standup comedy
Nish Kumar, Soho Theatre review - the state we're inFriday, 05 October 2018
Blimey, Nish Kumar is angry. Angry about Donald Trump, angry about misogyny, angry about racism, angry about Brexit – angry about a lot of things. But before anyone could dismiss It's In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves as a checklist of woke... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2018: Rose Matafeo reviewMonday, 27 August 2018
As we enter the venue, Rose Matafeo is playing a game of mini table tennis with a member of the audience. Nothing that follows seems to relate to this “just a bit of fun to start the show” – but, trust me, it's one of the cleverest bits of... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2018 reviews: Rosie Jones/ Marcus Brigstocke/ Alice SneddenFriday, 17 August 2018
Rosie Jones ★★★★There are two versions of Rosie Jones, she tells us; one nice, one not so nice. And who knows which of those would have won the battle of psyches if the comic had not been deprived of oxygen for a quarter of an hour during birth, she... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2018 reviews: Ari Shaffir/ Ashley Blaker/ Janeane GarofaloMonday, 13 August 2018
Ari Shaffir ★★★★★There are some super-talented US comics at the Fringe this year, and Ari Shaffir is among them. The edgy, no-holds-barred New Yorker lays it out there with his show title, Jew, in which he charts why he has left his Orthodox... Read more... |
End of the Pier, Park Theatre review - thought-provoking play about comedy and raceTuesday, 17 July 2018
Les Dennis was once a marquee name on Saturday night television as host of Family Fortunes, but since giving up the light entertainment lark he now plies his trade as an actor, and a very good one at that. If you've not seen it, give yourself a... Read more... |
Bridget Christie, Brighton Festival review - politics through a domestic lensMonday, 21 May 2018
Bridget Christie tells us at the top of the show that she is a heterosexual, able-bodied, privileged white female – so why is she feeling so discontented? As she explains with great verbal dexterity in What Now?, it is living in a post-EU referendum... Read more... |
Sarah Kendall, Soho Theatre review - a superb storytellerThursday, 17 May 2018
For her past few shows, Sarah Kendall's stock in trade has been intricately crafted stories that mix fact and fiction, drawing on her childhood in Newcastle, New South Wales, and observations about the world she now lives in. Her latest show, One-... Read more... |
Danny Baker, Touring review - boy, can he talkFriday, 11 May 2018
The first thing that greets the audience in the foyer for Danny Baker's new show, Good Time Charlie's Back!, which I saw at Princes Hall in Aldershot, is the merchandise stall, selling various items; T-shirts for £20, programmes at £10 (pre-... Read more... |
Ed Byrne, Touring review - the perils of modern fatherhoodMonday, 23 April 2018
Ed Byrne is a worried parent. Thankfully his two young sons are hale and hearty, but he is concerned he may be bringing up a pair of pampered, Lord Fauntleroy youngsters, and in Spoiler Alert he ponders the differences between his experience of... Read more... |
Funny Cow review - Maxine Peake is stellarThursday, 19 April 2018
One of the joys of writing about comedy over the past few years is the decreasing frequency with which I am asked to comment on “women in comedy”, “female comics” or, most egregiously, “are women funny?” I think we can all agree that you're either... Read more... |
Angela Barnes, Soho Theatre review - history with great gagsThursday, 19 April 2018
It's always nice to come away from a show having learned something and Angela Barnes, history buff and a woman with an obsession some may consider weird (more of which later), certainly fills in a lot of historical detail in Fortitude. Some of it... Read more... |
Daliso Chaponda, Touring review - uneven but entertainingMonday, 16 April 2018
You may have seen Daliso Chaponda on Britain's Got Talent last year. He came third but, as he says, he was delighted as it brought him to a wider audience after working in comedy for 15 years – and made possible his first UK tour What the African... Read more... |
