Tag Archives: Comedian

Reviewer: Matt Forrest During the mid-January malaise, we all could do with a bit of a moan as most of us will have already broke our new year resolutions and dry January will have firmly gone out of the window. So a good whinge and a gripe could do us all good. However if you’re stand up comic Andrew Lawrence, ...

Reviewer: Dave Cunningham Alun Cochrane is more of an obsessive than an observational comedian. He goes through his material in fine detail squeezing out the last drop of humour and examining every possible variation. The objective, Cochrane explains, is to make the topics so mundane as to demonstrate that he really is boring. The audience, Cochrane claims, will struggle to ...

Reviewer: Jo Beggs From 2004 to 2007, Noel Fielding’s off-beat humour delighted fans of The Mighty Boosh. In the style of Reeve and Mortimer, but perhaps with an even big dose of the surreal, Fielding and co-writer Julian Barratt created a comedy TV show that pushed the boundaries, quickly achieving cult status. The show was, it has to be said, ...

Reviewer: Matt Forrest It’s been a big year for comic Nish Kumar, a panelist on Have I got News for You, including becoming the new presenter of Newsjack, on Radio 4 Extra. He also had some personal milestones; he turned 30, and this year marks his 10th anniversary as a stand-up. As he points out he has a lot riding ...

Reviewer: Dave Cunningham ‘Well, we’ve had a frank exchange of my entrenched views’ says Jeremy Hardy. He’s not joking – Jeremy Hardy: Live comprises the comedian banging on about one political or social issue after another with occasional tangents to investigate popular culture. Yet unlike his radio performances -where condensed versions of the routines can seem hectoring and overbearing – ...

Reviewer: Dave Cunningham The concept for Satirist for Hire is simple. Andy Zaltzman satirises subjects put forward in advance by e-mails from the audience. Aware that not everyone will comply Zaltzman arrives early and takes suggestions on the night; observing that this is one reason why democracy doesn’t work. Zaltzman ignores the adage that Garbage In = Garbage Out. Some ...

Reviewer: Dave Cunningham There is no support Act tonight as Dan Clark is hungry for his supper so wants an early finish. It’s a joke, of course, but catches the mood of a show that feels rushed and unfinished. Dan Clark seems to be road testing jokes rather than delivering polished material and this tentative approach communicates to the audience ...

Reviewer: Luke Walker The art of writing a one-liner is seriously underestimated. The word ‘pun’ can often be seen as a cheap way to induce a groan or polite smirking. But Christmas cracker joke writer Stewart Francis definitely is not. What Francis can achieve in just a few carefully constructed words is why he may be crowned “The King of ...