fri 04/07/2025

Comedy Reviews

Comedy podcasts round-up 1: from home and abroad

Veronica Lee

Podcasts have got many of us through 2020, starved as we have been for most of it of live comedy to leave the house to see. Here's a selection of some of the best; they are available on all podcast platforms unless stated.

Dear Joan & Jericha

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Natalie Palamides: Nate: A One Man Show, Netflix review - deep dive into toxic masculinity still has power

Veronica Lee

Edgy comedy runs the risk of discomfiting the audience so much that they can't relax and enjoy the show. But Natalie Palamides, appearing as Nate, her alter ego, in Nate: A One Man Show on Netflix, pulls it off, and then some.

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Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine, Netflix review - star-studded special for Trump lip-syncer

Veronica Lee

When the world was in lockdown and performers turned to TikTok to keep in touch with their fans, Sarah Cooper started using the online platform for short videos where she lip-synced Donald Trump's speeches, and they quickly went global. Not many people can say they owe worldwide fame to Covid and America's worst-ever president.

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Dear Joan & Jericha review - glorious wrong advice from spoof agony aunts

Veronica Lee

The Dear Joan & Jericha podcast began in 2018, and quickly became a cult hit.

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Adam Kay, Apollo Theatre review - former medic tells tales from NHS front line

Veronica Lee

What a pleasure it was to step inside a West End theatre again, and what a different experience it was – temperature checks at the door, a one-way system through to the seats and an app to order drinks.

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Live From the Grand Hall, BAC review - strong mixed bill to start autumn season

Veronica Lee

After a successful – and very welcome - summer season of gigs in its outdoor courtyard, Battersea Arts Centre has come indoors for its autumn season of comedy from the Grand Hall; it started with this strong mixed bill curated by the promoters Berk's Nest.

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Picnic at the Castle review - entertaining mixed bill

Veronica Lee

Of all the outdoor spaces being utilised to keep live performance going in this maddest of years, Warwick Castle is surely among the most striking. Its Picnic at the Castle series has the building as an imposing backdrop to events, the stage reached by a wooden bridge across the River Avon.

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Mixed bill, 21Soho review - opening of new club is cause for celebration

Veronica Lee

Comedy is all about timing, and the owners of the UK's newest comedy club should know. Just days after they obtained the final licences they needed to open, the national lockdown was announced in March. 

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The Warren Outdoor Season, Brighton review - creatives take to the beach

Veronica Lee

The Warren is normally to be found in Brighton city centre, where it stages shows during the Brighton Fringe.

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The New Normal, Royal Victoria Patriotic Building review - strong mixed bill

Veronica Lee

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.

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