Like Robin Ince I was one of those teenagers who devoured Herbert Van Thal’s Pan Book of Horror Stories series. I can still vividly recall the one about the man trapped in a sewer who has to chew his... more
Reviews
Celia Pacquola’s show certainly starts with a bang. Well, a bang of the drums anyway. Her entry music is Diana Ross’s I’m Coming Out and the exuberant, bouncy rhythm sets the tone for the next hour.... more
Matt Berry really could keep you hooked by reading the telephone directory. The owner of that distinctive syrupy, lubricious, posh James Mason bellow returns for the second series of Toast of London... more
Some critics must be faster readers than me. The latest volume of Stephen Fry’s memoirs has been out for well over a week, but I have only just finished it. Boy is it a big book, taking us through... more
Not Going Out is apparently the UK’s longest-running sitcom. Not exactly in the Last Of The Summer Wine league, but it has been going since 2006. And actually it does have something in common with... more
So Frank Skinner joins a long line of comedians who have appeared in Dr Who, including Peter Kay, Catherine Tate and Lee Evans. His appearance as Perkins the intergalactic spanner-waggling engineer... more
I arrived a little late for Just Like That! but I soon worked out what was going on. I had originally assumed that this was a revival of the play by John Fisher about Tommy Cooper’s life that ran in... more
It is easy to talk about all the acts who won awards at the Edinburgh Festival and went on to great things, but there are also the acts that got away. Acts that the Comedy Awards judges inexplicably... more
It is hard to believe but there have been mutterings of a Daniel Kitson backlash. His latest theatre piece, Analog.Ue was not greeted by the usual ecstatic reviews. Maybe - though I fully expect he... more
It’s been interesting to see the way that comedians from the live circuit have recently dipped their toes into mainstream TV waters. Sara Pascoe, Joe Wilkinson and Joe Lycett are among the acts to... more
