AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatar5 days agoAn Evening with the Fast Show, review: still funny after 30 yearsThe Telegraph - Dominic Cavendish,If “Jumpers for goal-posts”, “Suit you, sir”, “Brilliant!” and “Nice!” don’t bring a swift smile of recognition to your lips, you’re clearly still not up to speed with The Fast Show. In which case, watching this gathering of the TV sketch-show’s principal alumni 30 years after it first aired may …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarCancelled for joking about Hamas: why ‘hate speech’ zealots are killing comedyThe Telegraph - Dominic CavendishWhen the Herald newspaper published its report on March 19, advising that “Police Scotland’s officers are being told they should target actors and comedians under Scotland’s new hate crime laws”, the comedian Al Murray delivered a pithy, pretty unprintable response on X: “F___ this”. Later he …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarOmid Djalili: ‘Netflix doesn’t consider me a relevant comedian’The Telegraph - Anita Singh,Two things of note happened with Omid Djalili’s recent tour, Good Times. The first was that a show in Market Drayton, Shropshire, not previously known as a hotbed of political tensions, had to be cancelled due to security threats. The reason? Djalili had tweeted a call for a humanitarian ceasefire …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarRoss Noble, London Palladium, review: whimsy and uncertainty in a show that hints at Noble’s dark sideThe Telegraph - Stephen Armstrong“When this show finishes you get to go home,” Ross Noble told the audience at one point. “I have to live with this 24 hours a day.” Ross Noble’s three decades as a stand-up have been consistently and deliberately erratic. His performance rests on his ability to improvise hours of whimsy from the …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarLenny Henry was my childhood hero. Comic Relief without him is unthinkableThe Telegraph - Ben LawrenceOn Friday night, Lenny Henry will present his final Comic Relief. In the fickle and ephemeral world of television, the comedian and actor’s 39 years with the charity which he co-founded with Richard Curtis, Jane Tewson and Peter Bennett-Jones is remarkable: a sign of Henry’s steadfast nature, of …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarAtsuko Okatsuka: first James Corden, now world domination – a star is bornThe Telegraph - Tristram Fane SaundersAtsuko Okatsuka has a remarkable fringe – a bowl cut of Lego-figurine neatness, one that has (she says) prompted the question “are you a Beatle?” – and an even more remarkable life story. She and her grandmother are on good terms – they make viral Tiktok videos together – but her grandma is also her …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarKatherine Ryan: ‘My 14-year-old daughter has a personal trainer – it’s a healthy routine’The Telegraph - Katherine RyanHow do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Katherine Ryan I wake up at the foot of my children’s bed like a dog. I co-sleep with my two-and-a-half-year-old Fred and my one-year-old Fenna, who …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarLeigh Francis – My First Time: the Bo Selecta star turns lowbrow into an art formThe Telegraph - Tim HardingOn the TV show Bo Selecta in the early 2000s, Leigh Francis took the concept of the rubber-faced comedian to a troubling new level, using a series of bulbous strap-on chins to create celebrity impressions that were silly and somehow obscene, an escalation of the grotesqueries of Spitting Image …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarThe ‘Malaysian prince’ of UK comedy, Phil Wang brings solid-gold gags to the ApolloThe Telegraph - Tim HardingThe grandeur of the Hammersmith Apollo might seem like an odd fit for Phil Wang, who has always been a determinedly understated performer. As his star has risen, through appearances in Wonka and Taskmaster, he’s never felt much pressure to expand the scope or flashiness of his core offering. …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarLara Ricote, Soho Theatre: big-hearted, grotty show about the messiness of loveThe Telegraph - Tristram Fane SaundersThe Soho Theatre’s stage is strewn with cardboard tombstones. Among them walks Lara Ricote – less Tomb Raider, more oddball priestess – before wafting through the crowd in a white christening gown. Any audience lives only for one night, she explains; in this show, we will be baptised with a new …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarRob Brydon: A Night of Songs & Laughter: a crowd-pleasing light-entertainment throwbackThe Telegraph - Jay RichardsonMidway through Rob Brydon’s performance full of of cheery bonhomie and his favourite songs, he shares the final joke told to him by one of his heroes, the late Barry Cryer. “Uncle Baz”, as he was known to many, was one of the last links from the golden age of light entertainment to modern comedy, a …
AvatarThe TelegraphAvatarAvatarTim Key: ‘I’ve written 3,000 poems – it’s easy if you’ve got no quality control’The Telegraph - Tristram Fane SaundersIf you’re looking for a last-minute Valentine’s present, you should probably steer clear of comedian Tim Key’s new book Chapters, described by the publishers as “his least ambitious project to date”. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a Valentine’s Day poetry collection,” says Key – though it is …