Taking in six years of ‘cancel culture’ and events as recent as the Will Smith slap, the comedian’s latest show lacks the polish of her previousZoë Coombs Marr’s character Dave has woken from a coma and everything since 2016 is new to him. He has misse…
Continue ReadingLondon PalladiumMissus – an account of her unexpected marriage to her childhood sweetheart and their surprisingly traditional new life together – is quite a departure from Ryan’s showy cynicism“Be your authentic self!” I don’t love it when standup sets…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe standup ruthlessly dismantles the machismo around the act of fellatio while telling her own cocksure journey through oral sex‘Do I overreach?”, asks Jacqueline Novak. Well, yes – no show ever overreached more, which is what make…
Continue ReadingFour seasoned standups, all with the comic’s dread of hosting awards shows, on what to do when a gig goes very wrong – and how they might have reactedIt was the slap that was heard around the internet – Will Smith’s outraged stage invasion at the Oscar…
Continue ReadingThe showrunner of Call My Agent! is back with a winning series about France’s young comics and how their onstage routines and real lives intersectIs there a gap in the market for an ensemble TV show about comedians’ lives? At least since Seinfeld, ther…
Continue ReadingThe British musical comedians share what makes them laugh, including a strange number of videos involving tiny hands and Debbie Reynolds pretending to be a footballGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email and listen to our podcastOh, the internet. S…
Continue ReadingBack by popular demand, Ed MacArthur and Kiell Smith-Bynoe are reworking their anarchic show about the rivalry between a toff and a TikToK rapper on the kids’ party scene This doesn’t usually happen: I’ve turned up to interview two people, and neither …
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe Coming 2 America star’s UK debut is genial and enjoyable – but should probably feel more finessed than it doesTonight, says Jermaine Fowler, “I’m just prepping stuff for my next standup film.” It’s an underwhelming opening from …
Continue ReadingLeicester Square theatre, LondonThe standup rallies from backstage illness to deliver a show about love, fear and roller skating‘I’ve just been sick behind the curtain.” It’s an inauspicious start to a gig. But Lou Sanders is not very well and, being L…
Continue ReadingTate’s sweary grump went from TV to stage show to a misfiring film, proving how tricky it is to keep audiences on a lifelong journey with a comic creation‘Brutally unfunny.” “Lacking in charm and good jokes.” “As interminable as it is revolting.” The r…
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