Monkey Barrel Comedy, EdinburghPugh shambles his diffident way into the spotlight with a stealthy, clever and heartwarming showIncompetent, negative, a follower not a leader: Josh Pugh is highly conversant with his own shortcomings. His Edinburgh show …
Continue ReadingMonkey Barrel Comedy, EdinburghDean’s great skill is to make the audience feel like intimate confidantes, but sometimes his impatience to get to the next laugh weakens the shtickIt’s a sign of the times that even the sunniest standups are now deliverin…
Continue ReadingMonkey Barrel, EdinburghThe Australian comic takes incongruity to uncommon lengths – and this year he’s recalibrated his show towards warmth“My mind is a prison full of crazy ideas. And I think there’s going to be a jailbreak!” That’s Sam Campbell: fre…
Continue ReadingIn between performances at Edinburgh Fringe, the Australian comedian has assembled a list of fun clips, including the Armando Iannucci Shows and a parody of Vogue’s 73 QuestionsGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailThe future is bright for online …
Continue ReadingFrom Liz Kingsman’s ‘messy woman’ send-up to Seann Walsh’s memories of his off-screen Strictly kiss, the nine-strong shortlist is a triumph for diversity though not without glaring omissionsThe nominations have been announced for the first Edinburgh Co…
Continue ReadingSamira Wiley makes her UK stage debut, there’s an urgent counter to antisemitism, plus a fourth King James, refugee dancers and comedic returns Continue reading…
Continue ReadingThey are the shock troops of comedy, pranksters who risk arrest and worse to ridicule the powerful. As two acclaimed practitioners – including the man who threw Nazi golfballs at Trump – hit Edinburgh, they relive their greatest scrapesIt was the polit…
Continue ReadingThe king of one-liners on his unlikely comedy hero, preshow prayers and the best heckle he’s ever gotHow did you get into comedy? I spotted an advert in the Stage newspaper advertising a new act competition at the Comedy Cafe in London. Twelve acts did…
Continue ReadingWest Midlands comedian Masai Graham, who works as a part-time care worker, wins title for second time A standup comedian who works part-time as a care worker on minimum wage has topped a poll of the funniest jokes at the Edinburgh festival fringe for t…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghHoult hangs up the dress and luvvie cadences of his fringe-staple alter ego Anna Mann in a camp, silly yet surprisingly emotional showWhen a character comic bids farewell to their character, is it a death – or a rebirth? F…
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