‘Am I going to get shot?’ Comedy’s wild pranksters on their most daring stunts

They are the shock troops of comedy, pranksters who risk arrest and worse to ridicule the powerful. As two acclaimed practitioners – including the man who threw Nazi golfballs at Trump – hit Edinburgh, they relive their greatest scrapesIt was the polit…

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‘Sketch will never die!’: Edinburgh fringe super troupes Tarot, Sheeps and Britney

It’s a form of comedy that has fallen out of favour with TV, but a trio of fun acts are keeping the sketch flame aliveOne of the pleasures of the fringe is checking in with standups as they first emerge, then break through, then revisit as household na…

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Derry Girls effect boosts Northern Irish talent at Edinburgh fringe

Record number of NI performers at this year’s festival, with C4 comedy hailed for raising awareness of nation’s comic giftsThe biggest ever cohort of playwrights, comedians and artists from Northern Ireland are bringing their work to the Edinburgh frin…

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‘There’s never been a time when you could just say anything’: Frank Skinner on free speech, his bullying shame – and knob jokes

Poetry-loving, religious and with deep regrets about some of his comedy: either the standup comic has grown up, or he was never as laddish as his image suggestedIt was while he was writing his latest Edinburgh show that Frank Skinner noticed a problem …

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Jon Culshaw on Les Dawson: ‘even his most savage mother-in-law lines were written with love’

In his Edinburgh fringe show Flying High the impressionist wants to convey the warmth and affection of the comic and Blankety Blank hostWho knew, growing up in the 70s and 80s, that we weren’t watching mere comedians, but the dramatis personae in plays…

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Rhod Gilbert announces he is being treated for cancer

Welsh comedian becomes patient at Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, where he is a patronRhod Gilbert, the comedian and television presenter, has announced he is being treated for cancer.The 53-year-old from Carmarthen said he was a patient at Velindre…

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On my radar: Rosie Holt’s cultural highlights

The satirist on her favourite superhero show, her go-to gym motivation music, and why she loves Tim KeyComedian Rosie Holt came to prominence during lockdown with her online political parodies of Conservative MPs. She grew up in Somerset and trained at…

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Bridie Connell: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)

The comedian shares a few of her favourite (online) things, including a terrible South Dakota anti-drug campaign, Mr Bean playing invisible drums and – of course – a laughing babyGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email and listen to our podcastAh, …

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‘I’m the perfect person to show life at rock bottom’ – comic Jayde Adams becomes the life guru next door

The comedian’s new podcast plunders neighbourhood messageboards for fun, feuds, gossip and second-hand goldfish. She explains all – and looks ahead to her Edinburgh show, a support group for men in crisisJayde Adams is flying the flag for that most mal…

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Arrest that joke! A history of gags so offensive that punters called the cops

Standup Joe Lycett has revealed that he was reported to police for one of his routines. From Sacha Baron Cohen to Jo Brand, our writer looks at what happens when laughter and the law collideWhen news broke last week that comedian Joe Lycett had been re…

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