Comedy in Riyadh is a sign of progress | Letter

Omid Djalili responds to criticism of his decision to perform at a comedy festival in Saudi ArabiaWhat the critics of the Riyadh comedy festival may have missed (Letters, 13 October) is the fact that performing comedy or any live event in Saudi Arabia …

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Comedy in Riyadh is a sign of progress | Letter

Omid Djalili responds to criticism of his decision to perform at a comedy festival in Saudi ArabiaWhat the critics of the Riyadh comedy festival may have missed (Letters, 13 October) is the fact that performing comedy or any live event in Saudi Arabia …

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Scrooge gets a hip-hop spin and the RSC does the BFG: 20 of the best UK stage shows this Christmas

From musical versions of Pinocchio, Treasure Island and Sherlock Holmes to a comedy about banana-loving beach-dwellers … dive into our selection box of festive theatreSadler’s Wells East, London, 26 November to 4 January
Choreographer Dannielle Rhime…

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Bog Witch review – Bryony Kimmings is back with a haunting and hilarious climate reckoning

Soho Theatre Walthamstow, LondonThe performance artist’s first solo show in five years considers the plight of our planet, with a compelling mix of standup, songs and folk horrorIt may contain a brief moment of actual tree-hugging but this bracing solo…

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Emma Doran: ‘When I was growing up, a woman’s biggest compliment would be that she was immaculate’

The Irish standup on advice to her younger self, dodgy microphones and why success still makes her feel sickHow did you get into comedy?I was on maternity leave and, looking back, I may have been having a manic episode. I’d had a long string of admin j…

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My Right Foot review – wryly humorous look at life with a terminal illness

Axis Ballymun, DublinMixing childhood memories, songs and Shakespeare, Michael Patrick delivers a one-man show about the reality of being given four years to liveMichael Patrick may not live long enough to play King Lear, so a rendition of Lear’s storm…

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‘Amoral, evil’: vitriolic backlash builds against comics who played Riyadh festival

Murder by bone-saw, lashings for rape victims, punitive amputation, jail for satirists … these are the Saudi human rights abuses fuelling the fury being directed at the likes of Louis CK, Dave Chappelle and Jimmy Carr. How have they responded?To paraph…

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Rosie O’Donnell: ‘Meat Loaf’s mother wrote me and said, “You can’t be mean to my son”’

The beloved host and comedian on blubbering fans, scary kangaroos, her favourite Irish person and the strangest job she has ever hadGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailYour show is called Common Knowledge. What do you think should be common know…

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‘This is not a sealed deal’: Bryony Kimmings on confronting climate catastrophe in a ‘great night out’

The revered performance artist returns with three arresting projects for stage and screen, each cultivating hope for the condition of the planetPerformance artist Bryony Kimmings doesn’t hold back. If something is troubling her then it invariably finds…

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‘Am I a bad person because you can see my nipples?’ Elouise Eftos on making standup sexy

In an age of self-deprecation, the former cabaret star is infuriating fellow standups by calling herself ‘Australia’s first attractive comedian’ – and flaunting her sex appeal on stageIs Elouise Eftos really Australia’s first attractive comedian? Her f…

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