Comedy
theartsdesk
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts lovers and professionals alike – but the response to our appeal to help us relaunch and reboot has been something else.Our fundraiser is rolling towards hitting the halfway mark, and it’s already raised enough to repair our ageing site and ensure its survival. But just as important to all of us have been the messages of love and support from our readership. It’s not just the morale boost of being praised either – though let’s be honest, the warm glow is pretty Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Ania Magliano has built a solid body of work over the past few years with her thoughtful, self-reflective shows (gaining an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination on the way), and a following boosted by her appearances on Taskmaster and SNL UK.After her television sojourn she’s back to stand-up with Peach Fuzz (which I saw at Soho Theatre), another walk through her life, this time her relationship with her body.Before she dives into that, though, there’s some “heat admin” in the very hot room during this blessedly warm summer many of us are having. She has even brought along some ice lollies for Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Lenny Henry’s latest foray into live performance takes him back to his comedy roots, after several years doing theatre and television work. Still at Large, which I saw at Soho Theatre Walthamstow, is part stand-up, part storytelling as he talks about his life and career.He starts by bringing us up to date with what has been happening since he last toured – including winning a BAFTA and being knighted by the late Queen. Not bad for a career which started with him doing impressions on the television talent show New Faces, and later included Henry co-founding Comic Relief and appearing in Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Wanda Sykes is a comic, actress and writer who has written for Chris Rock and appeared in Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Good Fight and, more latterly, Netflix series The Upshaws. But standup fans know her for her on-the-money political humour, and in this Netflix special she doesn’t disappoint.Sykes opens Legacy by reminiscing about her time at Hampton University in Virginia. Things have improved since she studied there, she says, pointing to the spacious auditorium she is performing in, new sports facilities, more cafeterias. In her day, the only dining option was, she says drily, “gravy, Read more ...
Veronica Lee
The last time I reviewed John Kearns, he mentioned being the father of a young child. Three years on, life has changed for the comic: he has separated from his partner of 12 years and is living back home with his parents. It’s a story that emerges through Tilting at Windmills, his most personal show yet.It could be a sad 70 minutes, but Kearns, an absurdist comic who performs in a tonsure wig and false teeth, mines the comedy of a man fast approaching 40, assessing his life choices after what he describes as an awful year.The show, which I saw at Wilton's Music Hall in London, is a sort of Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Scott Bennett is a busy guy at the moment, touring as he is with not one, but two shows; Blood Sugar Baby, a personal piece of storytelling about a family medical ordeal, and Stuff, which is presented more in his usual strand of Everyman comedy. In truth, I thought I was going to review the former at the Leicester Square Theatre, but I ended up going to the latter – and I’m glad I did.Bennett is an accomplished observational comic with a keen eye for everyday absurdities, other people’s as well as his own, and over an energetic 90 minutes during which he barely pauses for breath he reflects Read more ...
Veronica Lee
As a catchline for a tour, “40 years of arsing about in comedy” is a grabber. That’s how Harry Enfield describes Harry Enfield and No Chums!, and it certainly shows that he is still, well, arsing about to great effect as he casts an eye over his life and careerThe show is a collection of anecdotes about his life and some of the characters he has voiced in television programmes such as Spitting Image, or created for shows such as Saturday Live and Harry Enfield & Chums.He comes on stage as King Charles, whom he has spoofed in The Windsors. The references to cancer are unexpected, but then Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Sarah Millican is at an age where she is pausing to reflect and in Late Bloomer, her most recent show – shown as a special on Channel 4 and Netflix outside the UK and Ireland – she ruminates on what the teenage Sarah would have thought of middle-aged Sarah.The former was shy and bullied, the latter is super confident and a hugely successful comic. How did she get from there to here?To set the scene, Millican divides children into two categories: late bloomers and eager beavers, and she has a handy list that explains the differences so we can see where we are along the spectrum. Among her Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Phil Ellis has been plying his trade for a while and is an established performer at the Edinburgh Fringe, where he has won awards – including the Edinburgh Comedy Award Panel Prize in 2014. And now happily he has come to a wider audience through his appearance on series 20 of Taskmaster.He makes a wry reference to the Channel 4 show during his mock bigging-up introduction by DJ sidekick (played by comic Tom Short) – who points out “loser” Ellis didn’t win. It’s typical of the self-mockery in Bath Mat, his touring show which I saw at the Leicester Square Theatre, in which Ellis paints a Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Mark Simmons is, in the nicest possible way, an old-fashioned comic, in that he tells jokes. Puns, one-liners, slow-burners, delayed payoffs as well as visual and physical gags, he’s got them all, lots of them, and they’re all rather good.His craftsmanship has been recognised by colleagues and audiences alike; he was voted UK comics’ comic in 2022 and in 2024 won Dave’s best joke of the Edinburgh Fringe for "I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship, but I bottled it.” Now he’s on his debut UK tour, which I saw at Winchester Theatre Royal.As he comes on stage Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Simon Amstell says this show is a departure from his previous ones, which were full of angsty introspection. And true, in I Love It Here he appears less wired, but fans fear not; this is more of the same, albeit wrapped up in positivity and some knowing self-deprecation.The show is a description of a Hollywood party he attended last year while living in Los Angeles with his partner of 14 years, and the comic seems to be in a happy place – or at least a contented one. He was relieved, he says, not being expected to “be” Simon Amstell, away from the level of fame that hosting Channel 4’s Read more ...
Veronica Lee
We’ve become so used to Bridget Christie taking on big themes – sexism and the menopause among them – that a show more akin to observational comedy comes as a bit of surprise. Then again, while her friends, dating and the woes of parenting form the solid base of Jacket Potato Pizza, she layers it with some politics too.It’s political comedy – nicely laden with sarcasm – that Christie starts with as she talks about Melania Trump. Does she have no friends, the comic asks, performing a conversation between the First Lady and an imaginary pal, questioning Melania’s life choices.Female friendship Read more ...