This year's Sketch Off Final had me worried for a while. The line-ups are usually consistently strong and the standard is usually very high throughout. I was one of the judges* and at half-time this... more
Reviews
Michael McIntyre is not really a stand-up comedian at all. He's a That's Us comedian. Or a That's Me comedian*. Or an Elbow Nudge comedian. Sitting in the stalls at the packed 02 Arena every... more
If ever there was a comedian whose career was a game of two halves it's Steve Martin. The self-styled 'wild and crazy guy' quit stand-up in 1980 in his thirties, having decided that he had acheived... more
Henry Lewis and Jonathan Sayer certainly know how to wrench every possible laugh out of a show. They are the creators of the global giggle-a-minute smash hit The Play that Goes Wrong which has been... more
Mandy star Diane Morgan recently said in an interview in The Times that "I don't think there's enough stupid comedy." Well, she is certainly doing her bit to redress the balance with a third series... more
The more things change the more they stay the same. Or something like that. Earlier today I published a review of Noel Fielding's new Dick Turpin comedy and then I watched Things You Should Have Done... more
I had a bad feeling about Noel Fielding's new comedy The Completely Made-up Adventures of Dick Turpin. The cast was so starry, so packed with 24-carat familiar TV comedy names plus Hugh... more
I've been meaning to write about Boarders since I first saw the opening episode but it's taken me a while to process it. I was expecting a silly, frothy rites-of-passage version of Bad Education with... more
The first time I saw Patrick Marber it was around 25 years ago and he was playing a plastic trumptet at a comedy gig above a pub in East Dulwich. I think it's fair to say he has come a long way since... more
I think it's fair to say that Ikechukwu Ufomadu's Amusements is not your typical comedy show. But then Ikechukwu Ufomadu is not your typical comedian. He comes on dressed in an elegant, immaculate... more
