standup comedy
Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Amos Gill/ Lorna Rose Treen/ CrizardsThursday, 10 August 2023
Amos Gill Gilded Balloon ★★★★Amos Gill used to be a human rights lawyer and describes himself as a lefty progressive. But some of his views – or at least those delivered here to great comedic effect – might suggest otherwise. In his hour... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Krystal Evans / William Thompson / Alison SpittleWednesday, 09 August 2023
Krystal Evans, Monkey Barrel @The Hive ★★★★American comic Krystal Evans (now living in the UK) tells us she has a “resting sarcastic voice” but after five minutes in her company you realise she’s just naturally, hootingly funny. Which is a good... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Ania Magliano / Elliot Steel / Alexandra HaddowTuesday, 08 August 2023
Ania Magliano, Pleasance Courtyard ★★★ When Ania Magliano made her Fringe debut last year, her show was rightly garlanded with four- and five-star reviews. She sounded like an original voice on the comedy scene and this year her show, I Can’t... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Ed Byrne / Fiona Allen / Kieran HodgsonMonday, 07 August 2023
Ed Byrne Assembly Rooms ★★★★★ Ed Byrne has frequently referenced his loved ones in previous shows but this new hour is one he would never wanted to have written, as it was prompted by the death of his younger brother, Paul, last year. Its title,... Read more... |
Urooj Ashfaq, Soho Theatre review - assured UK debut by Mumbai stand-upTuesday, 01 August 2023
It's takes a confident comic performing only her second show in English – her second language – to joke near the top of the hour: “I didn't know I wasn't as funny in English.” Urooj Ashfaq also told us she would get upset if the audience didn't like... Read more... |
The Crown Jewels, Garrick Theatre review - star laden comedy fails to sparkleFriday, 28 July 2023
At first, it’s hard to believe that the true story of Colonel Blood’s audacious attempt to steal The Crown Jewels from the Tower of London in 1671 has not provided the basis for a play before. After two hours of Simon Nye’s pedestrian telling of the... Read more... |
Josh Pugh Live at Birmingham Town Hall review - observational gags with a touch of the surrealWednesday, 26 July 2023
Josh Pugh made quite an impression at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, where he was deservedly nominated for best show in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards with Sausage, Egg, Josh Pugh, Chips and Beans. In this special YouTube version, recorded at Birmingham... Read more... |
Amy Schumer, Netflix Special review - New York smarts about being a fortysomethingFriday, 30 June 2023
Amy Schumer opens Emergency Contact, her latest Netflix Special, by asking a young woman in the front row how old she is. When the answer comes back as “27”, the New York comic has found the perfect segue into material about being 42 and... Read more... |
John Kearns, Brighton Komedia review - Van Gogh, joining the circus and pooey nappiesMonday, 29 May 2023
John Kearns' comedy is what you might call niche; absurdist, surrealist, poetic – they all apply, underlined by his onstage uniform, or “mask”, of tonsure wig and oversize false teeth. But last year he took part in something very definitely... Read more... |
Phil Wang, RFH review - smut and smartsTuesday, 23 May 2023
Phil Wang has an interesting background: he has a Chinese-Malaysian father and a white English mother, was born in the UK, and spent his childhood in Malaysia before returning to the UK at 16. His comedy has always mined this rich seam, and now in... Read more... |
Hannah Gadsby, Netflix special review - shaggy dog story of marital blissTuesday, 16 May 2023
Hannah Gadsby had a memorable lockdown; it was when the Tasmanian comic got together with producer Jenney Shamash. And it's their courtship that forms the basis for Something Special, the wonderful new show by Gadsby which is now a Netflix special,... Read more... |
Emmanuel Sonubi, ArtsDepot review - confessions of a former bouncerMonday, 17 April 2023
Emmanuel Sonubi burst on the scene at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, where he was nominated in the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards, and has since appeared on the BBC's Live at the Apollo and supported Jason Manford on tour. It's easy to see why... Read more... |
