Comedy, Allan Radcliffe

Chris Addison - It Wasn’t Me

13 Nov 2008

One grotesquely amusing aspect of the current economic crisis has been the sight of our beloved PM desperately trying to hammer home the notion that the predicament should be blamed on ‘global’ factors and is absolutely nothing to do with him, mate. You…

Scott Capurro

A mix of the inspired and the obnoxious

21 Aug 2008

It’s been said that the older people get, the less worried they are about causing offence. Scott Capurro, veteran of some 15 Fringe summers, has clearly decided to go for broke this year, trampling all over every sacred cow and totem of political…

Reginald D Hunter

7 Aug 2008

Reg D manages to pull off the neat trick of delivering an hour of intelligent, edgy material to his largest audience to date with the laid-back nonchalance of a very charismatic pal waxing lyrical after a late-night toke. His narrative, about the…

Saddle up

31 Jul 2008

As a posse of spoof country and western acts rides towards the Fringe, Allan Radcliffe asks why songs about rednecks, guns and erections make for sublime comedy

Edinburgh Fringe - LGBT Highlights

17 Jul 2008

Allan Radcliffe selects the best the Fringe has to offer in comedy, theatre and music

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Lesbian comedians

28 Feb 2008

Stand-up comedy has always provided a platform for historically oppressed minorities. From the self-deprecatory Borscht belt humour of Mel Brooks and Rodney Dangerfield through Richard Pryor’s fearless exploration of racism to the feminist material of…

Kim Hope

23 Aug 2007

A fizzing ball of nervous energy, Hope bounds onstage, announces she’s going to do an hour on the theme of time then proceeds to waste a great deal of the precious stuff gurning and flapping her arms maniacally. There’s a diverting bit of audience…

Alistair Barrie

16 Aug 2007

For someone who describes himself as a ‘twat’ and claims to suffer from low self-esteem, Barrie exudes a reassuring confidence that draws you into his world and holds you there. His show hangs around the loose theme that we’re all going to hell in a…

Jason Manford

16 Aug 2007

Too much success early on in a career can be a double-edged sword. Jason Manford first came to attention two years ago with an inspired, Perrier-nominated debut in which he exploded various urban myths and apocryphal tales. As a fan of that auspicious…

Sally-Anne Hayward

16 Aug 2007

In this comedy show-within-a-show, Hayward ponders her status as the offspring of 70s nearly man of variety, ‘Squire’ Ronnie Hayward. Despite a breakneck delivery, which occasionally threatens to gobble up her punchlines, Hayward’s colourful…

Tripod

16 Aug 2007

Australian musical comedy act Tripod could wring a few immediate laughs simply by virtue of their unlikely physical make-up. There’s the spindly, bespectacled guitarist who’s a dead- ringer for a young Maurice Gibb; the tall, excitable mop-top; and the…

Janey Godley

9 Aug 2007

‘The most outspoken female stand-up in Britain’ likes to think of her show less as a routine and more of a informal chat among friends. Certainly, the fact that Godley’s reminiscences take in such close-to-the-knuckle subjects as child abuse, murder and…

Own Powell

9 Aug 2007

An hour of stand-up on the subject of Starbucks doesn’t sound like everyone’s cup of java chip frappuccino. But Powell’s intense, nervy quest to track the two closest UK branches of the coffee chain actually proves quirkily entertaining. His odyssey is…

Paul Sinha

King of the comedy world

9 Aug 2007

Paul Sinha has a simple recipe for enjoying life. He wants us all to remember those fleeting moments when we felt like Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. While Sinha’s King of the World moments are rather more everyday than balancing on the prow of a doomed…

Simon Brodkin

A one-man comedy club

9 Aug 2007

In this age of panel gameshows and 15-minute slots on Radio 4, a solid hour of stand-up is simply too strenuous for performers and audiences suffering from an attention span bypass. Simon Brodkin thinks he’s found the answer to this thorny issue. The…

Just an illusion

1 Aug 2007

Ask most people what they think of magic, and you’re likely to be greeted with snorts of derision. The British public’s perception of stage magic is still recovering from the glitter-festooned nightmare of spinning plates and disappearing rabbits that…

Joanna Neary

1 Aug 2007

Joanna Neary is perhaps the most industrious character comedian on the circuit. While lesser mortals such as Steve Coogan and Barry Humphries can only stretch to a handful of roles in an entire career, Neary has enough offbeat and grotesque personas in…

Preview of the year 2007

2007 is about the future. And about the past. It’

3 Jan 2007

THE FUTURE Cyberspace invaders We may not be flying around in hover cars or wearing spangly all-silver outfits, but thanks to the internet the future has truly arrived. And the revolution will continue apace in 2007, argues Suzanne Black. A…