Doug Stanhope review – grim, thrilling and appallingly funny

Brixton Academy, London
One of the sharpest minds and loosest cannons in comedy is back with material about rape, race and #MeToo

“Is it wrong to use racism to try and stop gang rape?”

American standup Doug Stanhope is back in the UK and, yes, that sound you can hear is sacred cows bellowing. This near two-hour set showcases the best, and flirts with the worst, of this bleakest, blackest comic. Sometimes it is grim, sometimes you’ve just got to hold your nerve, and occasionally it’s thrilling to be back in a room with one of the sharpest minds and loosest cannons in comedy.

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Doug Stanhope review – grim, thrilling and appallingly funny

Brixton Academy, London
One of the sharpest minds and loosest cannons in comedy is back with material about rape, race and #MeToo

“Is it wrong to use racism to try and stop gang rape?”

American standup Doug Stanhope is back in the UK and, yes, that sound you can hear is sacred cows bellowing. This near two-hour set showcases the best, and flirts with the worst, of this bleakest, blackest comic. Sometimes it is grim, sometimes you’ve just got to hold your nerve, and occasionally it’s thrilling to be back in a room with one of the sharpest minds and loosest cannons in comedy.

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Sophie Willan: ‘The funniest meal I’ve ever eaten? A leftover blob of MDMA’

The comedian, writer and author on the things that make her laugh the most

Not the Nine O’Clock News is timeless. My favourite one is Gerald the Gorilla with Rowan Atkinson. It’s genius, silly stuff.

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Sophie Willan: ‘The funniest meal I’ve ever eaten? A leftover blob of MDMA’

The comedian, writer and author on the things that make her laugh the most

Not the Nine O’Clock News is timeless. My favourite one is Gerald the Gorilla with Rowan Atkinson. It’s genius, silly stuff.

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Edinburgh fringe 2018 to tackle #MeToo and celebrate Blue Peter

Lineup for 71st edition includes hard-hitting debuts and plenty of nostalgia

An array of provocative debuts will mix with a heavy dose of nostalgia at the 71st Edinburgh fringe festival this August, as creative takes on the #MeToo movement are performed alongside a theatrical tribute to Blue Peter, the world’s longest-running children’s TV show.

Launching the 2018 fringe programme with 3,548 shows, the most in its history, the event’s chief executive, Shona McCarthy, said: “Whether this is your first or your 50th time visiting the fringe as a performer or audience member, this is a place where new discoveries wait around every corner.”

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Pieter-Dirk Uys review – South African satirist relives his apartheid clashes

Soho theatre, London
Uys delivers an engaging memoir about his life, from 1940s Cape Town to a regime-mocking drag act

Part memoir, part nostalgia trip for white South Africans, Pieter-Dirk Uys’s new monologue is a world away from the arch satirical turns with which he made his – or rather, his alter ego Evita Bezuidenhout’s – name. There are no frills, just Uys in black, on a stool, narrating his life story from 1940s Cape Town via a London education and back to a career mocking the apartheid regime in theatre and drag. It’s performed in a low-key style, but Uys is a capable raconteur with an eventful story that shines a light on social and political history across two continents.

A long-distance friendship with Sophia Loren provides a rather improbable subplot

Related: Hi, my name is Evita and I’m a racist

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Stuart Laws: ‘No books are funny, unless you find a swearword in a dictionary’

The standup comic on the things that make him laugh the most

Harry Hill’s 2005 tour preview at a 100-seater venue in Windsor. I had no idea what a preview was but loved it. Once I gig with Harry I will have completed comedy.

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Michelle Wolf: ‘It’s weird that Trump doesn’t have a sense of humour’

As host of the White House correspondents’ dinner, comic Michelle Wolf insulted Trump, his inner circle and the press. What happened next?

In the past 35 days, Michelle Wolf has hosted the annual White House correspondents’ dinner, scandalised Washington DC, outraged the president, run a 50-mile ultramarathon, launched her own Netflix show, and turned herself into a household name. Yet “the hardest thing I ever did in my life”, according to the comedian, was none of these, but “getting myself fired on purpose.”

Five years ago, she was working for a tech company, but knew she wanted to be a comedian. The plan was to get paid for as long as possible, while she worked on her act, until they sacked her. “I don’t like being lazy, but I was like: ‘Just do less and less work.’ I was writing jokes all day, just constantly writing jokes.” She nearly lost her nerve when she received a formal warning. “It was the worst feeling. I hate disappointing people. I almost gave up then and there.” But she stuck at the plan, and “eventually I got fired, which was great”. She celebrated with cocktails.

In standup, you tell a joke and people laugh or they don’t. On Twitter, they correct and complain

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was a failure last year, but this year was an embarrassment to everyone associated with it. The filthy “comedian” totally bombed (couldn’t even deliver her lines-much like the Seth Meyers weak performance). Put Dinner to rest, or start over!

There’s this whole section of political comedy that’s just saying things we want to hear, rather than pushing our brains

We keep tuning in to everything outrageous that’s happening. We’re not watching the news but a show

People say they want honesty, but when they hear it they’re like, Oh, that was a cold slap of honesty

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Lolly Adefope: ‘In Edinburgh I kissed a boy in the afternoon – by 4am we both had new partners’

On a first trip to the fringe, she was desperate for comedy to seep into her and discovered a summer camp that became a second home

Despite having lived in London for most of my life – and being a huge fan of dancing and drinking in the street – I’ve never been to Notting Hill carnival. Instead, for the past seven years, I’ve spent August in Edinburgh, either performing or working at the fringe. Admittedly, last year was my first “fallow” year – a time for the farm (my body) to recover – but I still visited for 10 days at the end, unable to accept the fear of missing out of unjust reviews and posters of comedians scratching their heads.

The first year I visited, I lived in a flat with 20 other students. At some point during the month, a couple of people moved out, so I got a cupboard all to myself. It was heavenly. I had always wanted to do comedy, but didn’t know where to start – all I knew was that Edinburgh was where it happened. So I applied for a job giving out flyers for an improv group, and after an hour of not giving out any, I politely resigned.

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Political correctness isn’t killing comedy; you are | Rebecca Shaw

The old guard is being left behind in a world that no longer finds bigotry funny. It’s about time

Comedy has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents, working long and brutal hours in menial jobs in the struggle to raise four children, had every right to be sad, worried and angry people. Instead, to get through the hard times, they turned to humour. The funniest jokes in our house were rewarded; banter and good-natured teasing were encouraged. Although not formally educated, my parents’ natural intelligence shone through in their quick wit.

Moving through my teenage years, comedy became even more vital. There is almost nothing worse you can be in high school than a fat girl, and everyone moves quickly to make sure you know it. I still very much endured my share of bullying and teasing, but I was able to make friends fast, build defences and deflect a lot of abuse by using humour. Comedy helped me survive.

Related: Why don’t we have a sense a humour? Maybe it’s about the jokes | Alex McKinnon

This is not about being overly sensitive, it is simply about growing and adapting to what the audience will accept.

Haha I am sorry pic.twitter.com/Jspknl4CGl

Related: Dave Chappelle, Ricky Gervais and comedy’s ‘ironic bigotry’ problem

Continue reading…

Continue Reading