Reviews & features: Comedy, Issue 664
5 star shows
The Boy With Tape On His Face
4 star shows
Seann Walsh
(16 Aug 2010)
Making the humdrum hilarious- Jim Jefferies - Alcoholocaust (13 Aug 2010)
Vitriolic rants from the bottom of his LA-based heart - Mark Nelson - Offending the Senses (13 Aug 2010)
A jolt to the comedy system - Pappy's (13 Aug 2010)
Bringing you sketch sunshine - Emo Philips (13 Aug 2010)
Over-familiar but still funny - Mike Keat (13 Aug 2010)
A massively talented and very entertaining tool - Jarred Christmas (11 Aug 2010)
Personal set from personable stand-up - Jason Cook (11 Aug 2010)
Well-crafted, life-affirming stuff - Bridget Christie (11 Aug 2010)
Dabbling around the unhinged fringes of stand-up - Nick Mohammed (11 Aug 2010)
Fantastically irritating and inappropriate - Stuart Goldsmith (11 Aug 2010)
On the road to proper glory - New Art Club (11 Aug 2010)
Original, charming and very funny - Celia Pacquola (10 Aug 2010)
A buoyant performance, surprising and cathartic - Comedy Bitch (10 Aug 2010)
Intelligent, surreal and original - Dan Antopolski (10 Aug 2010)
Confidently entertaining - Edward Aczel (10 Aug 2010)
Somehow incredibly funny without even trying - Henning Wehn (10 Aug 2010)
German humour remains a joke in itself - Jimeoin (10 Aug 2010)
Low-key observations about the little things - Noise Next Door (10 Aug 2010)
It’s very rare to see improv comedy so consistently hit the mark - Jonny Sweet - Let's Just Have Some Fun (9 Aug 2010)
Derailing a show about a boat - Keith Farnan: Sex Traffic (9 Aug 2010)
Facts to gasp at and jokes to die for - Kevin Bridges (9 Aug 2010)
Rising star effortlessly wins over the home crowd - Magnus Betnér (9 Aug 2010)
Cult comic in the making - Paul Foot - Ash in the Attic (9 Aug 2010)
"Comedy connoisseurs" only for divisive yet invigorating hour - Pete Johannson's - Pete's On Earth (9 Aug 2010)
Solid stand-up as it was meant to be - Ray Green (9 Aug 2010)
The 3D adventures of a two-bit character - Ross Sutherland - The Three Stigmata of Pacman (9 Aug 2010)
Life’s daftness exposed via poetry and music - Storm Large - Crazy Enough (9 Aug 2010)
A musical memoir with bawdy tales - Doon MacKichan - Primadoona (8 Aug 2010)
Turning tragedy into comedy - Elis James - Daytripper (8 Aug 2010)
Scruffy yet sharp show about obsessions - Gemma Goggin - Get Laid or Die Trying (8 Aug 2010)
Hilarious and graphic sex tales
3 star shows
- Paul Chowdhry - Not PC
(13 Aug 2010)
Self-censorship blunts some impact - Dommett & Lapaert (13 Aug 2010)
Material tossed aside for engaging tomfoolery - Matthew Hardy: Willy Wonka Explained (13 Aug 2010)
Nostalgic trip back to a time of Veruca Salt and Everlasting Gobstoppers - Caroline Rhea (13 Aug 2010)
Flirting with fame and audience patience - Des Bishop (13 Aug 2010)
My Dad Was Nearly James Bond - Could it Be Forever? (12 Aug 2010)
A bittersweet comedy will have you recall youthful emotion - Shirley and Shirley (12 Aug 2010)
Dark twists on familiar sketch topics - Maeve Higgins (12 Aug 2010)
She could talk all day and keep you smiling - Aidan Bishop (12 Aug 2010)
Sounds more like he’s 50 than 30 - Bec Hill (12 Aug 2010)
An endearing quirkiness - Damion Larkin (11 Aug 2010)
Cuddly Loser has the feel of being hurriedly chucked-together - Chris Corcoran (11 Aug 2010)
Corcoran makes his people sound rather lovely - Nathan Caton (11 Aug 2010)
Tackles issues of race with refreshing ease and sensitivity - George Ryegold (11 Aug 2010)
A gloriously bleak worldview - Dave Hill (11 Aug 2010)
Navigates a fine path between the crass and the classy - Beta Males’ Picnic (11 Aug 2010)
Preoccupation with death and sexual deviance - Jack Whitehall (11 Aug 2010)
Lacking real substance - Jo Caulfield (11 Aug 2010)
