The Ohio-raised star of movies and TV shows such as Shrill and I Think You Should Leave says comedy is a refuge from the impacts of being trans and that, right now, she's happy to be in the …
While debates about cancel culture rage on at Edinburgh, a trio of performers are critiquing 'edgelord' humour, while still remembering to be funny 'Cancel Anti Wokeflake Snow Culture" is no…
After lockdowns kept them out of touch with audiences, standups explain their exhilaration at coming together to raise laughs at Edinburgh fringe The lights go down signalling the start of t…
With research showing sexual harassment is a routine occurrence, there is growing demand for arts venues to commit to protecting entertainers Posey Mehta, like many performers at the Edinbur…
Just because a joke works in one country or language doesn't mean it will in another. Globetrotting standups talk about routines that have bombed " and the changes that saved them When Yurik…
Monkey Barrel Comedy, EdinburghFrom relationship recovery to getting her phone messages spoken out by the audience, Koch has charisma and punchlines to burn The infamous opening notes of Sha…
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghLeaving no cat-related reference unlicked, Thompson's show is artfully clownish and funny The stage is set with a treadmill, yoga mat, step-up box and a big sil…
Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghA properly fresh take on quarter-century living, Magliano's is a charismatic debut moving through divorce, sexuality and cat-buying with ease Absolutely No Wor…
Assembly George Square, The Box, EdinburghIn her show Is It a Bird? the comic has the audience on their feet with a nuanced and deeply funny hour of music and jokes 'This is going to be bril…
Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, EdinburghThe US comic plays a fast-talking agent, a straight-talking sex therapist and a six-year-old divorcee in this high-energy hour Linda Hollywood is an old…
Standups used to think they'd never make it if they didn't play the festival. But it's leaving many saddled with debt, stuck in squalid flats and even suicidal. Refuseniks tell us why they'r…
A scene that started as a counter to straight standup at the end of the 1970s is still hard to peg " but it's much more than just weird stuff that doesn't work on telly A giant sentient disc…
Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx spent months researching rightwing comedy and found that whether or not you're laughing, you can't ignore its power In January, Neil Young gave Spotify an ulti…
Having defeated impostor syndrome, the standup is taking on Taskmaster and returning to the Edinburgh fringe with 'sexy and chaotic' new show Hag Sophie Duker's just shared a Taskmaster secr…
Kings Place, LondonThe Stranger Things actor discusses her experiences on male-dominated sets, alongside hosts Susan Wokoma and Deborah Frances-White's standup comedy Since its first episode…
She sings naked, had an epiphany chopping wood in Sweden, came out dressed as a cat, is making a sitcom with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and is helping Matt Lucas to be funny. Meet comedy pow…
Playing junior doctor Shruti is a far cry from the standup's 'really silly' sketch comedy but her improv background helped her find moments of levity in Adam Kay's NHS drama When Ambika Mod …
Soho theatre, LondonKey swerves Covid cliches by recreating his professional crisis in silly poems, poignant prose and punchlines involving his five-foot teddy bear companion Struggling to a…
Her scathing, surreal standup wowed audiences " and when she was diagnosed as neurodivergent, it started to make more sense to her, too In 2018, Fern Brady's comedy career was taking off. Fr…
Shaparak Khorsandi and Esther Manito both came of age during a time when women were expect to comform to male stereotypes. To reflect, they did what they do best: wrote comedy shows about it…
Get Off! was set up by Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Nina Gilligan in order to create safer workplaces within little-regulated industry An organisation has been established to tackle sexual hara…
Duchess theatre, LondonAndrew Doyle's Twitter creation " played by Alice Marshall " takes predictable aim at Greta, Meghan and trans athletes with jokes that just aren't funny Titania McGrat…
The comic has come blazing out of lockdown fearless and on full throttle, buying a motorbike for her 50th birthday and turning the menopause " along with an incident in a park " into comedy …
Standups including Suzi Ruffell, Paul Sinha and Lee Peart reveal how hecklers, bookers and 'the gay slot' have affected their appearances in the spotlight The comedian Stephen Bailey was hos…
O2 Arena, LondonHis arena show about the global experience of the pandemic " with some added jokes for a UK crowd about footie and Meghan Markle " shows Noah to be a skilled performer with m…