19 January 2012 09:06 AM
If there was a theme to Festival of the Spoken Nerd's mix of science and comedy tonight then it was pyrotechnics. From a tale of homemade napalm to a demonstration of a standing wave flame tube there were flashes and bangs aplenty, if no explosive end result.
12 January 2012 10:58 AM
“The arch of limited triumph” says the mild-mannered Simon Munnery in the direction of a concertinaed piece of metal on stage.
23 December 2011 01:55 PM
Comedy and rock n' roll persistently get paired for the comparative superlative “comedy is the new rock n' roll” and tonight they were again bedfellows.
20 December 2011 11:30 AM
"It's not overlong, it's value for money!" exclaimed Robin Ince at the end of the second night of his third series of seasonal rationalist jamborees, celebrations that are akin to the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures with jingle bells on.
13 December 2011 11:02 AM
It was typical of the self-aware, self-referential and self-deprecating “third Russell of comedy” to acknowledge that the X Factor final had taken a slither out of his audience share tonight.
12 December 2011 12:07 PM
Imagine Whose Line Is It Anyway? applied to stand up and you have the gist of Set List, a Stateside wheeze landing in London via a stopover in Edinburgh. That cultural comparative was made all the more resonant tonight with the inclusion of the improv-savvy Greg Proops and Phil Jupitus among the stellar line up.
08 December 2011 10:34 AM
Ricky Gervais reminded us recently, as if we'd forgotten, that language can still offend en masse if its use is misjudged.
07 December 2011 11:20 AM
"Six seconds was all it took between horrible accident and hysterical laughing.” That was how Penn Gillette described his reaction to longtime showbusiness partner,Teller, having his feet nibbled by a Piranha.
28 November 2011 10:45 AM
"If you are thinking 'it's Friday night, let's go and be entertained'. No. I don't think like that." As ever the exigent rigour of Stewart Lee demands his audience work for their laughs.
27 November 2011 12:00 AM
Have you heard the one about the oh-so-clever comedian who sends up, er, comedy?
24 November 2011 11:05 AM
“Advertising slogans stick with me” says Chris Addison. The comedian isn't, however, talking about why he took on a series of much-maligned adverts for a certain insurance company, but is paraphrasing David Cameron's defence of the catchphrase “calm down, dear”, aimed at Labour's Angela Eagle, during PMQs this April.
10 November 2011 12:00 AM
Jason Alexander, who played nervous ball of angst George Kostanza in Seinfeld, recently met Israel's president Shimon Peres to discuss the Middle East. The Israeli press inevitably asked the actor and campaigner if humour had a role to play the peace process, Alexander replied in the negative "because someone is always going to be offended".
19 October 2011 12:00 AM
The chocolate-box charm of the Criterion Theatre seems a good fit for the sweet allure of the Horne Section and their latest season of jazz-comedy fusion. Furthermore, the lightbulbs that adorn the proscenium arch give the group's set the requisite cabaret vibe. It's a vibe that stand-up Alex Horne propagates with the show's opening number, "Roll Up", that playfully warns "no matter what you think of us you won't be reimbursed."
13 October 2011 12:00 AM
For 10 years now, the Brighton Comedy Festival has provided a welcome hub for the latest comedy shows, many of which have been hits at the preceding Edinburgh Fringe. The opening-night charity gala has, meanwhile, principally relied on special turns from big beasts [represented by the Off the Kerb agency], such as Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre and Alan Carr, to make waves.
18 September 2011 12:00 AM
Having tried his hand at stand-up in his Bristol hometown during the late 1990s, Stephen Merchant has been slow in launching his own solo vehicle. But it has been worth the wait.
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