Comedy
Edinburgh Festival is in ruins – but there's one gem amid the rubble
The virus has broken Edinburgh. The shattered remnants of the festival are visible on the internet. Here’s what happened. The…
The New Normal Festival shows how theatre could return
So the madness continues. Planes full of passengers are going everywhere. Theatres full of ghosts are going bust. My first…
Not even a genius could make Much Ado About Nothing funny
The RSC’s 2014 version of Much Ado is breathtaking to look at. Sets, lighting and costumes are exquisitely done, even…
The bluff and bluster of Boris’s bland boy Brexiteers
From the balcony where I take my daily exercise there is a view of the commercial centre of London that…
Not nul points but it’s no Spinal Tap: Eurovision Song Contest – The Story of Fire Saga reviewed
This comedy stars Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as an Icelandic duo whose biggest dream is to represent their country…
Not merely funny but somehow also joyous: Sky One's Brassic reviewed
Danny Brocklehurst, the scriptwriter for Sky One’s Brassic, used to work for Shameless in its glory days — although if…
Worth watching for the comments thread alone: NT's Twelfth Night livestream reviewed
‘Enjoy world-class theatre online for free,’ announces the National Theatre. Every Thursday at 7 p.m. a play from the archive…
My quest for a universal cartoon
The universal cartoon is a rare thing
You’ll keep saying ‘I’m sorry, did I hear that correctly?’: Fiasco reviewed
Kevin Katke was quite a man. He had no military training, no political background and no espionage experience. Nonetheless, his…
Comedy gold: The Upstart Crow at the Gielgud Theatre reviewed
A Moorish princess shipwrecked on the English coast disguises herself as a boy to protect her virtue. Arriving in London,…
Why on earth did I volunteer to do stand-up?
It was on my ‘bucket list’, but that doesn’t mean it was a sensible thing to do. Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro…
We were highly amused: the Queen — and Mrs Thatcher — thought Ken Dodd tattyfilarious
Doddy! Thou shouldst be living at this hour. England hath need of tickling sticks. So also hath the rest of…
Comedy in the era of Twitter outrage: An interview with Ricky Gervais
There’s a moment in Ricky Gervais’s 2018 Netflix stand-up show Humanity when he talks about buying a first-class air ticket,…
How did Richard Herring become the comedy podcast king?
What does it mean to be a successful comic? Richard Herring isn’t sure. He’s been a ‘professional funnyman’ for nearly…
Circus routine rather than theatre: Noises Off reviewed
Michael Frayn’s backstage comedy, Noises Off, is the theatre’s answer to Trooping the Colour. Everyone agrees that it’s an amazing…
Only fitfully funny: Chris Morris’s The Day Shall Come reviewed
The Day Shall Come is a second feature from British satirist Chris Morris and like the first, Four Lions, it…
The age of LOLitics
This article is in The Spectator’s inaugural US edition. Subscribe here to get yours. One thing is now as obvious as a brick…
Proggery beyond parody: Iggy Pop’s Free reviewed
Grade: D+ Pleasant memories — of hearing ‘Raw Power’ for the first time and later the amiably shambolic chug of…
A decorative pageant that would appeal to civic grandees: The Secret River reviewed
The Secret River opens in a fertile corner of New South Wales in the early 1800s. William, a cockney pauper…
Watching Stephen Fry was like being in the presence of a god
Stephen Fry lies prone on an empty stage. A red ball rolls in from the wings and bashes him in…
Tony Slattery is still a miraculously gifted comedian
Some of the marketing efforts by amateur impresarios up in Edinburgh are extraordinary. I was handed a leaflet for a…
‘I’ll miss Brexit when it’s solved’: Frank Skinner interviewed
Only one thing makes Frank Skinner nervous. ‘Water. Water scares me. I don’t get nervous on stage. Just in swimming…
These obscure Tennessee Williams scripts are classics of the future: Southern Belles reviewed
Games for Lovers feels like a smart, sexy TV comedy. Martha is still in love with her old flame Logan…
A badly missed opportunity: How the Middle Classes Ruined Britain reviewed
BBC2’s How the Middle Classes Ruined Britain (Tuesday) began rather promisingly. ‘I’m a working-class comedian who voted Leave,’ announced presenter…
Billy Connolly and the death of free speech
I hope readers will forgive me for returning to a subject I addressed here recently. It was a reflection on the…
