Comedian was in top 10 on three previous occasions – here are this year’s best gags, as voted for by a public panelA joke by Mark Simmons has been declared the funniest of this year’s Edinburgh fringe festival, chosen by a public panel from a shortlist…
Continue ReadingThe art of improv is in the air as comedians have battled blackouts and other interruptions – with the result of rekindling the festival’s spiritWalking around Edinburgh this month, you might have noticed the unusual number of standup comedians perform…
Continue ReadingEast Renfrewshire venue cancels upcoming show after Fringe audience booed people who objected to Israel jokeA theatre has cancelled an upcoming show by the comedian Reginald D Hunter following reports that Israeli audience members were heckled during h…
Continue ReadingA crowing flash-in-the-pan PM and Jimmy Carr’s life lessons from the Oompa LoompasA tale of two powerful women as the Edinburgh fringe enters its opening week. Nica Burns is a West End producer and the impresario behind the Edinburgh comedy awards. The…
Continue ReadingResearchers say standups’ contribution is unsung, and hope findings will help to bolster the industry’s credibilityThe live comedy industry in the UK contributes more than £1bn to the economy every year, according to a study by Brunel University London…
Continue ReadingRestored 1976 doc of Connolly’s tour of Ireland shows that, despite his bombastic stage presence, he is impeccably polite. But his naughtier material hasn’t aged wellHere is a 70s time capsule as pungent as a brimming pub ashtray. Restored and rereleas…
Continue ReadingThe pair, whose final season of the hit horror-comedy will air on the BBC this month, say the West End production will feature familiar characters and fresh surprisesAs the ninth and final series of their BBC hit Inside No 9 begins this month, Steve Pe…
Continue ReadingSpeaking at launch for West End adaptation, Cleese complains about literal-minded viewers ‘not playing with a full deck’John Cleese said that he decided to cut the N-word from a scene in his West End Fawlty Towers revival because in contemporary Britai…
Continue ReadingSpeaking at launch for West End adaptation, Cleese complains about literal-minded viewers ‘not playing with a full deck’John Cleese said that he decided to cut the N-word from a scene in his West End Fawlty Towers revival because in contemporary Britai…
Continue ReadingLaunchpad for theatre and comedy talent, which had planned to open its new longterm home this year, announces its closureLondon’s Vault festival, which has kickstarted countless theatre and comedy careers in a warren of performance spaces beneath Water…
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