The Vaults, LondonKatie Arnstein’s captivating show about her mum’s treatment for cancer lies somewhere between storytelling and standupThe crowd carries you along in a marathon, says Katie Arnstein towards the end of this winning show about family and…
Continue ReadingThe comedian shares her thoughts on Sunday roasts, winding down peacefully and doing whatever her daughter tells herUp early or lie-in? I’d love a lie-in, but for the past six years we’ve had a child alarm clock. You could put Elsie to bed at midnight …
Continue ReadingHenry Naylor travelled to Afghanistan in 2003 to research his fringe farce Finding Bin Laden. His sobering new show takes stock of the country’s fate sinceWas Henry Naylor’s agent right when he warned the writer and comic, at the height of the “war on …
Continue ReadingThe Spanish-Welsh comedian on cut-throat critics, dying on stage in the dark and why telling thousands of people to shut up was a career highWhat drew you to standup comedy?In my family’s bar in Spain we had satellite TV for the football and I used to …
Continue ReadingThe self-deprecating star has won two Edinburgh awards but remains a niche concern. Will a recent breakout turn on Taskmaster and a huge nationwide tour bring his absurdist comedy to the mainstream?In 2014 John Kearns became the first – and thus far th…
Continue ReadingThe comedian spends too much time on the internet, but this means she can recommend the likes of Susie Dent, an Instagram dedicated to nihilism and Wanda SykesGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailLike any well-put-together human being, I spend a …
Continue ReadingKomedia, BrightonOutrageous comedy, self-glamorising songs and self-ironic ridiculousness in abundance from a comic with a sharp sense of her own daftnessYou mellow with age, they say. So whither, now she’s 31, the comedy of Catherine Cohen? When Cohen…
Continue ReadingThe US comedian on heckling, why she gravitates towards silly people and the best and worst advice she’s ever been givenWho did you look up to when you started out?In the open mic comedy scene I was coming up in, I loved my friends Maria Bamford, Zach …
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThis intergalactic show about sexuality and religious homophobia boasts a charismatic star in Willy Hudson but tips into chaosWilly Hudson’s “queer sci-fi epic” has an interstellar theme and rocket-fuelled energy, even if it ultimat…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe Ohio comic takes us on her narcissistic ‘therapy journey’ including ridiculous songs, played with a wickedly straight bat Patti Harrison’s last London show, she tells us with concern, upset some audiences. So tonight she comes a…
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