Available onlineOn top of running a marathon – while doubling as a chatshow host – every day this month, the comedian is reprising old favouritesEddie Izzard’s last comedy gigs were her swansong, she told us – because politics beckoned. Since then, she…
Continue ReadingFamiliar faces Jerry Seinfeld, Patton Oswalt and Jim Gaffigan feature on this year’s shortlist – an award dominated by Netflix specials with nary an indie voice in sightWhat do we expect of a shortlist for best comedy album at the Grammys? I’ve not, in…
Continue ReadingModern masterpiece Jerusalem storms back and Trevor Nunn goes underground with Beckett, while Bob Marley gets a musical and Frankenstein becomes a ballet Continue reading…
Continue ReadingThe X-rated stories still provoke a titter but this recorded performance is a limp substitute for her rousing originalLondon Hughes was acting like a superstar when she was performing in a pokey attic on the Edinburgh fringe. Now the world catches up, …
Continue ReadingAvailable online This online stream of a 2016 Soho theatre show whips through the young comic’s angst and uncertaintyThere’s a moment in Rhys James’s 2016 show Forgives when the 25-year-old composes a letter to his 40-year-old self. He can’t have known…
Continue ReadingTwo years on, the Kettering comic’s show Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 remains personal, painful and electrifying. What will he do next?In the drear of a socially isolated Christmas, it was something to celebrate: a live stream of James Acaster’s caree…
Continue ReadingThere wasn’t a lot to laugh about as venues closed and gigs were cancelled. But standups still delivered silly, edgy and heartfelt gags. Our critic picks his favourite new materialMore best culture of 2020 Continue reading…
Continue ReadingNoël Coward theatre, LondonDescribed as ‘the cure for theatre’ by producer Sonia Friedman, Alex Owen and Ben Ashenden’s debut play is full of heart, pleasing pratfalls and endless flips of perspectiveAnnouncing it earlier this autumn, producer Sonia Fr…
Continue ReadingTell us about your standout show of the year – we’ll feature a selection of your favourites later this monthIt has been a tough year for theatre. But we are celebrating the shows that got us through 2020.Did you catch a play in between lockdowns? Did a…
Continue ReadingFrom Harry Hill to Helen Sharman, Ince’s Christmas mashup of comedy, science and music – Nine Lessons and Carols for Socially Distanced People – reached dizzy heightsIt’s Sunday morning, and Robin Ince is feeling dizzy after twentysomething hours of hi…
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