‘Audiences no longer laugh if you call their town crap’: can Phil Wang heal divided Britain?

He’s the perfect comedian to cool down these incendiary times. As Philly Philly takes his Uh Oh standup show on tour, he talks about woke traps, lefty blindspots – and gen Z’s lurch to the right Born in Stoke-on-Trent to a British mother and Chinese-Ma…

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Lenny Henry says racism in UK ‘still at large’ as he tours standup comeback

Comedian is doing first tour in more than 15 years and says many issues he talked about in 1980s are still alive todayLenny Henry has said racism is “still at large” as he does his first standup tour in more than 15 years.Henry, best known for The Lenn…

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Bigfoot, ‘slutfluencers’ and a David Bowie-powered gay fantasia: Edinburgh festival 2026’s must-see theatre

Plays about political extremes, religious sects, swimming the Channel and an 80th birthday party are among the highlights at this summer’s arts spectacularProducer Francesca Moody has shown a sure touch for spotting fringe hits (Fleabag and Baby Reinde…

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Bigfoot, ‘slutfluencers’ and a David Bowie-powered gay fantasia: Edinburgh festival 2026’s must-see theatre

Plays about political extremes, religious sects, swimming the Channel and an 80th birthday party are among the highlights at this summer’s arts spectacularProducer Francesca Moody has shown a sure touch for spotting fringe hits (Fleabag and Baby Reinde…

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Edinburgh festivals hope to launch joint box office for all 11 events

Bosses believe single booking process will drive up ticket sales for all festivals to offset funding squeezeThe Edinburgh festivals hope to launch a single box office for all the city’s 11 festivals to make it simpler to buy tickets and profit from the…

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Edinburgh festivals hope to launch joint box office for all 11 events

Bosses believe single booking process will drive up ticket sales for all festivals to offset funding squeezeThe Edinburgh festivals hope to launch a single box office for all the city’s 11 festivals to make it simpler to buy tickets and profit from the…

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SNL UK’s Larry Dean: ‘That heckle was so harsh it left my heart pounding!’

The Glaswegian standup on joining the ego-less Saturday Night Live, smiling at himself in the mirror and why he’s not slept in his new houseBehind the scenes, is SNL UK a tightly controlled machine or complete chaos?It’s genuinely a combination of both…

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Suzi Ruffell: ‘When I met Mel C I was so starstruck Alan Carr had to whisk me away’

The comedian on coming out at 20, discovering she was funny, and the special moment she marked with a tattooBorn in Portsmouth in 1986, comedian Suzi Ruffell trained at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in London and began …

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Beetlejuice review – Tim Burton’s super creep reanimated as a shock jock in ghoulish musical

Prince Edward theatre, LondonThere are drop-dead gorgeous designs and the performances are full of life but this off-kilter escapade has scattershot gags and unmemorable songsHalloween has arrived early as yet another movie turned musical hits the West…

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Thespians review – world’s first actor gets comic kudos from Mischief’s merrymakers

Mercury theatre, ColchesterThis musical from the company behind The Play That Goes Wrong unearths the invention of acting in ancient Greece – and finds little has changedThe Mischief theatre company has been making fun of actors’ foibles for years, esp…

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