Bloomsbury Theatre, LondonNo one rages against life and the world better than Brister, but the comic is too good to be confined by her furious personaHer touring show is called The Optimist, but fans can rest assured: it reflects no brightening of Jen …
Continue ReadingThe British comedian shares her favourite videos and memes, including an Italian nonna, Flight of the Conchords and an Instagram dedicated to bad dates in MelbourneGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailI am Robyn! I’m a British comedian living in …
Continue ReadingAmerican comedian whose influential BBC TV show mixed sitcom and standup material Kelly Monteith, who has died aged 80, was one of the first American standup comedians to get his own show on British television. Titled simply Kelly Monteith and running …
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, London The sparkling Aussie brings their award-winning Melbourne comedy festival show to the UKWhen Frankie McNair started taking comedy seriously, they tell us, it got boring – so boring they almost quit. Only when the Canberra native re…
Continue ReadingThe former TV executive on life lessons from Joan Rivers, paper-plane heckles and a ‘perfect day’ doing Live at the ApolloBefore becoming a full-time comedian, you were a high-profile TV exec and producer. Are there any transferable skills from this wo…
Continue ReadingThe Welsh standup used to direct his fury at service stations, baked potatoes and the tog-rating of duvets. Now he’s tackling anxiety, infertility – and his own battle with the cancer that stopped his tourA lot has changed since Rhod Gilbert began tour…
Continue ReadingThe US comedy sensation is making up for lost time after Covid with a new show – still self-obsessed, but ‘a bit darker’ – and an opportunity for us to observe a quintessentially millennial comic grow up in publicAs long as there has been standup, comi…
Continue ReadingDanny Boyle’s Matrix-inspired spectacular opens in Manchester, Succession star Brian Cox returns to the stage and standups Maisie Adam, Guz Khan and Catherine Cohen are on tourMore from the 2023 culture preview Continue reading…
Continue ReadingThere’s nothing like a panto to banish the blues, especially if it stars Sir Ian McKellen as Mother Goose – the grande dame of seasonal fun and frolics The actor Sir Ian McKellen and the comedian John Bishop are stepping out on to the West End stage ov…
Continue ReadingCracker industry bosses and comics shed light on the art of the cracker joke, from winning formulas to ‘innovation teams’ – and why they’re more important than ever in the digital ageWhat do you get if you cross a potentially awkward, booze-soaked fami…
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