Atsuko Okatsuka: ‘Executives say, we only do one Ali Wong every 10 years. Why would we do a second?’

The standup has earned a huge online audience for her comedy and dance videos with her equally popular grandma. She talks about her family and feeling like ‘a freak’Get our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAtsuko Okatsuka has largely been the archite…

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‘They’re dumb – but I want to win’: comedians tell of the highs and lows of the Edinburgh fringe awards

Awards generate a buzz and are motivating but the pressure to be nominated and the disappointment are intense“I have a very toxic relationship with awards,” says Natalie Palamides, who won best newcomer at the 2017 Edinburgh comedy awards. “Obviously, …

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Please Right Back review – exquisitely crafted hybrid of animation and performance

Gulbenkian Arts Centre, CanterburyTheatre company 1927 pull off a high-wire act of graphic novel visuals, song, dance, comedy and psychedelic make-believe in this madcap odysseyThis “twisted little story” could be fiction or not, we are told at the sta…

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Please Right Back review – exquisitely crafted hybrid of animation and performance

Gulbenkian Arts Centre, CanterburyTheatre company 1927 pull off a high-wire act of graphic novel visuals, song, dance, comedy and psychedelic make-believe in this madcap odysseyThis “twisted little story” could be fiction or not, we are told at the sta…

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‘It was the first time I wasn’t obsessed with food’: comedians mine Ozempic trend for laughs at Edinburgh Fringe

Female comics will confront body dysmorphia by turning the mirror on themselves and then back on societySolo performers on Edinburgh’s fringe are jointly confronting one of the most personally undermining ailments – body dysmorphia. Next weekend a rang…

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Edinburgh festival 2024: six of the funniest comedians at the fringe

Looking for rising stars this summer? Try gossipy standup, an end-of-the-pier homage and a ‘gay witch sex cult’Frankie Monroe, the impish proprietor of a working men’s club who has made a Faustian pact to keep his establishment open, is bound to be a b…

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Must the show go on? Theatre’s plucky motto may be out of step with our times | Arifa Akbar

Stage performances have been disrupted this summer by last-minute delays, cancellations and postponements. Is it just a run of bad luck – or a cultural shift?One theatre audience, already seated, is told that the play has been called off because of a t…

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Daniel Kitson detests audience participation but still manipulates us like marionettes | Brian Logan

The comedian’s show Collaborator involves 160 audience members getting speaking parts – and Kitson has anticipated every possible question, anxiety or misstepWhat happens when an audience participation-phobe makes a show all about audience participatio…

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Daniel Kitson detests audience participation but still manipulates us like marionettes | Brian Logan

The comedian’s show Collaborator involves 160 audience members getting speaking parts – and Kitson has anticipated every possible question, anxiety or misstepWhat happens when an audience participation-phobe makes a show all about audience participatio…

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La Vie Secrète des Vieux review – older people reveal the full glory of their sex lives

Chartreuse de Villeneuve, AvignonThere is gallows humour and unzipped ribaldry as a mischievous group share stories that are joyful, tender and sometimes eye-wateringWarning! The people in this show are likely to die at any moment, we are told. Don’t b…

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