thu 05/12/2024

Year Out/Year In: Comedy Stands Up to Questions of Taste | reviews, news & interviews

Year Out/Year In: Comedy Stands Up to Questions of Taste

Year Out/Year In: Comedy Stands Up to Questions of Taste

A lorra lorra laffs - well mostly

Offensive? Moi? Jimmy Carr, keeping it real in 2010

It was a year when comics at opposite ends of the scale - offensive or annoyingly bland - were taking up room on our television screens and selling out ever-larger arena tours. And the depressing rule of thumb (with a few honourable exceptions) that the blander the comic, the bigger the venue, held true in 2010, so thank goodness there were some terrific shows by talented performers in medium-size theatres. As it happens, the most memorable show I saw all year was in a small venue at the Edinburgh Fringe (the American Bo Burnham).

It was a year when comics at opposite ends of the scale - offensive or annoyingly bland - were taking up room on our television screens and selling out ever-larger arena tours. And the depressing rule of thumb (with a few honourable exceptions) that the blander the comic, the bigger the venue, held true in 2010, so thank goodness there were some terrific shows by talented performers in medium-size theatres. As it happens, the most memorable show I saw all year was in a small venue at the Edinburgh Fringe (the American Bo Burnham).

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--the stigma surrounding mental illness Curious catch phrase. Apparently popular with some editors. Other versions were once popular with other editors. Eventually we shamed ourselves out of using them. Eventually we will shame ourselves out of using this one. Harold A. Maio

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