A generous-hearted jokesmith, Cryer created laughs for generations of comics, was a consummate performer and had a lifelong commitment to wit‘An honorary uncle to countless comics’: Jack Dee on CryerThe best work of Barry Cryer, who has died aged 86, w…
Continue ReadingHe was the shellshocked genius who channelled his anarchic brilliance into The Goon Show. Ian Hislop and Nick Newman explain why they’ve written a play about Spike Milligan – while comedians remember a legendThe tortured lives of comedians form a biogr…
Continue ReadingHe has made a career out of winding people up in everything from The Office to his Golden Globes speeches – but is the comedian’s bark worse than his bite?Ricky Gervais’s assistant leads me past a huge, empty room to the top floor of an office above a …
Continue ReadingSpeech is out. Daft captions are in. Nearly everyone is beautiful. And one guy amassed 11m followers while living in emergency accommodation with his mum. Our critic samples TikTok comedyI’m used to consuming jokes and sketches as part of shows, as com…
Continue ReadingSpeech is out. Daft captions are in. Nearly everyone is beautiful. And one guy amassed 11m followers while living in emergency accommodation with his mum. Our critic samples TikTok comedyI’m used to consuming jokes and sketches as part of shows, as com…
Continue ReadingMenier Chocolate Factory, LondonThe misadventures of a hapless hero led astray by his false friend are funny but don’t quite fill three dimensionsThere was a setback last month for this play inspired by a hit podcast when co-writer and performer Harry …
Continue ReadingFrom foul-mouthed ad spoofs to reading Fifty Shades to his gran, the ‘front-facing camera comic’ has become a legend in his own living roomEven if he wanted to, Alistair Green can’t redecorate his living room. The plain white walls that backdrop the co…
Continue ReadingFrom foul-mouthed ad spoofs to reading Fifty Shades to his gran, the ‘front-facing camera comic’ has become a legend in his own living roomEven if he wanted to, Alistair Green can’t redecorate his living room. The plain white walls that backdrop the co…
Continue ReadingAvailable onlineThe age of peak podcast meets its match in John-Luke Roberts and his procession of hilariously titled imaginary showsIn 2018, John-Luke Roberts’s Edinburgh show consisted entirely of names of hitherto unheard-of Spice Girls. He’s up to …
Continue ReadingNetflix With electro-pop social commentary, bleak humour and sock-puppet debates, the comic’s lockdown creation is astonishingWell, now we know what Bo Burnham did with his lockdown. Inside is his new Netflix special, created alone in his LA home throu…
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