Underbelly****When I launched Beyond The Joke back in January one of the first performers I wrote about was Alfie Brown. I'd seen him at the 99 Club in London and from the moment he came onstage he... more
Reviews
Pleasance***Winners of the So You Think You're Funny award have a good track record when it comes to bagging bigger awards later on. Both Tommy Tiernan and Dylan Moran went on to win the Perrier... more
Pleasance***The Edinburgh Fringe is a marathon, not a sprint. Three and a bit weeks of hard work making the public laugh while being judged by critics and awards panels. In an ideal world a show... more
Underbelly****Nish Kumar is the kind of genial, warm, chatty comedian that makes you feel immediately relaxed. He is a safe pair of hands in the best of senses. Intelligent and amiable and never... more
Just The Tonic at The Tron***Comedy is all about timing and I think somebody got the timing seriously wrong with London-based Canadian Bobby Mair. This scruffy, potty-mouthed, debauched,... more
I finally managed to see The World's End last night. Not at a press screening but in a normal cinema with normal people. Or as normal as people in Brixton get. I was expecting to sit there irritated... more
Normally when I go to Latitude I plan my assault on the Festival with the precision of Montgomery planning El Alamein. Spreadsheets and marker pens have been involved. Frankly though this is easier... more
It's directed by Christopher "Spinal Tap" Guest, it stars homme du jour Chris O'Dowd. What could possibly go wrong with Family Tree? I've just watched the first episode and I'm totally... more
There is a lot riding on Pappy's new BBC3 sitcom Badults. The much-loved sketch combo has already had two tries at transferring their lunatic stage sensibility, doing a pair of C4 Comedy Lab pilots,... more
Peter Rosengard has already told the story of his involvement in the alternative comedy boom in Didn't You Kill My Mother-in-Law? This new autobiography by the legendary life insurance salesman shows... more
