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‘Improv saved my life’: the comedy classes helping people with anxiety

December 20, 2017TheGuardian

Once the domain of aspiring performers, improv courses are increasingly being attended by students experiencing mental health problems

“Your heart’s beating faster, you feel all these eyes on you, your body reacts with panic.” No, it’s not the discarded first line of Eminem’s Lose Yourself, but Alex MacLaren’s description of how his students feel in work meetings, job interviews or even the pub. MacLaren teaches improvisational comedy at the Spontaneity Shop in London. At first, its courses attracted performers. Now, he estimates half his students are seeking help with anxiety or confidence.

It’s a trend noted by other improv teachers. In Manchester, Brainne Edge runs workshops as head of ComedySportz UK. In the past five years she’s seen the proportion of non-performers attending her courses rise to around 75%.

It teaches you to have a better link between your brain and your mouth

The League of Gentlemen announce 2018 UK tour

December 15, 2017TheGuardian

The dark comedy foursome are to hit the road, taking new show to ‘all the wonderful local places in our increasingly local country’

Their three forthcoming reunion specials for the BBC are among this Christmas’s most anticipated television shows. Now, the League of Gentlemen have announced that they will be touring the UK for the first time in over 12 years.

The League of Gentlemen Live Again! tour starts in Sunderland on 25 August 2018, offering local entertainment for local people around the UK, culminating in three nights at London’s Eventim Apollo, from 27 to 29 September.

‘Chinese burn? We just say burn’: comics on joking about race and immigration

December 15, 2017TheGuardian

Phil Wang has a messy relationship with the British empire. Evelyn Mok felt dirty joking about her family. Kae Kurd riffs on being a refugee. Aisha Alfa was shocked to find she had a ‘black perspective’. They talk patriotism, stereotypes and stigmas

I’m a sort of half-immigrant. I was born in Stoke, where my mum is from, but we went back to Malaysia, where my dad’s from, a week after I was born. When I was 16 I moved back to the UK and have been here since. I have a complicated relationship with the British empire but I look for what connects us. Commonwealth countries share a certain sense of humour. The empire spread self-deprecation and a self-mocking attitude across the commonwealth – as well as railroads.

Peter Kay cancels UK and Ireland tour over ‘family circumstances’

December 13, 2017TheGuardian

Comedian who has not toured for eight years says he deeply regrets decision to cancel more than 100 shows next yearPeter Kay has cancelled his tour of Britain and Ireland, which would have seen him perform more than 100 gigs, citing family circumstance…

No holds barred and funny as hell: the fierce humour of Margaret Cho

November 19, 2017TheGuardian

One of America’s most politically outspoken standups is finally bringing her savage brand of comedy to Britain

If you have never heard of Margaret Cho, think the caustic, crude comedy of Joan Rivers, the politically-charged jibes of Bill Hicks and the quick-witted improvisation of Robin Williams – all rolled into one but with a feisty Korean twist. Now the US comedian is about to embark on a UK tour, starting in Edinburgh on 25 November and ending at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 10 December.

Cho is a five-time Grammy and Emmy nominee and a household name in America, and earlier this year Rolling Stone magazine named her as one of the 50 best standup comics of all time. She has worked with all the above comics, and others such as Jerry Seinfeld, but says her greatest mentor and influence was Rivers. “I try to carry on her legacy,” she says. “I feel like I learned everything I know from her.”

There’s a lot about Trump, race and sexuality. I get to talk about all that stuff which I think is really important

Sean Hughes: comedian dies aged 51

October 16, 2017TheGuardian

Hughes, who won Perrier comedy award in 1990 and was team captain on BBC’s Never Mind the Buzzcocks, died on Monday morning

Sean Hughes, the Irish standup comedian and quiz show panellist, has died, his former agent has said.

Related: ‘I matured very late in life’

Very sad news. Early this AM, the master of comedy Sean Hughes past away. @mr_seanhughes
A comic very much ahead of his time. pic.twitter.com/nv5DEn4CH1

In hospital

‘Sean was the youngest winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award. He was a huge talent – a great comic & writer. He will be missed’ – Nica Burns pic.twitter.com/Ns86KGPwyr

Related: Sean Hughes: My family values

Very sad to hear about Sean Hughes. Started on the circuit with him back in the day. RIP.

Very sad to hear about Sean Hughes. A brilliant comic and a lovely bloke. RIP.

Sean Hughes. What a punch in the soul that is.

Horrible news. Another talent gone far too soon. RIP Sean Hughes x

Can’t believe the news… Sean Hughes will be sadly missed by myself and the rest of the comedy world. Thoughts are with you. Xxx

Edinburgh’s double comedy winners mix humour with darker takes on life

August 26, 2017TheGuardian

Shows about relationship breakdown and homophobia pick up a prize – or two – for John Robins and Hannah Gadsby

The longest ever shortlist. The first ever joint winners. And clearly, the most indecisive judging panel ever.

It was indeed, as the publicity would have it, an “unprecedented” year for the Edinburgh comedy awards. But, if there’s a worry that the currency of these awards is being devalued, there can be no real complaints about this year’s champs: probably the two most audacious stand-up shows on the fringe, and certainly among the funniest.

Edinburgh festival fringe comedy award shared for first time

August 26, 2017TheGuardian

Judges could not choose between shows by Hannah Gadsby and John Robins – so have given both the £10,000 first prize

For the first time in the history of Edinburgh’s festival fringe, the top comedy award has been shared between two acts.

Stand-up performers Hannah Gadsby and John Robins have both been given the Best Comedy Show award, this year sponsored by lasminute.com.

Edinburgh comedy awards: the nominees in full

August 23, 2017TheGuardian

Female comics dominate the nine-strong shortlist for the ‘Oscars of live comedy’, as shows about a breakup, a goodbye and class consciousness make the cut

• Plan your trip: the Edinburgh 2017 shows we recommend

The Edinburgh comedy award shortlist has been announced, and it features more female comics than ever before. The nine-strong shortlist – the longest in the history of the prize – includes four women, one of whom (Elf Lyons) dresses as a parrot, and another of whom has promised never to perform standup again. The latter, Hannah Gadsby, won the prestigious Barry award at the Melbourne comedy festival and has been hotly tipped for its Edinburgh equivalent, with her hard-hitting show about gender violence and the limits of comedy. The winner will be announced on 26 August by the League of Gentlemen, who won the award in 1997.

Edinburgh fringe’s funniest jokes, from 2012 to 2017 – video

August 22, 2017TheGuardian

Chuckle at officially the best gags from the Edinburgh fringe festival in recent years. From Stewart Francis’s 2012 one-liner to Ken Cheng’s 2017 triumph, all were voted winner of the Dave funniest joke of the fringe award

Ken Cheng’s pound coin gag voted Edinburgh fringe’s funniest joke

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