Anna Lowman

Nick Coyle: Queen of Wolves at Soho Theatre review

I'm very aware how thoroughly spoiled we are for comedy here in London. In June and July we can see incredible acts work out their ideas for a few quid or nothing, and then come September we're treated to full shows, honed by a month of relentless, mental health-jeopardising performance.

An experience of Machynlleth Comedy Festival 2017

There are a whole heap of lovely things about Machynlleth Comedy Festival, and I finally got to experience them first hand this year - silly things like "length of travel" and "having somewhere to sleep" holding me back in the past.

Whether he's warily trying a banana for the first time, or pointing out just how many gifts are involved in the 12 Days of Christmas (who has space for 22 calling doves, let alone 40 maids a-milking and, presumably, their many cows?) every encounter with Nick Mohammed's Mr Swallow is an absolute treat. But there is something particularly special about Houdini.

Known for learning new skills for his shows, often involving magic, this musical biography of the great escapologist's life and illusions feels like a culmination of everything we've seen from Mohammed so far. Mr Swallow's usual blustering buffoonery is thrillingly undercut by genuinely brilliant tricks that he apparently can't even fathom himself ("it's magic!" he says; and then, with a wink: "oh sorry, I mean science, obviously, science.")

From the gags, which come at a pace, to the songs, to the show-stopping final escape, everything about this show is carefully engineered to delight. I was so delighted, I might just have to go again.

Adefope is on all the 'ones to watch' lists for 2017 and this show leaves no room for doubt that she'll be a familiar name come the end of the year. A character comic with the best range of genuinely funny funny-voices around, she is absolutely at her best when things get a bit weird - a small-time American agony aunt's recipe for 'glams' is a big highlight.

She also skilfully acknowledges the 'can't win' position she finds herself in when it comes mentioning her race - if she does, she's not letting the comedy speak for itself, if she doesn't, she's ignoring something important. Little glimpses of the real Adefope come through in character-breaks, so it'll be great to see her appearing character-less on the next series of the always-excellent Taskmaster.

Don't miss these comedy gems this Christmas

The BBC's Christmas schedules have just been announced, so - like any good telly fan - we've grabbed our (virtual) red pen and (virtually) circled some of the comedy shows we're particularly excited about.

The main plus point for Dirk Gently is having the consistently great Stephen Mangan on board in the lead role - he's certainly one of our most watchable comedy actors, and is in particularly fine form as the infuriatingly self-sure (but still rather lovely) private detective who believes in 'the fundamental interconnectedness of all things'.

Since the superb Sky One comedy Spy, my eyes have also been belatedly opened to the huge talent of Darren Boyd, who plays Gently's rather more conventional assistant-slash-business-partner MacDuff - so all in all I can't help but come to Dirk Gently with a whole heap of goodwill.

But I think my enjoyment of this episode can be put down to more than that. It's a great-looking thing, and the script was sharper than the pilot - I particularly enjoyed the line "his cheque bounced like the proverbial basketball... on a trampoline." Miss out the word "proverbial" there and it's prosaic; with it, it's a winner. There were little gems like this throughout the hour, and Douglas Adams's genius sense of the absurd is perfectly encapsulated in the idea of 'zen navigation': find a car that looks like it knows where it's going, and follow it. Pretty silly, but highly entertaining.