Brian Logan
- Journalist and reviewer
Press clippings Page 79
Comedy Review: Party
There are pitfalls when comedians make theatre. Sometimes they strive too hard to be serious; sometimes (judging by the reviews of last summer's The School for Scandal), they don't strive hard enough. The 2007 If.Comedy award winner for best newcomer, Tom Basden, sweeps all such considerations aside with his new play about student politics, an idiosyncratic and highly enjoyable piece performed beautifully by a crack cast of upcoming comics.
Brian Logan, The Guardian, 11th March 2010The novelty of tribute comedy
Can't get tickets for Peter Kay? Why not see a Peter Kay-style show? But should we be celebrating the age of the copycat comic?
Brian Logan, The Guardian, 23rd December 2009Harry Hill proves strange acts can be mainstream gold
The big-collared peddler of nonsense is back as a permanent feature in the nation's living rooms.
Brian Logan, The Guardian, 9th October 2009Tom Wrigglesworth review
There aren't many funnier shows in Edinburgh - and certainly none more right. We all moan about the national disgrace of our train fares, but Wrigglesworth (an old-fashioned rail romantic) is doing something about it.
Brian Logan, The Guardian, 21st August 2009Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra
It's a waste to have the orchestra just beefing up Bailey's mildly amusing songs. Far better when the instruments are foregrounded; when music (Rossini; the EastEnders theme) is deconstructed to comic effect, and the orchestra provides the punchlines. Sometimes that's difficult - comic timing is complicated when 72 musicians are involved. But elsewhere, it's sublime, as stately form meets daft content, and Bailey runs riot in the candy shop of his musical imagination. A four-man performance of Saint-Saëns' The Swan on Alpine cow bells shows the giddy heights of pleasure to which this curious collaboration might yet aspire.
Brian Logan, The Guardian, 17th October 2008