Tim Key: ‘I like writing in the pub, but then the poems tend to be about the pub’

The comedian on his strangest fan encounter, preshow rituals and his new film with Tom Basden and Carey MulliganHow did you get into comedy?I joined a sketch group, went to the Edinburgh fringe, and then kept doing that for years. It’s a good place to …

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Edinburgh fringe 2023 week two roundup: to the stars – via Essex

A dazzling drama about women slipping the surly bonds of male-dominated Nasa joins Essex poetry, New York silliness and Lorna Rose Treen’s laugh-fest as second-week treatsI first encountered the poet Luke Wright a decade ago, when I lived in Oxford and…

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Frank Skinner: ‘I’ve always operated near the line. If it moves, I move with it’

The comedian on his love of poetry, navigating political landmines and why Edinburgh is so close to his heartWest Bromwich-born Frank Skinner, 66, studied for a master’s in English literature and worked as a lecturer before trying standup for the first…

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Henry Normal: ‘Comedy’s like sugar. It makes things better but I wouldn’t eat it on its own’

The producer whose TV hits include The Royle Family and Gavin and Stacey on finding the poignancy in life’s little moments, and heading back to the comedy circuit with his poetryComedians become actors, pop stars become TV presenters … we’re used to ar…

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Henry Normal: ‘Comedy’s like sugar. It makes things better but I wouldn’t eat it on its own’

The producer whose TV hits include The Royle Family and Gavin and Stacey on finding the poignancy in life’s little moments, and heading back to the comedy circuit with his poetryComedians become actors, pop stars become TV presenters … we’re used to ar…

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Camels, clowns and sex education: what to see at Edinburgh fringe 2021

The festival has shrunk because of Covid but there are plenty of shows in person and online this summer – here’s our pick of the first to be announcedSex Education Xplorers (S.E.X.)What did they miss out in your sex ed at school? Mamoru Iriguchi fills …

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Love Bites review – gleeful salute to theatre’s thrilling return

York Theatre RoyalA mix of music, dance, comedy and poetry delivers a bittersweet reminder of what lockdown deprived us of – and a joyous celebration of live performanceOn the screen at the back of the stage, familiar images flicker: the river, streets…

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From standup to stanzas: Frank Skinner’s terrific guide to poetry

The comedian’s new podcast is bursting with enthusiasm for poems. If standup forces him to be funny, here he forces himself to be true‘Phwooar – Ginsy Ginsy Ginsy, I love you so much!” You won’t find that in FR Leavis. The “Ginsy” in question is beat p…

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Rage, white supremacy and roses: the art that sums up the Trump era

CocoRosie’s call to arms, a mauling from Michelle Wolf, Arthur Jafa’s white supremacy montage and Melania Trump’s gardening … Guardian writers pick the moments that encapsulate Trump’s reign Since he’s a former real-estate tycoon, it seems fitting that…

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‘There’s no such thing as a socially distanced mosh pit’: artists on the thrill of the crowd

Poet laureate Simon Armitage and comedian Lolly Adefope love the buzz of performance. Here’s what we’re all missingReady, steady… Oh: Olympics, Glastonbury and Euro 2020 stars on the summer we’ve lost There can be no such thing as a socially distance…

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