Comedy Reviews
Lee Evans, Wembley ArenaWednesday, 14 September 2011![]()
Not everyone likes Lee Evans and his bespoke brand of simian gurning and jerky rubberised motion. But he is very much to the taste of a majority of the comedy-going classes. Few other stand-ups – you can count them on one hand – could spend a season touring the UK’s soulless edge-of-town arenas and not have to worry about performing to empty banks of raised seating. Evans tore into two sets of an hour each last night at Wembley Arena without, apparently, a thought of conserving any energy... Read more... |
Stephen Merchant, Reading HexagonTuesday, 13 September 2011![]()
Stephen Merchant has played the sleeping partner for so long in his professional relationship with Ricky Gervais that it was perhaps inevitable he would address the issue at the top of the show. The good thing about going on tour, apart from meeting ladies, is, he says, that he doesn't have to share the profits with "you know who". Read more... |
Outnumbered, Series Four, BBC OneFriday, 02 September 2011![]()
From the long shot of the suburban London semis onwards, I couldn’t help but think of the 1960s BBC sitcom Not in Front of the Children which similarly focused on a middle-class couple with three children. There’s no laughter track on Outnumbered but there’s also no escaping the fact that - apart from a colourful new range of insults the kids casually fire at each other (“numb-chuck”, “toss-piece”) - this could easily be one of Wendy Craig’s naughty but nice TV families,... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Andrew Maxwell/ Hannibal Buress/ Cariad LloydFriday, 26 August 2011![]()
It's typically intelligent and insightful stuff from the Irishman, who describes himself simply as a clown - but he's a clown with the requisite political knowledge and understanding of the human condition to make some pretty astute observations about how we are today. And despite his world view being basically lefty and libertarian at the same time, he's also self-aware enough to acknowledge his comfortable middle-class existence. Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Josie Long/ Josh WiddicombeFriday, 26 August 2011![]()
Last year, Josie Long, famous for her whimsical comedy and fey delivery, decided to get serious. Disheartened by the election result, she started to do political comedy, but sadly her level of analysis was along the lines of: “Anyone who voted Tory in May's election is a fucking cunt.” One year on in The Future is Another Place, the level hasn't been raised. Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Chris Ramsey/ Thom TuckThursday, 25 August 2011![]()
Chris Ramsey, Pleasance Courtyard ****It's easy to see why the Edinburgh Comedy Awards panel shortlisted South Shields comic Chris Ramsey. He's personable, very funny, has a well-constructed show - and is destined for a big television career any day soon. Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Sam Simmons/ Totally Tom/ Humphrey Ker/ Nick HelmWednesday, 24 August 2011![]()
Sam Simmons, Gilded Balloon ****Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Luke Haines/ The Horne SectionMonday, 22 August 2011![]()
If the cards had fallen differently Luke Haines might have been as big as Blur. As frontman of The Auteurs he was briefly tipped for Britpop greatness, so it is no surprise that he likes the idea of alternative histories. This special show, The North Sea Scrolls, was all about them, as Haines, former Microdisney linchpin Cathal... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Kieran and the Joes/ Conor O'Toole/ Tom Allen/ Kate SmurthwaiteSunday, 21 August 2011![]()
Kieran and the Joes are a three-man sketch group (Kieran Hodgson, Joe Markham and Joe Parham, working with co-writer Tom Meltzer) who are young, personable and very neatly dressed in shirts and ties - but while they may appear clean-cut their comedy veers nicely towards the dark. Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Adam Riches/ Kristin HershSaturday, 20 August 2011![]()
From the moment Adam Riches bursts onto the stage, spewing his business cards around as a manic showbiz agent who wants to sign up everyone and everything - including even the venue's walls and floor - this is a show of hyper energy and absurdist comedy. Read more... |
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