Episode #422: Tara Schuster
Tara Schuster was a 25-year-old working at Comedy Central who’d worked her way up from interning at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to curating …
Continue ReadingTag: books
Rachel Parris: ‘Standup would have terrified me – the piano was a good comfort blanket’
The comic on hecklers, pre-show rituals, Jane Austen puns and her childhood heroesWhy did you get into musical comedy?I did musical comedy first because that was all I could do! I’d written and performed songs since I was young, so it was the most obvi…
Continue ReadingThe Time Machine: A Comedy review – malfunctioning merriment
New Wolsey theatre, IpswichThis riff on HG Wells’s sci-fi novella has a sharp cast but relies on a wearisome play-within-a-play concept and lacks momentumIn 2021, HG Wells fans were aghast at the Royal Mint giving the Tripods an extra leg and the Invis…
Continue ReadingLaura Lexx: ‘I did 10 gigs for a master’s in standup comedy – then never stopped’
The comedian and author on studying laughter theory, industry frustrations and the perils of gigging at a racecourseHow did you get into comedy?I studied the history of variety and vaudeville under Oliver Double at university and then did a master’s in…
Continue ReadingLaura Lexx: ‘I did 10 gigs for a master’s in standup comedy – then never stopped’
The comedian and author on studying laughter theory, industry frustrations and the perils of gigging at a racecourseHow did you get into comedy?I studied the history of variety and vaudeville under Oliver Double at university and then did a master’s in…
Continue Reading‘Horror and comedy were a saving grace’: facing her anger gave Elf Lyons the last laugh
Scary movies can exorcise the audience’s own demons but silliness can also help you process rage, says the comedian“Stop being hysterical!” “You are over-reacting!” “Put that watermelon down!” If I had a pound for every time I’d heard one of these rebu…
Continue ReadingOn my radar: Rosie Holt’s cultural highlights
The satirist on her favourite superhero show, her go-to gym motivation music, and why she loves Tim KeyComedian Rosie Holt came to prominence during lockdown with her online political parodies of Conservative MPs. She grew up in Somerset and trained at…
Continue ReadingTop 10 funny comic books | Luke Healy
From the madness of North Korea to memoirs of modern dating and caring for elderly parents, these books show how the best graphic artists can get a laugh out of almost anythingComics have their roots in comedy – the evidence is in the name. From early …
Continue Reading‘Comedy is a powerful recruitment tool’: how the US rightwing use laughs for vast influence
Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx spent months researching rightwing comedy and found that whether or not you’re laughing, you can’t ignore its powerIn January, Neil Young gave Spotify an ultimatum: it’s me or Joe Rogan. The streaming giant picked Rogan, …
Continue Reading‘Comedy is a powerful recruitment tool’: how the US rightwing use laughs for vast influence
Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx spent months researching rightwing comedy and found that whether or not you’re laughing, you can’t ignore its powerIn January, Neil Young gave Spotify an ultimatum: it’s me or Joe Rogan. The streaming giant picked Rogan, …
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