‘There’s magic, blood and gore!’ Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton on touring Inside No 9 – and being megastars in China

As the show based on their cult TV hit goes on the road, the duo discuss haunted theatres, feeling like arthritic swans and what it was like being mobbed in ShanghaiHow do you make a shopping centre in Woking spooky? I bow before Reece Shearsmith and S…

Continue Reading

Ideal review – stage return for Johnny Vegas’s TV weed dealer fails to score

Lowry, Salford Reprise of Graham Duff’s cult comedy delights the series’ fans but there’s not much here for anyone elseIf you are a fan of the cult BBC Three sitcom Ideal, you should immediately book a ticket for this show. Judging by tonight’s audienc…

Continue Reading

Bill Posley: The Day I Accidentally Went to War review – veteran comic drops truth bombs

Soho theatre, LondonThe US comic and TV writer’s account of his military service in Iraq is exuberant, enlightening, and flies the flag for the plight of veteransAt one point in Bill Posley’s show about his time in the US army, he tells us how, after f…

Continue Reading

Haywire review – early history of The Archers inspires behind-the-mic farce

Barn theatre, CirencesterFeaturing extraordinary voice acting, this play about the birth of the BBC’s farming drama will equally satisfy superfans and everyday folkEven regular listeners to Radio 4’s The Archers can balk at the laborious annual plotlin…

Continue Reading

Whoopi Goldberg: Live review – like reading a boomer relative’s Facebook

Hammersmith Apollo, LondonThe Egot-winning actor presents semi-formed thoughts on things from ageing to AI in an undemanding showBeginning an evening of amiable waffling, Whoopi Goldberg announces that she isn’t about to discuss all the terrible things…

Continue Reading

The best theatre to stream this month: Basil’s back as Fawlty Towers reopens for business

John Cleese’s stage version of his beloved sitcom, a cast recording of Cornish musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Robert Wilson’s production of Handel’s Messiah are among September’s highlightsFifty years ago this month, Torquay’s most fam…

Continue Reading

Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg and Caliban’s take on The Tempest: the best theatre, comedy and dance of autumn 2025

Andrea Riseborough and Sarandon deliver a decade-hopping drama, superstar standups hit the road and Shobana Jeyasingh rewrites Shakespeare• See the rest of our unmissable autumn arts preview picks here Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Edinburgh comedy award winner Sam Nicoresti: ‘Actually, this whole show is a monumental failure!’

The comic was determined to make a blockbuster standup show that didn’t address trans issues. Then she changed her mind – and scooped comedy’s biggest prizeThere’s efficiency, then there’s the process that led to Sam Nicoresti winning the most prestigi…

Continue Reading

Edinburgh comedy award winner Sam Nicoresti: ‘Actually, this whole show is a monumental failure!’

The comic was determined to make a blockbuster standup show that didn’t address trans issues. Then she changed her mind – and scooped comedy’s biggest prizeThere’s efficiency, then there’s the process that led to Sam Nicoresti winning the most prestigi…

Continue Reading

Glenn Moore: Please Sir, Glenn I Have Some Moore? review – a tale of two jokebooks

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghWith one book of classic gags and another that brings him shame, Moore delivers a show that’s heavy on the laughs if light on the charmGlenn Moore has a device he’s deploying in his new show, to maintain a balance between …

Continue Reading