Hold on to Your Butts review – Jurassic Park redone with DIY dinos

Arcola theatre, LondonThis recreation of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic is frenetic fun, with the dinosaurs brought to life using physical comedy – and traffic conesHold on to your … what? Your enjoyment of this show may well depend on whether you rec…

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Jenny Eclair looks back: ‘Anorexia is difficult to get out of. I can joke about it now, because I’m overweight’

The comedian and novelist on the stress of sudden success, her disordered relationship with food, and how hobbies have replaced her libidoBorn in Kuala Lumpur in 1960, Jenny Eclair is a comedian, actor and author. The daughter of a major in the British…

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Daniel Foxx: ‘Every comedian has a notes app with joke ideas – if mine got wiped, my career would be over’

The standup on his new book about stuck-up children, earnest hecklers and why he gets annoyed about being called a ‘TikTok comedian’How did you get into comedy?I’d always secretly wanted to be a comedian. When my university held a talent show and neede…

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Michelle Brasier on turning cancer into comedy – and kicking her life into overdrive

After losing her father and brother, the Aunty Donna comedian was told she had a 97% chance of cancer herself. With a new album, musical and memoir to promote, she’s not slowing downGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAt the end of her first yea…

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Garry Starr: Classic Penguins review – brilliantly ticklish riff on a stack of literary tomes

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Dressed as the publisher’s emblem, in orange flippers and not much else, the ingenious comic delivers a dizzy series of droll visual routinesSome shows have “Edinburgh fringe” scored through them as if through a stick of …

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Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits review – the nation’s favourite foul mouth

Pleasance @ EICC, Edinburgh There’s more Margolyes than Dickens here, but her gift for florid characters is on fine display and suits the Victorian master perfectly“Guaranteed to offend and delight,” says the publicity. Really? It’s rare now to hear th…

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The Material by Camille Bordas review – when life is one long joke

Students on a comedy course devote their every moment to mining material for their on-stage routine in a novel that relies on how much it can make the reader laughFor any standup comedian, “material” is everything. Yes, it will require editing, fleshin…

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David Sedaris is an icon of indignation in a world that keeps on irking

The American humorist delighted the Royal Festival Hall with characteristically disgruntled slices of life – including a brush with cancel cultureIn years to come, I can tell the grandkids I was at the Royal Festival Hall the night Keir Starmer celebra…

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Tim Key: ‘I like writing in the pub, but then the poems tend to be about the pub’

The 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 …

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Barry Cryer: Same Time Tomorrow? review – a life full of laughter

The late comedian’s son, Bob Cryer, offers an intimate and astute portrait of his father’s skill and wit, and the vulnerability beneathI never met Barry Cryer, but I do have a memory of him, which seems characteristic of those generated by this great l…

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