Comedy Reviews

Jack Whitehall, O2 Arena - a mix of posh and puerile

Veronica Lee Tuesday, 26 November 2019

Jack Whitehall is hardly ever off the telly, appearing on gameshows or jollying around with his father, Michael, presenting the BRIT Awards and proving to be a decent actor in dramas such as Decline and Fall.

Ivo Graham: The Game of Life, Soho Theatre review - privilege and parenting

Veronica Lee Thursday, 21 November 2019

Ivo Graham's latest show The Game of Life follows on from his previous hour, in which he talked about passing a milestone in life and the prospect of starting a family.

Stewart Lee: Tornado/Snowflake, Leicester Square Theatre review - snark to Sharknado

Veronica Lee Tuesday, 19 November 2019

Stewart Lee is back on the road after three years, and he comes back wonderfully refreshed and on marvellous form with this double header, Tornado/Snowflake.

Comment

Jack Dee, Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage review - now he really is a grumpy old man

Veronica Lee Monday, 11 November 2019

Jack Dee has made a career out of being a grumpy old man, even though he started on the comedy circuit in 1986 when he was 25.

Tim Minchin, Eventim Apollo review - fabulous triumph of rhyme and reason

Jasper Rees Saturday, 09 November 2019

Is there anything Tim Minchin cannot do? He sings his own songs, plays hot bar-room piano and tells jokes about the existence of God. He composes musicals, performs in Lloyd Webber and Stoppard, writes a multimillion-dollar Hollywood cartoon which he is allowed to direct – until he isn’t.

Jonathan Pie, Eventim Apollo review - spoof reporter in coruscating form

Veronica Lee Tuesday, 05 November 2019

Jonathan Pie is a YouTube star, a spoof television news reporter (created by actor and comic Tom Walker), who is prone to gaffes. It was one of those on-screen gaffes that led to Pie being sacked as the BBC's Westminster correspondent, footage of which we see here on the onstage big screen alongside the highlights and lowlights of Pie's career – mostly the latter.

Lou Sanders, Soho Theatre review - feminism and dodgy massages

Veronica Lee Monday, 04 November 2019

Lou Sanders has named her latest show (which debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe) Say Hello to Your New Step-Mummy. But, as she tells us in her opening comments, she's not a mother or stepmother, and hasn't yet met a father she likes, but “by the end of the year, God willing…”

Ben Elton, Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall review - magnificent return to stand-up

Veronica Lee Thursday, 31 October 2019

It has been 15 years since Ben Elton, known as Motormouth in his 1980s heyday – last toured.

Lenny Henry, Watford Colosseum review - enjoyable evening with genial host

Veronica Lee Monday, 28 October 2019

It’s a long time since Lenny Henry performed live comedy, and a lot has happened in that interval. He has reinvented himself as a serious actor on stage and screen, become a spokesman for the black British experience, was knighted in 2015 and is now a national treasure.

Hannah Gadsby, Royal Festival Hall review - simply magnificent

Veronica Lee Saturday, 26 October 2019

It's a wonderful thing when a talented comic goes from niche performer to international star almost overnight, and that's what happened to Australian stand-up Hannah Gadsby. In 2017, she announced that her award-winning Edinburgh Fringe show, Nanette, was to be her last as she felt ground down after a decade in a misogynistic and homophobic industry.