Comedy
In defence of bad jokes
I was once at a terrific Shabbat dinner where late in the evening one of the other guests suddenly said:…
At last, a literary sexy novel: Love Marriage, by Monica Ali, reviewed
At last, and finally: literary sex is back. The Bad Sex Prize has a lot to answer for in British…
A cut above TV's usual #MeToo fare: BBC1's Rules of the Game reviewed
As you may have noticed, it’s something of a golden age for TV shows about how invisible middle-aged women are…
It's too late to save comedy from 'cancel culture'
Will comedy become the latest victim of ‘cancel culture’? Dame Maureen Lipman fears as much. ‘Cancel culture, this cancelling, this…
Radio 4's Moominland Midwinter restores Moomintroll's innocence
Moomins do not like winter. In one of Tove Jansson’s stories, Moomin’s Winter Follies, young Moomintroll bumps his head when…
Guilt-free hilarity: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Charing Cross Theatre reviewed
World-class sex bomb Janie Dee stars in a fabulously silly revival of the American comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha…
The unseen Victoria Wood
For a few years now I have been living with Victoria Wood. That sounds all wrong, obviously, and yet no…
An affectionate exercise in comic sabotage: Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) reviewed
Let’s be honest. Jane Austen is popular because War and Peace doesn’t fit inside a handbag. Austen’s best-loved novel, Pride…
This is how G&S should be staged: ENO's HMS Pinafore reviewed
Until 1881, HMS Pinafore was the second-longest-running show in West End history. Within a year of its première it had…
My advice to Dave Chappelle
I’m accustomed to a sense of urgency in relation to Netflix offerings because the streaming service often buys short-term rights…
A highly polished exercise in treading water: Season 3 of Succession reviewed
At one point in an early Simpsons, Homer comes across an old issue of TV Guide, and finds the listing…
Jennifer Saunders is brilliant: Blithe Spirit at the Harold Pinter Theatre reviewed
Blithe Spirit is a comedy with the plot of a horror story. Charles, a middle-aged novelist, lives happily with his…
Somewhere between eye-opening and jaw-dropping: Sky's Hawking – Can You Hear Me? reviewed
It is, of course, not unknown for a man to become famous with the support of his family — and,…
Sexist, classist and pro-global warming: Frozen, at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, reviewed
Frozen the musical declares war on woke politics. The 2013 Disney movie has been turned into a song-and-dance show that…
The political power of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown
There is a rather sweet moment in the middle of each Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown show where, after some magnificently obscene…
How we killed comedy theatre: Nigel Planer interviewed
Lloyd Evans talks to Nigel Planer about the death of comedy theatre — and how he’s trying to revive it
Sinatra, Bacon and a YouTube star: Edinburgh Fringe Festival round-up
Sinatra: Raw (Pleasance, until 15 August) takes us inside the mind of the 20th century’s greatest crooner. The performer, Richard…
Why do I find sketch shows – even the better ones – so embarrassing and charmless?
On sketch shows, the wisdom once was that you needed a punchline. That is, a slightly hammy, summative sign-off to…
Quietly devastating: Nowhere Special reviewed
Not one, but two British films this week, one that’s only being screened at the cinema (if you’re brave enough)…
What a comic treat: The Game of Love and Chance at the Arcola reviewed
Lady Sylvia is a gorgeous aristocrat whose hand is sought by the charming Dorante whom she has never met. To…
Is Jed Mercurio bored with Line of Duty?
When a drama begins with news of a ‘Chis handler’ receiving ‘intel graded A1 on the matrix’ that causes a…
The rise of the super pessimist
Covid isn’t the only thing to have developed a dangerous strain in the UK; pessimism has also mutated and is…
Actors will be in trouble if the Bridge Theatre's latest experiment catches on
Flight has been hailed as a new form of dramatic presentation — prefab theatre. It’s great to look at. A…
A romcom with very little com: BBC1’s Black Narcissus reviewed
In Black Narcissus, based on the novel by Rumer Godden, five nuns set off for a remote Himalayan palace in…
Deserves to be a permanent winter fixture: Potted Panto at the Garrick reviewed
Potted Panto is a 70-minute parody presented by two burlesque comedians. Jeff is a tall, playful bungler and his colleague,…
