Once based in a rundown boozer, DryWrite nights encouraged risk and giddy game-playing – their spirit is felt in Killing Eve and across British theatre todayWhen Phoebe Waller-Bridge performed her script Fleabag at the Edinburgh fringe in 2013, it land…
Continue ReadingIs the fringe ready for the brash standup who used to get paid in nachos and chicken wings? We meet one half of 2 Dope Queens as she fills her shoes with sweatWhat does Phoebe Robinson want to see when she arrives at the Edinburgh fringe? “Just tons of…
Continue ReadingHe quit booze and Scotland – and became a chat show sensation in the US. As he returns to standup on his home turf, we rescue him from selfie-takers on the streets of GlasgowOn the morning we meet, Glasgow seems especially delighted to have Craig Fergu…
Continue ReadingFrom micro pigs to the doping dangers of a poppy seed bagel, how life may be imitating the US sitcomWhen Jerry Seinfeld starts his UK tour, listen out for a science joke. From early on in his TV career, the comedian poked fun at science. In his 1981 HB…
Continue ReadingHis viral videos earned him a sell-out tour and a new late night TV show – can the character comedian become the Instagram era’s Chris Evans?Two years ago, Mo Gilligan was selling jeans in the Levi’s store in Covent Garden. This month, he’s fronting – …
Continue ReadingAwards, with three categories including £10,000 prize for best comedy show, will be known as DavesThe television channel Dave is to follow fizzy water, finance, lager and online travel as the sponsor of the Edinburgh comedy awards.The announcement was …
Continue ReadingShe unleashed Phoebe Waller-Bridge on the Edinburgh fringe. The former actor with the Midas touch tells us her recipe for a hit show‘We had wine. It was late.” Producer Francesca Moody shrugs as if that combination is where all genius lies. Six years a…
Continue ReadingThe queen of the caustic punchline talks about plastic surgery, embarrassing her daughter – and turning her life as a single mum into a sitcomKatherine Ryan is busily scrolling through a neighbourhood Facebook group when we meet. “Someone’s dog attacke…
Continue ReadingAged seven, comic Steve Bugeja helped his mum find a new partner. They had to watch his magic tricks – and know how to handle a trellisWhen I told my mum that my fringe comedy show was going to be all about her being single when I was growing up, she s…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe Saturday Night Live writer has skill but hits bum notes and wanders into incoherence at the endIt takes more than a few smart routines to make a show. I left Boston comic and Saturday Night Live writer Sam Jay’s UK debut in no d…
Continue Reading