Comedy Reviews
Milk and Gall, Theatre 503 review - motherhood in the age of TrumpThursday, 11 November 2021![]()
Tuesday, 8 November 2016. Vera is in a New York hospital room giving birth to a son. On anxiously checked phones, the votes are piling up for Hillary, but the states are piling up for Trump. Vera’s world will never be the same again. Read more... |
Iliza Shlesinger, Eventim Apollo review - feminism, the internet - and brasFriday, 05 November 2021![]()
Iliza Shlesinger is an American writer, performer and presenter whose film work includes roles in Pieces of a Woman and Good on Paper, the latter which she also wrote and produced. She's also an established stand-up comic, with five Netflix specials to her name. For her latest stand-up show, Back in Action, she was on a fleeting visit to London as part of an international 70-date tour, delayed by COVID, before she performs some dates in the US. Read more... |
Dave Chappelle: The Closer, Netflix review - race and class examinedWednesday, 20 October 2021![]()
Say what you like about Dave Chappelle, but if nothing else he's an equal-opportunities offender, as his latest Netflix special, The Closer, proves. The last of his six specials for the network, all of which have drawn criticism – as well as plaudits – for his uncompromising “I tell it as I see it” material has again provoked ire in some quarters. Read more... |
Jason Manford, London Palladium review - lockdown laughs and feelgood funMonday, 11 October 2021![]()
Tickets for Jason Manford's Like Me went on sale in 2019 but the tour had to be put on hold as events unavoidably detained him at home. "I hope you haven't gone off me in that time – it does happen," he said. He needn't have worried as the Palladium crowd were as delighted as he was to be in a theatre, having a laugh. Read more... |
Blithe Spirit, Harold Pinter Theatre review - an amusing, if dated, revival of the Coward classicWednesday, 22 September 2021![]()
We’re in an agreeable drawing room with an author, Charles Condomine, who is looking forward to having a bit of fun with a local spiritualist, Madame Arcati, whom he has invited over for an evening séance. Read more... |
Anuvab Pal, Soho Theatre review - Empire and Bollywood collideMonday, 20 September 2021![]()
Anuvab Pal may be a new name to some UK audiences (although many will know him from the global satirical podcast The Bugle), but he is well known in his native India. Read more... |
Olga Koch, Soho Theatre review - personal, political and playfulMonday, 13 September 2021![]()
Olga Koch – born in Russia to ethnic German parents, multilingual and now living in London – might fit into the group that Theresa May once dismissed as “citizens of nowhere”, whatever that phrase means. Read more... |
Dead Ringers Live, London Wonderground review - impressionists on great formFriday, 20 August 2021![]()
Here's a treat for those missing Dead Ringers (created by Bill Dare) as it takes a break on Radio 4. Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2021: Comedy Allstars, Underbelly review - depleted festival kicks offThursday, 12 August 2021![]()
At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, this year's Fringe is a much smaller beast than normal. In the face of Covid restrictions, uncertainty about when they would end and the limitations on international travel, this year many performers are staying away. There are 755 shows at 118 venues across the city, compared to 3,841 in 323 venues in 2019, the last time the Fringe was held. Read more... |
Wonderville, Palace Theatre review - magic and illusion family showThursday, 05 August 2021![]()
Variety is a form of entertainment most usually seen on Saturday night television these days, but Wonderville is an attempt to bring it back into the West End. Read more... |
Pages
latest in today

It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...

Lizz Wright’s exquisite singing breaks all boundaries between soul, gospel and jazz. In so doing she channels many interwoven strands of the...

Wardruna are something of a modern musical phenomenon. Part Scandinavian folk revival, part prog rock epic and part pagan ritual, their wide-...

With qualifying about to begin for the soccer...

I so wanted to like Flow. I’d heard good things from usually reliable critic friends who’d seen it already and told me it had...

Going by the sounds of her new album, it wouldn’t unreasonable to assume that Greentea Peng enjoys sucking on a spliff every once in a while. ...

A dictionary definition of adolescence is “the transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood”, but in this four-...

Radhika Apte has been acclaimed for her ebullient performance as a reluctant bride in Sister Midnight since...
Few symphonies lasting over an hour hold the attention (Mahler’s can; even Messiaen’s Turangalîla feels two movements too...