Comedy Reviews
Edinburgh Festival and Fringe 2017 reviews round-upMonday, 21 August 2017
Wondering what on earth to choose between as you tramp the streets of the festival? These are our highlights so far. STANDUP Athenu Kugblenu, Underbelly Med Quad ★★★ Strong debut hour of political and identity comedy |
Edinburgh Fringe 2017 reviews: Ingrid Oliver / Darren Harriott / Jayde AdamsMonday, 21 August 2017
Ingrid Oliver ★★★★ Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2017 reviews: Hannah Gadsby / Suzi Ruffell / Ivo Graham / Athena KugblenuThursday, 17 August 2017
Hannah Gadsby ★★★★ This is Hannah Gadsby's last show, she tells us. Not because she has stopped being funny (she most definitely hasn't, as the laugh count in this show attests), but because making comedy out of her life experience has become toxic for her. Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2017 reviews: Tom Allen / Cally Beaton / Lauren Pattison / TrumpageddonTuesday, 15 August 2017
Tom Allen ★★★★ |
Edinburgh Fringe 2017 reviews: Kiri Pritchard-McLean / Dad's Army Radio Hour / Elliot SteelMonday, 14 August 2017
Kiri Pritchard-McLean ★★★★ Appropriate Adult has an unlikely subject for comedy – Kiri Pritchard-McLean's work with vulnerable teenagers. But it proves rich territory as she recounts her relationship with one in particular, 15-year-old “Harriet”. Don't worry, it doesn't pose an ethical issue, as the comic, rather than the child, is the butt of the jokes – of which there are plenty. Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2017 reviews: Tiff Stevenson / Jarlath Regan / Urzila CarlsonThursday, 10 August 2017
Tiff Stevenson ★★★★ Read more... |
Russell Brand, Touring review - grandiloquent performer in reflective moodFriday, 30 June 2017
Were ordinary folk to plunder their lives for comedy, most of us would be sadly lacking in any topics worthy of analysis, let alone laughs. But Russell Brand, who every few years appears to reinvent himself – from drug addict to stand-up comic, from sex addict to husband, from anarchist to social campaigner, to name a few reboots – can in no way be described as ordinary. Read more... |
Jeremy Hardy, Brighton Festival review - expert raconteur shows political biteThursday, 18 May 2017
Jeremy Hardy is very happy to mock his audience and they love it. One of the biggest laughs of the night is when a punchline refers to us as a collection of “middle class white people”. Being Brighton, he goes further, explaining how tolerant the city is but that everyone’s frustrated as they have no-one to tolerate. Any immigrants, he explains, take one look and head down to Devon “... Read more... |
Ricky Gervais, Touring review - chatty and relaxed riffingFriday, 12 May 2017
Ricky Gervais enters the stage after recordings of some the great (and not so great) men of history – including Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King and Adolf Hitler. And then there's a portentous introduction – are we then going to hear some deep philosophical insights tonight? Well not so much, more chatty and relaxed riffing, with some of his most personal material yet. Read more... |
Ayesha Hazarika, Soho Theatre review - 'politics is her patch'Thursday, 20 April 2017
What a day to open your political stand-up show, entitled State of the Nation, a few hours after Theresa May had announced a snap election. Read more... |
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