The former TV executive on life lessons from Joan Rivers, paper-plane heckles and a ‘perfect day’ doing Live at the ApolloBefore becoming a full-time comedian, you were a high-profile TV exec and producer. Are there any transferable skills from this wo…
Continue ReadingThe Welsh standup used to direct his fury at service stations, baked potatoes and the tog-rating of duvets. Now he’s tackling anxiety, infertility – and his own battle with the cancer that stopped his tourA lot has changed since Rhod Gilbert began tour…
Continue ReadingThe US comedy sensation is making up for lost time after Covid with a new show – still self-obsessed, but ‘a bit darker’ – and an opportunity for us to observe a quintessentially millennial comic grow up in publicAs long as there has been standup, comi…
Continue ReadingDanny Boyle’s Matrix-inspired spectacular opens in Manchester, Succession star Brian Cox returns to the stage and standups Maisie Adam, Guz Khan and Catherine Cohen are on tourMore from the 2023 culture preview Continue reading…
Continue ReadingThere’s nothing like a panto to banish the blues, especially if it stars Sir Ian McKellen as Mother Goose – the grande dame of seasonal fun and frolics The actor Sir Ian McKellen and the comedian John Bishop are stepping out on to the West End stage ov…
Continue ReadingCracker industry bosses and comics shed light on the art of the cracker joke, from winning formulas to ‘innovation teams’ – and why they’re more important than ever in the digital ageWhat do you get if you cross a potentially awkward, booze-soaked fami…
Continue ReadingAmbassadors theatre, LondonLiz Kingsman’s slick, self-conscious ‘troubled woman’ show nests its complex jokes within jokes to tremendous effect‘We need women’s story,” says Liz Kingsman in One Woman Show, her slick parody of Fleabag and the countless c…
Continue ReadingFrom dazzling comic debuts at the Edinburgh fringe to occult sketches, soul-searching standup and deeply strange revelations, it was a top year for laughing matters• More on the best culture of 2022A set delivering all the livid topical comedy we expec…
Continue ReadingLondon PalladiumDawn French, Julian Clary and Alexandra Burke join an animatronic giant with a vast beanstalk in an innuendo-heavy, story-light showPantos are usually cheap and cheerful, so it’s disorientating to see millions of pounds (I’m guessing) t…
Continue ReadingEach week we ask comedians to explain what makes them laugh online. Aiden wants to share Weird Al, a Lenny Kravitz parody and the perfect comedy noiseGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailHello, the Guardian. I am Aiden Willcox and I use the inter…
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