Flashback – Jayde Adams and her late sister, Jenna: ‘I started making jokes at her bedside, and I haven’t stopped since’

The comedian, actor and presenter talks about an old photograph, and how her big sister’s early death spurred her to write her award-winning debut standup showBorn in Bristol in 1984, Jayde Adams is a comedian, actor and presenter known for her bombast…

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A funny thing happened: stunning portraits of stellar standups – in pictures

From Ken Dodd and his tickling stick to Nina Conti and her monkey, Guardian photographer Tristram Kenton has snapped a host of superb comedians on stage Continue reading…

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This week’s best culture at home, from Paul Weller to a new Rite of Spring

The Observer’s critics recommend the best art, theatre, music and more on TV and online this weekMusicPaul WellerDelayed by the pandemic, On Sunset finally comes out this week, offering both familiarity and experimentation from the restless, evergreen …

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Trans tales and rogue cabarets: Edinburgh festival 2017 – in pictures

From Sara Pascoe’s new standup to a strange evening with Martin Creed, via acrobats, Samuel Beckett and a wild girl from Borneo, here are the sights so far

All photographs by Murdo MacLeod

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On the fringe of fame: star comics caught on camera in their early days at Edinburgh

A stash of film shot in the 1990s chronicles the rise of comedy’s big names including Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon and Jo Brand

As the Edinburgh festival prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary, a trove of portraits has emerged, cataloguing the history of some of the most celebrated comedians from its fringe.

The photographs feature Michael McIntyre, Eddie Izzard, Jo Brand and others, from when they were struggling for laughs in the back rooms of Edinburgh pubs. They came to light when the photographer Rich Hardcastle was putting together a book to mark his 25 years in the business.

Related: 25 years of shooting comedians

On stage their whole performance is an amplification of their personality. When they’re off stage they’re sort of normal

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Meet Mindy Tucker, the Eyes of New York Comedy

Photographer Mindy Tucker has been shooting comedians for nearly a decade. In that time, Tucker has captured a massive photographic record of performers, shows, and parties in venues all over New York. Her “Year in Comedy” series features people from across the spectrum of experience, ranging from comics who are just starting out to big […]

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Beyoncé to Black Mirror; the culture that defines 2016

How better to make sense of this turbulent year than through the art and literature it has produced? Our critics choose the works that sum up the last 12 months

If there is one film that holds a political key to understanding 2016, it is Ghostbusters: that funny, good-natured, easygoing female remake of the 1980s original. The movie, and the way it was received and viciously attacked online, told us something vital about the hive mind of the US’s reactionary right. It starred Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Wiig and McCarthy were already well known; McKinnon was the upcoming SNL superstar who was later in the year to become famous for her Hillary Clinton impersonation – but it was the African-American comic Jones who became the particular object of unpleasant abuse, reminiscent of #gamergate vitriol, naturally with a racist slant, though everyone was attacked, and all for daring to remake and allegedly “spoil” the original with a gender switch.

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Tristram Kenton’s stage photos of the year – in pictures

Tristram Kenton captures theatre, dance and comedy performances for the Guardian. Here are some of his best stage shots of 2016, from David Threlfall’s Don Quixote to Gemma Arterton’s Nell Gwynn

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