Comedy
Emmanuel Sonubi, ArtsDepot review - confessions of a former bouncerMonday, 17 April 2023![]() Emmanuel Sonubi burst on the scene at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, where he was nominated in the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards, and has since appeared on the BBC's Live at the Apollo and supported Jason Manford on tour. It's easy to see why... Read more... |
Chris Rock, Netflix special review - no holds barred on the Oscars slapFriday, 17 March 2023![]() Chris Rock knows how to tease. It’s a safe bet that many watching this show are here for one thing – to hear his version of events that took place at last year’s Oscars, when actor and erstwhile rapper Will Smith came on stage and slapped the... Read more... |
Crybabies, Soho Theatre review - sharp sci-fi spoofThursday, 09 March 2023![]() Crybabies – a sketch group comprised of Michael Clarke, James Gault and Ed Jones – were nominated for best newcomer for Danger Parade, a brilliant parody of Second World War adventure stories, at the 2019 Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Their second... Read more... |
Bridget Christie, The Haymarket, Basingstoke review - making the menopause funnyTuesday, 07 March 2023![]() Bridget Christie is hot. Not in that way, you mucky pups. She’s hot because she’s 51 and menopausal, she tells us – and she’s on a mission to explain why, rather than marking a negative moment in her life, it’s the start of a new age, and a good one... Read more... |
Ricky Gervais, BIC review - nudging the boundaries againMonday, 27 February 2023![]() Ricky Gervais tells us at the top of the show that there was a backlash to his 2022 Netflix special SuperNature. So big, he says, that it’s become the most watched comedy special of the year. “So I’ve learnt my lesson,” he says with a side-eye to... Read more... |
'Weird Al' Yankovic, London Palladium review - deep dive into his original songsTuesday, 21 February 2023![]() The most striking thing at the London Palladium for the last night of “Weird Al” Yankovic's mini-tour of the UK was the number of youngsters in the audience. I don't mean young adults, but children, who were there with their parents and even... Read more... |
Catherine Cohen, Brighton Komedia review - songs and New York sassThursday, 09 February 2023![]() Catherine Cohen made quite an impact at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe, where she won best newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for The Twist? She's Gorgeous. Global events have delayed her follow-up and a UK debut tour, but here it is, and Come For... Read more... |
Lucy Porter, Cambridge Junction review - making light of a midlife crisisMonday, 23 January 2023![]() A lot has been happening in Lucy Porter’s life since she last toured. The pandemic we all know about, so she doesn’t detain us to recount her lockdown woes; they get merely tangential mentions in Wake Up Call as she talks about more recent events... Read more... |
Alex Edelman, Menier Chocolate Factory review - London run for unmissable off-Broadway hitSaturday, 21 January 2023![]() At one point in this brilliantly constructed and performed set, Alex Edelman ponders on the catchment area for his comedy and figures it might be the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Nah: this is comedy that can talk to anybody with a brain. ... Read more... |
Best of 2022: ComedyFriday, 30 December 2022![]() In 2022 we were finally able to welcome back the first “proper” Edinburgh Fringe since 2019. While I was disappointed that a few established comics – they know who they are – hadn't used the enforced layoff from live comedy to, you know, write new... Read more... |
10 Questions for comedian Alex EdelmanMonday, 19 December 2022![]() US comic Alex Edelman first came to the attention of British audiences in 2014, when he was named best newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for his show Millennial, in which, said one critic, “he regales us with tales of smart-arsery and backchat... Read more... |
A Christmas Carol-ish, Soho Theatre review - Mr Swallow causes havoc againThursday, 15 December 2022![]() At this time of year you can't move for productions of A Christmas Carol, Dickens' seasonal morality tale. Some are brilliant, some so-so, but this one by the power-crazed impresario Mr Swallow, whose ambition always exceeds his talent, is a joy.... Read more... |
