Organisers prepare for ‘weird’ visitor-free season including weekly variety performanceEdinburgh festival fringe is preparing for a “weird” visitor-free summer with a package of online initiatives including variety shows streamed every Friday.The world…
Continue ReadingA new study suggests more than three-quarters of our comedy venues face permanent closure – we must save themOne Saturday in my late teens I went to the Glee Club in my home town of Birmingham to see a mixed bill of standup with my friends. On the bill…
Continue ReadingArts venues have been hit hard by the pandemic and are still unable to stage live performances. In the second part of a new series, we celebrate their essential rolePaul Chahidi is in all three series of This Country, available on BBC iPlayer. Read mor…
Continue ReadingUK venues are in peril and standups can’t make a living if clubs are closed. Without support, we’ll lose talent as well as theatres I have fond memories of playing Southampton’s Nuffield theatre, which is now closing due to the pandemic – a fate likely…
Continue ReadingThe late-night hub is replacing its cancelled fringe programme with new virtual offerings alongside archive footage The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh’s uproarious palace of late-night comedy, has announced a season of work to replace its cancelled fringe p…
Continue ReadingAre seatless, stroll-through shows the future of theatre? Can one-way dancing save nightclubs? Could budding indie bands storm Wembley stadium? Scientists imagine the arts after Covid-19The day before museums began closing in Britain, I saw Aubrey Bear…
Continue ReadingThe Observer’s critics recommend the best art, theatre, music and more on TV and online this weekMusicPaul WellerDelayed by the pandemic, On Sunset finally comes out this week, offering both familiarity and experimentation from the restless, evergreen …
Continue ReadingThe festival will roll out a series of ‘artistic interventions’ across the Scottish capital in AugustA series of “artistic interventions” has been announced by the Edinburgh international festival (EIF) to take place across the Scottish capital in Augu…
Continue ReadingAvailable onlineDeception is rife and amazement is constant in this uplifting night of gripping tricks, full of audience interactionMagical Bones has got me ripping up playing cards in my living room, which he promises will be worth it. After tearing f…
Continue ReadingAvailable onlineThe scuzzy end of show business and all its sozzled, sentimental excesses are captured by the ex-standup in a heartfelt monologueI last saw Les Dennis on stage two years ago, playing a washed-up, old-school comic in the Park theatre’s&n…
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