Imagine all the standups: Gal Gadot video mocked by comics

Actor’s earnest re-creation of John Lennon classic draws satirical response from all-star lineup of comics fronted by Joe Lycett In times of crisis a celebrity viral video can unite us either through joy or ridicule. Judi Dench’s cheery message to keep…

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Jon Culshaw to play Bill Bryson in Notes from a Small Island adaptation

Dead Ringers impressionist takes lead role in stage version of bestselling book on British identityThe impressionist Jon Culshaw is to play Bill Bryson in a new stage adaptation of Notes from a Small Island, the Iowa-born author’s bestselling book abou…

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Comedian Joe Lycett changes name to Hugo Boss in swipe at fashion house

Stunt is revenge for brand’s legal action against small firms using word boss in namesHugo Boss has long been a commanding brand in designer clothing and expensive fragrances – but it hasn’t had much of a track record in entertainment.That is about to …

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Eddie Izzard on Terry Jones: he was the guardian of the Monty Python spirit

Jones was uninhibited, energetic, kind, curious – and a great person to spend time with, says the comedian Read Peter Bradshaw’s appreciation of Terry JonesI was quite young when Monty Python came down the airwaves into my brain. When the Python casset…

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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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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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Ardal O’Hanlon: ‘Comedy never used to be a career – it was for slackers with ukuleles’

The star of Father Ted and Death in Paradise on his ‘unstable’ personality, his revealing new standup show – and the terrifying bomb scare he endured as a childArdal O’Hanlon is too embarrassed to have his picture taken in the restaurant where we’ve ju…

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Boulevard theatre, London’s new Soho venue, announces first shows

State-of-the-art West End theatre opens its doors with a season including plays by Cormac McCarthy and Lucy PrebbleA “novel in dramatic form” by Cormac McCarthy, a revival of Lucy Prebble’s The Effect and dramas directed by Kathy Burke and Yaël Farber …

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Eddie Izzard review – would-be MP’s ‘last’ standup show

Brighton DomeWunderbar is packed with surreal sugar – delightful animals and gobbledegook – but the pill of messianic politics is hard to swallow‘This is my last tour before politics,” says Eddie Izzard, who plans to stand as an MP at the next election…

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David Mitchell and Ben Elton’s Upstart Crow sitcom to become stage show

Comedian will make his West End stage debut as Shakespeare in comedy adaptation promising troubles, twins and a dancing bearBen Elton’s sitcom Upstart Crow, which imagines the beleaguered personal and professional lives of a floridly loquacious William…

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