All stories by Brian Logan on BroadwayStars

Monday, August 21, 2017

Iain Stirling review – the voice of Love Island speaks out by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghFans have flocked to hear him spill the beans on the islanders, but instead we get some sharply expressed though extremely familiar standup materialEdinburgh na…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM

Phil Wang: Kinabalu review – patriotism, privilege and lots of lube by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghEthnicity and empire are tricky subjects, but not for someone living the immigrant dream and riffing on race with a childlike glee‘I finally became a man this…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:48AM
Saturday, August 19, 2017

Hannah Gadsby review – electrifying farewell to standup by Brian Logan

Assembly George Square, EdinburghComedy proves inadequate consolation for battling the patriarchy in the Tasmanian standup’s uncomfortable but indelible swansong Hannah Gadsby’s extraord…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Friday, August 18, 2017

Rob Kemp: The Elvis Dead review – a gory cult classic in the making by Brian Logan

Heroes @ Monkey BarrelThe comedian’s inspired mashup of Evil Dead 2 and Elvis songs is much juicier than an ironic stunt‘This was only ever supposed to amuse me and my mates,” says Rob…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM
Thursday, August 17, 2017

Jon Pointing review – a cringeworthy new comic monster is unleashed by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Pointing’s egocentric creep Cayden Hunter and his spoof acting masterclass is mesmerisingly ghastly and deliciously daft Towards the end of last summer’s E…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42AM

From a mime and his baby to singing sisters: Edinburgh's comedy double acts by Brian Logan

Trygve Wakenshaw has brought his one-year-old son as a sidekick, Flo and Joan search for love and Giants present the old disintegrating duo routineFor as long as there’s been comedy, there…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:48AM
Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Standups on why they quit comedy: 'I have nightmares about having to do it again' by Brian Logan

She may be one of the favourites for this year’s Edinburgh Comedy awards, but Hannah Gadsby is about to call time on her career. Here, Gadsby, Patrick Marber, Natalie Haynes and Simon Fans…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06AM
Tuesday, August 15, 2017

John Robins review – painfully funny account of breaking up with Sara Pascoe by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe standup provides near-constant laughs in a startlingly honest, high-powered show that spares no one – least of all himselfCan things get any worse for Joh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM

An Indiana Jones spoof and the destruction of Palmyra – the best shows at the 2017 fringe by Lyn Gardner and Brian Logan

Six of the best from Edinburgh including Mat Ewins’ barrage of one-liners, a German teacher placement at a secondary school and a transgender journey Pleasance Courtyard Building on the su…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM
Monday, August 14, 2017

Mark Thomas review – comic gambles on his audience in a lively show by Brian Logan

Summerhall, Edinburgh The political comic mixes debate about Britain’s future with confessional memoir in an odd hybrid that solicits contributions from the crowdMark Thomas has called thi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:04PM

Rowdy, rude and darkly funny: Scottish standups at the Edinburgh festival by Brian Logan

Scott Gibson returns to the fringe after winning the best newcomer award in 2016. Can Scotland’s comedians triumph again this time?Fringe history was made last year when, for the first tim…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AM

Gein’s Family Giftshop review – purist sketch group's most memorable show yet by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe trio play depressed, maladroit losers with absolutely straight faces, and give an object lesson in offbeat humourMaking a virtue out of necessity, I’d cal…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18AM
Sunday, August 13, 2017

Alex Salmond ... Unleashed review: music and chat but no juicy gossip by Brian Logan

Assembly Rooms, EdinburghThe former first minister of Scotland and ex-MP has been promising a political kiss and tell, but he fails to deliver the goodsWhen the former first minister of Scot…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:04PM

Mat Ewins review – declaration of independence from seriousness by Brian Logan

Heroes @ The Hive, EdinburghRunning against the prevailing trend for sincerity in comedy, Mat Ewins’ Indiana Jones-inspired show is a paean to daftness, fabrication and windups, with a ter…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:33AM

Steen Raskopoulos review – fruitful but uneasy audience participation by Brian Logan

Underbelly Cowgate, EdinburghNot every audience member press-ganged into taking part in the Australian’s sketches has the confidence to keep up with a stellar performerTricky business, thi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:04AM
Friday, August 11, 2017

Kiri Pritchard-McLean review – pacey, lean, precision-tooled set from increasingly impressive comic by Brian Logan

