Comedy

Electric Man

A patchy, if well intentioned, Edinburgh-set comic comedy

8 Feb 2012

(12A tbc) 98min Shot in Edinburgh on a micro-budget, comic shop comedy Electric Man declares its intentions from the off: this is to be no social realist kitchen sink drama, typical of the UK film industry, but rather a light-hearted love-letter to…

GFF 2012 - Day planner

Our highlights for each day of the Glasgow Film Festival

6 Feb 2012

It can be difficult, when any festival rolls around, to decide which events to skip in favour of others. Searching rigorously through the programme, referring back to the calendar, trying to fit in as much as possible - it's a painstaking piece of work…

Joost Swarte: Is That All There Is?

Compendium of the Dutch cartoonist’s satirical alternative comics

3 Feb 2012

Apparently so. Or almost so. Is That All There Is? collects virtually all of the Dutch cartoonist’s alternative comics from way back in 1972 to the present day, translates them into English and assembles them, under Swarte’s own supervision, in this…

Henry Rollins – Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Fri 13 Jan

Prolific punk-rocker gets gut laughs on his three-hour rant

3 Feb 2012

Few people can make a decent living out of talking on stage for two hours. Henry Rollins, on the other hand, has it down to a fine art. An honorary punk rock graduate having earned his stripes fronting S.O.A. and Black Flag in the 80s, and later, his…

Interview: Zach Braff, writer, director and star of All New People

The Scrubs and Garden State star discusses his new theatre production

2 Feb 2012

‘I’m still Jenny from the block,’ says Zach Braff after a moment’s reflection. ‘Even now I feel a bit underground in the acting world.’ For those who enjoyed Braff (and 20 million viewers around the world did) as the lovable JD in US comedy drama…

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy

The Boosh performer's latest TV effort abounds in surrealism but lacks coherence... and jokes

2 Feb 2012

Ahead of his new gaudily-coloured clutter-fest, Noel Fielding admitted that making this solo series left him feeling a bit unhinged. After ingesting just a few minutes of Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy (E4, Thu, 10pm) only the most avid Boosh fan will…

Young Adult

A fiercely dark comedy from Juno writer-director team Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman

2 Feb 2012

(15) 94min This reteaming of Juno director (Jason Reitman) and writer (Diablo Cody) is a fiercely dark character comedy that once again demonstrates the pair’s refusal to be limited by genre conventions, no matter how sacred. The set-up is…

Interview: Comedian Chris Ramsey's Offermation

The genial Geordie discusses offensiveness and award nominations

2 Feb 2012

During Chris Ramsey’s stand-up appearance on Russell Howard’s Good News from 2010, there’s a moment when the camera cuts to a shot of happy, laughing people. In among them is one seemingly less than amused woman who appears to have taken offence at the…

Late'n'Live Guide to Comedy

The greatest hits of the legendary Fringe bear-pit makes an appearance on TV

2 Feb 2012

‘The performing equivalent of self-harm’ is how Johnny Vegas describes the bearpit hell of the notorious Late’n’Live. Brainchild of the Gilded Balloon’s head honcho Karen Koren, this Edinburgh Fringe staple has been sending chills down the spines of…

Keara Patricia Murphy: My comedy hero - Billy Connolly

'He destroyed me. No one else comes close'

2 Feb 2012

I first heard Billy Connolly on a record of my dad’s when I was seven. He was talking about welly boots and the Barras and telling funny stories about Jesus being born in the Gallowgate and not Galilee. He created a magical world outside my window that…

5 things you might not know about Tiffany Stevenson

The actress comedian from Talk Radio to Show Me The Funny

2 Feb 2012

1 Tiffany Stevenson began her career in the entertainment biz as an actress and has appeared onscreen in The Office, took a lead role in gritty indie feature Spinning Candyfloss and popped up in Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Dirtee Cash’ video [see below]. 2 Her…

The Muppets' most memorable moments

A gallery of clips from our favourite frog and his friends

1 Feb 2012

The Muppets have a string of movies to their names already, including The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and The Great Muppet Caper. Never ones to shirk away from serious film, darling, they’ve also had cameos in…

Interview: John C Reilly on Carnage and Terri

The actor discusses his prolific rate of appearances in both higher and lower profile movies

1 Feb 2012

‘I have been a busy boy, haven’t I?’ grins John C Reilly. And it’s true. Last seen as the luckless father in We Need To Talk About Kevin, the Chicago-born actor now stars in Roman Polanski’s Carnage and US indie Terri. Factor in two major upcoming…

