Star debuts and happy returns: theatre, dance and comedy in 2020

Tom Stoppard gets personal, Cush Jumbo does Hamlet, Hollywood names bring everything from tragedy to comedy … plus dance confronts shame and there’s standup open heart surgery Related: Enter stage right: 12 theatre stars for 2020 Related: Vault festiv…

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Vault festival 2020: comedy and theatre shows to see

London’s eight-week underground arts fest returns to Waterloo and the South Bank in January. Here’s a dozen picks to get started …James McNicholas: The Boxer30-31 JanuaryThe former Beasts sketch comic should have been a contender for the 2019 Edinburgh…

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The Delightful Sausage: ‘We saw Vic and Bob last year – I haven’t washed since’

Sketch comedy double act Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill on the things that make them laugh the mostChris Cantrill: Cancel all your plans and seek out the undisputed queen of character comedy, Anna Mann. Continue reading…

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Alistair Green: ‘My nan once said crocodiles looked so evil she wished she’d never been born’

The standup, writer and social media master on the things that make him laugh the mostAlan Partridge’s Nomad is perfect. Either that or Reach for the Ground, Jeffrey Bernard’s collected articles about pissing his life away. The title alone is worth buy…

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Sex Shells: XXXmas review – ’tis the season to be filthy

Soho theatre, LondonWith repurposed classics such as 12 Gays of Christmas, this festive satirical show delivers big-hitting performances and cunning lyricsIf you should find yourself at a carol concert this festive period after seeing Sex Shells’ XXXma…

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March of the Lemmings by Stewart Lee review – making Brexit funny

Entertainment and abusive despair … the comedian and columnist dissects his own work in this merciless look at the past three yearsThe American magazine writer EB White once declared: “Humour can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the…

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Top 10 comedy shows of 2019

A double dose of Stewart Lee, Hannah Gadsby’s follow-up to Nanette and London Hughes’ uproarious blue humour tickled the comedy circuit this yearMore on the best culture of 2019 Continue reading…

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Annie McGrath: ‘I really got the giggles at my friend’s dad’s funeral’

The standup and writer on the things that make her laugh the mostLou Sanders is the best. Always funny – in front of 12 people in the basement of a pub or running off stage at the Apollo to get her Vote Labia bags to show an audience of 3,000. Continue…

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Fitter review – a love letter to masculinity

Soho theatre, LondonEll Potter and Mary Higgins radically push on from previous show Hotter, in this fantastic, sexy, athletic examination of male identity Hilarious, sincere, sexy and brutal, Fitter is a deep-throated examination into modern masculini…

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Pull the other one! Top 10 modern Christmas cracker jokes revealed

TV channel Gold announces the winners in a national competition for topical festive gags – can you do any better?What do Donald Trump, Santa and Olivia Colman have in common? No, it’s not a joke – but all three feature in the winning gags of a national…

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