The US standup’s career was in its ascendancy before miscarriage and then a friend’s death knocked her for six. So she took stock – and turned her feelings into a show contextualising loss and life, before finding a happy endingJanine Harouni arrives a…
Continue ReadingIn their new shows, anarchic theatre company Spymonkey and sketch duo Max and Ivan place the spotlight on their own lives more than ever beforeIf you’re making comedy, or funny theatre, what’s the last thing you should include in your show? For years –…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThis quartet – familiar from Veep, SNL and Second City – respond well to audience suggestions but keep rebooting the process rather than delivering a full storyAs anyone who’s seen the great TJ & Dave at this venue can testify, …
Continue ReadingHer midnight agony aunt clown show became the hot ticket of the fringe – despite the fact that the Estonian never regarded herself as a comic. In fact, she says, she much prefers making audiences cry‘But it’s a serious show!!!” tweeted Julia Masli when…
Continue ReadingThe comedian, whose new show draws on his experience of surviving a brain tumour, on finding humour in adversity, working with Ridley Scott, and why his scar won’t be hidden for longLondon-born Miles Jupp, 44, began performing comedy while studying div…
Continue ReadingNetflix’s latest specials show two once-funny comedians continuing to punch down in a desperate quest for relevanceThe funniest part of Dave Chappelle’s new special The Dreamer comes right at the top, and not on purpose.In high-grain black-and-white, w…
Continue ReadingThe standup on the best advice he’s ever been given, performing on the London Eye and becoming a viral sensationHow did you get into comedy?I’ve always enjoyed making people laugh and I was in drama groups during my teens. In the late 80s I went to a c…
Continue ReadingThe controversy over Hasan Minhaj’s onstage storytelling was a sign of the shifting demands placed on standup comicsNo one gets into standup comedy expecting a routine factcheck. But that’s what happened when a September profile of Hasan Minhaj in the …
Continue ReadingThe controversy over Hasan Minhaj’s onstage storytelling was a sign of the shifting demands placed on standup comicsNo one gets into standup comedy expecting a routine factcheck. But that’s what happened when a September profile of Hasan Minhaj in the …
Continue ReadingThe new year’s hottest shows include stage versions of Minority Report, Spirited Away and La Strada, performances by Keeley Hawes and Ian McKellen – plus laughs from Julia Masli, Rhod Gilbert and Ania Magliano• More from the 2024 culture preview Contin…
Continue Reading