Comedy

Red nose... ears, arms and legs: Ronni Ancona joins Comic Relief's desert trek in Kenya

My involvement with Comic Relief over the past 10 years has always been in a comedic capacity, but I'd always wanted to visit one of the regions where they spend the money that's raised.

Inside Comedy

The Timeline: Comic Relief

Tuesday, 15 March 2011

1985: Birth of a charity

Aziz Ansari, Soho Theatre, London

Sunday, 6 March 2011

A superstar in the making – even if he does shoot puppies

The Diary: Woody Allen; Stephen Merchant; DC Moore's Honest; Ai Weiwei; R�is�n McBrinn

Friday, 4 March 2011

Tickling schtick: The wit of Ken Dodd

Thursday, 3 March 2011

Who says variety is dead? Ken Dodd has been on the road for six decades and can still slay a crowd. Michael Coveney meets him on his marathon tour

First Night: Aziz Ansari, Soho theatre, London (Rated 4/ 5 )

Monday, 28 February 2011

Slick, polished and smart, Ansari's stand-up delivers.

Aziz Ansari delivers a lot of bang for your buck

Friday, 18 February 2011

The lithe and livewire US comedian Aziz Ansari arrives in London next week to play five nights at London's Soho Theatre. Though this run doesn't quite have the ring of playing the Carnegie Hall back in New York, as he did in January, Ansari's already sold out Soho dates are another sign of the growing interest in this business graduate-turned-comic, who will have just turned 28 when he lands here.

Cultural Life: Ruby Wax, comedian

Friday, 18 February 2011

Books: I've recently finished Jonathan Franzen's fantastic novel, 'Freedom'. Every sentence is so dark and to the heart of what is wrong with America. Celebrating dysfunctionality, as an expose of American psyche, it doesn't just hit the nail on the head – it slams it into the ground and kills it.

The Horne Section, Lyric Theatre, London (Rated 3/ 5 )

Thursday, 17 February 2011

There seems to be no end to the contexts in which people stage comedy. You can now have your laughs pretty much any which way: by the sea, in the air (BA are trying for a world record for highest comedy gig for Comic Relief) or, as well as all manner of site-specific events, merged with an array of musical stylings.

Cultural Life: Sandra Bernhard, comedian

Friday, 11 February 2011

Films: I saw 'Never Let Me Go' and found it very impressive. In such a believable way, it incorporates science fiction with the strangeness of the times we actually live in. It was deep, haunting and beautifully shot. My other favourite is 'The King's Speech'. Top drawer!