Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonThe Irish drag queen and activist, AKA Rory O’Neill, feelingly recounts her journey in a country long hostile to difference
What am I for any more? That’s the questio…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AMMonday, May 29, 2023
In the run-up to the festival, our writers will choose new productions that have caught their eye – but here’s a selection of those we’ve already reviewed
Richard Marsh has clearly see…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AMFriday, May 26, 2023
Komedia, BrightonThe standup delivers the finest set of his career – touching on fatherhood, bin bags and Van Gogh Lego
You could watch John Kearns’ act for a long time before thinking o…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AMMonday, May 22, 2023
Royal Festival Hall, LondonIn a quietly confident show with gags from the sophisticated to the stupid, the comic is consistently enjoyable
There’s something for everyone in a Phil Wang sho…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AMFriday, May 19, 2023
The standup has successfully used laughter as a balm, creating a safe space for himself and the audience to engage with this most difficult of subjects
The death of a loved one. It’s the l…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AMThursday, May 18, 2023
Criterion theatre, LondonCaroline Leslie’s production sends up the less problematic Victorian foibles with a terrifically spirited barrage of juicy one-liners, blunt anachronisms and pleas…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42PMSunday, May 14, 2023
Arts Depot, LondonHe’s a celebrity and he got out of there, as we learn during this lively standup set with a reality TV slant – Matt Hancock gossip included
Babatunde Aléshé flunked h…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AMSunday, May 7, 2023
Hackney Empire, London You’d expect bawdy lines delivered with deadpan frankness from the rising TV comedian, but injections of knockabout physicality raise her stage showpiece to higher j…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AMSoho theatre, London Torn between wifely duty and her dream to become the Jewish Barbra Streisand, this would-be star finds an in-between world of outrageous comedy
A teenage winner of Boreh…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AMTuesday, May 2, 2023
Brace, who has died aged 43, was a hugely talented playwright, dramaturg and director who worked on a string of hits including One-Woman Show and Age Is a Feeling
“The most high-profile di…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:54PMWednesday, April 26, 2023
The controversial standup brings big cartoonish energy to his first tour since 2018, delivering a set of self-mockery and dismay at bizarre behaviour
Kevin Hart is back in the UK on his firs…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AMSaturday, April 22, 2023
Despite a legacy tainted by PC-baiting provocation, many will remember Humphries with affection as the carnivalesque Dame Edna and foul-mouthed Sir Les Patterson
Barry Humphries, Australian …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AMFriday, April 21, 2023
The Hawth, CrawleyThe standup’s new show takes a while to get going, but squares up to hitting 50 with material finely balanced between the thoughtful and the uproarious
Given how often co…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06AMFriday, April 14, 2023
The Stables, Milton KeynesThe man who shamed Trump and Blatter turns his gaze inward for an evening of self-reflective standup
“Anonymous prankster” is what the media calls Simon Brodkin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AMThursday, April 13, 2023
Leicester Square theatre, LondonThe comedian is at her best when she treats us as her confidantes rather than aiming for well-worn targets
On one day in 2021 two major life events – one te…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:48AMMonday, April 3, 2023
Meet the Richardsons sees the married standups play fictional versions of themselves – but that doesn’t mean reality doesn’t creep in from time to time
“We don’t stay in posh hotel…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AMSunday, April 2, 2023
Cambridge JunctionThe Londoner is argumentative, entertaining and full of bracing good sense as he catalogues his personal experiences of racism
“What’s your favourite racism?” With th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AMThursday, March 30, 2023
Pleasance theatre, LondonA doctor himself, the standup delivers breezy tales along with on-the-nose points on how black medics are viewed
All standups operating in the space between medicine…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AMTuesday, March 28, 2023
In the standup’s first solo set since the huge success of their queer romcom Feel Good, we are taken on an emotional rollercoaster with confidence and charm
It’s always interesting to se…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AMFriday, March 17, 2023
Not Dead Yet addresses the return of Godley’s ovarian cancer. But mostly it is a celebratory farewell from a performer who has welcomed the crowd into her remarkable life
Not Dead Yet is J…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:17AMFriday, March 10, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonAustralian comic delivers a compelling but messy exploration of grief – but where’s the bear?
The “dead dad” show has become a standup genre unto itself in recent…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMTuesday, March 7, 2023
After several years away, the cheeky cockney comic is doubling down on his good-old-days brand – but despite his geezerish nostalgia he’s no anti-woke crusader
Micky Flanagan was worried…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:22AMMonday, March 6, 2023
A new sibling to Montreal’s big comedy shindig has launched in the UK and despite the corporate guff there was a lot to laugh about
You’ve heard of Just for Laughs Montreal: it’s one o…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24AMFriday, March 3, 2023
EartH Hackney, LondonADHD, Tory supremacy and the limited appeal of ‘Sir Keir’ combine in another unrestrained report from the standup’s struggles to hang on to optimism
Some comics al…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:31AMFriday, February 24, 2023
Henry Naylor travelled to Afghanistan in 2003 to research his fringe farce Finding Bin Laden. His sobering new show takes stock of the country’s fate since
Was Henry Naylor’s agent right…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:37AMWednesday, February 8, 2023
Komedia, BrightonOutrageous comedy, self-glamorising songs and self-ironic ridiculousness in abundance from a comic with a sharp sense of her own daftness
You mellow with age, they say. So w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:38AMTuesday, January 31, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonThe Ohio comic takes us on her narcissistic ‘therapy journey’ including ridiculous songs, played with a wickedly straight bat
Patti Harrison’s last London show, sh…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:06AMThursday, January 26, 2023
Hammersmith Apollo, LondonThe standup comedian may have lost some of the gloss on his reputation after nearly destroying himself with drugs, but his good cheer remains in place
‘If you’v…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:07AMWednesday, January 25, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonThe Irish-Italian comic, nominated for best newcomer at the Edinburgh fringe, delivers his show with a light touch and ample self-irony
It is exciting to encounter a youn…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AMThursday, January 19, 2023
Soho theatre, LondonThe sketch trio throw a lot into their screwball adventure, from pagan festivals to alien apocalypse, but every gag pays off
With the Delightful Sausage’s recent show,…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00PMTuesday, January 17, 2023
The disabled Mexican-American scooped best newcomer at Edinburgh with her scathing send-up of identity politics. But can she really wring some laughs out of the end of the world?
It would be…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:19AM 
