‘It’s everything I wanted’: how standups swapped the fringe for Twitch

There has been a huge comedy boom on the gaming platform, enabling acts such as Bilal Zafar to gain creative control and reach new audiencesA Bonjela-addicted football manager berates his pixelated players. A CEO builds a cat-milk empire. A cannon fire…

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A Run for Hope: Eddie Izzard’s marathon is a physical feat with a comedy treat

Available onlineOn top of running a marathon – while doubling as a chatshow host – every day this month, the comedian is reprising old favouritesEddie Izzard’s last comedy gigs were her swansong, she told us – because politics beckoned. Since then, she…

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It’s time to give a new generation of comics a crack at the Grammys

Familiar faces Jerry Seinfeld, Patton Oswalt and Jim Gaffigan feature on this year’s shortlist – an award dominated by Netflix specials with nary an indie voice in sightWhat do we expect of a shortlist for best comedy album at the Grammys? I’ve not, in…

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Jerusalem, Beckett and Bridget Christie: theatre, comedy and dance to book in 2021

Modern masterpiece Jerusalem storms back and Trevor Nunn goes underground with Beckett, while Bob Marley gets a musical and Frankenstein becomes a ballet Continue reading…

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London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck review – swaggering hour of sex-comedy

The X-rated stories still provoke a titter but this recorded performance is a limp substitute for her rousing originalLondon Hughes was acting like a superstar when she was performing in a pokey attic on the Edinburgh fringe. Now the world catches up, …

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Rhys James: Forgives review – quickfire comedy is packed with gags

Available online This online stream of a 2016 Soho theatre show whips through the young comic’s angst and uncertaintyThere’s a moment in Rhys James’s 2016 show Forgives when the 25-year-old composes a letter to his 40-year-old self. He can’t have known…

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From Brexit to breakups, James Acaster is an audacious king of comedy

Two years on, the Kettering comic’s show Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 remains personal, painful and electrifying. What will he do next?In the drear of a socially isolated Christmas, it was something to celebrate: a live stream of James Acaster’s caree…

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What a joke: the 10 funniest comedy shows of 2020

There wasn’t a lot to laugh about as venues closed and gigs were cancelled. But standups still delivered silly, edgy and heartfelt gags. Our critic picks his favourite new materialMore best culture of 2020 Continue reading…

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The Comeback review – comedy that sparkles by double act The Pin

Noël Coward theatre, LondonDescribed as ‘the cure for theatre’ by producer Sonia Friedman, Alex Owen and Ben Ashenden’s debut play is full of heart, pleasing pratfalls and endless flips of perspectiveAnnouncing it earlier this autumn, producer Sonia Fr…

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Choose your favourite UK theatre show of 2020

Tell us about your standout show of the year – we’ll feature a selection of your favourites later this monthIt has been a tough year for theatre. But we are celebrating the shows that got us through 2020.Did you catch a play in between lockdowns? Did a…

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