Comedy Reviews
The Warren Outdoor Season, Brighton review - creatives take to the beachTuesday, 18 August 2020
The Warren is normally to be found in Brighton city centre, where it stages shows during the Brighton Fringe. Read more... |
The New Normal, Royal Victoria Patriotic Building review - strong mixed billFriday, 07 August 2020
We live in strange times, so it's appropriate that a socially distanced pop-up arts festival – of theatre, comedy, improv, music and magic – calls itself The New Normal. Read more... |
John Cleese, livestream from Cadogan Hall review - abandon all hope, says the former PythonMonday, 03 August 2020
At the age of 80, John Cleese probably doesn't care what people think of him. But then, when you were one-sixth of Monty Python and co-creator of one of TV's funniest sitcoms, you can afford not to play to the gallery as the royalties from Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers still roll in (even if, as he never tires of telling his audiences, a fair chunk goes in alimony). Read more... |
Comedy in the Courtyard, BAC review - al fresco gagsTuesday, 28 July 2020
After drive-ins, now come Covid-secure outdoor shows as the comedy industry tries to find its way back to normality. Battersea Arts Centre is utilising its hitherto unused courtyard for a season of outdoor comedy, during which Al Murray and Russell Howard will perform. Read more... |
Mark Watson's Carpool Comedy Club, Hever Castle review - mixed bill with gags and gourmet foodWednesday, 22 July 2020
Drive-in comedy shows are now well into their groove (although sadly a couple of promoters have had to cut their losses because of poor sales at some venues), and distinct differences in approach to what's on offer have emerged. Clearly going for the upper end of the market is Dine and Drive Theatre, an old hand at curating outdoor events, whose USP is classy locations and food catered by top chef Tom Kerridge. Read more... |
Car Park Comedy, Henley review - Comedy Store's mixed billMonday, 13 July 2020
Hot on the heels of The Car Park Club and @TheDriveIn comes Car Park Party, a series of shows presented in partnership with The Comedy Store. Car Park Party presents an evening of four comics doing short sets, presented by an MC. Read more... |
@TheDriveIn, Blackheath review - comedy and car-aokeFriday, 10 July 2020
Drive-ins are now firmly establishing themselves as the only method by which culture fans can see live arts in person for the future. Hot on the heels of The Drive-In Club comes @TheDriveIn, sponsored by Suzuki and produced by Jericho Comedy. Read more... |
Dom Joly / Daniel Sloss, Brent Cross reviews - UK's first drive-in comedy showsSaturday, 04 July 2020
It was a weary and frustrated Dom Joly (★★) who left the stage after performing the first drive-in comedy show in the UK. Sadly it had been, as he said earlier, “the first car crash at a drive-in”. Read more... |
Desiree Burch, Soho Theatre On Demand review - fantastical storytellingMonday, 25 May 2020
You may have seen Desiree Burch, a Californian now living in London, on The Mash Report on BBC One. Read more... |
Jerry Seinfeld, Netflix review - not bad for a swansongTuesday, 12 May 2020
Jerry Seinfeld said in a recent interview that this Netflix special – 23 Hours to Kill – may be his last stand-up show. That's a shame, as there's much to enjoy here, even if he is retreading some old ground. Read more... |
Pages
latest in today
Help to give theartsdesk a future!
It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
The Surfer review - Nicolas Cage is relentlessly down and ou...
“Don’t live here, don’t surf here,” is the menacing motto (sounds more scary with an Australian accent) of the tanned, muscular denizens of Luna...
Einkvan, Det Norske Teatret, The Coronet Theatre review - al...
Watching the stricken faces on the split screen, I felt at times like callow Farfrae in Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge: when faced...
Desire: The Carl Craig Story review - a worthy, brand-consci...
Carl Craig (b.1969) is a leading Detroit electronic music producer and DJ whose Planet E Communications label has existed for over three decades....
Album: Sleep Token - Even In Arcadia
It has never been an exact science understanding when something will capture lightning in a bottle and go viral. Even less expected is for an...
The Trunk, Netflix review - stylish, noir-ish Korean drama w...
The trunk in the title is a luxury item, worth 50 million won – just north of £27,000 – shown sinking in deep water in the opening...
The Gang of Three, King's Head Theatre - three old Labo...
There was a time when the only daytime TV (ex-weekends and ex-Wimbledon fortnight) comprised the annual party conferences and the...
Words of War review - truth and other casualties of war
The reporting of Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist who was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building in 2006 – on Vladimir Putin’s birthday, a...
theartsdesk Q&A: Gary Oldman on playing John Cheever in...
Gary Oldman has always lived life to the fullest, on screen and off. Maybe that's why he is often at his best in his pitch-perfect portraits of...
Album: Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke - Tall Tales
I’ve got an admission: I never really got Radiohead, in no small part because of Thom Yorke’s singing. I appreciate his technical abilities and...