Pleasance CourtyardPritchard-McLean’s debut about sexism was good. Her new show, Appropriate Adult, which touches on millennial angst and her volunteer work, is even betterEven at a festiv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM
Thursday, August 10, 2017

Dave Johns review – heartwarming tale of late-in-life change from I, Daniel Blake star by Brian Logan

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghJohns was ready to quit standup until Ken Loach came calling. His fringe return is full of humility and unpretentious good humourCinderella can’t touch this. Two y…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:48PM
Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Edinburgh festival 2017: the shows we recommend by Lyn Gardner and Brian Logan

Plan your viewing with our list of top shows, ordered by start time. This page will be updated throughout the festival Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:36AM

Aditi Mittal review – sharp reality checks amid Bollywood and Kama Sutra gags by Brian Logan

Underbelly Med Quad, EdinburghThe standup is strongest when she eviscerates cultural cliches in this nervy but promising fringe debutAditi Mittal’s recent Radio 4 show was called A Beginne…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM
Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Frankie Boyle | Comedy review by Brian Logan

Guildhall, Portsmouth"The most excruciating moment of my career," Frankie Boyle is said to have called it. But if he's embarrassed by his confrontation with a woman upset by his jokes about …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PM

Frankie Boyle review – the dark lord of comedy hits his meanest streak by Brian Logan

EICC, EdinburghThe cackling peddler of brutal jokes about the most sensitive subjects is not for the faint-hearted, but his new standup show is relentlessly funnyIf you thought Frankie Boyle…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AM

Jayde Adams review – she raps, she cries, she raises the roof by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh The outrageous standup turns a story of lifelong loneliness into an irresistible hymn to self-realisationElsewhere at the Edinburgh fringe, Rose Matafeo uses r…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:48AM
Monday, August 7, 2017

Alexei Sayle review – still angry after all these years by Brian Logan

Underbelly Med Quad, Edinburgh The standup aims his moral disgust at targets including the Queen, Dominic Sandbrook and Jack Whitehall, in a hilariously mean but erudite setWatching late-per…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Sunday, August 6, 2017

Rose Matafeo: Sassy Best Friend review – fun-filled satire on romcoms by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe comedian keeps things upbeat as she lightly interrogates Hollywood cliche and the role models on offer to young womenRose Matafeo has watched a lot of romco…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12PM

Joseph Morpurgo: Hammerhead review – uproariously funny Q&A spoof by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Morpurgo’s ludicrous satire on the post-show chat is so full of invention you could watch it twice and not stop laughingJoseph Morpurgo made a name for himse…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM
Saturday, August 5, 2017

Sara Pascoe: LadsLadsLads review – breakup tales from a woman reborn by Brian Logan

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe whipsmart standup overthinks, overshares and delivers a winningly funny show that finds the humour in heartbreakCall it reinvention, or call it back to basi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AM
Thursday, August 3, 2017

Comic Rose Matafeo: 'I definitely probably have a moderate amount of talent' by Brian Logan

Since first picking up the mic at 15, the standup has tap-danced, done Aerosmith karaoke and starred in her own TV show. So why does she want to disappear offstage?Was there ever a greater d…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12AM
Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Sam Simmons review – sublime oddity from aggressively silly standup by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonBy his own standards, the 2015 Edinburgh Comedy award-winner plays it relatively straight in his new show – but there are satisfyingly daft moments‘There are pockets …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AM
Thursday, July 20, 2017

Should Dapper Laughs be forgiven? by Brian Logan

The lad’s comic Daniel O’Reilly killed his on-stage persona after a sexism storm last year. But Dapper Laughs says he’s changed. So can he prove he’s a feminist – or even funny?Dap…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12PM
Sunday, July 16, 2017

Pam Ann review – 'Comedy of casual smut and insult' by Brian Logan

Leicester Square theatreHer misanthropic nymphomaniac shtick may be purposefully provocative, but Pam Ann's lewd talk, Asian accents and airline industry stereotypes make for deadening humou…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33PM
Friday, July 14, 2017

Can Daphne and The Pin save Radio 4 comedy? by Brian Logan

One act offers Badults-style sketches, the other does mindbending meta-gags. Both bring new shows to a station that specialises in self-satisfied comedyThe Pin and Daphne were part of a wave…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM

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