The standup on playing to an audience of 17,000 at the Hollywood Bowl, taking Tunbridge Wells by storm and what he regrets about his 20sHow did you get into comedy?I did my first gig at the Dog & Parrot in Newcastle in 2007. I was a jittery first y…
Continue ReadingAfter a major restoration, new theatre in east London announces opening programme with Sara Pascoe and Rosie Jones on the bill – plus panto and a new show by Bryony KimmingsIt opened as a Victorian music hall, had various incarnations as a picture hous…
Continue ReadingThe Good Place writer didn’t know there were prizes at the Edinburgh fringe until his acrobatic debut show earned him a nomination. Now he hopes to spring similar surprisesIf you wanted a career that sums up the amorphous nature of modern comedy – from…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonAnnette’s stage presence shines in a show full of vivid observations, campy asides and nostalgic pop cultureAmy Annette is the sort of woman who’d rather drop her phone than a lovely bit of bread, she tells us by way of introduction…
Continue ReadingHe has notched up tours, albums, books and a sitcom. Why is he tortured by feelings of under-achievement? As Fellows hits the road, he pops an aniseed ball and discusses his new song – about an audience member falling off a cliffWhen Graham Fellows fir…
Continue ReadingApollo theatre, LondonConti is in supreme command of her comedy chaos, devising voices, ad hoc songs and daft scenariosThe early phase of Nina Conti’s career was marked by restless boundary pushing, as she – and her sidekick Monkey – twisted ventriloqu…
Continue ReadingWaterside theatre, AylesburyThe TV star’s tour covers childhood delinquency, celebrity encounters and a rectal examination – without ever getting especially personal‘Twenty one years of hard graft on the comedy scene, to now be best known for dancing.”…
Continue ReadingIrish drag performer and LGBTQ+ activist Rory O’Neill AKA Panti Bliss on Beyoncé, why Australia is so annoying about coffee, and pestering Madonna for a liftWhat’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?There’s a saying that I first heard said…
Continue ReadingFeaturing moshpits and acrobatics, the comic’s wildly physical brand of standup leaves audiences buzzing for hours. Now he’s taking his Edinburgh award-winning set on tour – if he can get through it without serious injuryComedian Rob Copland is s…
Continue ReadingArts Centre Melbourne, then Sydney and AdelaideFrom the producers of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, this brilliantly ambiguous one-man show poses the question: does standup comedy need to be true?The cliche of the sad clown – the jester who uses laughs to …
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