Comedy

Five reasons to see Mark Watson

The comedian has previously assumed a Welsh persona and had spats with Stewart Lee and Frankie Boyle

1 For those who haven’t seen him perform in the past five or so years, Watson is no longer Welsh. In that he was never actually Welsh. His accent was purely a stage crutch (or a character tool, if you wish) to overcome his general unease at actually…

Rob Rouse discusses his comedy heroes

Tommy Cooper, Vic Reeves, Bill Hicks and Bill Burr are among the English comic's inspirations

As a kid I have early memories of me and my dad watching Morecambe and Wise and Tommy Cooper, and I remember when Cooper died on stage on TV which was essentially watching a comic die with his boots on. And then I remember the first advert for Vic…

Daniel Sloss on having a darker sense of humour and what the future holds

For those who see Daniel Sloss on stage and think he’s a lovely boy, you might have to think again. The 22-year-old Fifer has a dark side that he has yet to fully unleash upon an adoring fanbase that seems to be getting larger every year. ‘On the…

Grassroots

Eminently dislikeable political comedy starring Jason Biggs

There’s a lot of things going for Grassroots. It’s a political comedy timed for release when US election fervour is at its peak; it focuses on the same type of community-led campaigning that won Barack Obama his first term; it has the feelgood status of…

Daniel Sloss - My journey through comedy so far

22-year-old comedian on comedy mums, nurturing venues and Frankie Boyle

The Scottish comedy scene is now way bigger from when I started and there are more open spots than ever before. In Scotland you have the Stand Comedy Clubs, which are easily in the top five comedy clubs in the world. The waiting list to do open spots…

A guide to comedy venues in Scotland

Bars, clubs and venues hosting comedy nights in Glasgow, Edinburgh and beyond

You can’t really talk about stand-up comedy in Scotland without mentioning the Stand Comedy Club, a venue that attracts top touring comics, household names trying out new material and is a platform for young comics to get their big break with Red…

Sightseers

Outrageously funny British comedy about a duo on a killing spree

Imagine if Mike Leigh had been asked to direct Natural Born Killers or Oliver Stone's talents had been unleashed on a version of Nuts In May. That is the level at which Ben Wheatley's third feature is pitched. A bone dry, very British black comedy, it…

Here Comes The Boom

Undemanding comedy set in the world of mixed martial arts, starring Kevin James

A mixed-martial arts comedy from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production line, and taking its title from the chorus of a raucous song by nu metal band P.O.D., Frank Coraci’s film doesn’t have the pedigree to inspire much confidence. But Coraci, the…

Fun Size

Tween Hallowe'en comedy that never delivers on its promise of its weak premise

After the recent death of Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch, the band announced that they would not license their music for use in adverts. Presumably the crassest of teen comedies are a more acceptable medium, as Fun Size’s lamentable climax involves their…

Excision

Gore-filled black comedy for those with strong stomachs

A blood-drenched slice of menstrual angst, first time writer/director Richard Bates Jr’s horror film, based on his own 2008 short, is most certainly not for the squeamish. A coming of age drama studded with hallucinatory imagery, it opens with a gushing…

Stitches

Poorly handled killer clown comedy-horror starring Ross Noble

Teenager Tom (Tommy Knight) is an uptight, nervous wreck. After a traumatic experience at a childhood birthday party, at which a scuzzy kids’ entertainer named Stitches (Ross Noble) was accidentally killed, he’s grown up to be a pill-popping neurotic…

Ross Noble stars in killer clown comedy-horror Stitches - interview

The comedian discusses gory prosthetics, gruesome effects and Edwina Currie

Actors often complain about how long they have to spend in the make-up chair – how was that for you on the Stitches set? Oh, that does my head in! It absolutely does my head in! When people go, ‘Oh, god knows, I had to sit there and have prosthetic…

Seven Psychopaths

Unabashed violent comedy from director of In Bruges

Martin McDonagh’s follow-up to In Bruges is as fiercely violent as its title suggests, and a whole lot funnier. Its film-within-a-film concept finds alcoholic screenwriter Marty (Colin Farrell) troubled by writer’s block; he’s got a title – Seven…

