Friday, September 9, 2011
The Boy With Tape On His Face, Hull, LancasterIt's amazing what a short length of gaffer tape can allow you to achieve. For Sam Wills, it's helped to bring mime back into contemporary comedy…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PMFriday, August 26, 2011
Neil Hamburger, Edward Aczel, Edinburgh, LondonPity those poor fringe-goers who arrive on the last weekend hoping for a cheery fix of Live At The Apollo-style stand-up, and find themselves i…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PMFriday, August 19, 2011
Simon Munnery: Hats Off For The 101ers & La ConceptaThere is a special informal category on the Edinburgh festival fringe for performers who (through a special genius and stubborn staying po…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:09PMFriday, August 12, 2011
Nick Helm: Dare To DreamThe first thing you have to get used to with Nick Helm is the shouting. His entire set is almost one long uninterrupted bellow, almost as if he's part standup, part d…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:09PMFriday, August 5, 2011
Doug Stanhope, London, CD/DVD setGiven the way that seemingly the entire comedy community develops a steely single-minded focus on Edinburgh every summer, it's easy to imagine that the rest …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:09PMThursday, August 4, 2011
As the Edinburgh festival kicks off, James Kettle asks a bunch of this year's comedy stars to tell us their best gagEvery summer I meet people who tell me they don't like air-…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:31PMFriday, July 29, 2011
Cariad LloydThere are many female performers doing character comedy, but it can be hard to tell which ones have proper comic instincts running through their bones and which are simply aspiri…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:09PMOur expert panel tell us their inspirations, favourite funny words, and what always gets a laughHow many gigs does a comic have to do before they're any good?Tom Rosenthal How many lives doe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:04PMFriday, July 22, 2011
Sam Simmons: Fail, LondonSome comics may whinge about leaving London for a month to take part in the Edinburgh fringe but spare a thought for those who've travelled from much further afield.…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:07PMFriday, July 15, 2011
Joe Wilkinson, Hemel HempsteadOne of the stand-out new sitcoms last year was Stefan Golaszewski's Him & Her, which managed the difficult trick of mixing balls-out crudity with wit and genuin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:07PMWith the launch of ITV1's new comedy talent show Show Me The Funny, Alan Davies talks to James Kettle about stand-upITV1's latest talent contest Show Me The Funny – Stand-Up Showdown offer…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PMFriday, July 8, 2011
Marcel Lucont, EdinburghAfter all the excitement of Jerry Seinfeld, here comes the latest exotic import to arrive on these shores and show us all how comedy really should be done. Marcel Luc…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:09PMFriday, July 1, 2011
Jim Breuer, London, StevenageSaturday Night Live has launched some stellar comedy careers, from Bill Murray to Tina Fey. But while some move on from SNL to movie stardom, international recog…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:09PMFriday, June 24, 2011
Kerry Godliman, Godalming, BirminghamKerry Godliman's stage persona is low-key and down-to-earth, an appropriate match for her particular band of well-crafted commonsense observational comed…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:08PMFriday, June 17, 2011
Ian D Montfort, Birmingham & LondonTaking the piss out of spiritual mediums and fortune telling isn't exactly groundbreaking new territory for comedy, but no one does it with quite the same …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05PMFriday, June 10, 2011
Peacock And Gamble, NottinghamComedy podcasts have a habit of gaining a life of their own. In recent times, we've seen Olly Mann and Helen Zaltzman's excellent Answer Me This! getting turned…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:23PMThe 20-year-old could be his generation's Steve Martin, but right now he's pleased to be knocking around with Tim KeyWinchester, Andover, Ipswich: all towns that you might expect any aspirin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:07PMFriday, June 3, 2011
Dead Cat Bounce, Kilkenny & WaterfordThe Kilkenny Comedy Festival is Ireland's most important laughterfest and it's become celebrated for the international performers it attracts. That's as …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:14PMFriday, May 27, 2011
As Jerry Seinfeld returns to the UK for his first show in 12 years, James Kettle looks back on the best moments of his long-running sitcomGeorge Costanza's worlds collideJason Alexander's Ge…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:08PMStewart Lee's Austerity Binge: At Last The 1981 Show, LondonLet's park for a moment the fresh-faced stand-ups usually featured on this page (performers recently identified by Stewart Lee as …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PMFriday, May 20, 2011
The Beta Males, The Boom Jennies, BrightonComedy on this year's Brighton festival fringe is a mixed bag. There are some promising new names, such as laidback Canadian Pat Burtscher or geezer…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PMFriday, May 13, 2011
Helen Keen, Edinburgh & BrightonHelen Keen's comedy is pretty niche. She's not a performer who gets laughs by drawing attention to experiences everyone can share; instead, she draws the audi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05PMFriday, May 6, 2011
Joe Lycett, LondonMany comedians devote themselves to noble causes – from Mark Thomas's tireless activism against Coca-Cola to Robin Ince's fearless defence of the spirit of rationalism. B…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05PMFriday, April 29, 2011
The Camden Comedy Crawl/Liverpool Comedy FestivalTwo very different festivals get underway this week, with very different agendas. Liverpool's Comedy Festival (to 8 May) is a classic example…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PMFriday, April 22, 2011
Diane Spencer, On tourIn this royal wedding week, it seems fitting to draw attention to a young comedian blessed with strong material, a winning delivery and a fairly familiar name. Diane Sp…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:07PMThursday, April 21, 2011
The Twitter touchpaper is lit again as comics vent their rage over the competition's new £15 entry fee. Are they going overboard?It doesn't take much to get standups venting spleen on Twitt…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:35AMFriday, April 1, 2011
Gareth Richards, On tourThe Omnichord is not an instrument you often see in musical comedy. Actually, it's not an instrument you often see, full stop. A cross between an early synth and a ba…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PMFriday, March 18, 2011
Doug Stanhope, On tourDoug Stanhope is a little bit extreme. Not simply with regard to his personal habits – namely the pre-gig recreational pursuits that sometimes threaten to refresh him…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06PMHis TV pilots keep getting axed, and he believes there's 'no realistic limit' to what you can say in stand-up. But this Edinburgh fringe favourite takes his responsibilities seriouslyFrankie…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:04PMFriday, March 11, 2011
Elis James: Daytripper, Cardiff & LondonJust one of a phalanx of exciting young comic talent coming through from Wales, Carmarthen-born Elis James is rapidly building a reputation for himsel…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:08PMFriday, March 4, 2011
Barry And Stuart: Powered By Demons, LondonBBC1's recent Saturday night offering The Magicians might have been a bit of a hit-and-miss affair, based on the questionable idea that audiences w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:07PM 