Trademark snarky wit - Roaring Boys (11 Aug 2010)
Enjoyable, surreal character comedians - Mike Wozniak (11 Aug 2010)
A frustrated and edgy figure - Rob Rouse (11 Aug 2010)
Spinning the mundane into the finest yarn - Stephen Carlin - The Podium of Unconditional Surrender (10 Aug 2010)
Airdrie wag refuses to get tough - Adam Riches (10 Aug 2010)
Riches’ latest show is supremely daft - Alex Horne (10 Aug 2010)
Clever maths, quantum mechanics and pleasingly lo-fi graphics - Ali Cook (10 Aug 2010)
Cook’s magic is both slick and sick - Chris McCausland (10 Aug 2010)
McCausland meanders off on wildly varying tangents - Felix Dexter (10 Aug 2010)
Observational stand-up and nicely realised characters - Geraldine Quinn (10 Aug 2010)
Flash your flesh, your cash and your camel toe - Two Episodes of MASH (10 Aug 2010)
Offbeat charm and wit - Bound (9 Aug 2010)
Brimming with comedic talent, weaker on emotion, generally lovely - Don't Run with Scissors (9 Aug 2010)
A Betrayal of Penguins can't quite regain of glory of 2009 - Jeremy Lion (9 Aug 2010)
Soused kids entertainer goes green - Joe Rowntree: Peaceful Worrier (9 Aug 2010)
Paranoia revolves around this comic’s past - Laura Solon: The Owl of Steven (9 Aug 2010)
A curious show about owls and oddballs - No Son of Mine (9 Aug 2010)
Family secrets uncovered amid a heap of gags - Paul Sinha - Extreme Anti-White Vitriol (9 Aug 2010)
Handling some hot political spuds - Pros from Dover (9 Aug 2010)
Sketch comedy from accomplished trio inject form with inovation - Reginald D Hunter - Trophy Nigga (9 Aug 2010)
Funny but familiar material - Richard Herring - Christ on a Bike (9 Aug 2010)
A disappointing retread of past glories - Lesbian Bathhouse (8 Aug 2010)
A feminist comic romp - Scott Agnew proves himself as storyteller with eye for absurd (8 Aug 2010)
Devilish entertainer with broad appeal - Tiffany Stevenson - Dictators (8 Aug 2010)
Top Trumps of despots - Daniel Sloss - My Generation (8 Aug 2010)
Teen comic hits home with the personal - Gary Delaney - Purist (8 Aug 2010)
The Basil Brush of stand-up - Lady Garden - Top Secret Gig (8 Aug 2010)
Slightly too fast-paced sketch show - Paul Zenon - Lounge Wizard (8 Aug 2010)
Old tricks with some new twists - The Real MacGuffins (8 Aug 2010)
Deliciously daft sketches - Sound and Fury - Private Dick (8 Aug 2010)
Playful postmodern romp with knob gags - The Ukulele Project (8 Aug 2010)
Charming folk take on modern classics
2 star shows
- Delete The Banjax
(13 Aug 2010)
Hyped foursome not quite there yet - Conor O’Toole (12 Aug 2010)
Some good joke-writing - Maff Brown (11 Aug 2010)
You probably had to be there - Arj Barker (11 Aug 2010)
Disappointing gaggery from much-hyped actor - Andrew Bird (11 Aug 2010)
Like being beaten with a roll of toilet paper - Lee Nelson (11 Aug 2010)
If his game is satire he keeps it well hidden - Unshakeable (11 Aug 2010)
Paul Betney jokingly describes his life with Parkinson's - Sam Simmons (11 Aug 2010)
Somewhat lacklustre - Smith and Smith (11 Aug 2010)
Dry self-deprecation and an irreverent take on immortality - Brendon Burns (10 Aug 2010)
Overly serious rants about killing paedophiles and getting religion - Comedy in the Dark (10 Aug 2010)
Well-known comics pitched out of their comfort zones - Giacinto Palmieri (10 Aug 2010)
This stilted performance was a pile of sweaty meatballs - Kai Humphries (10 Aug 2010)
Desperately needs an injection of sharper gags - Tom Craine (10 Aug 2010)
Achingly upper middle-class meanderings - Tony Law (10 Aug 2010)
Some laugh-worthy material - Babbling Comedy: The Perfordian Show (9 Aug 2010)
Slapstick, magic, juggling all lend to adequate family entertainment - Kate Fox - Kate Fox News (8 Aug 2010)
A slow news day
