Hackney Empire, London Well-spun jokes and great audience rapport elevate the comedian’s show above standard fall-guy fare, though slick management inhibits its spark How good can standup …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMSoho theatre, London She’s a convivial host, but 70 minutes of shops chat, family home videos and the odd song about our comic’s love life may leave you eyeing the exit Many is the stan…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AMComedians are increasingly leaning on audience interaction to sell their shows – and changing the nature of the shows themselves Crowd work. For some, it’s the fun bit when standups cru…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06PMHackney Empire, LondonThe east Londoner’s show majors in blunt putdowns of anything the ebullient standup finds to be up-itself or overrated “I’m doing alright for myself, gang!” Tha…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12PMSoho theatre, LondonHalf musical comedy, half party, Archie Henderson’s show ranges far and wide over the travails of his slinky singer vying for a knighthood It’s the Royal Variety Perf…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:36PMSoho theatre, LondonThe daffy duo follow up their westerns parody Cowboys with a silly but still oddly respectful musical-comedy about their grandads’ generation It’s quite the pivot goi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:02AMLeicester Square theatre, LondonThe Mash Report comedian’s material on middle age is sharp but it’s her political musical numbers that really hit home If life begins at 40, where does th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AMSoho theatre, LondonThe comic traces a path from Arizona to Manhattan with a musical set that never quite lands The comedian as self-fascinated ego-monster is quite the pose these days. Kate…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AMApollo theatre, London John Cleese’s transposition of his TV sitcom to the theatre has pitch perfect performances, but it never quite becomes a play What should we hope for when TV hits of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54PMCutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art, at the Arcola in London, tackles freedom of expression – with particular focus on Gaza Arts Council England unleashed fury in Febru…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AMCliffs Pavilion, SouthendNow free of cancer, Gilbert looks back on his illness with a characteristic mixture of emotional candour and uproarious humour A standup show about cancer? It’s a …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:48AMMarylebone theatre, LondonKiell Smith-Bynoe and Martha Howe-Douglas ably embody Gogol’s schemers, but this show doesn’t hit any 21st-century targets You can see why, in 2024, one might r…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AMThe 1975 tour documentary Big Banana Feet captures a comic growing into his extraordinary talents – and adjusting to unprecedented fame In an age where our every selfie, photogenic breakfa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54AMColchester Arts CentreThe comedian’s rightwing alter egos have not yet evolved beyond the two-dimensional in this droll but conventional set It’s lovely to be here in Colchester, says Ro…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMCliffs Pavilion, SouthendThe standup delivers an unstructured show with autobiographical anecdotes and routines about henpecked husbands and women called Fanny How hard should a comedian try…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AMSoho theatre, LondonA lesser act might have struggled to follow the brilliant Sydnee Washington, but Faustin’s swaggering, gossipy shtick is superb Has Marie Faustin blundered? Support act…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:36AMUnderbelly Boulevard, LondonThere are shocks aplenty as daredevils perform death-defying acts hair-raisingly close to the audience Circus used to happen in big tops. The Underbelly Boulevard…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AMBrighton DomeRanganathan’s Hustle delivers laughs, but not the shock of the new. It is at its best when we glimpse something meaningful beneath the standard-issue curmudgeonliness ‘I’l…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AMSoho theatre, LondonPhil Burgers made clowning hip after winning the Edinburgh comedy award in 2012. Now older, if not wiser, his new show is a little undercooked, but his skill as a perform…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:02AMThe huge success of her memoir has turbocharged the Scottish comedian’s career, with midlife, Catholicism and marriage in her withering sights Cynicism is now and then expressed about the …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PMAt the world’s biggest barrel of laughs, Hannah Gadsby, John Kearns and Rose Matafeo rub shoulders with homegrown stars-in-the-making. Our writer has the time of his life What’s the bigg…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PMSoho theatre, LondonThe star’s stage presence is impressive as she charts the journey from her religious upbringing to her first sexual encounters and becoming an adored icon “Premium ti…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24PMSoho theatre, LondonIn a lively but disjointed show, the comedian – who used to work in HR for the streamer – delivers routines on office life, dating apps and 90s R&B From the mailr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:42PMSoho theatre, LondonSnarling at the audience and cracking cynical jokes, Hoffman’s intriguing faux-boorish persona wears thin, undermining her subversively funny riffs Robby Hoffman recent…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AMLondon PalladiumThe comic revives Avid Merrion, Keith Lemon and others in a scatological set of unimaginative jokes Is he funny, or is his comedy the nadir of western civilisation? Not being…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12AMThe US comedian, who won an Emmy for the remarkable 2022 special Rothaniel, makes a bemusing visit to London When Sarah Silverman took to the stage at Hammersmith Apollo one night in 2008, …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AMSoho theatre, LondonThe Irish comedian refines gossip to a high art in a big-hitting show packed with whipsmart jokes about the panic of settling down in your 30s The dates on Catherine Boha…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42AMSoho theatre, LondonWith fine one-liners, the crowd-pleasing east Midlander traces their relationship with their parents in a touching show Sarah Keyworth launched their standup career with …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42PMBrighton DomeThe comedian guides us through this life-and-death tale of seizure, diagnosis and treatment with his usual brand of self-deprecation We have all seen comedians die on stage. Is …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AMThirty years after his death, the Texan who set out to ‘topple idols’ remains an outlaw truth-teller for many but his raging material can land with a clunk I could mark out my comedy cri…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:48AMSoho theatre, LondonThe fringe award-winner compares her romantic relationship to how she feels about her audience in this mildly evasive investigation of inner knottiness There’s a formul…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM
