Catherine Bohart: ‘The funniest word? Butt’

The Irish standup, writer and actor on the things that make her laugh the mostHow am I supposed to answer that? It’s like asking about your favourite kid, or the best ice-cream, or naming one good book … ugh, Michelle Wolf in Melbourne. Continue readin…

Continue Reading

Ben Elton’s return to standup: ‘I’m as scared as I get’

Back on tour for the first time in 15 years, the trailblazing comedian has some scores to settle. How can he be a sellout, he asks, if he was never radical to begin with?They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes – but my inner 13-year-old would never for…

Continue Reading

Yeah baby he’s got it! Bananarama, Pontins and the brutally funny dance-off

In 1987, Dan Watson’s dance routine failed to nab first prize from a panel of pesky bluecoats. He revisits this haunting childhood experience in his new comedy show, VenusGood art often chimes with our own life experiences and gives us cause to reflect…

Continue Reading

David Mitchell and Ben Elton’s Upstart Crow sitcom to become stage show

Comedian will make his West End stage debut as Shakespeare in comedy adaptation promising troubles, twins and a dancing bearBen Elton’s sitcom Upstart Crow, which imagines the beleaguered personal and professional lives of a floridly loquacious William…

Continue Reading

Steve Martin and Martin Short: ‘Do you think the Queen will come to our show?’

Two of the Three Amigos are hitting the road with a banter and banjo-filled double act. But it’s not about nostalgia, they insist“I’m a Guardian subscriber!”Oh, come now, Steve, you’re just buttering me up.Steve Martin and Martin Short are at the SSE H…

Continue Reading

Bianca del Rio review – startlingly mean drag star loves to hate

Wembley Arena, London Though the timing is spot-on, the comedian’s outrageous swipes at every sexuality, race and even disability descend to cliche as their wickedness exceeds their wit It’s a big night for Bianca del Rio, breakout star of RuPaul’s Dra…

Continue Reading

London Hughes: ‘There are no black female household names in the UK, bar Naomi Campbell’

From Lizzo to Prince Charles to race and the British standup circuit, the rising comic lets rip London Hughes is the talk of the town. Every town. At this year’s Edinburgh festival fringe, her sold-out, roof-raising show To Catch a Dick narrowly missed…

Continue Reading

Jen Brister: ‘My mother-in-law once served us chicken pie and custard’

The standup, author and actor on the things that make her laugh the mostHas to be Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. I read it on holiday with a mate and laughed so hard I annoyed her to the point that she chucked it in the bin. Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Romesh Ranganathan review – entertaining grouchiness from TV’s Mr Ubiquitous

Royal Concert Hall, NottinghamIf the domesticity subject matter is well-worn, the Crawley comic’s vivacity keeps it freshYou know your career has taken off when you become – as Romesh Ranganathan has – other comedians’ byword for ubiquity. The Crawley …

Continue Reading

All hail Tina Fey: the funniest comic of the 21st century

From skewering Sarah Palin to handing us Liz Lemon on 30 Rock, here are 10 of the SNL legend’s most hilarious moments The 50 best comediansA nice girl with an anarchic bent and a tongue as sharp as a boning knife, Tina Fey has dominated sketch comedy (…

Continue Reading