Comedy Reviews

Michael Mittermeier, Soho Theatre

Veronica Lee Friday, 12 October 2012

There must be something on the air; a few foreign comics (including Edinburgh Comedy Awards newcomer winner Daniel Simonsen) were performing in English at this year's Edinburgh Fringe and now one of them, Germany's Michael Mittermeier, has brought his Fringe show, A German on Safari, to London for a short residency at Soho...

Danny Bhoy, Bloomsbury Theatre

Veronica Lee Thursday, 11 October 2012

Danny Bhoy is big in Scotland and Canada and huge Down Under, as they say, but is a surprisingly unfamiliar name to many. I'm not sure, other than a lack of a television presence, why he's not as well-known throughout the UK as he should be: he's an extremely affable, laidback Scot whose brand of observational, conversational comedy is easy on the ear.

Kevin Bridges, Hammersmith Apollo

Veronica Lee Monday, 01 October 2012

Kevin Bridges, an affable young Glaswegian, has had a meteoric rise in comedy. He started gigging at 17, made his solo Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2009, where he played in a 50-seater and earned an Edinburgh Comedy Awards newcomer nomination, and returned the following year to a sold-out run in a 700-seat theatre.

Michael McIntyre, O2 Arena

Veronica Lee Thursday, 27 September 2012

First a confession: I've never been a great fan of Michael McIntyre. He's a nice bloke for sure, works at his craft and is a slick performer with a huge following, both live and on television. Plus - and this is one of the best compliments I can pay to a stand-up because it's a difficult skill to pull off - he's one of the best MCs in the business.

Comment

Stewart Lee presents John Cage's Indeterminacy, Cafe OTO

joe Muggs Wednesday, 26 September 2012

John Cage is funny: this much we know. The deadpan prankster at the heart of 20^th-century artistic experimentalism was always about the inadvertent punchline, the chuckle that comes from unexpected disjunction, the relief that comes from reminders of the absurdity of reality, as much as he was ever about any engagement with progress, technology, the transcendent.

Edinburgh Fringe: James Acaster/David Trent/Daniel Simonsen/Ben Target

Veronica Lee Saturday, 25 August 2012

James Acaster: Prompt, Pleasance Courtyard ***

Edinburgh Fringe: Tony Law

Veronica Lee Friday, 24 August 2012

Tony Law: Maximum Noonsense, The Stand

Edinburgh Fringe: Alfie Moore/Eddie Pepitone/Claudia O'Doherty

Veronica Lee Wednesday, 22 August 2012

Alfie Moore: I Predicted a Riot, Pleasance Courtyard ****

Edinburgh Fringe: I, Tommy/Josie Long/WitTank

Veronica Lee Tuesday, 21 August 2012

I, Tommy, Gilded Balloon ****

Everybody will be familiar with Tommy Sheridan's story, and not necessarily because they closely follow Scottish politics at their most internecine. Rather because the Glaswegian socialist went from being barely a paragraph in broadsheets to being plastered over the front pages of tabloids after a series of revelations – which he strongly denies – about visiting swingers' clubs.

Edinburgh Fringe: Tam o' Shanter/Trevor Noah/Bridget Christie

Veronica Lee Monday, 20 August 2012

Tam o' Shanter, Assembly Hall ****

Scottish schoolchildren are brought up on Robert Burns but other British students aren't so fortunate. We may know snatches of the great man's work – “Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie”, “O, my Luve's like a red, red rose” and so on – but few of us could recite even a stanza of Tam o' Shanter.