Comedy
Noel Fielding, Eventim ApolloWednesday, 19 November 2014![]() Many of the audience for An Evening with Noel Fielding were still in nappies when the comic first plied his trade as one half of The Mighty Boosh with Julian Barrett, which started life on the Edinburgh Fringe in the late 1990s and quickly became a... Read more... |
John Bishop, TouringTuesday, 11 November 2014![]() It's a conundrum for some in the industry how John Bishop, so beloved of the BBC, which has given him several vehicles to parlay his Liverpool-lad-made-good comedy, can still, as a multimillionaire, perform his smiley Everyman persona with such... Read more... |
Jim Davidson, Sands Centre, CarlisleMonday, 03 November 2014![]() Well, here’s a first; I was taken to a comic’s dressing room to be checked out before I could review his show. There was a mix-up over tickets for Jim Davidson so the front-of-house manager asked him If he would give the OK to let me in. “He wants... Read more... |
Lee Mack, Eventim ApolloThursday, 23 October 2014![]() The last time I saw Lee Mack live, my companion and I were literally in pain because we were laughing so much. It's perhaps unfair to expect a repeat of such a wonderful, life-affirming experience - live comedy is an ephemeral art, after all - but... Read more... |
Paul Daniels, TouringMonday, 06 October 2014![]() It's inevitable that Paul Daniels would introduce his wife and onstage partner as “... the lovely Debbie McGee”, one of two phrases now synonymous with the magician and comic. (The other, “you'll like this, not a lot”, makes an appearance later in... Read more... |
Lee Evans, O2 ArenaSaturday, 27 September 2014![]() Lee Evans is one of those comics people either love or can't stick, and the audience at the O2 Arena last night clearly fell into the former camp – not much point in them being there at 55 quid a pop otherwise. For the latter group, though, his new... Read more... |
Luisa Omielan, Soho TheatreThursday, 25 September 2014![]() Awards are strange things; they can recognise real achievement while at the same time overlook the really talented. Annoyingly, Luisa Omielan fell into the second category with her first two full shows - What Would Beyoncé Do? and its equally joyous... Read more... |
Forbidden Broadway, Vaudeville TheatreTuesday, 16 September 2014![]() “It takes a star to parody one,” wrote theartsdesk’s Edward Seckerson, nailing the essence of this immortal spoof-fest’s last incarnation at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Star quality was assured given the presence of Damian Humbley, peerless in... Read more... |
Joan Rivers, 1933-2014Friday, 05 September 2014![]() Age could not wither her, or so it appeared. Joan Rivers has died, aged 81. On her 80th birthday she told an interviewer she’d be celebrating with her eightieth face. Her caustic humour could leave your nerves jangling, but she was the butt of it as... Read more... |
Steen Raskopoulos, Soho TheatreThursday, 28 August 2014![]() Steen Raskopoulos has hit the ground running with his debut show; it was nominated for a Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award (best newcomer) at the Fringe earlier this month, after he won Sydney Comedy Festival 2013 and Melbourne International Comedy... Read more... |
John Kearns/ Alex Edelman/ This Is CeilidhTuesday, 26 August 2014![]() John Kearns: Shtick, Voodoo Rooms ****London comic John Kearns made history at the weekend, when he became the first comic to win the main prize at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards after winning best newcomer gong, which he did last year That's some... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2014: Chris Turner/ BEASTS/ Angela Barnes/ Show PonyTuesday, 19 August 2014![]() Chris Turner: Pretty Fly, Pleasance Courtyard ****This is Chris Turner's debut show as a stand-up, although his previous experience in improv group Racing Minds gives him a wonderful assurance on stage and an easy rapport with his audience.Turner,... Read more... |
