Cracker 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 ReadingDorking HallsPlayful material about Pascoe’s life on the celebrity B-list is eclipsed by a heartfelt second act focused on private truths about new motherhoodSara Pascoe isn’t the first comic to get a laugh by appraising the precise dimensions of her f…
Continue ReadingEven though it affects one in five pregnancies, the loss of a baby is rarely talked about, especially among men. But standups Jacob Hawley and Will Duggan are using comedy to break that tabooIn 2019, the comedian Jacob Hawley was in his mid-20s and thi…
Continue ReadingThe comedian, actor and presenter talks about an old photograph, and how her big sister’s early death spurred her to write her award-winning debut standup showBorn in Bristol in 1984, Jayde Adams is a comedian, actor and presenter known for her bombast…
Continue ReadingThe comedian and her dad recreate a childhood photo and talk about early days in India, agoraphobia and swapping banking for comedy Born in New Delhi in 1969, Sindhu Vee spent her childhood in India and the Philippines, before throwing herself into aca…
Continue ReadingWhen you’ve shared jokes since childhood, you can be brutally honest with each other. Flo & Joan and Ruby Wax’s daughters, Maddy and Marina Bye, on becoming family double acts They’ve been described as “the other popular comedy duo” from TV’s golde…
Continue ReadingFrom care work to shelf-stacking, many standups have taken up jobs to survive lockdown – highlighting how privilege has created a two-tier system in comedyOn 16 March, when Boris Johnson advised people to avoid pubs and theatres, the effect on live com…
Continue ReadingWith comedy festivals cancelled around the world, Amazon Prime is releasing 10 original Australian specials to tide you over. Filmed at Melbourne’s Malthouse theatres, the series will feature names including Celia Pacquola, Tom Gleeson, Anne Edmonds, T…
Continue ReadingMy sixtysomething mother lacked confidence, but has reinvented herself as Manchester’s answer to Mrs MaiselRuth Linton, my mum, is an eternally overdressed, perennially late, sixtysomething (don’t ask, because she’ll always deduct two years), divorced,…
Continue ReadingThe procedure left the comedian with sexual anxiety – and a tell-all show at the Edinburgh festivalJournalistic etiquette decrees that any delicate questions are usually saved until near the end of an interview. That doesn’t apply, however, when you ar…
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