Both a critical profile of the great comedian and a history of cinematic stardom, The Real Charlie Chaplin, though not offering anything revelatory, is as thoughtful and incisive as the best documentaries should be. The question offered by the film’s title (who is the real man behind the mustache?) never receives a definitive answer, but […]
At the beginning of his latest Netflix special, Jimmy Carr sets out the distinction between his “jokes about terrible things” and the “terrible things” themselves. However, Carr’s show, released at the end of last year, has attracted widespread criticism for using the label “edgy comedy” as a weak excuse to promote less-than-thinly-veiled bigoted attitudes about […]
Melanie Jordan—acclaimed performer, director, and theatre maker—met with The Student through Zoom to discuss the relevancy of reviving A Brief History of the Fragile Male Ego, digitally, feminist theatre, and comedy. She also has some great insights on getting into the theatre world and shining in your art form. A Brief History of the Fragile Male Ego by Jordan […]
Venue: Pleasance at EICC, Lomond Theatre Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ Reputedly the world’s longest-running live comedy show, NewsRevue provides an hour of satirical singing, dancing and sketches that garners laughs while remaining on fairly well-travelled comedic ground. The staging is minimal, with scenes established through impressively rapid costume changes. The various segments are held together by the […]
Venue: 32 Below Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ When shows are listed as works in progress, it can be easy to taper expectations. However, as Adele Cliff bounds on-stage and slips right into the groove, it’s hard to justify giving other comedians so much leeway, such is her ability to make the audience crack up. Cliff, the current […]
Venue: The Counting House Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Some one-liner comedians prioritise quantity over quality, delivering an hour of half-chuckles and near-silent sniggers instead of producing the sort of laughter that makes your stomach clench like it’s a ketchup bottle and you’re trying to get the last few drops out. In My Life’s a Joke!, Will Mars […]
Venue: 32 Below Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ As a half-bustling Fringe draws to a sunny close, it can start to feel like comedians are telling the same jokes about their ages, sex lives, and Oedipus complexes. White Chicks 2, a pair of stand-up sets starring the very not-white Alex Bertulis-Fernandes and Sharlin Jahan, seeks to buck the […]
Venue: Underbelly @ George Square Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ At 18.45, Tom Stade strides purposefully onto the stage to rapturous applause, before making a joke about his style of comedy not exactly being conducive to an early evening, midweek slot. Every other word is sandwiched between a ‘fuck’, and the family with two children under seven sitting […]