Anarchic delight in the UK’s real north-west | Brief letters

LipService Theatre | Channel 4’s mature audience | British geography | Flamin’ Nora lives onThe rural touring scene in the Highlands in the late 1980s was greatly strengthened by the arrival of Maggie Fox (Obituary, 8 April) and Sue Ryding. As LipServi…

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‘Everyone has one cancellation in them’: standup Joanne McNally on her unfiltered comedy

From career doldrums to fending off pantless stage invaders, the straight-talking Irish comic’s journey to becoming a must-see act has been a wild rideAt a recent gig, an audience member was so taken with Joanne McNally’s standup that she tried to get …

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Floyd Alexander-Hunt: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)

The comedian and former face of Tip Top bread in New Zealand shares her favourite videos, including an orchestral mishap and Obama’s ‘anger management translator’Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email and listen to our podcast!I have an all or not…

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Sophie Duker: ‘You have to laugh at yourself – you’ll never be in the right for long’

Having defeated impostor syndrome, the standup is taking on Taskmaster and returning to the Edinburgh fringe with ‘sexy and chaotic’ new show HagSophie Duker’s just shared a Taskmaster secret: every contestant has to have two identical versions of thei…

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Sophie Duker: ‘You have to laugh at yourself – you’ll never be in the right for long’

Having defeated impostor syndrome, the standup is taking on Taskmaster and returning to the Edinburgh fringe with ‘sexy and chaotic’ new show HagSophie Duker’s just shared a Taskmaster secret: every contestant has to have two identical versions of thei…

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Gilbert Gottfried, comedian and actor, dies aged 67

The standup comic, also known for voicing Iago in Disney’s animated Aladdin, has died after a long illnessComedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried has died at the age of 67.His family announced his death after a long illness via his Twitter page. Gottfried…

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What a calamity! Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em turned a bit of trouble into comic bliss

As the hapless Frank Spencer, Michael Crawford brought a light touch to the classic 70s sitcom but the stage version with a game Joe Pasquale feels creakierThink Peckham market traders ducking and diving for a living. Neurotic hoteliers struggling to r…

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Maggie Fox obituary

Actor whose anarchic skills and consummate timing were central to the success of the stage comedy duo LipServiceMaggie Fox, who has died aged 65 after an accident, was an actor of comic genius who had television roles in Coronation Street, Shameless an…

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Dave: The Opener review – Zoë Coombs Marr’s toxic male comedian is back

Taking in six years of ‘cancel culture’ and events as recent as the Will Smith slap, the comedian’s latest show lacks the polish of her previousZoë Coombs Marr’s character Dave has woken from a coma and everything since 2016 is new to him. He has misse…

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Katherine Ryan review – softer, more sympathetic but just as razor sharp

London PalladiumMissus – an account of her unexpected marriage to her childhood sweetheart and their surprisingly traditional new life together – is quite a departure from Ryan’s showy cynicism“Be your authentic self!” I don’t love it when standup sets…

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