The wig-wearing comic's new show about humdrum heroism is his best yet. But as his act strives for knockout poignancy, does the goofy get-up help or hinder?When John Kearns corpses, is he co…
O2 Arena, LondonIf you've got a taste for straight-up 1970s nostalgia comedy, you'll take a lot away from comedy stalwart Micky Flanagan's latest setYou may have seen Micky Flanagan on …
The UK's most popular comic is taking his cockney shtick on tour but he's more than a cheeky caricature " his democratic brand of humour is smart and generousI'm not sure whether to review M…
The stars of the Greenwich comedy festival had to concertina their standup routines. But can the likes of Dylan Moran and Bridget Christie ruminate and rage against the clock?What is the bas…
Leicester Square theatre, LondonCasting himself as a social misfit in his new show To Be Free, Amstell turns his fire, sometimes embarrassingly, on all of usWhat becomes of the neurotic come…
The Daily Express blasts Lee Mack for his views on female comedians, a bunch of comedians take part in skirmishes, and Hello Ladies gets lacklustre reviewsYou know you're in trouble when the…
Now the fringe is over, comics from Desiree Burch to John Bishop are hitting the road with jokes about fertility anxiety, political correctness and life as a 'virgin dominatrix'Maybe you're …
Relationship breakdown and homophobia in Australia pick up a prize " or two " for John Robins and Hannah GadsbyThe longest ever shortlist. The first ever joint winners. And clearly, the most…
Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, EdinburghThe laughs keep coming in The Audition, a ramshackle tale of Steven Spielberg, talking robots and a bank-robbing fishThere aren't many ways that a Spencer Jo…
A new wave of comedians probing faults in leftwing politics provoke a crucial debate, but does their exaggerated antagonism hamper the cause?Identity politics has gone too far. PC has gone m…
Underbelly Med Quad, EdinburghWith a parrot costume, Jacques Brel songs and silly set pieces, Lyons dreams up an almost aggressively winsome hour of complete nonsenseIs it comedy, or a spiri…
Some people are angry that Channel 4 is developing Hungry, a comedy set in one of Ireland's darkest times. But don't judge a script before it's writtenThe idea dies hard that comedy automati…
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghYou seldom know exactly what's happening in this set as our host prowls the room, eyeballs the audience and wreaks confusionIs the comedy world big enough for a…
Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, EdinburghIn a likable and thoughtful set, the Canadian standup revisits her adolescence and explores the affinities between relationships and recreational drugsYo…
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghIn a cracking show, Branded, Willan has an easy rapport with the audience as she interrogates her identity as a northern, female, working-class comedian Norther…
Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, EdinburghThe astute standup drills into the divided, dysfunctional state of our world in a combative hour of coruscating comedy "I'm left, I'm liberal and …
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…
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 y…
Assembly George Square, EdinburghComedy proves inadequate consolation for battling the patriarchy in the Tasmanian standup's uncomfortable but indelible swansong Hannah Gadsby's extraordinar…
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 Kemp …
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 Edinb…
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's…
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 Fansha…
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 John …
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 this …