Judi Love: ‘Working in a hairdresser was the best education’

The comedian, 42, talks about growing up shy, forgetting names, loving being a mum, and getting free haircuts​​I lived in my own world as a kid. I sang Whitney Houston songs to imagined crowds. While watching films, I’d pretend to be the star of my own…

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Miranda Hart: ‘My preshow rituals? A banana and a poo’

The comedian on getting permission to be silly from Eric Morecambe, meeting the Spice Girls and how Comic Relief brings people togetherWhat made you get into comedy?It seems like a scripted setup when I reflect on it now. It was as clear as day to me, …

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Miranda Hart: ‘My preshow rituals? A banana and a poo’

The comedian on getting permission to be silly from Eric Morecambe, meeting the Spice Girls and how Comic Relief brings people togetherWhat made you get into comedy?It seems like a scripted setup when I reflect on it now. It was as clear as day to me, …

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Ignacio Lopez: ‘I’m trying to figure out how to most effectively wind up the English’

The Spanish-Welsh comedian on cut-throat critics, dying on stage in the dark and why telling thousands of people to shut up was a career highWhat drew you to standup comedy?In my family’s bar in Spain we had satellite TV for the football and I used to …

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Cult standup John Kearns: ‘You might not like my show for 20 minutes, but you’ll leave happy!’

The self-deprecating star has won two Edinburgh awards but remains a niche concern. Will a recent breakout turn on Taskmaster and a huge nationwide tour bring his absurdist comedy to the mainstream?In 2014 John Kearns became the first – and thus far th…

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Tig Notaro: ‘Can I recall a bad gig? The first two years of my career’

The US comedian on heckling, why she gravitates towards silly people and the best and worst advice she’s ever been givenWho did you look up to when you started out?In the open mic comedy scene I was coming up in, I loved my friends Maria Bamford, Zach …

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He Huang: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)

The comedian and Australia’s Got Talent star shares her choice cuts from the web, including Stephen Colbert, ‘Hong Kong’s Monty Python’ and a controlling pandaGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailMy name is He Huang. I was born and raised in Chin…

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Jon Richardson: ‘My personal decline is much funnier than that of the country’

The comedian on supermarket petrol stations, working with his wife Lucy Beaumont and the comedy heroes he fell in love with in the 90sHow did you get into standup?Sadly, by leaving the town I grew up in [Lancaster] and my family. I hope things are diff…

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Kelly Monteith obituary

American comedian whose influential BBC TV show mixed sitcom and standup material Kelly Monteith, who has died aged 80, was one of the first American standup comedians to get his own show on British television. Titled simply Kelly Monteith and running …

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Cally Beaton: ‘Connecting with people is the only skill I have. Luckily it’s a superpower’

The former TV executive on life lessons from Joan Rivers, paper-plane heckles and a ‘perfect day’ doing Live at the ApolloBefore becoming a full-time comedian, you were a high-profile TV exec and producer. Are there any transferable skills from this wo…

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