‘We were the runt of the litter at the BBC’: Johnny Vegas and Graham Duff on resurrecting their sitcom Ideal

The cult 2000s sitcom accrued obsessive fans and celebrity guests before being abruptly cancelled. Now, 20 years on, its star and writer return with a stage revival – but they insist it’s no victory lapDrugs, gangs, kidnappings, police corruption, murd…

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‘We were the runt of the litter at the BBC’: Johnny Vegas and Graham Duff on resurrecting their sitcom Ideal

The cult 2000s sitcom accrued obsessive fans and celebrity guests before being abruptly cancelled. Now, 20 years on, its star and writer return with a stage revival – but they insist it’s no victory lapDrugs, gangs, kidnappings, police corruption, murd…

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Jokers in the pack: eclectic shortlist revealed for Edinburgh comedy awards 2025

Seven of the eight nominees for best show have not previously been nominated in the same category at the ‘Oscars of live comedy’Standup about infertility, jokes about a Georgian gourmand, and an experimental clowning fever dream: the shortlist has been…

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Jokers in the pack: eclectic shortlist revealed for Edinburgh comedy awards 2025

Seven of the eight nominees for best show have not previously been nominated in the same category at the ‘Oscars of live comedy’Standup about infertility, jokes about a Georgian gourmand, and an experimental clowning fever dream: the shortlist has been…

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Australian breakdancer Raygun is lampooned in a new musical but the Olympics fiasco was no comedy | Lyndsey Winship

Rachael Gunn’s disastrous summer at the Paris Games in 2024 has inspired a silly show about ‘Spraygun’ but its jibes are unfairEveryone can have a bad day at the office. But for most of us, it doesn’t take place in front of millions of viewers at the w…

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Betty Grumble’s Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t review – nude, lewd and confused

Assembly Roxy, EdinburghEmma Maye Gibson’s outre alter ego conjures a bacchanalian helter-skelter of burlesque moments that never quite cohereThis experimental act from Australia knows how to create merry anarchy with incantatory rituals and boundary-f…

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Jeezus! review – queer musical’s revelations about love with no limits

Underbelly Cowgate, EdinburghA Peruvian boy has a sexual awakening in a show about religion, patriarchy and homophobia, featuring sweet and smutty songs with a Latin twistThe image of Jesus has been used by some to shame and subjugate queer people acro…

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House Party review – home truths about gentrification in east London

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghChakira Alin’s buoyant show is shot through with bitterness as she gives a lucid account of Hackney’s transformationIn her solo show about the aftermath of gentrification and austerity, Chakira Alin bemoans the rise of cos…

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The Edinburgh fringe has almost 4,000 shows – what does it take for a standup to stand out?

The city is plastered with festival posters during August. If you want to make an impression, beware goofy grins and try channelling Charli xcxThe Edinburgh fringe is in full swing and I’m looking for my posters. Which, given the function of a poster, …

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Bebe Cave: Christbride review – an irreverent romp through womanhood in the middle ages

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghPity poor Batilda Bigbum as she navigates a failed courtship and flight to a nunnery, before being burnt as a witch in this uproarious comedyOne of the great characters in recent live comedy is Rosalie Minnitt’s Clementine, a s…

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