All stories by Brian Logan on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Jen Brister: Meaningless review – a furiously funny blast of rage by Brian Logan

Available online With weariness and seething frustration, the comedian sounds off in style about gender inequality and sexism The starting point of Jen Brister’s 2018 show Meaningless, no…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AM
Monday, June 1, 2020

Stamptown Comedy Night review – flying the flag for leftfield comedy by Brian Logan

Available onlineLive cabaret becomes alternative sketch show as the Stamptown gang make merry with Zoom-era laughs Can you capture online the raucous energy of the best live comedy cabarets?…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AM
Sunday, May 31, 2020

Patton Oswalt/Bob Rubin review – cuddly curmudgeon finds midlife bliss by Brian Logan

Available on Netflix★★★☆☆/★★☆☆☆Oswalt’s frothy set about ageing, Jesus and fitness freaks keeps the laughs coming, while a barking Rubin delivers something much harder …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM
Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Hannah Gadsby: Douglas review – crusading comedy with great gags by Brian Logan

Available on NetflixGadsby follows up her hit show Nanette with a swaggering set that blazes with well-earned confidence Hottest front-room seats: the best theatre and dance online The last …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:32PM
Monday, May 25, 2020

Lenny Bruce is Out Again review – the sound of distilled provocation by Brian Logan

Audio downloadSixty years on, the taboo-busting comic can seem incoherent and insensitive but there’s no doubting his masterful wordplay He may be the least listened-to of standup icons. N…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24AM
Friday, May 22, 2020

'What even is theatre now?': the fringe artists left out in the cold by Brian Logan

Festivals cancelled, venues shut and funding shelved: Covid-19 has forced those working in theatre to rethink their art form ‘It’s like the seven stages of grief,” says Paula Varjack,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM
Friday, May 15, 2020

Comedy Without Borders review – globe-straddling quarantine comedy by Brian Logan

Available on YouTubeEddie Izzard and standups from India, Australia and beyond roast fake news and bust coronavirus taboos in an entertaining if patchy webcam variety fundraiser for frontlin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42PM
Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill review – sublime standup from Mr Generic by Brian Logan

NetflixFinding a novel angle on everything from Pop-Tarts to the annoyances of modern technology, the American everyman is still on sparkling form Mixed messages emanate from Jerry Seinfeld�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AM
Sunday, May 3, 2020

Mark Watson’s Comedy Marathon: an irresistible carnival of idiocy by Brian Logan

The blokey joker fired up his webcam to deliver a 24 hours of faux-ballads, toilet humour and even a real-life wedding The best theatre and dance to watch online The best arts and entertain…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AM
Thursday, April 23, 2020

Maria Bamford: Weakness is the Brand – a comic totally in command by Brian Logan

Available onlineTherapy, foreplay and the nature of standup all fall into the crosshairs of a scattergun show that never fails to find its target Who better to turn to at a time of social is…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36PM
Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Ross Noble’s Lockdown Lounge: a welcome escape into nonsense by Brian Logan

Available onlineThe comedian’s daily interactive webcast is a load of shambolic, lo-fi silliness – which is just what we need right now Hottest front-room seats: the best theatre and da…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AM
Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Alice Fraser: Savage review – artful comedy from private trauma by Brian Logan

Amazon PrimeWith this adroit and thoughtful show about death and sadness, the Australian standup has her audience in tears • Hottest front-room seats: the best theatre and dance to watch …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:24AM
Sunday, April 12, 2020

Lockdown laughs: my night at a Cheese, Sex and Self-isolation Party by Brian Logan

This streaming event hosted by Anna Mann (AKA Colin Hoult) on NextUp was a valiant experiment in performing live comedy without an audience “There is no eerier sight,” my fellow comedy c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PM
Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Sincerely Louis CK review – #MeToo casualty returns with not-quite apology by Brian Logan

Available onlineThe comedian’s first standup special since he was disgraced in 2017 is heavy on self-pity and won’t appease those outraged by his behaviour Hottest front-room seats: the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:03AM
Monday, March 23, 2020

Stay at Home festival review – Mark Gatiss's dystopia flashbacks kick off comedy series by Brian Logan

The Sherlock star joined Robin Ince and Josie Long’s daily online broadcast to self-isolated comedy fans – and the results were rallying ‘Stay apart – and keep connecting,” is the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AM
Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Comedy's coronavirus crisis: 'performers are in deep, deep trouble' by Brian Logan

