Phil Wang makes a heroic return, Ian McKellen stars in a balletic Hamlet and Sophie Duker is gleefully carefree. Here are our picks of the festival’s comedy, theatre and dance 20 great Edinburgh fringe shows we’ve already seenSam Nicoresti: Cancel Anti…
Continue ReadingWhen her family’s code of silence was broken, the writer and performer Helen Wood began a journey that led to a new play, Let’s Talk About PhilipIn the summer of 1985 Philip, my only sibling, died by suicide. He was 27 and I was 26. Very soon after the…
Continue ReadingThe standup on the wisest words ever given to him, his pre-show rituals and how he discovered his vocation at an anarchist vegetarian communeHow did you get into comedy?I grew up in the West Country and there wasn’t much of a comedy scene at the time. …
Continue ReadingThis week, Marina Hyde looks at the prime minister’s £150k treehouse plan (1m37s), Charlotte Higgins asks why we’re still obsessed with the Regency era (8m36s), Brian Logan documents the history of gags so offensive that punters called the police (24m3…
Continue ReadingA scene that started as a counter to straight standup at the end of the 1970s is still hard to peg – but it’s much more than just weird stuff that doesn’t work on tellyA giant sentient disco ball sits in the front row at Party, the Bristol comedy night…
Continue ReadingThe comedian’s new podcast plunders neighbourhood messageboards for fun, feuds, gossip and second-hand goldfish. She explains all – and looks ahead to her Edinburgh show, a support group for men in crisisJayde Adams is flying the flag for that most mal…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonAt a crisis point for his country, Kielty’s ‘module on borders’ is warm and engaging, though his even-handedness dims some of the laughter“A comedian shouldn’t be getting on stage unless they’ve got something to say,” according to P…
Continue ReadingStandup Joe Lycett has revealed that he was reported to police for one of his routines. From Sacha Baron Cohen to Jo Brand, our writer looks at what happens when laughter and the law collideWhen news broke last week that comedian Joe Lycett had been re…
Continue ReadingThe rise of an Islamic arts industry is celebrated by its screen, music and comedy stars, but the view rarely strays beyond a western perspectiveIn this survey of the expanding Islamic entertainment industry, The Balance presumably refers to the line f…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe comedian’s troubled relationship with his ‘alpha dad’ is under scrutiny in this enjoyable show of (mostly) new material There’s a choice joke, midway through Travis Jay’s show, about therapists – whom Jay approaches, he tells us…
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