Kieran Hodgson

Five free comedy shows to see at the Fringe (Link expired)

We all know how it is at the Fringe - there may be hundreds of shows you want to see, but it gets a bit heavy on the wallet. The free Fringe circuit exists to show you can have top quality entertainment without paying through the nose - here are some of the things we're looking forward to from this year's programme.

Fringe 2016: seen previously

Planning your Fringe schedule? Trying to figure out what's worth seeing? As it happens, we've already reviewed plenty of this year's shows - either they've been touring Scotland, or they're returning from last year. So, here's a handy list of the shows we've seen and recommend...

Preview: Battersea Barge Fringe Previews

Featuring Max & Ivan, Joel Dommett, Kieran Hodgson, Stuart Goldsmith, Adam Hess, Rhys James & more.

Kieran Hodgson interview

From Not The Nine O'Clock News to Anchorman, the standup reveals the things he finds the funniest.

We had a new comedy from Ben Elton, a phrase that's likely to strike fear into the hearts of any sitcom fan after the woeful The Wright Way. Thankfully Upstart Crow saw him back at his best although the show seems to have been made up of deleted scenes from Blackadder II. The show focuses on the life of Will Shakespeare (David Mitchell) as he splits his time between his family home in Stratford-Upon-Avon and his digs in London. As this was an opening episode, Elton seems to have focused on a universal subject matter namely the Bard's creation of Romeo and Juliet. In Upstart Crow though Shakespeare has all intention of having his young couple living happily ever after that is until he allows the lovelorn son of Sir Robert Greene (Mark Heap) to stay at his home until he goes to university. Unfortunately Florian (Kieran Hodgson) soon falls for Shakespeare's serving girl Kate (Gemma Whelan) and the Bard is forced to find a way out of a predicament that could cause him serious bother. Although you can see some of the gags coming a mile off, especially what will ultimately happen to Florian, Elton perfectly paces the show so that the gags never overpower the story. There's also a great running gag about the line 'Where For Art Thou' Romeo that is actually very clever and Elton also satirises the sexual politics of the time to great effect. Of the cast I found that Mitchell really anchored the action well as Shakespeare and his tortured academic persona really suited that of the Bard. In supporting roles I found Liza Tarbuck and Harry Enfield gave memorable turns as Shakespeare's wife and father respectively. Similarly amusing was the performance given by Dominic Coleman as the go-to performer of female parts who was hurt that he couldn't play the thirteen-year-old Juliet. Although there is the argument that a lot of Upstart Crow is just recycled Blackadder gags that's not exactly a bad thing as Elton's historical comedy still remains one of the best British sitcoms of all time. Whilst I don't think Upstart Crow will ever match Blackadder in terms of quality I still found it to be a consistently funny sitcom and a return to form for Ben Elton who I'd almost written off after the debacle that was The Wright Way.

Upstart Crow review

Gadzooks! After some high-profile flops in both hemispheres, Ben Elton has rediscovered his mojo... and all it took was a return trip to Elizabethan England.

This week's new live comedy

Previews of Kieran Hodgson, Tony Law and Tom Stade.

Comedians' alternative Christmas cracker jokes

Jokes from Beth Vyse, Stewart Francis, Isy Suttie, Lou Sanders, Massive Dad, Adam Riches, Joseph Morpurgo, Daphne, Tim Key, Kieran Hodgson and Rhys James.

Brian Logan's top 10 comedy of 2015

Featuring Kieran Hodgson, Richard Gadd, Doug Stanhope, Count Arthur Strong, Jessie Cave, Joseph Morpurgo, Sheeps, Bridget Christie, Nish Kumar and Massive Dad.

The Australian absurdist shuns all the cosy warmth of Christmas to set his film in a stark, clinical laboratory, where he and his staff (Bridget Christie and Kieran Hodgson) are working on Christmas cracker jokes. Generously, Simmons gives a lot of the best moments to Matt King - channeling his Superhans intensity and oddness into the role of Tall Pall, a mysterious humour troubleshooter. Blink and you might miss Mike Wilmot's cameo contributions to this peculiar scenario.