April 2013

Classic Interview: Sarah Solemani

This article that first appeared in The Times in January 2012 coincided with Sarah Solemani's appearance in the stage play The House Of Bernarda Alba, which was a bit of a U-turn after the grubbily brilliant sitcom Him & Her. Since then Solemani (picture by Kurtiss Llloyd) has firmed up her comedy credentials with a winning performance alongside Jack Whitehall in BBC3's Bad Education and more Him & Her.

Preview: The Week Ahead April 8 - 14

I was a little worried when I heard that Harry Hill was going back on the road after eight years away. Would it be a case of a deluded boxer returning to the ring thinking he could still cut it? Would it be like Bjorn Borg making his comeback with an old wooden tennis racquet? I didn't need to worry. I saw Hill's Sausage Time spectacular – and spectacular is the only word for it – on its first night in London a few weeks ago and, if anything, the lunacy was sharper than ever.

Review: Mark Thomas: Bravo Figaro!, Edinburgh 2012

This is a short review of Mark Thomas' inspirational show Bravo Figaro! which was first published in the Evening Standard when it premiered at the Edinburgh Festival last summer. You can read the original review here. Mark's father died recently on the day Bravo Figaro!

Opinion: Is Stand-Up the Toughest Job in the World?

Has anyone tried to attack you while you've been at work recently? Probably not, but a news story today suggests that it happened to Terry Alderton during a gig this week. The Essex stand-up was doing a charity gig at the Prince William of Gloucester Barracks in Grantham when, according to Chortle, someone jumped onstage.

Opinion: Best Sketch Ever?*

Sunday 14/4/13 Coincidence corner. NBC's Saturday Night Live in America did a punk spoof this week as a tribute to Margaret Thatcher, which included their own Grundy/Pistols parody. Not as good as Eldon of course, but they got the colour of the set pretty close. 

Review: Pappy's, Edinburgh Fringe 2012

This is my review of Pappy's that ran during the Edinburgh Festival last August. I was on the Foster's Award Panel and I really thought they had a chance of winning it. Their shows had always been huge fun but this one upped the ante, adding an emotional kick to the giggles. They are also very nice down-to-earth people, though that did not have any bearing on the result.

Review: Rainer Hersch's April Fools Day Concert, RFH

Easter Monday coincided with April Fools Day this year so I spent the afternoon at the Royal Festival Hall where Rainer Hersch was hosting his annual comedy classical music concert. I could not help noticing that the audience bore scant relation to a typical comedy audience.

Opinion: Is Comedy Getting Too Posh?

Oh, isn't the internet wonderful. I wrote and posted this short opinion piece on the rise of poshness in comedy while I was waiting to go to a comedy classical music concert at the Royal Festival Hall which I couldn't help thinking was the most middle class comedy event I'd ever attended. You can read my review here.

Review: The Week Ahead April 1 - 7

When sketch combo Pappy's announced that their 2012 Edinburgh show was called their Last Show Ever I wondered if this was not entirely a joke. After making a big splash as Pappy's Fun Club in the late noughties with their distinctive, deceptively sophisticated brand of childish yet fiendishly self-knowing humour they had started to tread water. Maybe they were going to, sob, call it a day

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