Standups used to think they’d never make it if they didn’t play the festival. But it’s leaving many saddled with debt, stuck in squalid flats and even suicidal. Refuseniks tell us why they’re bowing outRose Johnson has spent eight Augusts at the Edinbu…
Continue ReadingThe 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 ReadingOxford PlayhouseThere are some low-wattage anecdotes in this set but the standup delivers gags about farting and haemorrhoids with an undeniable vitalityThere are seven signs of ageing, according to a well-known moisturiser brand – but Sarah Millican g…
Continue ReadingThe comedian shares a few of her favourite (online) things, including a terrible South Dakota anti-drug campaign, Mr Bean playing invisible drums and – of course – a laughing babyGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email and listen to our podcastAh, …
Continue ReadingFrom 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 ReadingPhil Wang makes a heroic return, Ian McKellen stars in a balletic Hamlet and Sophie Duker is gleefully carefree. Here are our picks of the festival’s comedy, theatre and dance 20 great Edinburgh fringe shows we’ve already seenSam Nicoresti: Cancel Anti…
Continue ReadingWhen her family’s code of silence was broken, the writer and performer Helen Wood began a journey that led to a new play, Let’s Talk About PhilipIn the summer of 1985 Philip, my only sibling, died by suicide. He was 27 and I was 26. Very soon after the…
Continue ReadingThe standup on the wisest words ever given to him, his pre-show rituals and how he discovered his vocation at an anarchist vegetarian communeHow did you get into comedy?I grew up in the West Country and there wasn’t much of a comedy scene at the time. …
Continue ReadingThis week, Marina Hyde looks at the prime minister’s £150k treehouse plan (1m37s), Charlotte Higgins asks why we’re still obsessed with the Regency era (8m36s), Brian Logan documents the history of gags so offensive that punters called the police (24m3…
Continue ReadingA scene that started as a counter to straight standup at the end of the 1970s is still hard to peg – but it’s much more than just weird stuff that doesn’t work on tellyA giant sentient disco ball sits in the front row at Party, the Bristol comedy night…
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