Larry David took the role of “Larry David” onscreen. But how close are such characters to real life? Three comics starring as versions of themselves reveal where they draw the lineFans of the Canadian standup Mae Martin could probably tell you a lot ab…
Continue ReadingFairfield Halls, LondonThe perky comic provides plenty of material and eye-rolling at how the other half live but some of the jokes flatlineSome marry for love, some for money, and some – you would be forgiven for thinking – for reliable standup materi…
Continue ReadingStarting a new tour is difficult, and this time my pre-show anxiety has been the worst everI am on tour right now, and I have been looking forward to being on the road for the longest time. The decision to tour was made a year and a half ago, and I hav…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe Scottish comic hits some acerbic highs with an oddly episodic set that hops from politics to porn to parenthood ‘Scary. Brutal. Forthright.” That’s how Fern Brady finds herself described, much to her surprise. She can certainly …
Continue ReadingTransgressive, intimidating and smeared with ketchup, the performer loves to give audiences more than they’ve bargained for – from an X-rated Jesus to a bare BoudiccaLucy McCormick pulls her elbow back and closes her left eye. Whoosh, twang, thud: the …
Continue ReadingEventim Apollo, LondonIn his first tour for eight years, the Australian polymath offers up a three-hour spectacular tracing the story of his lifeTim Minchin was “misdiagnosed” as a comedian, he says in his new show, Back. You can see what he means: com…
Continue ReadingThe actor, comedian, playwright and one half of Jonny and the Baptists on the things that make him laugh the mostI must have watched Dylan Moran’s DVD of Monster, recorded at Vicar Street in Dublin, about a hundred times. It’s storytelling, almost char…
Continue ReadingLeicester Square theatre, LondonWith typical deftness, the standup has made his scintillating two-part show a hymn to political correctness and a giddy attack on lefty sensibilitiesWhat is Stewart Lee’s position in the comedy marketplace? And whither h…
Continue ReadingThe standup comedian is used to writing for public performance, but her remarkable book Little Weirds was written as private consolationJenny Slate is sitting in the middle of a storm. She’s safe inside, somewhere on a Massachusetts peninsula, and it’s…
Continue ReadingLeicester Square theatre, LondonAt every turn, the confused ‘astronomer-in-chief’ gives us something to marvel at – from crap ventriloquism to the films of ‘Dustbin Hoffman’At least in the colloquial sense, Count Arthur Strong has always been a space c…
Continue Reading