeners comedown by Brian Logan

The ex-Inbetweener’s new work-in-progress standup show, about breaking beyond being typecast, has a self-lacerating character The maladroit comic parlaying their anxiety into humour is as …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42PM
Sunday, August 15, 2021

Mark Thomas: Seriously Annoying review – heartfelt angry protest against proposed new law by Brian Logan

Arcola theatreThe comedian draws on his Clapham childhood and violent dad as he rails against the dangers of the government’s police, crime, sentencing and courts bill “Behaviour that ca…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54PM
Friday, August 13, 2021

Tom Mayhew review – self-effacing standup’s free-floating comedy by Brian Logan

Available onlineThe comic riffs on arts careers and money while playing video games and fending off his spirit animal in a likable show Tom Mayhew is performing live on Zoom every night of t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM

Tania Lacy review – a bittersweet ode to the trappings of fame by Brian Logan

Available onlineLacy’s tales about her time on Aussie TV may leave Britons bemused but her show finds its feet with a smart outlook on celebrity Tania Lacy’s standup show, Catch a Fallin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM
Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Chi With a C review – YouTuber brings Ab Fab and Killing Eve skits to big screen by Brian Logan

Rio Cinema, LondonLucia Keskin’s sense of fun and breakout potential radiates from these sketches shown at the Blue Tick festival There are leaps required of artists in this week’s Blue …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM
Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Phil Wang review – standup’s Netflix special skewers PC panic, Covid racism and himself by Brian Logan

NetflixWang studs his special with memorable one-liners that dissect his feminist pretensions, the fear of ageing and UK perceptions of east Asia From the other side of a global pandemic, he…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM
Friday, August 6, 2021

West End producer David Pugh: ‘My guiding principle was always: will mum like it?’ by Brian Logan

He turned Art and The Play What I Wrote into smashes. Now he’s handing out flyers for Charlie and Stan. But will pandemic-shy audiences come and see it? Reports of the death of the stere…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:36PM
Monday, August 2, 2021

Gagging order: is it ever OK to heckle a comedian? by Brian Logan

A set-ruining act of boorishness, or a vital rite of passage for standups? Often it depends on who’s doing the heckling In the Guide’s weekly Solved! column, we look into a crucial pop-c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:03PM
Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Jackie Mason: compellingly blunt joke-teller who was part of standup history by Brian Logan

Though in later years he fell from fashion, his rabbinical style in early routines felt very much like live comedy’s native tongue If Jackie Mason could speak to us now, he’d surely be r…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AM
Friday, July 16, 2021

Brighton Comedy Garden review – David O’Doherty brings the fireworks by Brian Logan

Preston Park, BrightonLou Sanders, Ed Gamble and John Robins cracked jokes for an acres-wide crowd, with O’Doherty’s delightful stream of consciousness the highlight Save for incapacitat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06PM
Sunday, July 11, 2021

Cambridge Comedy festival review – Mark Watson keeps head above water in washed-out Friday by Brian Logan

Grange Farm, HuntingdonWatson and Nabil Abdulrashid were two standups who managed to thrive on a first night where the rain was less forgiving than the hecklers Another al fresco comedy gala…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AM
Monday, July 5, 2021

Aisling Bea and Friends review – a ridiculous, furious treat by Brian Logan

Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, LondonThe Irish comedian and guests Nish Kumar and Fatiha El-Ghorri lift their crowd’s soggy spirits with some choice gags Aisling Bea is getting soaked; …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:03AM
Thursday, June 24, 2021

My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?) review – a family drops the love-bomb by Brian Logan

Turbine theatre, LondonUsing home videos of their own childhood, Rob Madge presents the moving and funny story of how a young Disney fan got to grow up to be Belle of the ball “Are you fil…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:03AM
Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Contrarian comic Fin Taylor: ‘I don’t believe in anything beyond getting the next laugh’ by Brian Logan

The explosively funny standup has joked provocatively about race, leftwing politics and gender. Next up, his mother-in-law In 2019, a performance of Fin Taylor’s #MeToo-themed When Harassy…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AM
Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Alyssa: Memoirs of a Queen review – ego fest with a helping of humility by Brian Logan

Vaudeville theatre, LondonRuPaul’s Drag Race star Alyssa Edwards rampages into the West End and has an easy way with the crowd “My favourite subject is talking about me,” Alyssa Edward…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:54PM
Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Sound Heap review – one podcast to spoof them all by Brian Logan

Available onlineThe age of peak podcast meets its match in John-Luke Roberts and his procession of hilariously titled imaginary shows In 2018, John-Luke Roberts’s Edinburgh show consisted …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:03AM
Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Chris Gethard: Half My Life review – arresting snapshots of a standup by Brian Logan

Available onlinePart behind-the-scenes doc and part reiteration of Gethard’s faith in comedy, this is a vivid portrait of a peripatetic life Chris Gethard’s new film opens with the 40-ye…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18PM