‘It could have some negative pushback’: has extreme comedian Kim Noble finally gone too far?

In Lullaby for Scavengers, the no-holds-barred performance artist returns to outfox and outrage audiences. He talks about trying to snog his mother, bathing with maggots and being an ‘old white dinosaur’To interview comedians, you don’t usually travel …

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Blues, Jews and Ukrainian ballet: the best theatre, dance and comedy of autumn 2022

Samira Wiley makes her UK stage debut, there’s an urgent counter to antisemitism, plus a fourth King James, refugee dancers and comedic returns Continue reading…

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Emily Wilson review – a portrait of the artist as an X Factor wannabe

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghWilson relives her tumultuous turn as a teenage talent show contestant armed with laughter and song, topped with a touching tribute to her plucky younger self‘Why did I? Oh God, why did I?” We can all get embarrassed recal…

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‘It felt like this might never happen again’: comedians rejoice at the return of crowds

After lockdowns kept them out of touch with audiences, standups explain their exhilaration at coming together to raise laughs at Edinburgh fringeThe lights go down signalling the start of the show, but Rob Auton is not on stage. Members of the crowd be…

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‘Night after night I get harassed’: comedians call for safer working conditions

With research showing sexual harassment is a routine occurrence, there is growing demand for arts venues to commit to protecting entertainersPosey Mehta, like many performers at the Edinburgh fringe, has been flyering for her own show. It’s called I Am…

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‘Night after night I get harassed’: comedians call for safer working conditions

With research showing sexual harassment is a routine occurrence, there is growing demand for arts venues to commit to protecting entertainersPosey Mehta, like many performers at the Edinburgh fringe, has been flyering for her own show. It’s called I Am…

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Charlie Russell Aims to Please review – party pieces with an uneasy twist

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe Mischief Theatre regular delivers routines to fit the audience’s requests before heading down a darker path in an uneven show“You can’t please everyone,” Charlie Russell’s been told, to which she wants to reply: wanna …

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Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen review – seriously funny

Roundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghSamuel Barnett is remarkable in Marcelo Dos Santos’s one-man play which analyses joke-craft and a comedian’s compulsionsTowards the end of this enthralling monologue by Marcelo Dos Santos, the unnamed character played …

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‘I want to do things I’ve never done’: The History Boys’ Samuel Barnett on his new one-man show

Making his fringe debut with a show about a troubled standup, the actor explains why he loves solo performance, his issues with The History Boys, and why this government’s days are numbered“It scares me,” laughs Samuel Barnett about doing the Edinburgh…

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We Were Promised Honey! review – glimpses into uncertain futures

Roundabout at Summerhall, Edinburgh Sam Ward takes hints from his audience to imagine how their lives could go from here, in a bittersweet contemplation of fateThere is a joke in Waiting for Godot that comes after a rare moment of action. “That passed …

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