Review: Mark Thomas @ MAC, 28th February 2018

Showtime from the frontline. Photo by Lesley Martin.

Earlier in the decade, stand-up and activist Mark Thomas performed a show called Walking the Wall – a tale of his “extreme rambling” excursion along the West Bank’s barrier. In his latest tour, Showtime From the Frontline, he recounted his return to the region for a very different type of visit.

Wonderfully aided by Alaa Shehada and Faisal Abualheja, the show detailed his time spent teaching a comedy workshop at the Freedom Theatre in the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp – his co-performers were among the students, and their clowning and acting skills were brought to the forefront here, essaying the different characters among the student cohort and illustrating their experiences.

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Preview: Machynlleth Comedy Festival Showcase @ MAC, 9th February 2018

The Machynlleth Comedy Festival is now one of the UK’s most prestigious, and hotly anticipated, events in the stand-up calendar. Next month, Birmingham’s MAC welcomes five top acts as part of a showcase for the annual event, which takes place in the titular Welsh town.

The gig at MAC on Friday 9th February features a line-up including Joe Lycett, Tom Parry (also of Pappy’s), Mike Bubbins, Rachel Parris (also of Austentatious) and Danny Clives. Tickets (£12) are available from the MAC website.

This year’s Machynlleth Comedy Festival takes place from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th May.

 

 

Preview: Mark Thomas @ MAC, 28th February to 3rd March 2018

Showtime from the frontline. Photo by Lesley Martin.

Mark Thomas returns to Birmingham’s MAC in February with a new show about his experiences in Palestine. Setting out to run a comedy club in a refugee camp in the city of Jenin for two nights, Showtime From the Frontline will trace what happened when he tried to do so.

This isn’t the first time the celebrated stand-up and activist has performed a show about a trip to the region, with 2011’s Extreme Rambling – Walking the Wall detailing his own story of visiting the West Bank. This time around he’s joined by Faisal Abualheja and Alaa Shehada, two actors and aspiring stand-ups from Jenin, and you can expect a funny and fascinating evening in the company of one of the UK’s finest storytellers and performers.

Showtime From the Frontline is at MAC in Birmingham each evening from Wednesday 28th February to Saturday 3rd March 2018. Tickets are available from the venue website.

 

Preview: Mark Thomas @ MAC Birmingham

Mark Thomas: Red through and through

Stand-up veteran Mark Thomas returns to the Midlands with his latest tour, the third part in a trilogy of theatrical shows, called The Red Shed, which sees him celebrating the 50th birthday of a Wakefield labour club – the site of his first ever gig.

Following on from Bravo Figaro and Cuckooed, this is another show which looks more closely at his own history and life than the politicised output he’s best known for. Both of those shows were fantastic pieces of work, so it’s no shock that The Red Shed continues in a similar vein by receiving excellent reviews during its Edinburgh Fringe run in the summer.

You can catch Mark Thomas perform The Red Shed at Birmingham’s MAC, where he’s doing three shows – 7pm and 9.30pm on Tuesday 18th October, and 7pm on Wednesday 19th October – and at Warwick Arts Centre on Tuesday 14th February.

Preview: Q&A with Bridget Christie

Bridget Christie: sublime stand-up and big themes.

Bridget Christie is one of British comedy’s most distinctive and important voices, so the publication of her debut tome, titled A Book For Her, was bound to garner lots of attention. And with good reason – the 2013 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner has forged a reputation for combining satire and surrealism in order to discuss difficult subjects and big themes, including feminism and FGM.

After hugely successful runs of A Bic For Her and An Ungrateful Woman, she’s embarking on a tour and book signing, with visits to Coventry and Birmingham as part of her nationwide jaunt. It’s a great opportunity to see one of the UK’s finest, and most challenging, stand-ups melding intelligent comedy and silliness better than almost anyone on the circuit.

Q&A: Gein’s Family Giftshop

Gein’s Family Giftshop: Award-winning sketch troupe head out on tour

Award-winning sketch troupe Gein’s Family Giftshop are heading to the West Midlands this spring, as part of their debut tour. The hotly-tipped group, named Best Newcomers at last year’s Chortle Awards, will be bringing their dark comedy to Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry and the MAC in Birmingham.

Who’s Laughing Now? caught up with Gein’s – Kath Hughes, Edward Easton, James Meehan and Kiri Pritchard-McLean – to find out what audiences will be treated to at the shows.

A new blog in a new town (sort of)

We’ve been having some hosting issues recently at our original site so this is a new home for Who’s Laughing Now? where we can carry on bringing you the latest reviews, previews, interviews and information about live comedy in Coventry, Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Coming up soon we’ll have an interview with the fantastic sketch outfit Gein’s Family Giftshop, who drop into Warwick Arts Centre and the MAC on their upcoming UK tour, and reviews of the best comedy shows in the area over the next few months.

Keep an eye out for all this and more!