As Brendan Gleeson prepares for his role in a revival of the 1997 hit, the stars of earlier productions toast its deceptively moving and profound barfly banterAppearances are deceptive. On the face of it, The Weir is not an exceptional play. Set in a r…
Continue ReadingThe foppish comic underwent a drugs trial to fund his Edinburgh show – and caught malaria. The next year he almost died on stage with an exploded appendix. Why is he going back?‘In retrospect, I should have gone to the doctors much, much earlier.” John…
Continue ReadingMolly McGuiness is treating audiences to a buffet, sketch troupe Simple Town bring fast-paced fun and Jessica Barton plays Mary Floppins … Here are half a dozen essential acts at the festival“There should be a buffet at every comedy gig,” says Manchest…
Continue ReadingHammersmith Apollo, LondonMinchin embraces his oddball status – is he musician, comedian, auteur or clown? – in this three-hour showIt’s 20 years since Tim Minchin’s life-changing Edinburgh fringe in 2005, and tonight he’s singing 20 songs of commemora…
Continue ReadingThe festival has plenty of returning heroes, from Nina Conti to Nick Mohammed. Here are 10 shows our critics praisedIn cult clown duo Xhloe and Natasha’s two-hander, we are swiftly in the US of LBJ, Beatlemania and Tom Sawyer-style outdoor adventuring….
Continue ReadingThe standup on surviving heart failure, gigging on cruise ships and how a Tom Hanks gag saved him from his worst heckleWhat’s your new show about?My biggest fear was dying on stage and then I nearly died for real, on stage. Suddenly, it wasn’t a big de…
Continue ReadingDesiree Burch returns, Bridget Christie drops in and Toussaint Douglass flies while Joe Kent-Walters goes beyond the grave and Jazz Emu has a midlife crisisIt’s six years since Desiree Burch’s last standup show, in which time she’s become a fixture of …
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe comic’s tale of his lifelong love affair with the US – and a doomed bid to make it big in Hollywood – is a great platform for his vocal and mimicry talent‘I love America!,” says Kieran Hodgson, which is quite the opening gambit …
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe comic’s tale of his lifelong love affair with the US – and a doomed bid to make it big in Hollywood – is a great platform for his vocal and mimicry talent‘I love America!,” says Kieran Hodgson, which is quite the opening gambit …
Continue ReadingHow has Motherland writer Helen Serafinowicz followed up her TV hits? With a rollicking, sub-Game of Thrones epic based on a Liverpudlian legend. Will the happy couple go and see it?The benefits of hosting Eurovision are contested. But Liverpool has th…
Continue Reading