Miranda Hart: ‘My preshow rituals? A banana and a poo’

The comedian on getting permission to be silly from Eric Morecambe, meeting the Spice Girls and how Comic Relief brings people togetherWhat made you get into comedy?It seems like a scripted setup when I reflect on it now. It was as clear as day to me, …

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Miranda Hart: ‘My preshow rituals? A banana and a poo’

The comedian on getting permission to be silly from Eric Morecambe, meeting the Spice Girls and how Comic Relief brings people togetherWhat made you get into comedy?It seems like a scripted setup when I reflect on it now. It was as clear as day to me, …

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The Long Run review – going the distance with love and laughter

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…

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Sunday with Lucy Beaumont: ‘I only take CBD oil when my husband’s here, because I pass out’

The 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 …

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Afghanistan Is Not Funny: the comedian transformed by the war on terror

Henry 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 …

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Ignacio Lopez: ‘I’m trying to figure out how to most effectively wind up the English’

The 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 …

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Cult standup John Kearns: ‘You might not like my show for 20 minutes, but you’ll leave happy!’

The 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…

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Brodi Snook: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)

The 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 …

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Catherine Cohen: Come for Me review – a hilarious social-mediated psyche set loose

Komedia, 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…

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Tig Notaro: ‘Can I recall a bad gig? The first two years of my career’

The 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 …

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