Sunday, February 25, 2024
Soho 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 08:24AMFriday, February 23, 2024
Composer and lyricist who was a long-time collaborator of Steve Coogan and Harry Hill, and co-created the award-winning musical Spend, Spend, Spend
The composer and lyricist Steve Brown, who…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:32PMThursday, February 22, 2024
Thoughtifier, a new European tour, brings familiar whimsy from the Strictly Come Dancing champ. But does the mirth cramp his musical stylings?
Forty years into his performing career, you kno…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PMTuesday, February 13, 2024
Various venuesSets from Lily Phillips, President Obonjo and Foxdog Studios may not rival the Edinburgh fringe, but give a bracing sense of the diversity of the comedy scene
We need a new ki…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:02AMMonday, February 12, 2024
Soho theatre, London New show Mettle finds the comic annoyed about flirting, litter, the climate crisis and more, following a milestone birthday
There are few more familiar standup comedy at…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:12AMFriday, February 9, 2024
For the Royal Court and Park theatres, putting on comedy acts is a moneyspinning way to find new audiences. But are playhouses set to stage fewer plays?
Caryl Churchill. Sarah Kane. Chris Ra…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12AMMonday, February 5, 2024
Stage revivals of the 70s sitcom and The Fast Show have enough nostalgia value to delight fans. Less certain is what will happen to their more problematic material
The essence of humour is s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AMSunday, February 4, 2024
Pleasance theatre, LondonWith Linus Karp as Paltrow, Joseph Martin as the optometrist and a muppet as his lawyer, Awkward Productions delight in the shallowness, star-worship and bad faith
O…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AMThursday, January 25, 2024
Hammersmith Apollo, LondonThe Coventry comic’s new show centres more on storytelling than polished quips but this is still a boisterous set
In a world where big-name comics prep their tour…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMSunday, January 21, 2024
Leicester Square theatre, LondonThe up-and-coming Scottish standup’s first UK tour finds him in Gervais-ish territory, and his performing flair can’t disguise the tired old chauvinism of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AMFriday, January 19, 2024
Soho theatre, LondonAcross 75 haywire minutes, Zach Zucker’s variety show features fire-breathing, copious nudity and superb performances from acts including Natalie Palamides
‘It’s ta…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AMThursday, January 11, 2024
In their new shows, anarchic theatre company Spymonkey and sketch duo Max and Ivan place the spotlight on their own lives more than ever before
If you’re making comedy, or funny theatre, w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54AMWednesday, January 10, 2024
Soho theatre, LondonThis quartet – familiar from Veep, SNL and Second City – respond well to audience suggestions but keep rebooting the process rather than delivering a full story
As an…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AMMonday, January 8, 2024
Her midnight agony aunt clown show became the hot ticket of the fringe – despite the fact that the Estonian never regarded herself as a comic. In fact, she says, she much prefers making au…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06AMTuesday, December 26, 2023
The new year’s hottest shows include stage versions of Minority Report, Spirited Away and La Strada, performances by Keeley Hawes and Ian McKellen – plus laughs from Julia Masli, Rhod Gi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AMThursday, December 21, 2023
Our critics’ highlights of the year include a 24-hour marathon, a standup welcoming hecklers, a reboot of The Matrix and a bus ride filled with emotion• More on the best culture of 2023
…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AMMonday, December 18, 2023
Indigo at the O2, LondonAlex Horne’s musical comedy band serve up peachy and puerile puns in an endearing, occasionally festive show
The Horne Section. A Christmas show. You can see the lo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02AMWednesday, December 13, 2023
Indhu Rubasingham has been named as the National’s new head. But elsewhere, theatres are ditching this once coveted role altogether. Can a theatre really manage without one?
The king is de…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PMTuesday, December 12, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonBoris Johnson and his successors Less Trust and Riches Sooner are satirised in a superb political pantomime directed by Patrick Marber
Keenly anticipated since its summer…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AMMonday, December 11, 2023
Shaftesbury theatre, LondonHi-vis hijinks are here aplenty as the Britain’s Got Talent winner revisits his triumphant routines
It’s been quite the year for Viggo Venn. Twelve months ago,…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AMSunday, December 10, 2023
Old Fire Station, Oxford Alison Spittle’s story of three women who meet and reconvene annually for a Christmas Day dip is fun nonetheless
There’s more to Christmas than Santa, Jesus and …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:02PMFestive variety show hosts Sanjeev Bhaskar and Jayde Adams are stodgier than Christmas dinner, with all the chemistry of a broken Bunsen burner
To those of us of a certain age, few things a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AMMonday, December 4, 2023
Bloomsbury theatre, LondonThe Hull comic continues to riff brilliantly on her home city’s quirks but you wish she’d reveal more of the ‘small angry woman’ she describes herself as
H…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AMSunday, December 3, 2023
Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonIt may not attempt anything new but there are eye-catching costumes, catchy songs, some sparkling performances and a droll script by Anna Jordan
Mud, glor…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AMWednesday, November 29, 2023
Richmond theatre, LondonPausing her political campaigning to revisit routines that made her name, Izzard seems to be enjoying herself as much as we are
Everyone wants rock stars to play thei…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AMFriday, November 24, 2023
O2 Arena, LondonRoutines about rude Parisians and airline seats should have passed their tell-by date long ago – but Noah’s skill reanimates the fun
Trevor Noah opens with a joke about …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AMWednesday, November 22, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonThis one-woman play aims to dramatise Wax’s globe-trotting spiritual quest but gets sidetracked into anecdote
This isn’t what she usually does, Ruby Wax confides in t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:32AMMonday, November 20, 2023
The opening shows at London’s Underbelly Boulevard – Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett and Batsu! – are less edgy than you might expect, and more pricey, but there are some impressive tu…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:12PMFriday, November 17, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonIn this giddily inventive show, Minnitt plays a woman trying to bag a beau before her sentence to spinsterdom is declared
‘I’m starting to get hysterical,” says Ros…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AMWednesday, November 15, 2023
Rose Theatre, Kingston upon ThamesFrom a killer song about cosmetic surgery to ditties on doppelgangers and dogging, Dillie Keane, Adèle Anderson and Liza Pulman are still going strong
How …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AMTuesday, November 14, 2023
Can the surreal comedy superstar parlay comedy chops into political power? Izzard certainly wouldn’t be the first standup to pivot from telling jokes to canvassing for votes
From Eddie Izz…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AM 
