2,036 stories by "Brian Logan"
Barbican, LondonGovernment attempts to engineer national identity are the target of this sideways satire by the theatre duo Ridiculusmus, in which bureaucrats fail to organise Team GB's…
People rate a joke higher when a comedian's name is attached " which proves just how susceptible we are to cults of funninessHave you ever been to see a well-known standup and noticed the cr…
Charing Cross theatre, LondonThe Leopold and Loeb case has been well represented on stage and screen, notably in Hitchcock's Rope. Stephen Dolginoff's 2005 musical zeroes in on the relations…
Not so long ago, this British-Muslim phenomenon was a games tester without a 'single positive aspect' to his life. A trip to see much-mocked self-help guru Tony Robbins changed all thatSo fa…
Jacksons Lane, LondonGeneration X Factor has found its perfect comedy duo in Frisky and Mannish, a karaoke-cabaret act who belt out medleys of pop hits. The joke is that F&M are "pop educato…
If the comedian wants his personal archive to get children hooked on standup, he should try picking some funnier clipsParents! Has your 10-year-old been acting unusually recently? Using his …
Corn Exchange, CambridgeDividing 19 years of marriage by $20m alimony, John Cleese's former wife made $3,650 each day she spent as Mrs C. The divorce has driven Cleese to undertake his first…
I cower at the mere sight of fake guns in the theatre. Why must plays be peppered with this weapon of mass distraction?"Warning: shots will be fired during tonight's performance." Oh no. Mus…
These men are aiming to resurrect the sketch show " with a time-travelling dinosaur and a wise old owlAt a time when comedy is booming and rookie standups are getting TV breaks faster t…
Udderbelly, London"Loud beatboxing and polite conversation" is how Simon "Shlomo" Kahn describes his show Mouthtronica. A one-man band without instruments, this vocal percussionist collabora…
Standup's growing popularity has seen it emerge from pubs and clubs to grander venues from the Nottingham Arena to the Albert Hall. Now the comedy must develop to fit themYou know all those …
Des Bishop turned his father's death into an extraordinary standup show. Does he regret it?At last year's Edinburgh fringe, at the end of comedian Des Bishop's extraordinary show about his f…
Des Bishop turned his father's death into an extraordinary standup show. Does he regret it? Continue reading...
I've just read Me Cheeta by James Lever, and it's made me think: why can't standup comedy be performed by monkeys? The weaknesses, but mainly strengths, of this novel are not irrelevant to t…
David Cameron is wrong to say socialists are humourless. In fact, there is a fine tradition of leftwing wagsYou might think a sense of humour was the first attribute required to be leftwing …
Reading Concert HallMilton Jones opens his new show, The Lion Whisperer, in character as his own doddering grandfather. But Jones Senior draws from the same pool of loopy one-liners wit…
Royal Albert Hall, LondonJohn Bishop's last series of live dates "was less of a tour," he tells us, "and more of me just having a little drive around." But yesterday's nobody is today's BBC1…
Arcola, LondonThe crew of the lakeboat T Harrison "say fuck in direct proportion to how bored they are", one of them tells the ship's cook, Dale. Conclusion: shipping on the Great Lakes is v…
Can experimental theatre tackle the big issues? Brian Logan meets the companies breeding a new strain of political dramaIn a rehearsal room in east London, five actors are impersonating the …
Cottesloe, LondonHere's a novel idea for David Cameron's big society: nothing forges community spirit quite like a serial killer in one's midst.Verbatim dramatist Alecky Blythe has previous …
Up the Creek, GreenwichIt's late and the audience at Up the Creek has watched two hours plus of comedy before Dwight Slade comes to the stage. And yet, after 30 seconds of Slade, everyone fe…
Gate, London"I found your story very difficult to listen to." So says Electra to Strophius, who has told her of her brother's death. And so say I to director Carrie Cracknell and adapter Nic…
Theatre Royal, Stratford EastIt makes perfect sense. Beatrice and Benedick's verbal sparring in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a precursor to freestyle rap - or at least, it's easy …
IndigO2, LondonSomebody once told Andy Parsons that it was his rhythm that makes him funny; that what he's actually saying is neither here nor there. It ain't so " as he demonstrates tonight…
Corn Exchange, IpswichDan Clark is riding high on the back of his BBC3 sitcom How Not to Live Your Life. I doubt he considered How Not to Tell a Joke as a title for his standup show, but the…