Jemima Levick on Steel Magnolias revival

The theatre director aims to retain the humour and tenderness of Robert Harling's original script

1 Feb 2012

‘I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special,’ says Dolly Parton as brassy hairdresser Truvy in the 1989 film adaptation of Steel Magnolias. The country singer led a cast of big name Hollywood hitters that included…

Carnage

Polanski's comedy of upper-middle class savagery is fast, funny and filthy

24 Jan 2012

(15) 79mins Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s play Gods of Carnage opens with a playground spat. Set over the opening credits, it’s this innocuous bust-up that drives the bitterly funny four-hander, as the parents of both children try to…

The Adopted

Quirky, saccharine directorial debut from French actress Melanie Laurent

24 Jan 2012

(15) 100 mins Still only 28-years-old, French actress and musician Melanie Laurent makes her directorial debut with this offbeat family tale, which owes more to her recent performances in US indie Beginners and the sentimental melodrama The Concert…

Interview: Frankie Boyle

Scottish comedian on taboos, comedians, sectarianism and cancer

9 Jan 2012

In an exclusive Scottish interview Frankie Boyle sounds off on taboos, sectarianism and the tabloids. The following are his own views in his own words. If you don’t like swearing, controversial comedy, or have been offended by him previously, look away…

Danny 'DJ Danny' Robins on Adam Ant, Lil Kim and 'Ice, Ice Baby'

The character comedian divulges his eclectic musical secrets

9 Jan 2012

First record you ever bought Adam Ant – 'Prince Charming'. I was precociously young to buy a record and dressed up like him to listen to it. Last extravagant purchase you made A large kebab. It was the size of a man’s arm. I almost lost…

Round-up of 2011: Comedy

Tim Key, Tommy Tiernan, Stephen Merchant, Luke Wright and Jerry Sadowitz make our laugh-list

9 Jan 2012

Tim Key Having netted Edinburgh’s big fat award for comedy in 2009, the former Coward blasted back in August with an absolute corker of a show. Masterslut was a masterclass of interactive improv raised to glorious levels by the most memorable use of a…

Interview: Noel Fielding of Mighty Boosh on new sketch show Luxury Comedy

New sketch show explores the comedian's surreal subconcious

6 Jan 2012

Noel Fielding arrives at the Groucho Club in Soho wearing his favourite cape. It’s black with red details – very Ripper chic – and when he sits down, it balloons over the sides of his armchair. By the time the comedian and Never Mind the Buzzcocks…

Interview: Isy Suttie on tea, Technotronic and Ice, Ice, Baby

Stand up comedian, actress, writer and musician

6 Jan 2012

First record you ever bought. ‘This Beat is Technotronic’ by Technotronic. Last extravagant purchase you made My Martin three-quarter-size guitar. First film you saw that really moved you Manhattan. Last lie you told I told the postman…

Burns Night 2012: Glasgow and Edinburgh highlights

6 Jan 2012

Edinburgh gets its bard celebrations off to an impressive (and prompt) start with Burnsfest at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in association with Scotland’s Winter Festivals (17–28 Jan, times vary). From a ceilidh in the café to performances of the…

Author and satirist Nick Revell on coming back to comedy

The prominent 80s comic has several dates lined up at The Stand

6 Jan 2012

As one of the original voices from the 1980s Comedy Store era, Nick Revell has been round a block or two. Having earned a Perrier nomination in 1987, his stand-up career seemed to be flying, but in 1992 he decided to have a break and concentrate on…

Meanwhile, It's Will and Greg

Will Andrews and Greg McHugh revive their Ugly Kid sketch talents for radio

6 Jan 2012

On first hearing that Will Andrews and Greg McHugh have collaborated for sketch work under the moniker of Will & Greg, the cynical might believe this to be a forced pairing simply to fulfil a US TV show pun. Reflect on this, cynics: the duo’s working…

Kid Canaveral’s Christmas Baubles II - Summerhall, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Dec 2011

Josie Long, eagleowl and more join in Kid Canaveral's annual shindig

6 Jan 2012

The combination of cheap tins and 12 hours of live entertainment could be an endurance test in the wrong hands, but the second annual Fence Records/Kid Canaveral Chirstmas Baubles all-dayer doesn’t exactly feel like a chore. A joyous turn by Fence…