Karen Dunbar: ‘Personal struggles are always funny'
The first half is all new material based on what I've been up to in the last year — I've just written stuff on winning the Bafta — and some of the issues I've had. Personal struggles are always funny. The second half is about my time on Chewin' the Fat and The Karen Dunbar Show, so the audience can expect to see some of the well-loved characters from these shows.
We only ever had one destination: Blackpool. Every year we got the bus from Ayr down the west coast and, oh
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New Statesman
3 hours ago
- New Statesman
The Estate is a Westminster fever-dream
Photo by Helen Murray Fashioning art from the contemporary political scene is no mean feat. Politicians are up, then down, then up again, and ideas and policies are dreamed up as quicky as they are thrown out. The playwright Shaan Sahota's debut play, The Estate, makes a valiant attempt to turn politics into drama: there are moments that echo the frenzied chaos of July 2022, when the prospect of Boris Johnson's resignation seemed more like a Westminster feverdream than a political reality. Sahota's protagonist, Angad Singh, is the MP for Reading Central and shadow environment secretary (his party isn't identified). Angad, dexterously played by the Bafta-winning actor Adeel Akhtar, is a slight, asthmatic man, whose motivation for entering politics is unclear. The play opens in his office in Westminster, decked out with all the parliamentary trimmings (including green chairs, lanyards and visitor passes) in a set designed by Chloe Lamford. The leader of the opposition has just resigned over a sex scandal, throwing his party into a frenzy. Angad is immediately pressed to run for the leadership by his excessively keen staffers, who are more like caricatures from The Thick of It than developed, three-dimensional characters. But this is not the only drama consuming Angad. Early in the play, his father dies, and his spectre hangs over Angad throughout the show's two and a half hours. A Punjabi Sikh with a large property portfolio, Singh senior had high hopes for his only son: he sent him to Harrow and later supported him through Oxford. When Angad's two elder sisters, Malicka (Shelley Conn) and Gyan (Thusitha Jayasundera), discover they have been written out of their father's will, they spend the rest of the play locked in a war of attrition with their brother. The Estate is captivating and deeply unsettling. It dances confusingly between critiques of the roles played by race, class and gender in the British political system. Even so, it is a bracing exploration of the corrupting power of politics and a reminder that underneath it all, MPs are still human. The Estate National Theatre, London SE1 [See also: Miyako Yoshida's Giselle is a transfixing triumph] Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Related
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Scotsman
10 hours ago
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Fringe Comedy reviews: Joe Tracini
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Joe Tracini: Ten Things I Hate About Me Underbelly, Bristo Square (Venue 302) ★★★★☆ I'm old enough to recall being at a BBC recording that Joe Tracini mentions in this affectingly candid, exhaustive exposure of his troubled mind and soul. On the cusp of a big break that never materialised, as his father Joe Pasquale's once did, he paid too great a homage to the material of stand-up Michael Redmond. Yet little did I know at the time that Tracini was a serious drug addict with complex psychological issues. Joe Tracini: Ten Things I Hate About Me | Richard Jarmy In active development for half a decade, the former Hollyoaks actor and viral lockdown dancing sensation's struggle to perform Ten Things I Hate About Me has already featured in a Bafta-nominated Channel 4 documentary exploring the debilitating effects of his Borderline Personality Disorder, and his efforts to communicate them. Featuring suicidal impulses, successive stints in rehab, a heart attack and some disturbing recurrent behaviour, on paper it's not for the potentially triggered. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And yet this is as light-hearted a lecture as the above could conceivably be. Blending confessional, ukulele tunes and even the accursed magic tricks that blighted Tracini's adolescence as a painfully precocious nepo baby, the barest mention of his family here is not an encouraging sign. For both his and his audience's benefit, he's carefully structured the show as a PowerPoint presentation of his Ten Things. And he trails the contents at the top of the hour, the discipline and framework freeing him to be a sprightly, unencumbered guide to his disordered brain. Virtually all the humour emanates from bleak places. But Tracini doesn't flinch from sharing his lowest ebbs or making himself seem unattractive, sharing a previously unbroadcast, off-colour remark that he made about the passing of the Queen in an interview. There's some redemption in the meet-cute of finding his girlfriend. And he earns his ovation for more than just getting through the performance, having elicited consistent laughs while educating. JAY RICHARDSON until 24 August Jessie Nixon: Don't Make Me Regret This Assembly George Square (Venue 8) ★★★☆☆ Still in her twenties, Jessie Nixon has a way of talking which is utterly eccentric but also delightfully representative of her generation. She squeaks, she coos, she reads poetry from an embossed book. Her script, you suspect, may be partly written in emojis. