Aunty Donna’s Coffee Café review – sketch comedy trio scramble for laughs in new show

The premise of running a Melbourne cafe has heaps of potential – but while there’s always joy to be found in the zaniness, this series isn’t their bestGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAustralian comedy troupe Aunty Donna’s previous series, Bi…

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The Fast Show’s Dave Angel – Eco Warrior: ‘Trump and Musk should be forced to cage fight’

The man in the trilby and bomber jacket – a dead ringer for comic Simon Day – was an eco-warrior before it was fashionable. Now he’s back, with big muesli plans and some thoughts on Greta ThunbergYou will remember Dave Angel: Eco Warrior as the Essex-b…

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Script, what script? Why Parks and Recreation star Ben Schwartz can’t quit improv

The beloved sitcom’s scene-stealer may now be hot Hollywood property, starring alongside Jim Carrey and Nicolas Cage, but he refuses to move on from his first love. As he scores a Netflix special and heads for the UK, he explains its allurePlenty of Ho…

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Script, what script? Why Parks and Recreation star Ben Schwartz can’t quit improv

The beloved sitcom’s scene-stealer may now be hot Hollywood property, starring alongside Jim Carrey and Nicolas Cage, but he refuses to move on from his first love. As he scores a Netflix special and heads for the UK, he explains its allurePlenty of Ho…

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Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont: ‘All couples argue – but we put our arguments on TV’

Meet the Richardsons sees the married standups play fictional versions of themselves – but that doesn’t mean reality doesn’t creep in from time to time“We don’t stay in posh hotels in London,” says Jon Richardson. In a posh hotel in London. “We’re not …

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Eshaan Akbar review – navigating the choppy waters of UK racial politics

Cambridge JunctionThe Londoner is argumentative, entertaining and full of bracing good sense as he catalogues his personal experiences of racism“What’s your favourite racism?” With this question, Eshaan Akbar opens his debut touring show. The Londoner’…

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Weekend podcast: remembering Paul O’Grady, Marina Hyde on Gwyneth’s trial, and Zoe Williams refutes the ‘men are trash’ narrative

Marina Hyde confesses how couldn’t tear her eyes away from the Gwyneth Paltrow trial (1m32s); from Camden council care worker to trailblazing icon, we revisit an interview with Paul O’Grady from 2017 (9m34s); and Zoe Williams laments the revival of the…

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Michael Akadiri: No Scrubs review – medical comedy is upbeat and politically punchy

Pleasance theatre, LondonA doctor himself, the standup delivers breezy tales along with on-the-nose points on how black medics are viewedAll standups operating in the space between medicine and comedy now do so in the shadow of Adam Kay’s all-conquerin…

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Julia Scotti: Funny That Way review – transgender comedian is cracking company

Uplifting documentary allows its funny, flawed and likable subject to tell the poignant story of how she came to realise who she wasIn 2016, the comedian Julia Scotti auditioned for America’s Got Talent and brought the house down. Once the applause had…

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‘I’m Lily Savage, the blonde bombsite’ – the genius of Paul O’Grady, by Eddie Izzard, Russell T Davies and more

A boundary-busting standup, a radio sensation, a knockout on TV, a champion for LGBTQ rights, and a pet-lover extraordinaire … stars and writers pay tribute to the many lives of Paul O’GradyA life in picturesAn icon: tributes to Paul O’GradyNews: TV pr…

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