Royal and Derngate, Northampton The spiritual comedian’s lofty aspirations make way for funny riffs on fatherhood and lockdown in a self-ridiculing setAre we here for laughs, or spiritual healing? Both, Russell Brand seems to think, apologising for the…
Continue ReadingThe standup, most famous for Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live, could make the familiar feel strange and newNorm Macdonald, former SNL cast member, dies at 61It was Frank Skinner who first brought my attention to Norm Macdonald. Years ago – I can’t…
Continue ReadingShakespeare’s Globe, LondonThe Mock the Week man clearly enjoys his turn on the prestige stage, and Jen Brister, Athena Kugblenu and Nina Conti are able supporting playersIf you must enter the stage hobbling, a cane tapping the ground at your side, you…
Continue ReadingShakespeare’s Globe, LondonThe Mock the Week man clearly enjoys his turn on the prestige stage, and Jen Brister, Athena Kugblenu and Nina Conti are able supporting playersIf you must enter the stage hobbling, a cane tapping the ground at your side, you…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe Russian-born comic racks up the punchlines as she auditions to be a Bond girl, considers British quirks and recalls her schooldaysThe comedian from far afield, observing British idiosyncrasies for the delight of British audience…
Continue ReadingAfter months of uncertainty and being told to retrain, I got my chance to act at a beautiful and iconic theatre. Fair bit of pressure not to be rubbish …It’s difficult to describe the feelings of jubilation, guilt, disbelief, confusion, gratitude and f…
Continue ReadingAs social distancing disappears at UK arts venues, artists and audiences who need to shield are uncertain of the futurePerformers and audiences who are clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) are being shut out of the arts due to a lack of ongoing safety…
Continue ReadingLondon Wonderground, Earls Court, LondonJarred Christmas’s human cartoon antics and Hobbit’s virtuoso microphone skills jolly the crowd along – but the show wasn’t as interactive as billedSome kids see a show with their parents then reflect eruditely, …
Continue ReadingComics including Romesh Ranganathan pay tribute to ‘caring and terrific’ standup, whose death from cancer has been announcedThe comedian Phil Jerrod, known for his richly lyrical observations and tirades, delivered with surreal flights of fancy, has di…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe comedian flops in a New York hotel room, sheds his inhibitions at an ayahuasca ceremony and visits a Berlin sex club as he explores his midlife crisisNo one zeroes in on the human comedy, the gulf dividing who we wish to be from…
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