The inflammatory standup on the things that make him laugh the most, from Broad City to Victoria WoodJohn Gordillo in Kentish Town. His routine about Zippos Circus made me laugh so much it became quite disruptive and hard for him to continue. I have qu…
Continue ReadingHe’s a likable performer capitalising on the idea that most of his fellow comedians are lefties. So is Norcott’s show Conswervative more wind-up than battle cry?
“Have I got any Tories in?” Geoff Norcott is “the UK’s only declared Conservative comedian,” his publicity claims – which will come as a surprise to Jim Davidson. Norcott has been doing the rounds as a comic for 15-plus years, and it’s only in the last couple that he’s come out as a right-winger. I’d guessed, from afar, that that was just a canny piece of branding. It’s certainly done wonders for his career: he’s now the Telegraph’s go-to man for comedy comment, and earlier this year, out of all proportion to his profile or accomplishment, he was drafted on to Question Time.
In his act, he has the good grace to admit that that gig came about only to satisfy diversity quotas, as he puts it, savouring the irony. In fact, on stage, he’s got good grace all round: I bow to no one in my dislike of the Tories, but Norcott comes across as a likable lad. Yes, his show, Conswervative, is an apologia for this working-class comic’s rightward drift, insulting Jeremy Corbyn, mocking the supposed sanctity of the NHS and defending tax avoidance. But it plays more like a wind-up than a battle cry: Norcott’s politics feel open-ended and lightly worn. I suspect he’d be back in the Labour fold before long, if it weren’t for the current state of the party, or for the shot-in-the-arm that Toryism has given to his standup career.
Related: Where are all the right-wing comedians when you need them?
Continue ReadingThe People Time actor and character comic on the things that make her laugh the most
John Early. His body and brain were made for the world’s entertainment and pleasure.
Continue ReadingThe wild comedy night that hosts aggressive poetry, ‘sexy American girl cousins’ and unlimited oddballs is 10 years old – and as ramshackle as ever
Sandwiched between a Tesco and a Wetherspoons in the centre of Hackney is the Moth Club, a tiny venue whose chintzy shimmer curtains and gold glitter ceiling give it a faded glamour. Once a month, comedy fans witness all kinds of depravity within its confines: Brian Gittins with a rubber penis hanging out of his dungarees, Jayde Adams in a nude-suit singing opera, Tim Key aggressively barking poetry about men named Alistair, Cardinal Burns pretending to be frazzled drug dealers, pedalling Boris Bikes through the audience.
The Moth Club – along with Bethnal Green’s Rich Mix – is home to the mixed-bill comedy night Knock2Bag, which turns 10 this weekend. Knock2Bag specialises in the stranger end of the comedy spectrum, and has accrued such a cult following that going there feels a bit like being zapped back to Vic and Bob’s surreal Big Night Out in south London in the late 90s. Their chaotic shows sell out way in advance, with comedy’s most revered names often found in the audience. Earlier this year, I spied John C Reilly and Steve Coogan giggling at a Cardinal Burns sketch of spangled Spanish clubbers bickering with each other.
Continue ReadingJonathon Young’s dance-theatre show Betroffenheit explores his grief after a family tragedy. The author Max Porter, comic Jayde Adams, performer Mojisola Adebayo and Young himself discuss their artistic responses to personal traumas
Jonathon Young sits on a hard bed, the kind that speaks of institutions. Green light tinges the walls around him on the stage. This is “the room”, a space triggered by an event referred to as “the accident” throughout his show Betroffenheit. “The night of the accident we’re all asleep,” his character recites. “The alarm wakes me and … I run. I’m the first on the scene and they’re in there. I try to help them get out but it’s too late.”
Eight years ago, Young was on a family holiday north of Vancouver when the cabin in which his daughter, 14, and two cousins were sleeping, caught fire. Young tried to save them, but the flames were 150 feet high. All three children died.
I’m there on the stage, appearing as though I am present and experiencing these events anew. But of course I’m not
There is something about a release that is a letting go, the body relaxing … But for me it was the opposite
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, London
Ludicrous tights, crude puppetry and dialogues with a chattering toilet brush make Jones’s alter ego The Herbert irresistibly daft
We should probably forgive Spencer Jones for his show Eggy Bagel – revived after an Edinburgh fringe run – being ramshackle. For a start, that’s the point: Jones’s alter ego The Herbert is a gormless clown, and his prop comedy is, intentionally, the antithesis of slick. Then there’s Jones’s schedule, with a role in Ben Elton’s Shakespeare comedy Upstart Crow, and recent pilots for his own Mr Bean-ish sitcoms on both Sky and the BBC, alongside a booming live career.
Given all that, what matter that his Eggy Bagel performance is short, disjointed and, on this occasion, prone to bouts of forgetfulness? It remains a disarming 45 minutes, because Jones has devised several irresistibly daft set pieces and because he radiates relentless, goofy self-delight.
Continue ReadingOrchard, Dartford
The standup considers kinky sex, politics and Angela Merkel’s alter ego but his new touring show is seldom striking
You might have heard I’m controversial, Reginald D Hunter tells his audience, by way of an introduction to this new touring show. All that means, he says, is that he uses the N-word. And yet, later on, he’s humblebragging about his supposed inability to crack “light, easy” gags. The Hunter brand is joking where others fear to joke, and he’s determined to tell you about it – as opposed to demonstrate it, which happens a little less frequently.
Perhaps it comes down to how you interpret “controversial”. Is it controversial for a celebrated, middle-aged straight male comedian to spend five minutes ridiculing transgender females? Well, yes, some people might take offence. But it’s also highly orthodox, given that Hunter’s colleagues Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle have both done the same in recent shows. It’ll be a surprise the next time I see a celebrated, middle-aged straight male comic who leaves transgender people alone.
Related: Reginald D Hunter: ‘Getting married, having kids is one ideal. But it’s not my ideal’
Continue ReadingKids’ discos, circus workshops, craft corners, PG-rated comedy … not forgetting proper music lineups, from Stormzy to Happy Mondays – here’s our pick of the events all the family can enjoy
Alfresco was conceived by a music-loving couple who aimed to blend underground sounds with a family friendly hook. Highlights include Alexis Taylor, Psychemagik and Optimo, and kids’ activities are centred on arty and sporty workshops.
26-28 May, Tunbridge Wells, Kent; adult day £22-£38.50, 5-17 years day £19.25, weekend family £214.50, camping from £49.50. alfrescofestival.co.uk
An eye-wateringly explicit new stage show celebrates erotic correspondence sent by famous figures through the ages
“I did as you told me, you dirty little girl, and pulled myself off twice when I read your letter.” He might be celebrated for his epic and allusive novels, but James Joyce came straight to the point when writing to his partner, Nora Barnacle. This was the opening salvo of a letter from 1908 and is just one of scores of explicit missives he sent her.
A new stage show is celebrating such letters of desire sent by famous figures through the centuries, whether explicit or coded, erotic or romantic. Theatre-maker Rachel Mars is curating a selection to be read aloud in the performance which is part of the Hotbed “festival of sex” at Camden People’s theatre in London. These will be interspersed with anonymised modern messages: texts, tweets and dating app sexts.
Continue ReadingThe comedian and sketch-show doyenne on the things that make her laugh the most
Simon Munnery’s The League Against Tedium in Edinburgh in the late 1990s. I had never seen anything like it; I became almost hysterical with laughter which he probably found off-putting. He appeared to give no shits whether the audience liked it or not, and I loved that.
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