Jessica Fostekew: Iconic Breath review – furious, frustrated yet cheerfully funny

Soho theatre, LondonFrom the trials of family life to irritating podcasters, this sometimes eyebrow-raising hour of personal comedy is consistently entertainingMuch as Jessica Fostekew would love to be one of those “airport comedians”, she tells us, th…

Continue Reading

Comedy in Riyadh is a sign of progress | Letter

Omid Djalili responds to criticism of his decision to perform at a comedy festival in Saudi ArabiaWhat the critics of the Riyadh comedy festival may have missed (Letters, 13 October) is the fact that performing comedy or any live event in Saudi Arabia …

Continue Reading

Comedy in Riyadh is a sign of progress | Letter

Omid Djalili responds to criticism of his decision to perform at a comedy festival in Saudi ArabiaWhat the critics of the Riyadh comedy festival may have missed (Letters, 13 October) is the fact that performing comedy or any live event in Saudi Arabia …

Continue Reading

Scrooge gets a hip-hop spin and the RSC does the BFG: 20 of the best UK stage shows this Christmas

From musical versions of Pinocchio, Treasure Island and Sherlock Holmes to a comedy about banana-loving beach-dwellers … dive into our selection box of festive theatreSadler’s Wells East, London, 26 November to 4 January
Choreographer Dannielle Rhime…

Continue Reading

Bog Witch review – Bryony Kimmings is back with a haunting and hilarious climate reckoning

Soho Theatre Walthamstow, LondonThe performance artist’s first solo show in five years considers the plight of our planet, with a compelling mix of standup, songs and folk horrorIt may contain a brief moment of actual tree-hugging but this bracing solo…

Continue Reading

Emma Doran: ‘When I was growing up, a woman’s biggest compliment would be that she was immaculate’

The Irish standup on advice to her younger self, dodgy microphones and why success still makes her feel sickHow did you get into comedy?I was on maternity leave and, looking back, I may have been having a manic episode. I’d had a long string of admin j…

Continue Reading

My Right Foot review – wryly humorous look at life with a terminal illness

Axis Ballymun, DublinMixing childhood memories, songs and Shakespeare, Michael Patrick delivers a one-man show about the reality of being given four years to liveMichael Patrick may not live long enough to play King Lear, so a rendition of Lear’s storm…

Continue Reading

‘Amoral, evil’: vitriolic backlash builds against comics who played Riyadh festival

Murder by bone-saw, lashings for rape victims, punitive amputation, jail for satirists … these are the Saudi human rights abuses fuelling the fury being directed at the likes of Louis CK, Dave Chappelle and Jimmy Carr. How have they responded?To paraph…

Continue Reading

Rosie O’Donnell: ‘Meat Loaf’s mother wrote me and said, “You can’t be mean to my son”’

The beloved host and comedian on blubbering fans, scary kangaroos, her favourite Irish person and the strangest job she has ever hadGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailYour show is called Common Knowledge. What do you think should be common know…

Continue Reading

‘This is not a sealed deal’: Bryony Kimmings on confronting climate catastrophe in a ‘great night out’

The revered performance artist returns with three arresting projects for stage and screen, each cultivating hope for the condition of the planetPerformance artist Bryony Kimmings doesn’t hold back. If something is troubling her then it invariably finds…

Continue Reading