Atsuko Okatsuka: ‘Executives say, we only do one Ali Wong every 10 years. Why would we do a second?’

The standup has earned a huge online audience for her comedy and dance videos with her equally popular grandma. She talks about her family and feeling like ‘a freak’Get our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAtsuko Okatsuka has largely been the archite…

Continue Reading

‘They’re dumb – but I want to win’: comedians tell of the highs and lows of the Edinburgh fringe awards

Awards generate a buzz and are motivating but the pressure to be nominated and the disappointment are intense“I have a very toxic relationship with awards,” says Natalie Palamides, who won best newcomer at the 2017 Edinburgh comedy awards. “Obviously, …

Continue Reading

Please Right Back review – exquisitely crafted hybrid of animation and performance

Gulbenkian Arts Centre, CanterburyTheatre company 1927 pull off a high-wire act of graphic novel visuals, song, dance, comedy and psychedelic make-believe in this madcap odysseyThis “twisted little story” could be fiction or not, we are told at the sta…

Continue Reading

Please Right Back review – exquisitely crafted hybrid of animation and performance

Gulbenkian Arts Centre, CanterburyTheatre company 1927 pull off a high-wire act of graphic novel visuals, song, dance, comedy and psychedelic make-believe in this madcap odysseyThis “twisted little story” could be fiction or not, we are told at the sta…

Continue Reading

‘It was the first time I wasn’t obsessed with food’: comedians mine Ozempic trend for laughs at Edinburgh Fringe

Female comics will confront body dysmorphia by turning the mirror on themselves and then back on societySolo performers on Edinburgh’s fringe are jointly confronting one of the most personally undermining ailments – body dysmorphia. Next weekend a rang…

Continue Reading

Loud and queer: Gareth Thomas, Rosie Jones and more on the culture that helped them find their true selves

From a rugby great to a former MP, LGBTQ stars spill the beans on the shows, songs and films that made them understand their identityBronski Beat – Smalltown Boy Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Eggs, bacon, banter: the Scottish hotel trying to make breakfast the funniest meal of the day

Are you a comedian desperate for an audience – and accommodation – during the Edinburgh fringe? This could be your dream gig Name: Breakfast roaster.Age: As yet unborn. Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Edinburgh festival 2024: six of the funniest comedians at the fringe

Looking for rising stars this summer? Try gossipy standup, an end-of-the-pier homage and a ‘gay witch sex cult’Frankie Monroe, the impish proprietor of a working men’s club who has made a Faustian pact to keep his establishment open, is bound to be a b…

Continue Reading

Must the show go on? Theatre’s plucky motto may be out of step with our times | Arifa Akbar

Stage performances have been disrupted this summer by last-minute delays, cancellations and postponements. Is it just a run of bad luck – or a cultural shift?One theatre audience, already seated, is told that the play has been called off because of a t…

Continue Reading

From OnlyFans to medical trials – the extreme measures artists take to fund Edinburgh festival shows

Crowdfunding and finding patrons are among less painful options as cost of performing at the fringe soarsIn the run-up to the Edinburgh festival fringe last year, comedian John Tothill was having “horrific hallucinations of being pulled into hell by th…

Continue Reading