Brian Logan

Richard Gadd: Breaking Gadd review

This multimedia show is a cartoon misery memoir, not without its pleasures, but mainly two-dimensional.

Are smartphones killing comedy?

At two gigs in the past fortnight, I've seen two comics seek to defuse the threat in the same way. Both Dave Gorman and Aziz Ansari offered to pose for audience photographs at the top of the show, after which the audience were required to power down the cameras and concentrate on the comedy.

The first UK Jewish comedy festival

Can Britain's Jewish standups become a cultural force to rival their US counterparts? Brian Logan finds out from Ruby Wax and other comics.

Who else can do what Lee Evans does?

The expressive, elastic, inimitable comedian is retiring. I wish he'd consider a Lenny Henry-style reinvention instead.

Shappi Khorsandi review: gags about porn & prejudice

Shappi Khorsandi review - perky gags about porn and prejudice. Soho Theatre, London.

The Anglo-Iranian comedian ranges entertainingly from racism to combative encounters at the school gate.

Dave Gorman review

Surprise and significance are at a premium in a show that echoes the comic's small-screen patter too closely to excite.

Stewart Lee review

Tricksy gags about liberals, rightwingers and 'the Islams'. The stand-up's two-part set is, as ever, a rarefied viewing experience. You can take nothing at face value as he plays cat and mouse with the audience.

Ivo Graham review

The self-effacing former public schoolboy is painfully honest about his hangups in this lovely, well-written comic set.

Is success a curse for stand-ups?

Tim Minchin and Stewart Lee have both observed that fame and acclaim create dilemmas for comedians, who habitually punch upwards. But a comfortable life needn't blunt dissent and satire.

Lee Mack review

This is comedy that time forgot - meticulous, gag-heavy tomfoolery with a great sense of attack.