standup comedy
Tom Rosenthal, The Hawth, Crawley review - circumcision made funnyMonday, 09 March 2020
There's nothing you can't joke about, say all stand-up comics, but Tom Rosenthal has entered new territory with Manhood – a riveting and often raucously funny show about his circumcision. He is here, he says, “to avenge the theft of my... Read more... |
Lucy Porter, Quarterhouse, Folkestone review - confessions of an ex-BrownieMonday, 02 March 2020
Scouting and Girlguiding may seem awfully old-fashioned to some, yet many youngsters are still keen to join the Scout movement. Be Prepared (the Scout motto) was inspired by Lucy Porter's two children joining the Beavers, its youngest iteration.... Read more... |
Ahir Shah, West End Centre, Aldershot review - a millennial's existential angstFriday, 28 February 2020
Ahir Shah has delivered some very good comedy by performing as a man who knows he is right about everything – that's what a political degree from Cambridge can do for you. But now the comic, rightly lauded for his previous polemicist shows with two... Read more... |
Simon Brodkin, The Stables, Milton Keynes review - comics casts off his Lee Nelson characterThursday, 27 February 2020
Simon Brodkin is best known for his cheeky Cockney wideboy character Lee Nelson, and for pranking the famous – notably handing Theresa May her P45 at the Conservative Party conference in 2017, throwing Nazi-themed balls at Donald Trump when he... Read more... |
Alexei Sayle, Oxford Playhouse review - return of the political bruiserMonday, 24 February 2020
It has been seven years since Alexei Sayle last toured, with radio shows and books detaining him elsewhere, but he's back with a bang. As he walks on stage, he immediately starts railing about the “Eton boys running the country”; instead of hailing... Read more... |
Matt Forde, Soho Theatre review - Brexit and beyondFriday, 24 January 2020
Matt Forde sets out his stall in Brexit: Pursued by a Bear from the first line: “We meet in diabolical circumstances.” These aren't good times, he says, with two major leaders in the Western world whose relationship with the truth is merely that of... Read more... |
Frank Skinner, Garrick Theatre review - a masterclass in owning the roomThursday, 16 January 2020
When Frank Skinner did a London run of new material last year, the show was billed as a taster of a longer touring version. I wrote then that the show whetted my appetite for more, and I'm glad to say that the updated version, Showbiz, which now has... Read more... |
Leicester Comedy Festival Gala Preview Show, De Montfort Hall review - mixed bag in mixed billMonday, 13 January 2020
A mixed bill rarely pleases all comedy tastes – whether in style or content – and so it proved at the launch of the Leicester Comedy Festival, which starts next month. In a line-up of eight comics that had few star names, the best came last – but... Read more... |
Andy Parsons, Stamford Corn Exchange review - politics and the art of persuasionMonday, 02 December 2019
Andy Parsons is a comic known to like a good old rant, particularly on a political issue. But in Healing the Nation he takes a calmer, more conversational approach as he tries to do what it says on the tin in a show that he fully expected to be... Read more... |
Jack Whitehall, O2 Arena - a mix of posh and puerileTuesday, 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. But now he's gone back to live comedy... Read more... |
Ivo Graham: The Game of Life, Soho Theatre review - privilege and parentingThursday, 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. Now he is a dad, and uses domestic detail as the starting point for some fine... Read more... |
Jack Dee, Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage review - now he really is a grumpy old manMonday, 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. Back then, his dour, seen-it-all-and-not-impressed material was wonderfully at at odds not just with his age but also the... Read more... |