With gigs cancelled and no support given to an art form that Art Council England does not officially recognise, comedians fear the worst Coronavirus and culture – a list of major cancella…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM
Friday, March 13, 2020

The Special Relationship review – compelling tales in Trump cabaret by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonSix almost-Americans narrate stories of cruelties inflicted when being expelled from the US When we think of deportees, we seldom think of native Brits. But sometimes the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AM
Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Alexei Sayle review – a blizzard of rage and gloriously biting wit by Brian Logan

Epstein theatre, LiverpoolTouring for the first time in seven years, it’s clear that the standup veteran hasn’t lost any of his sharp humour ‘As Emperor Hirohito said after the Hiroshi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM
Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Steve Martin and Martin Short review – a delightfully daft double act by Brian Logan

SSE Hydro, GlasgowThe Two Amigos deploy mutual mickey-taking and the odd banjo riff in a variety show with comic timing to die for It started life as a cosy Q&A at a comedy festival. The…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM
Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Allez les standups! Are French comics gutsier than their British rivals? by Brian Logan

They’re inspired by Charlie Hedbo and tell jokes that would get British comedians cancelled. Our writer spends a week watching French standups How Greece’s theatre staged triumph from t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM
Monday, March 2, 2020

'It still frightens me': Tommy Tiernan on 25 years in comedy, from the Perrier to Derry Girls by Brian Logan

The titan of Irish comics is on a roll after his sitcom and chatshow success, but he is still excited and overwhelmed by the art of standup ‘The older you get,” asks Tommy Tiernan, “do…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:03AM
Sunday, March 1, 2020

Kojo Anim review – BGT star on fame, faith and fatherhood by Brian Logan

Fairfield Halls, LondonIn his show Taxi Tour, the comic from last year’s Britain’s Got Talent offers only standard-issue middle-aged standup Kojo Anim was a star of the black standup ci…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24PM
Friday, February 28, 2020

Mark Thomas: 50 Things About Us review – an inventory of Britishness by Brian Logan

Radlett Centre, HertfordshireThis grab-bag show sheds little light on our political travails but it’s stuffed with funny caricatures and plenty of myth-busting How did we get here? asks Ma…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AM
Tuesday, February 11, 2020

John-Luke Roberts: master of nonsense rails against comedy blandness by Brian Logan

The oddball standup delivers deliciously terrible, wonderful jokes as he leads the charge for alternatives to the mainstream When John-Luke Roberts scored an Edinburgh fringe success with th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06PM
Monday, February 10, 2020

David Baddiel – Trolls: Not the Dolls review – standup surveys the online cesspit by Brian Logan

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonThe comedian leads us from weird to wonderful to ‘the absolute worst of humanity’ in his new show about social media Twitter has curdled pub…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:18PM
Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Nigel Ng review – primetime culture-clash comedy by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe Malaysian standup is strongest when he delivers adroit gags about Asian versus British stereotypes, from dogs to food allergies Asians do this and Brits do that. That…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AM
Friday, January 24, 2020

Rosie Jones review – mischief, filth and poleaxing punchlines by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe standup’s new show, Backward, dissects the pitfalls of fame but her joyfully undercutting humour hasn’t suffered Rosie Jones appeared eight times, she specifies,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36AM
Thursday, January 23, 2020

The Chase's Paul Sinha: 'I’m going for laughs in bleak places' by Brian Logan

The gameshow star and former GP on how he wrote his ‘career best’ standup material after getting married – and being diagnosed with Parkinson’s ‘You don’t expect the most eventfu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:33AM
Thursday, January 16, 2020

The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel review – a magical fantasia by Brian Logan

Wilton’s Music Hall, LondonA transatlantic voyage in 1910, with the silent stars onboard, is the basis of Told By An Idiot’s beguiling comedy Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel shared a boa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM

Flo & Joan review – comedy's squabbling sister act pack in songs and surprises by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe charming musical misfits are funniest at their most absurd, serving up numbers that range from klezmer to folderol folk Most of us watched the Bros documentary and la…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM
Sunday, January 12, 2020

Maisie Adam review – hokey philosophy with a sucker punch by Brian Logan

Cambridge JunctionThe Yorkshire comic’s endearing set about mistakes made in public roars into life with a final, extraordinary reveal Who among us, deciding instantly on a course of actio…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PM