Thirty years after his death, the Texan who set out to ‘topple idols’ remains an outlaw truth-teller for many but his raging material can land with a clunkI could mark out my comedy critic’s life in Bill Hicks anniversaries. When I first started writin…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe fringe award-winner compares her romantic relationship to how she feels about her audience in this mildly evasive investigation of inner knottinessThere’s a formula for a comedian’s first show, and it’s “this is me”: an hour abo…
Continue ReadingThoughtifier, a new European tour, brings familiar whimsy from the Strictly Come Dancing champ. But does the mirth cramp his musical stylings?Forty years into his performing career, you know what you’re going to get with Bill Bailey. Musical noodling: …
Continue ReadingPark theatre, LondonA rich and messy revival explores ideas of belonging, with the Desperate Housewives star playing a determinedly indifferent matriarchChaos reigns. Every inch of Paige’s home is a domestic dumping ground. This rich and messy revival …
Continue ReadingSalisbury PlayhouseA fitfully funny play from the creator of Broadchurch considers the terrifying prospects of parenthood yet never quite deliversHere’s a perfect prop for farce: a huge, baby-blue birthing pool, stubbornly resisting inflation, plonked …
Continue ReadingModel-turned-standup Michelle De Swarte knows how to make an entrance. And arriving at Grace’s with her eat-it-or-climb-it comfort snack of choice, she doesn’t disappoint. For the woman who left school at 14, signed as a model at 19, fell on the Gucci …
Continue ReadingIt’s no joke for new shows as classic favourites live on while investment in sitcoms and sketches faltersThere is a quip beloved of comedians, when asked if their industry is going down the pan: “Nostalgia? It ain’t what it used to be.”But for fans of …
Continue ReadingThe comedian on his strangest fan encounter, preshow rituals and his new film with Tom Basden and Carey MulliganHow did you get into comedy?I joined a sketch group, went to the Edinburgh fringe, and then kept doing that for years. It’s a good place to …
Continue ReadingVarious venuesSets from Lily Phillips, President Obonjo and Foxdog Studios may not rival the Edinburgh fringe, but give a bracing sense of the diversity of the comedy sceneWe need a new kind of comedy, says character comic President Obonjo, “a comedy …
Continue ReadingPaul Currie allegedly swore at and hounded out Israeli man who refused to applaud Palestinian flag The Soho theatre is investigating a complaint about a comedian who allegedly abused a Jewish audience member who refused to applaud a Palestinian flag.Th…
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