Thursday, July 18, 2024
The comedian’s show Collaborator involves 160 audience members getting speaking parts – and Kitson has anticipated every possible question, anxiety or misstep
What happens when an audien…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:02PMWednesday, July 17, 2024
Kyle Gass’s ill-judged Donald Trump assassination jibe has put Tenacious D on ice. Will he be for ever cancelled, or bounce back like Billy Connolly and Jo Brand?
On the edge. Walking a ti…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AMFriday, July 12, 2024
Testosterone-soaked clowning show Furiozo: Man Looking for Trouble spikes fun with fear – but the hooligan’s knife-edge moments of vulnerability lead us somewhere different
Clowning is a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PMSoho theatre, LondonLenoir’s mischievous charm is infectious, and she plays with skill on the heartstrings and funny bones
Clowning may be silly, but it is seldom, these days, insubstantia…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AMThursday, July 11, 2024
We need to keep open offbeat DIY spaces that belong to artists and communities. Even if the odd performance sells zero tickets, they push theatre forward
It feels like a lifetime ago. In 201…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AMFriday, July 5, 2024
The American humorist delighted the Royal Festival Hall with characteristically disgruntled slices of life – including a brush with cancel culture
In years to come, I can tell the grandkid…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PMWednesday, July 3, 2024
The cult heroes are back with their ‘best sketches ever’. After success with Ladhood, Stath Lets Flats and Parlement, are they still hoping for that elusive Sheeps TV series?
Fifteen yea…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:02AMTuesday, July 2, 2024
From performing in a bin to arm-wrestling rivals, the standup cut his teeth at a Nottingham pub’s chaotic Just the Tonic nights. As the thriving comedy club chain it grew into turns 30, he…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48PMCulden Faw Estate, Henley-on-ThamesThe Scottish clown and his pals have taken over in a family caper combining comedy, slapstick, dropped plates and acrobatic skills
Tweedy’s MASSIVE Circu…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06AMMonday, July 1, 2024
A one-woman 90s romcom, boundary-testing standups and a new Taskmaster contestant make our comedy critic’s list of the fringe’s most promising tickets
Olga Koch stepped into the big leag…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:32AMFriday, June 28, 2024
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 07:42AMThursday, June 27, 2024
Soho 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 10:42AMMonday, June 24, 2024
Comedians 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 04:06PMSunday, June 23, 2024
Hackney 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 02:12PMSunday, June 9, 2024
Soho 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 05:36PMFriday, June 7, 2024
Soho 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 10:02AMThursday, June 6, 2024
Leicester 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 06:36AMWednesday, May 22, 2024
Soho 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 11:24AMWednesday, May 15, 2024
Apollo 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 07:02AMMonday, May 13, 2024
Cliffs 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 04:48AMThursday, May 9, 2024
Marylebone 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 08:18AMWednesday, May 8, 2024
The 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 05:54AMMonday, May 6, 2024
Colchester 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 07:42AMFriday, May 3, 2024
Cliffs 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 11:36AMThursday, May 2, 2024
Soho 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 09:36AMMonday, April 29, 2024
Underbelly 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 09:18AMSunday, April 28, 2024
Brighton 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 07:02AMFriday, April 26, 2024
Soho 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 09:02AMTuesday, April 23, 2024
The 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 12:36PMFriday, April 19, 2024
At 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 12:06PM 
