There have been a lot of male performers in recent years who have excelled at immersive, madcap lunacy. Adam Riches, Nick Helm and Dr Brown spring immediately to mind. But this is a type of comedy... more
Previews
There has been a lot of interest in the history of alternative comedy in the last few years. Stewart Lee has championed various early comics and Alexei Sayle has revisited his Comedy Store glory days... more
Performers are always asking me how to get coverage in the media. The trouble is that I’m in the media and I’m not sure if I know the answer myself. There certainly isn’t a formula. I usually say “... more
I've been tipping Canadian Bobby Mair for greatness ever since I stumbled into his 2013 Edinburgh show Obviously Adopted by accident. Though it actually looked as if Mair was the one that had had an... more
Last year Australian comic Bec Hill (picture by Steve Ullathorne) set out to perform an award-winning show at the Festival. She felt she had to as she had drunkenly told former Superman Dean... more
These are busy times for television-friendly comedians. Even though Live at the Apollo is taking a break there seem to be more mainstream openings than ever for those that fancy a bit of exposure.... more
OK, I confess. I wasn’t convinced by the first series of Man Down. It had its moments, but given that they were mostly in the violent interplay between Greg Davies and his TV dad Rik Mayall I had a... more
If you haven't become hooked on this bizarre impro-celebrity-reality-TV whodunnit yet I seriously doubt if this week’s episode is going to float your boat. But it is a good one. Dermot O’Leary is the... more
Stand ups have always been happy to do their bit for charity, but that urge to help out has gone into overdrive recently. It can't just be because of the election – most of these gigs were announced... more
The first episode of the new series of Episodes makes me think of gangsters. The phone ringing at the start reminded me of the phone ringing at the start of Once Upon A Time In America, while there’s... more
