Some standups see it as their job to provide collective catharsis for the coronavirus, while others see pandemic gags as off-limits – even ones about Trump “I’ve been getting a lot out of lockdown – boobs, for example.” It’s Monday night at the Amersha…
Continue ReadingEntertainer Bobby Ball has died aged 76 after testing positive for Covid. One half of TV’s hugely successful comedy act Cannon and Ball, he was a mainstay on British televisions for much of the 1980s. He went on to act in comedies including Not Going O…
Continue ReadingThe world of standup has been rocked by allegations of sexual harassment and assault – and finally some men in the industry are vowing to tackle itWhen US comedian Kelly Bachman found herself performing to a bailed Harvey Weinstein at a New York show i…
Continue Reading21Soho, LondonBritain’s Got Talent botherer Nabil Abdulrashid leads an impressively forthright and sometimes edgy night of standup dealing with race and identity Comedian Nabil Abdulrashid elicited thousands of complaints joking about Black Lives Matte…
Continue ReadingApollo theatre, London London’s theatre district reopened its doors to stage an evening of well-aimed wrath that somehow finds comedy in kidney surgery After seven months away, the West End opened its doors again last night with a gala performance for …
Continue ReadingBattersea Arts Centre, London, and online Audience participation at arm’s length via screen happily injects some welcome randomness into this six-person improvised sketch showHow do you do impro without an audience? That Covid has made life unforgiving…
Continue ReadingAlmost 600 cultural groups across England to benefit from latest funding roundComedy clubs, circuses, choirs and theatres across England are in line to receive a share of £76m of government funding for the cultural sector.The Military Wives Choirs, Som…
Continue ReadingThis week, the UK government announced £257m in emergency arts funding – we hear from some of those who missed out, complaining of baffling applications and a lack of guidanceOf course it was disappointing not to be successful in this round of the cult…
Continue ReadingI’ve worked as the only person of colour on improv nights for years and found problems – and potential. Now diverse groups are finding laughs a more inclusive wayIn improv, when one comic decides another performer’s scene has run its course, they dart …
Continue ReadingIn the UK’s most southwesterly county a burgeoning standup scene thrives everywhere from remote village halls and old bakeries to the cliffside Minack theatre A cliff edge, an old bakery or the space next to the tea-hatch in a village hall aren’t stand…
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