‘My instinct is to look for the gag’: Martha Watson Allpress takes Lady Dealer to the Edinburgh fringe

The writer of the acclaimed Patricia Gets Ready… returns with a lockdown-inspired comedy drama about a drug dealer having a power cutThe trigger for a play can be many things: a moral dilemma or a political event, a true-life story or a misheard anecdo…

Continue Reading

‘Addiction can be funny’: the standups tackling drugs, booze, psychosis and self-harm on stage

Rich Hardisty cut himself, Harriet Dyer numbed her pain with drugs. A new wave of comics are working out their issues in their acts. But is it really helping them? And should we be laughing?The first and maybe only rule of comedy is that it has to be f…

Continue Reading

Tommy Chong: ‘We were always high. That was the job’

How does half of stoner duo Cheech and Chong cope with coronavirus lockdown? Fine – thanks to drugs, his wife and the experience of nine months in prison for selling bong pipesTommy Chong has got the munchies. It’s early afternoon in locked-down LA, an…

Continue Reading

Edinburgh star Mae Martin: ‘People refer to me as ‘innocent’, which makes me feel disingenuous’

The Canadian comic may look like she needs ID to get into her own shows, but her Fringe show is her frankest (and funniest) yet

‘I love being gut-wrenchingly honest,” says elfin comic Mae Martin when we meet in an Edinburgh cafe. “It’s so satisfying.” Other standups booked on the same bill as her should consider themselves forewarned. “I find it hard not to say personal things when I’m compering. Like the other night, I was introducing a friend and I told the audience: ‘This guy’s great, we had a threesome once …’ He was, like: ‘What are you doing?’ The crowd heckled him so much. All they wanted to hear about was the threesome.” She gives the sort of bashful, butter-wouldn’t-melt smile that enables her to get away with anything on stage. “I really need to be careful.”

Now may not be the best time to start. The Toronto-born, London-based comedian, who is 30 but would surely need to produce ID to be allowed into one of her own shows, is at the fringe with Dope, her funniest and frankest set to date. It examines addiction in all its forms, from social media to relationships to drugs, and relies for its success on her ability to bring comic effervescence to a heavy subject.

Related: Sara Schaefer: the breakout comic on trashing Trump and bombing on stage

Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Judd Apatow is DARE’s worst nightmare, saying taking shrooms and seeing Don Rickles was “the best night” of his life

Last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live, which last become the late night show of choice for comics to share their Don… MORE

Judd Apatow is DARE’s worst nightmare, saying taking shrooms and seeing Don Rickles was “the best night” of his life appeared first on The Laugh Button.

Continue Reading

Artie Lange arrested for drug possession in Hoboken parking garage

Learning this news breaks our heart. Artie Lange was arrested in Hoboken last week for alleged possession of drugs. Lange… MORE

Artie Lange arrested for drug possession in Hoboken parking garage appeared first on The Laugh Button.

Continue Reading

Artie Lange arrested for drug possession in Hoboken parking garage

Learning this news breaks our heart. Artie Lange was arrested in Hoboken last week for alleged possession of drugs. Lange… MORE

Artie Lange arrested for drug possession in Hoboken parking garage appeared first on The Laugh Button.

Continue Reading