Adrian Edmondson, Phill Jupitus and Neil Innes discuss the Idiot Bastard Band

The comedy-music hybrid is all set to tour the UK

I’m sure you’ve wondered, on a slow evening, what exactly is the collective name for a quartet of cultish musical-comedy types who’ve banded together to keep the comic song fires burning. Here's your answer: ‘I’ve always liked the combination of the two…

Actor William Troughton on Graham Linehan's The Ladykillers

The stage adaptation of the Ealing comedy classic also stars Shaun Williamson and Clive Mantle

Fans of The Ladykillers may have been sceptical when Graham Linehan’s stage adaptation of the film premiered last year. But the Father Ted creator’s version of the classic Ealing comedy – in which a gang of petty criminals occupy an old lady’s house as…

As Alexei Sayle re-enters stand up, we look back on the Alternative Comedy movement

Rik Mayall, Jenny Eclair and Ben Elton are among the 1980s alt.comics who shaped comedy today

He may be viewed as a showbusiness pariah today, but Ben Elton’s words once summed up the alternative comedy ethos: ‘We can make people laugh without being racist or sexist. Bernard Manning’s mother-in-law jokes, and jokes implying that all Irish are…

Comedian Josie Long shares her Hallowe'en memories

The comic is a fan of scary movies, dressing up and freaking out young children

‘I really like having fancy dress parties at Hallowe’en. The best/worst one I’ve ever had was about five years ago. My housemates and I decorated our entire house to look like a kind of alien dungeon. We put green food dye in everything and my friend…

Robot & Frank

Gentle comedy about a retired burglar and his robotic friend

Jake Schreier's feature debut Robot & Frank successfully engages the head and the heart to emerge as one of the most charming independent films of the year. It's an enjoyable crime caper, an affecting meditation on old age as well as an amusing buddy…

The Sessions

Charming and gently moving story of a polio survivor and a sexual surrogate

The Sessions is the true story of the poet and journalist Mark O’Brien’s experiences with a sexual surrogate. O’Brien was a polio survivor who spent much of his life paralyzed from the neck down, largely confined to an iron lung. As a consequence he…

Girls

Lena Dunham's comedy series is slow to develop laughs and characters' humanity

Lena Dunham might be brave, daft, naïve, mining some dark undercurrents of a fractious soul or a combination of all the above, but her role as creator, director, executive producer and main star of Girls (Sky Atlantic, Mon 22 Oct, 10pm) will result in…

Comedian Scott Capurro on Blanchett, Bowie and Barbara Streisand

First record you ever bought Lady Sings the Blues soundtrack. Last extravagant purchase you made Green loafers from Paul Smith. First film you saw that really moved you Sounder (1972). Last lie you told Life begins at 50. First movie you…

5 Things - Masks

We select our five favourite mask wearers, including MF Doom, Daft Punk, Zorro and Rubberbandits

Phantom of the Opera An interesting choice of shape – surely it takes more effort to buy a whole mask and cut a bit out? Is your cheek that attractive?

Tom Parry and Matthew Crosby of Pappy's discuss their Last Show Ever

The trio are taking their much-lauded Fringe show on tour

Pappy’s are far too humble and polite to say it, so someone else needs to: they wuz robbed. In August, a substantial clutch of five stars adorned the posters for their Final Show Ever (aka their best show ever), but the trio was pipped at the Edinburgh…

We Are Klang and Inbetweeners star Greg Davies on gigs in Glasgow

The stand up's latest tour is titled The Back of My Mum’s Head

It’s the stuff of showbusiness legend now that a Glasgow audience can be the toughest crowd in the country. The story of Des O’Connor pretending to faint rather than carry on in front of a hostile gathering is oft quoted as definitive proof. He may be…

Jenny Éclair's comedy heroes: David Sedaris, John Cooper Clarke and Jo Brand

The comic prefers 'comedy I can’t do, stuff that doesn’t touch my arena'

I’m very bad at having heroes. I don’t rate anyone particularly highly because I’m so snide and competitive and not very nice. The comedy I like the best is comedy I can’t do, stuff that doesn’t touch my arena. If I’m watching someone that’s a bit like…