sun 12/10/2025

Comedy Reviews

Reclaim These Streets fundraiser, 21Soho review - entertaining mixed bill hosted by Sarah Keyworth

Veronica Lee

London's weather – a day of huge downpours – underlined the point that we should be rushing inside as entertainment venues (in parts of the UK, at least) reopened. It was lovely to be back at 21Soho, a welcoming and well run venue, particularly as its opening night was for anti-violence charity Reclaim These Streets. Proceeds will be distributed by the charity Rosa.

Read more...

Mark Watson's Carpool Comedy Club, Henley-Marlow review - Nish Kumar sticks it to the Tories

Veronica Lee

Heckling at a drive-in gig is rather pointless, don't you think? The audience, mostly listening through their car radios, will be unable to hear the interruption, while the comic can deliver a slam-dunk put-down that we can all enjoy.

Read more...

Mark Watson's Carpool Comedy Club, the Hop Farm review - strong kick-off to 2021 live comedy

Veronica Lee

What a pleasure it was to go to the first drive-in date of 2021 as Mark Watson's Carpool Comedy Club, produced in association with The Alfresco Theatre, rocked up in the picturesque surroundings of the Hop Farm, near Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

Read more...

Comedy podcasts round-up 5: politics, relationships and spoofery

Veronica Lee

 

Tiny Revolutions With Tiff Stevenson

Read more...

Loyiso Gola, Netflix review - South African muses on race, religion and friendship

Veronica Lee

Loyiso Gola, twice nominated for Emmy awards for his satire show Late Nite News, has been a big star in South Africa for some years now but this show should help cement his reputation abroad.

Read more...

Working From Home online review - Johnny Vegas and Jason Byrne in a strong line-up

Veronica Lee

Comedy promoters Just the Tonic have been keeping occupied during various lockdowns, and are continuing with livestreamed shows until comics can perform live in clubs and theatres again.

Read more...

Comedy podcasts round-up 4: plus a vodcast and some retro audio

Veronica Lee

Fawlty Towers: For the Record

Read more...

Chinese Arts Now Festival review - comedy of the diaspora

Veronica Lee

Chinese Arts Now was founded in 2005 and aims to produce and present work that explores Chinese themes, stories and art forms in the UK. Its annual festival includes a comedy night (presented in conjunction with Soho Theatre), and this year three comics of Chinese heritage – Evelyn Mok, Ken Cheng and Phil Wang – performed.

Read more...

Rachel Parris and Marcus Brigstocke's Tuesday Night Club review - daft and good-hearted

Veronica Lee

Lockdown has been mostly pants for live performers, comics included. There was that brief foray into open-air performances last summer, made even more fun by some lovely weather (although not always) – and I sincerely hope that promoters and comics will venture outdoors again this spring and summer.

Read more...

First Night Funnies, Leicester Comedy Festival review - uneven start to 2021's online gathering

Veronica Lee

The Leicester Comedy Festival, always great fun, was one of the last to be able to run fully in 2020, but this year it's not so lucky. Instead of several hundred events in and around Leicester, the 2021 iteration is an online-only version with many fewer shows of Zoom gigs and interviews.

Read more...

Pages

 

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
Troilus and Cressida, Globe Theatre review - a 'problem...

The Globe’s authenticity is its USP, so don’t expect the air-conditioning, the plush seats and the expectant hush of the National...

Album: Mobb Deep - Infinite

Eight years after Prodigy’s untimely passing, Mobb Deep are gracing our sound systems once again with unreleased vocals and brand new music. With...

London Film Festival 2025 - crime, punishment, pop stars and...

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

The third of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out...

I Swear review - taking stock of Tourette's

People sometimes go to the movies for the violence and maybe even for the sex. Until recently they didn’t particularly buy a ticket for...

Clarkston, Trafalgar Theatre review - two lads on a road to...

If you’re a Gen Zer, you’ve probably heard of Heartstopper’s Joe Locke. I’m pretty sure ATG’s Gen Xers in...

Album: Boz Scaggs - Detour

Boz Scaggs rarely does a less than wonderful album. His latest is an exemplary collection of smooth and soulful standard and a few other choice...

Carmen, English National Opera review - not quite dangerous

“Safe” is a word used far too often in ENO’s bizarre new version of a programme, full of uncredited articles, at least two of which look as if...

Ghost Stories, Peacock Theatre review - spirited staging but...

In the framing device, a professor (Jonathan Guy Lewis) stands at a lectern and asks if anyone has had a supernatural experience....

Emily A. Sprague realises a Japanese dream on 'Cloud Ti...

The history of experimental musicians from Europe and North America adopting Japanese aesthetics is … patchy. It got especially dodgy in the 1990s...