Comedy
Best of 2018: ComedyFriday, 28 December 2018
The highlight of 2018 for me was the return of two mighty sets of talents – Flight of the Conchords and The League of Gentlemen – and it was heartwarming to see that they had lost none of their sharpness, wit or love of performing in front of a live... Read more... |
Hari Kondabolu, Soho Theatre review - from politics to papayasWednesday, 05 December 2018
As openings go, the first night of Hari Kondabolu's standup residency at Soho Theatre was pretty memorable, so get to American Hour in good time as he is trying to pull off the same trick when he can (no spoilers, but it involves quite a bit of... Read more... |
Matt Forde, Purcell Room review - politics plus deft impressionsMonday, 03 December 2018
You might think that, given the upheaval we are living through, political comics would be 10 a penny but, surprisingly, they’re thin on the ground. Regardless of how any rivals he has, though, Matt Forde is surely the outstanding political comic... Read more... |
Dave Gorman, Royal Festival Hall review - PowerPoint king is back with biteTuesday, 27 November 2018
Anyone who has seen a previous Dave Gorman show or his television series Modern Life Is Goodish knows what to expect: a show that's part lecture, part conversation, all pedantry, done with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation – clicker, laptop and... Read more... |
Natalie Palamides, Soho Theatre - challenging show about consentFriday, 16 November 2018
The #MeToo movement is barely a year old, but it is already prompting some clever and insightful comedy – from standalone jokes or set-pieces in several comics’ shows, or, here, a very funny but frequently discomfiting hour that delves deep into the... Read more... |
Ayesha Hazarika, Soho Theatre review - feminism examinedMonday, 29 October 2018
As a former adviser to Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband – and a woman who has put her name forward to be a Labour Party candidate at a Westminster election – Ayesha Hazarika certainly knows her politics from the inside. So a show with the title Girl... Read more... |
Ciarán Dowd, Soho Theatre review - terrific spoof swordsman taleMonday, 15 October 2018
The Edinburgh Fringe does throw up some oddities – in comedy shows, of course, but also in its dishing out of awards. And so it was that Ciarán Dowd's marvellous Don Rodolfo deservedly gained the Edinburgh Comedy Award for best newcomer, even though... Read more... |
Ivo Graham, Soho Theatre review - the perils of growing upMonday, 08 October 2018
Considering where Motion Sickness ends up, Ivo Graham's new show begins a million miles away, as he talks about his love of trains and his favourite train company, Chiltern – or “The Chilt”. But don't be fooled by this quotidian fare; what begins as... Read more... |
Nish Kumar, Soho Theatre review - the state we're inFriday, 05 October 2018
Blimey, Nish Kumar is angry. Angry about Donald Trump, angry about misogyny, angry about racism, angry about Brexit – angry about a lot of things. But before anyone could dismiss It's In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves as a checklist of woke... Read more... |
Katherine Ryan, Garrick Theatre review - feminism with extra sassFriday, 21 September 2018
Katherine Ryan was making her West End debut – a big moment in any comic’s career – but she made her entrance on stage at the Garrick unannounced. Yet if the opening to Glitter Room was strangely underwhelming, it wasn’t long before the Canadian’s... Read more... |
The League of Gentlemen Live Again!, Sunderland Empire review - going local for local peopleTuesday, 28 August 2018
When the League of Gentlemen – Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, plus non-performing writer Jeremy Dyson – reformed for an excellent series to update us on events in Royston Vasey (“portal to another world, or just a shit hole?”)... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2018: Rose Matafeo reviewMonday, 27 August 2018
As we enter the venue, Rose Matafeo is playing a game of mini table tennis with a member of the audience. Nothing that follows seems to relate to this “just a bit of fun to start the show” – but, trust me, it's one of the cleverest bits of... Read more... |
