comedians
Project Dictator, New Diorama Theatre review - anarchic satireThursday, 07 April 2022
When Rhum + Clay conceived this show, the idea of a comic becoming a political leader might have prompted thoughts of Boris Johnson's carefully cultivated buffoonery on "Have I Got News For You" and elsewhere. Since then, a certain Volodymyr... Read more... |
The Real Charlie Chaplin review - not as revealing as its title suggestsWednesday, 16 February 2022
Even today, Charlie Chaplin still earns glowing accolades from critics for his work during the formative years of cinema, though a contemporary viewing public saturated in CGI and superheroes might struggle to see the allure of his oeuvre as the “... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: writer and comedian Tom DavisFriday, 13 August 2021
After leaving school at 14, Tom Davis spent 10 years working as a scaffolder on building sites, while always harbouring what he thought was the impossible dream of getting into comedy. Hailing from Sutton in south London, he had a go at standup and... Read more... |
Rosie Wilby: The Breakup Monologues review - do breakups make us stronger, better people?Tuesday, 01 June 2021
According to Rosie Wilby, “breaking up and staying together are simply two sides of the same coin. They are a flick of a switch apart, separated only by one fleeting moment of madness, or perhaps clarity.” Wilby’s book The Breakup Monologues: The... Read more... |
Best of 2020: TVTuesday, 29 December 2020
Okay, so some people taught themselves the violin or wrote a novel, but under this year’s circumstances, it was inevitable that television (terrestrial, cable, online or otherwise) was going to clean up. With large chunks of the population forced to... Read more... |
Taskmaster, Channel 4 review - comedy show makes seamless transferFriday, 16 October 2020
After nine successful series, a Bafta and an Emmy nomination, Taskmaster has moved from Dave to Channel 4 – amusingly, the broadcaster that its creator Alex Horne first took it to but which turned it down. It has made the transition seamlessly – ie... Read more... |
Quarter Life Crisis, Bridge Theatre review – slender and superficialMonday, 12 October 2020
Success smells sweet. The Bridge Theatre’s pioneering season of one-person plays continues with sell-out performances of David Hare’s Beat the Devil and Fuel’s production of Inua Ellams’s An Evening with an Immigrant, with both having their runs... Read more... |
An American Pickle review - sweet and sour screwball comedyThursday, 06 August 2020
Seth Rogen offers up double the laughs by taking on both lead roles in a time-hopping, Rip-Van-Winkle screwball comedy, but with an oddly mixed conservative message about the merits of family and religion.The screenplay is based on a four-... Read more... |
What We Do in the Shadows, BBC Two review - the vampires of Staten Island are backFriday, 12 June 2020
The first series of What We Do in the Shadows, Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s mockumentary about vampires in Staten Island (a TV spin-off from their cult New Zealand-located film) was a joy, and although it’s a hard act to follow, it’s... Read more... |
The King of Staten Island review - Apatow's best work in a decadeWednesday, 10 June 2020
The master of crowd-pleasing comedy, Judd Apatow, returns with another on-brand tale of arrested development with The King of Staten Island. While it's near his signature anarchic charm, this comedy-drama shows that even a veteran director/... Read more... |
Days of the Bagnold Summer review - wry suburban dramaSaturday, 06 June 2020
Simon Bird's feature film debut as a director is a gentle, warm-hearted look at a mother and son's strained relationship as they are forced to spend the summer holidays together when the teenager's dad cruelly cancels a trip to see him and his... Read more... |
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs The Reverend, Netflix review - bold, but only a partial successWednesday, 13 May 2020
Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s hit comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) ended its fourth series in January last year, but this belated interactive special suggested there could be new life in it yet. Summarising Unbreakable… is possible but... Read more... |
