‘We write something and it can be in the show that night’: comedy trio Sheeps on the freedom of Edinburgh fringe
Edinburgh festival 2024: find the funny with these 20 comedy shows
October 2022
TV tonight
TV tonight: Stephen Graham is a reformed neo-Nazi in this explosive drama
Far-right tensions are palpable as the murder of MP Jo Cox brings things to a head. Plus, Ladhood concludes with A-level results day. Here’s what to watch this evening
September 2022
TV tonight
TV tonight: the brilliant Ladhood is back to explore modern masculinity
Liam Williams’s painfully relatable comedy returns for a final series. Plus, Aidan Turner is increasingly embattled in The Suspect. Here’s what to watch this evening
August 2022
‘Sketch will never die!’: Edinburgh fringe super troupes Tarot, Sheeps and Britney
It’s a form of comedy that has fallen out of favour with TV, but a trio of fun acts are keeping the sketch flame alive
January 2022
The Guide newsletter
The Guide #19: five under-the-radar TV gems you should catch up on next
In this week’s newsletter: yes, there’s too much to watch at once – but these five stellar shows didn’t deserve to slip through the cracks
December 2021
2021 in TV
The 50 best TV shows of 2021
The great telly countdown hits the top spot with a furiously joyful, gut-wrenching five-part drama that was funny and full of life
September 2021
Jonny Greenwood to Lena Dunham: a panel of stars on what cultural success means in 2021
Screenwriters, musicians and comedians reflect on what creative contentment means to them
August 2021
TV tonight
TV tonight: head to Hawaii for a razor-sharp satire of rich Americans
TV review
Ladhood series two review – Liam Williams muddles through masculinity
April 2021
Observer TV reviews
The week in TV: The Syndicate; Pandemic 2020; Storyville: Collective; Pls Like; Unforgotten
The viewers are the real winners as Kay Mellor’s lottery drama returns. Plus, a global history of the pandemic, and an unforgettable Unforgotten
May 2020
The funniest thing
Liam Williams: ‘I like saying poem to rhyme with home’
The comedian, actor, and writer on the things that make him laugh the most
March 2020
Comedy's coronavirus crisis: 'performers are in deep, deep trouble'
With gigs cancelled and no support given to an art form that Art Council England does not officially recognise, comedians fear the worst
November 2019
TV review
Ladhood review – boisterous comedy smells like teen spirit ... and Lynx
Based on comic Liam Williams’s adolescence, this Leeds-set series combines nostalgic laughs and Fleabag-style tenderness for the perfect tale of growing up disgracefully
Liam Williams: ‘I’m still coated in a residue of laddishness, for better or worse’
Having quit standup due to its bearpit blokeishness, the comic is now mining his Yorkshire upbringing for a comedy on modern masculinity
Congratulations, you played yourself: comics who fictionalise their lives
Larry David took the role of ‘Larry David’ onscreen. But how close are such characters to real life? Three comics starring as versions of themselves reveal where they draw the line
January 2018
Best podcasts of the week
Capital: sharp satire in the vein of The Thick of It - best podcasts of the week
A smart cast of British comedians have turned their attention to the UK’s current political mess, and managed to find something new to say
October 2017
'So the universe implodes – no matter': comedians share their best one-liners
In Steve Best’s new book Joker Face, standups pick some of the funniest gags they’ve told. Here are 10 of our favourites
February 2017
Observer TV reviews
The week in TV: The Kettering Incident; Pls Like; Girls; The Moorside
Down with clean eaters and ab blasters! TV takes aim at lifestyle vlogger hell