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Her subject is sex, the male gaze and how, as a large girl commonly described as 'striking' she navigates the issues of body image, shame and general horniness. There's a lot of stuff about internet dating, swiping left and right, and being ready to 'me too' unattractive suitors on a whim. Jessie is fascinated by the power dynamics of dating and attractiveness, and she's refreshingly frank about her own desires. The poetry is laugh-out-loud funny, peppered with Jessie's bizarrely affected pronunciation of certain words and strange verbal shorthand which may, or may not, be peculiar to her. Bristol born, she also swears creatively (even swearing mid-word, which takes some doing.) There's an undercurrent of feeling dispossessed – of being priced out of the grown-up world – which runs through all her observations. She's child-like, despite all the talk of sex, and I thoroughly enjoy the abundant silliness of her debut hour. CLAIRE SMITH until 24 August Kieran Hodgson: Voice of America Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) ★★★☆☆ In delivering this interesting new show about his evolving personal, political and professional relationship with America, Kieran Hodgson goes all in with his presentation. In Springsteenesque denim, he bounds into a hyped-up room that feels like a US political party event, then paces the stage in the manner of a New York stand-up in front of a giant Stars & Stripes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Kieran Hodgson - Voice of America | Matt Stronge It's a typically clever hour from this thoughtful and talented British comic and actor, with tales of his youthful perception of the super-power – gleaned mostly from popular culture – and how an attempted Spring Break trip didn't go to plan. As well as talking about landing a small part in superhero movie The Flash, he illustrates the ways in which his feelings about the US shifted. As his understanding of its complexities deepened, he learnt what his father really meant by 'American rubbish', realising that the supreme goal is the retention of power, regardless of which ostensibly decent figure is in the White House. A masterful voice artist, he does some great impressions of past presidents, and, despite making a show of not wanting to do the incumbent, he does allow himself a few lines of Trumpspeak – much to the delight of the audience. Hodgson is, however, at his best when being his sweetly bookish self. ASHLEY DAVIES until 24 August Molly McGuinness: Slob Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire) (Venue 338) ★★★☆☆ Ultimately getting her happy ending and ride into the sunset, Molly McGuinness has had a tough road getting to Edinburgh for her Fringe debut. The Salford-born stand-up paints a grimly entertaining picture of her soul-destroying employment, dating history and friend group position as 'the funny one', aka the liability, and recounts it with ironic good humour. As an amiable and seemingly fairly passive participant in her own life, the men she draws to her tend to be of a certain vintage and somewhat strapped in their economic instances, while her hospitality jobs were characterised by their pointlessness or weirdly exploitative nature. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Opening by trying to coerce the crowd into sampling a middle-class buffet spread she's laid on, starkly contrasting the bizarre slop she's been treated to at northern funerals, she's a winning anecdotalist, softening the edges of her autobiography with absurdist details. And if a sense of drift accompanies her tales of getting drunk and stumbling into a television audition, or a frustrated date that saw her travel doomed from Manchester to London, it's likely because McGuiness knows that she has a trump twist in her back pocket, which she introduces towards the end. The medical emergency was the rottenest luck but it brings upbeat recovery. JAY RICHARDSON until 24 August Ismael Loufti: Heavenly Baba Studio Five at Assembly George Square Studios (Venue 17) ★★★☆☆ Ismael Loufti tells a beautifully nuanced story about growing up Muslim in Florida, which takes some genuinely unexpected twists and turns. His dad was a fundamentalist Muslim, who didn't believe in evolution and drove around town in a bashed-up car decorated with homespun Islamic and political slogans. Photos of the vehicle take centre stage in the slides which illustrate the show. And it's easy to see why young Loufti, after an early period of ardent religiosity, was mortified by his father's mode of transport. Loufti tells a familiar story of finding his individuality through comedy, but he also recognises how he once exploited his background to get a laugh from redneck crowds. