Louis CK defends decision to perform at Riyadh comedy festival as ‘a good opportunity’

Comedian admits to mixed feelings but says event is a ‘positive thing’ despite human rights abuses in Saudi ArabiaLouis CK has defended his decision to perform at the Riyadh comedy festival in Saudi Arabia after fellow comedians criticised the big name…

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The best theatre to stream this month: Chris O’Dowd rules the roost in Conor McPherson’s family saga

The Irish actor returns to the stage in farmhouse drama The Brightening Air, stars of The Jewel in the Crown reunite for Creditors and choreographer Mark Bruce reanimates FrankensteinAlmost 30 years after The Weir made him the toast of Theatreland, Con…

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What Have I Done? by Ben Elton review – a curious mixture of insight and rampaging ego

The Young Ones and Blackadder creator is sharp on the workings of the comedy industry – and not shy about listing his celebrity admirersBen Elton admits he has a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way. In 1975, three weeks after his arrival at the St…

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What Have I Done? by Ben Elton review – a curious mixture of insight and rampaging ego

The Young Ones and Blackadder creator is sharp on the workings of the comedy industry – and not shy about listing his celebrity admirersBen Elton admits he has a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way. In 1975, three weeks after his arrival at the St…

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‘My past was chaos’: Iain Lee on abuse, cocaine, comedy, his on-air breakdown and his ‘sex addict’ father

The broadcaster and comedian has been delighting and outraging audiences for almost 30 years. Off-air, his life has lurched from crisis to crisis. Has he finally found peace?It’s nearly three decades since Iain Lee roamed the streets for Channel 4’s 11…

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50 First Dates: The Musical review – sunny ensemble serve up breezy romcom

The Other Palace, LondonGeorgina Castle and Josh St Clair make a likable couple who endlessly replay their first meeting but this adaptation needs more emotional punchPerhaps it’s unfair to compare this new musical with the incomparable Curious Case of…

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‘What do you value more – kindness or intelligence?’ A trans couple’s hunt for the perfect sperm donor – one stranger at a time

When artist Krishna Istha and their partner went to sperm banks they were told ‘eye colour, height, PhD or no PhD’; wanting to know a donor’s values led to the creation of their live show First TrimesterGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailFor th…

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Black Hole Sign review – NHS’s critical condition examined with dark humour

Tron theatre, Glasgow Uma Nada-Rajah writes with polemical force from firsthand experience of a health system on its knees A black hole sign is the dark area of a CT scan that suggests a haemorrhage on the brain. A black hole cou…

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Emma review – Austen’s comedy of manners gets an exaggerated Essex makeover

Rose theatre, Kingston upon ThamesAva Pickett’s modern-day adaptation of the novel adds pop music, farce and clowning but lacks gimlet-eyed observationsAn early blast of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance sets the mood of this 21st-century take on Jane Austen’s c…

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Ania Magliano: ‘My favourite gig? I did some material about vibrators and a 92-year-old gave me tips on different settings’

The standup on Taskmaster, her time in the Cambridge Footlights and the geniuses behind Colin the CaterpillarWhat made you get into comedy?
In primary school I wasn’t very cool. I never got Hula Hoops in my packed lunches because my Polish mum would g…

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