‘I wanted to be serious – but people would laugh so hard’: Julia Masli on her accidental comedy masterpiece

Her midnight agony aunt clown show became the hot ticket of the fringe – despite the fact that the Estonian never regarded herself as a comic. In fact, she says, she much prefers making audiences cry‘But it’s a serious show!!!” tweeted Julia Masli when…

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Miles Jupp: ‘A brush with mortality makes you see everything through a very different prism’

The comedian, whose new show draws on his experience of surviving a brain tumour, on finding humour in adversity, working with Ridley Scott, and why his scar won’t be hidden for longLondon-born Miles Jupp, 44, began performing comedy while studying div…

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Unfunny business: Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais sink to new depths

Netflix’s latest specials show two once-funny comedians continuing to punch down in a desperate quest for relevanceThe funniest part of Dave Chappelle’s new special The Dreamer comes right at the top, and not on purpose.In high-grain black-and-white, w…

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Comedian Jeff Innocent: ‘Social media has liberated this old bloke’

The standup on the best advice he’s ever been given, performing on the London Eye and becoming a viral sensationHow did you get into comedy?I’ve always enjoyed making people laugh and I was in drama groups during my teens. In the late 80s I went to a c…

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‘Lying for the laugh’: should comedians tell us the truth?

The controversy over Hasan Minhaj’s onstage storytelling was a sign of the shifting demands placed on standup comicsNo one gets into standup comedy expecting a routine factcheck. But that’s what happened when a September profile of Hasan Minhaj in the …

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‘Lying for the laugh’: should comedians tell us the truth?

The controversy over Hasan Minhaj’s onstage storytelling was a sign of the shifting demands placed on standup comicsNo one gets into standup comedy expecting a routine factcheck. But that’s what happened when a September profile of Hasan Minhaj in the …

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The best theatre, dance and comedy tickets to book in 2024

The new year’s hottest shows include stage versions of Minority Report, Spirited Away and La Strada, performances by Keeley Hawes and Ian McKellen – plus laughs from Julia Masli, Rhod Gilbert and Ania Magliano• More from the 2024 culture preview Contin…

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‘I can be quite well behaved’: Frank Skinner on standup, rude jokes and what the kids got right

Comedian Frank Skinner is preparing to unleash his new standup show – and this time he says he’s cleaning up his actFrank Skinner has been up since 7.23am. “I don’t like dictatorial twelfths,” he says, showing me the list of alarms on his phone: 6.57am…

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The best theatre, comedy and dance of 2023

Our critics’ highlights of the year include a 24-hour marathon, a standup welcoming hecklers, a reboot of The Matrix and a bus ride filled with emotion• More on the best culture of 202310. Standing at the Sky’s EdgeOne iconic housing estate in Sheffiel…

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The best theatre, comedy and dance of 2023

Our critics’ highlights of the year include a 24-hour marathon, a standup welcoming hecklers, a reboot of The Matrix and a bus ride filled with emotion• More on the best culture of 202310. Standing at the Sky’s EdgeOne iconic housing estate in Sheffiel…

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