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He's smarter than that now. And he's built his Edinburgh debut around his fascinating quest to find out what led his Dad to create such a spectacle of himself. Loufti's journey of self-discovery is deeply touching and engagingly told. And it turns out his father was a far more complex character than he ever imagined. It's an extraordinary story, but one in which Loufti finds a way to fully embrace his culture, his love of comedy and his deeply bizarre but very loveable father. CLAIRE SMITH until 24 August Only Grans The Street (Venue 239) ★★☆☆☆ Very little offends me. This almost gerontophobic show did. Droopy (fake) old lady breasts are jiggled, geriatric attempts at twerking and slutty dancing are hindered by creaky joints and the need for a sit down, and the whole show is offered in a whistley 'ill-fitting-dentures' voice. Red top headlines about drag priests and killer lesbians outrage her, 'socialist' media is misunderstood, Tinder connection is attempted on a dial-up phone and oh how we laugh when she thinks her online MILF is a man. Natalie Renwick is a talented performer, but a few grey lines drawn round your mouth are nothing more than ageist blackface ... and we have got past that. KATE COPSTICK until 15 August
Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Inside Jay Blades' career as The Repair Shop host charged with rape
From his early struggles growing up on a Hackney council estate after leaving school at the age of 15 with no qualifications, Jay Blades defied the odds to become one of TV's unlikely stars. The 55-year-old, known for his charming presence, became a household name after The Repair Shop launched on BBC One eight years ago. Through his work with disadvantaged youth and his charity efforts and restoration work, he was awarded an MBE by the future King Charles back in 2022 for his services to craft. But despite his rags to riches story, Blades was charged last year with engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, with allegations coming from his estranged wife, Lisa Marie Zbozen, which he appeared in court for today. Yesterday, he was then accused of two counts of rape by the police. From his role as a TV personality to his family life and recent allegations, Metro takes an inside look at Blades' fall from grace. Blades first hosted The Repair Shop in 2017 when it was launched by the BBC. Members of the public brought their treasured possessions, some of which had been passed down through generations, to be fixed. The show began in a daytime slot, but was later moved to primetime after it became a hit. In 2023, The Repair Shop won a National Television Award and a BAFTA for its royal special, where the future King Charles took a clock and vase to the workshop. This all came after Blades' difficult childhood that saw him grow up in poverty in East London after his father abandoned his mother, before he was left homeless in his twenties. As well as presenting The Repair Shop, Blades is known for Money for Nothing, Jay Blades' Home Fix and Jay and Dom's Home Fix. Outside of presenting, the 55-year-old has appeared on a number of shows, including Would I Lie to You?, Celebrity Masterchef, Richard Osman's House of Games, The Wheel, and The Graham Norton Show. In 2021, he filmed a documentary for BBC One called Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51, which charted his journey with dyslexia and how he enrolled in university as a mature student to study criminology but was diagnosed with the reading ability of an 11-year-old. Since then he has filmed several more documentaries about his childhood and where he grew up, including Jay Blades: No Place Like Home and Jay Blades' East End Through Time. Most recently, he has appeared alongside Sir David Jason and Dame Judi Dench in two separate series. Blades' first wife was Jade, who is the mother of one of his three children, two of which he has had from previous relationships. After meeting at university, he and Jade married and had a daughter before separating in 2015. He then went on to have a four-year relationship with Christine Goodman before meeting his second wife Lisa Zbozen, who works as a fitness instructor. They both married in November 2022 in Barbados, a year after their engagement. In May 2024, however, Lisa revealed they had separated. Back in September last year, Blades was charged with controlling and coercive behaviour against Zbozen, including physical and emotional abuse He then appeared at Worcester Crown Court on October 11 and entered a not guilty plea. More Trending The judge confirmed that Blades remained prohibited from approaching or contacting his wife under an existing exclusion order. Originally, a trial was expected to take place in May this year, but it was moved to August. Now, the presenter has been charged with two counts of rape. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. View More » MORE: Chloe Ayling: 'The email that made me realise why people doubted my kidnapping' MORE: MasterChef star edited out of BBC series stresses she knows how to 'spot a creep' MORE: David Attenborough fans left facing 'nightmares' after witnessing baby spiders devour their mum
