Monday, 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 06:36AMTuesday, November 7, 2023
Hampstead theatre, LondonRichard Bean’s new play touches on ageing and alienation, care and family love, but focuses on making us laugh
You might guess what kind of night you’re in for b…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AMFriday, October 27, 2023
The everyman standup delivers substantial comic payloads by itemising the oddity of human behaviour. A successful formula his new tour continues to exploit
All the countries of the world hav…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:25AMWednesday, October 18, 2023
Theatre Royal, BrightonThe comic brings an assured touch to tales of everyday humiliation, and even her terrible musicianship is endearing for a while
Tig Notaro has never had an interval on…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:07AMTuesday, October 17, 2023
Kentish Town Forum, LondonThis is a big stage for a streaming star who’s still a rookie standup, and at times his show feels over-engineered and effortful – but he still has enough hones…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AMFriday, October 13, 2023
A mixed bill of standups, presented by the Nanette star and due to be recorded for the streamer, is a valuable response to its Dave Chappelle controversy
When Dave Chappelle released his Net…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:04AMTuesday, October 10, 2023
As it fills the Royal Albert Hall on tour, the comedians’ ‘dream restaurant’ show questions what ingredients a live performance really needs
‘I can’t believe this many people like …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:04AMFriday, October 6, 2023
Assembly Hall theatre, Tunbridge Wells Heartfelt two-act show revels in the manic, painful and sometimes amusing fallout of recovering from alcoholism
Has the advent of trauma-comedy been a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:37AMThursday, October 5, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonThe comedian launches her campaign to become a national treasure with a show that has charm, smut, irony and laughs in equal measure
Rosie Jones was going to write a gag-…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:37AMFriday, September 29, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonThe standup’s loud and proud show about female self-sufficiency presents her as an attention-hogging misfit parading her indignities for our delight
Aged 32, Helen Baue…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:55AMWednesday, September 27, 2023
Criterion theatre, LondonThere’s plenty to enjoy here as a cast of non-magicians subvert conjuring convention with song, dance and synchronised skill
As if a career confounding audiences i…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:19AMSunday, September 17, 2023
Hackney Empire, LondonAs the dust settles on his recent tabloid notoriety, Walsh contrasts the domestic landscape of maturity with his wild youth
We had a fun night, says Seann Walsh – “…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AMWyndham’s theatre, LondonWhere other midlife male standups splash in the shallows of domesticity, dinner parties and feeling tired, Birbiglia dives right into family, death and the meaning…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AMThursday, September 7, 2023
Soho Theatre, LondonAs they craft their extended sketches off the cuff, TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi deliver laughs with a surprisingly moving emotional twist
Nothing in comedy defines ex…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:43AMWednesday, September 6, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonThe electrifying Berlant recounts her fictional life in this sharp and silly show directed by Bo Burnham
Comedies don’t come hipper than this New York transfer from Kat…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:43AMTuesday, September 5, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonThe Smiths’ songs are transplanted on to the gothic horror of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – and it works
A lifelong fan of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the New Yo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:33AMSaturday, September 2, 2023
Fresh from this year’s jubilant festival, I’m not the only one hoping that it has given up its addiction to growth
“Ticket sales still 19% down on 2019.” “Can the Edinburgh fringe …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AMMonday, August 28, 2023
Pleasance Dome, EdinburghThe TikTok star follows an atom through time, via a dinosaur, Julius Caesar’s lunch and Van Gogh’s ear, in an uncynical show with an excess of scene changes
Inju…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:19PMUnderbelly Cowgate, EdinburghAstute, well-built set about suffering and its surprise elimination is charmingly at odds with other festival narratives
We’ve seen shows about trauma, depress…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:55AMSunday, August 27, 2023
Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh The comic pores over the insecurities that attended his twisty journey from Black Country boyhood to TV celebrity
This isn’t the first of Darren Harriott’s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:19PMAssembly George Square, Edinburgh Material about Hindu-Muslim relations aside, this award-winning performer’s gags covers familiar confessional ground, delivered with engaging skill and gr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:37AMSaturday, August 26, 2023
The Edinburgh comedy award-winning show Ends is a superb set about Shah’s grandfather, the standup’s imminent wedding and multicultural Britain
The cliche about Edinburgh fringe comedy …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:55AMMonkey Barrel Comedy at The Hive, EdinburghThe Edinburgh comedy award nominee dials up the silly to 11 as he delivers a series of shambolic gags
There is no more uproarious opening sequence …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:33AM 
