A reviewer once said of Laura Lexx that "one can only hope there's some life-altering catastrophe around the corner for Lexx". Even though it was presumably said with its tongue firmly in its cheek,... more
Reviews
The Edinburgh Fringe can throw up some unexpected incidents. Particularly late night gigs when alcohol may have been consumed by the audience. Earlier this week I witnessed a very tense moment at... more
"The ones who’ve been around the block, who work for bigger publications, have a greater frame of reference and a better understanding but that’s not always helpful as the amount they’ve seen can... more
How much influence does a director have on a comedy performance? Ciaran Dowd's show Don Rodolfo is directed by Tom Parry of sketch group Pappy's and it boasts the same sweaty silliness that has... more
If you like socks, dancing and mango chutney Mawaan Rizwan's show is definitely the one for you. In fact even if you don't particularly like these things you will probably still get a lot out of his... more
Catherine Bohart's Edinburgh Fringe debut was not a surprise to me. That's because I expected it to be very good. I'd seen the London-based Irish comic do short spots over the last couple of years... more
Towards the end of Tom Ward's latest show Popcorn Lung, there is a song about getting three star reviews and how dispiriting that can be. I think I know how he feels when it comes to the Edinburgh... more
The first episode of the fourth series of this sitcom is pretty much business as usual - ie life in the Thompson household is as chaotic as ever. But things are looking up. Ken (Greg Davies) is... more
This is a review of the show at the Royal Festival Hall London in April 2018 when it was on tour. It originally appeared in the Evening Standard here. A similar version was broadcast on BBC2 on July... more
The world of comedy has been a great entry point for writing about the human condition, from John Osborne's The Entertainer through to Trevor Griffiths' Comedians to Terry Johnson's Dead Funny and... more
