Russell Kane

The Wrestling

Anarchic night of body-slamming action and comedy

18 Aug 2011

Max Olesker is some sort of twisted genius. The former wrestler (under the nom de guerre Max Voltage) and one half of sketch duo Max and Ivan has combined two of his talents to create one of the best events on the Fringe. Not that his cohort Ivan…

Russell Kane

Caustic and hilarious self-flagellation

17 Aug 2011

It’s hard to judge Russell Kane’s show because he’s already done it. For the ‘difficult’ follow-up to his Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning 2010 show Kane performs Manscaping as himself, offers up heckles, anticipates critic and audience responses and even…

Haircuts in t-shirts

aka The Russell Howard Effect

17 Aug 2011

Maybe it's a sign of getting older but aren't the comedians looking young this year? We're not the only ones to notice the phenomena. Every second Fringe poster seems to be a picture of a 20-something in skinny jeans, t-shirt and a BBC Three…

Comedy picks for the Edinburgh Fringe 2011

20 Jul 2011

David O’Doherty Two shows this year from the beloved man of lo-fi musical comedy with the high-laugh quotient. His usual brilliant sit-down/stand-up fare, David O’Doherty is Looking Up, is augmented by his debut on the one-man comic play scene. Rory…

Edinburgh Fringe Festival comedy shows to look out for in 2011

Margaret Cho, Todd Barry and Imran Yusuf among 2011 ones to watch

9 Jun 2011

Down List way, we’ve just about recovered from the devastating news that there will be no sign this year of Bo Burnham, Jonny Sweet, Tommy Tiernan or Pappys. But if you think that kind of comedic void can be filled by this year’s galaxy of acts, then…

Edinburgh Comedy Awards shortlist a strong gathering led by Bo Burnham and Josie Long

2010 awards puts two women on shortlist for first time

26 Aug 2010

According to Nica Burns, producer of the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards, 2010 is ‘a vintage year for comedy,’ and the shortlist for the main award ‘reflects the enormous changes in the comedy landscape’. Of course, this might just be the kind of…

Edinburgh Comedy Awards shortlist announced

Bo Burnham, Greg Davies and Sarah Millican head up 2010 shortlist

25 Aug 2010

The shortlist for the 2010 Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards has been announced. The acts nominated are: Bo Burnham, Greg Davies, Josie Long, Russell Kane and Sarah Millican

Russell Kane: ‘Fakespeare: The Tragicall Saveings of King Nigel’

More bard theory than he's letting on?

27 Aug 2009

Russell Kane’s second ‘Fakespeare’ play tells the story of Nigel, a vile Essex banker torn between his fat orange wife – ‘the Gorgon’ – and his ‘semi-chav’ secretary, Donna. Nigel also has to choose between suicide and the nefarious investment in Sudan…

Edinburgh Comedy Award nominations

Who's up for the Fringe's top prize?

27 Aug 2009

The name may be up for debate, but what isn't in doubt is the prestige of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards and the impact it can have on a comic's career. Known in its most memorable form as the Perrier Award from 1981 to 2005, followed by a brief stint…

Russell Kane

A natural jester

18 Aug 2009

This multi-accented, ‘Lego-haired’, prancing ex-chav turned Tolstoy reader delivers a guide to human behaviour, wondering why Daves and Garys pick on feminised modern men like himself, and why Brits secretly envy Aussies and Americans. He’s a natural…

Edinburgh Festival comedy highlights for a fiver

15 Jul 2009

Ooh, a Fringe in a credit crunch. It’ll be interesting times for all this year, but if you get in quick you can catch some of the best acts in exchange for a mere fiver. We’ve selected fifty of the finest shows you can see for the price of a…

If.comedy shortlist long on quality

Little to argue with over judges award selection

21 Aug 2008

The rant was already prepared. How could they possibly let A on there when B has put together a far more impressive hour? C was absolutely hilarious: why have they let D & E in when they were funnier three years ago? And yet the good people sitting…

Edinburgh Festival If.comedy award shortlist announced

If.comedy nominees 2008 announced

20 Aug 2008

The Intelligent Finance Comedy Awards are the UK's premier comedy awards now in its 28th year. It is given for the most outstanding up-and-coming, funny, original comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The nominees for the 2008 Intelligent…

Hitlist: Festival comedy

7 Aug 2008

Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler ‘Bona fide kooky monster’ Schaal offers more of her surreal blend of the dark and the utterly wholesome in the company of comedy partner Braunohler.

Russell Kane

Essex boy made good

7 Aug 2008

While a cursory glance at the Fringe programme might suggest that being blessed with the forename Dan (including such variations as Danny/Danielle) might be the best way to fast-track towards a career in comedy, the nation's Russells are arguably the…

Russell Kane

Putting the accent on originality

9 Aug 2007

Plucking his theme from a review he received last year, Russell Kane decided to take on criticism and explore the notion of stereotype and cliché in comedy. A risky gambit, as it would be all too easy to simply slip into those stereotypes – the Essex…

Russell Kane

21 Aug 2006

There’s a hot young Russell in town, and it’s not of the Brand variety. This self-confessed ‘pikey from Enfield with a chip on his shoulder’ is performing in a portacabin, but not for much longer if those TV scouts are watching. Sharp, fast, bright and…