Latest news with #Bafta-nominated
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Scotsman
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- 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
Scotsman
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Meet three comedy couples performing at the Fringe this year
Ada & Bron: The Origin of Love Our comedy critic Jay Richardson meets three couples who are presenting shows together at the Fringe this year. 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... Ada Player and Bron Waugh Don't be surprised if you see Ada Player and Bron Waugh walking in circles around a park, conversing in silly voices. That's just how they create characters. They met while studying theatre at Bristol University, joined the sketch troupe Bristol Revunions, then moved in together, but only began shooting videos with each other during the Covid lockdown. Since then, they've co-created the Bafta-nominated Channel 4 sitcom pilot Peaked, starring Player as part of a love triangle; won a BBC Comedy Collective bursary and are sharing their absurdist character comedy showcase, Ada & Bron: The Origin of Love, at the Fringe. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The couple's process is usually to 'start with funny voices, build the characters, ask what's the emotional story and then add the jokes' explains Player. Incorporating 17 relationships, their festival debut is 'a bit dark and twisted' but 'done in a really campy, over-the-top manner' Waugh adds. 'Every character says something sincere and different about love in quite a weird way'. Featuring affairs, werewolves, James Bond and dancing robots, it's 'a rollercoaster' Player suggests. 'But it's feelgood, it ends in joy.' Indirectly inspired by Aristophanes' theory of soulmates, via the Mika album of the same name, The Origin of Love also features their Revunions colleague Ed Lyness on piano. And the couple admit to a fascination with awkward 'third wheels'. 'I don't know why that is' Waugh confesses. 'Because we're in an insular bubble as a couple I guess, it adds danger and excitement. Player agrees. 'Because we live this duo dynamic, having a third energy shakes it up, really gives it drama. There's tremblings underneath all of our relationships. Whether that be a third person or just the outside world intruding.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Complementing each other, clown-trained Player 'can go on stage with no safety net and perform with nothing', whereas her film graduate boyfriend likes 'the story set', he doesn't 'ever waste the audience's time.' Waugh smiles. 'I'm more relaxed improvising with Ada though. I check my brain and we can just play in the moment.' Ada & Bron: The Origin of Love, Pleasance Courtyard, 11pm, until 24 August Marnina Schon and Micah O'Konis Couplet: Honey Honey Moon Moon When Marnina Schon and Micah O'Konis' wedding venue was destroyed by wildfire, they quickly began composing. 'There was this sign, 'Welcome to Farnsworth Park', behind it burnt out rubble. That's kind of funny' O'Konis reflects of the awful omen. 'We felt we should process it through a song.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Premiering Our Wedding Venue Burned Down at a firefighters' fundraiser in Los Angeles was 'delicate' Schon admits. Yet 'emotional'. Incorporating the Fringe into their trans-European honeymoon, Couplet, as they call themselves, 'workshopped' their debut and wedding concurrently. 'Which I wouldn't wish on anyone' Schon sighs. Classically trained musicians, they appear to have few boundaries onstage, bitching harmoniously about their couples counsellor. Yet dirty laundry is only aired on a 'lyric by lyric basis' Schon maintains. Writing their show, Honey Honey Moon Moon, 'I was pushing to go deeper, really reveal dark things about ourselves and get into a real fight in front of the audience' O'Konis confesses. 'But we quickly realised that's not fun for us and it's not fun for them.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Schon agrees. 'We don't want the audience to feel they should be getting paid as therapists. Even if we do make an audience member give us therapeutic advice at one point.' Recently described as the 'it couple of the LA Jewish/comedy/music/queer world', violinist Schon, pronouns (she/they), and guitarist O'Konis (they/them), 'unpack our intersectionality' in the song People Think We're Straight. 'The universe handed us a low point with the fire. But we got our happy ending making the wedding our narrative arc,' Schon relates. 'That actually made it a lot easier to explain our identities. Because planning a wedding, you're thinking about how much gender you include in the ceremony.' With Schon the more pessimistic 'performer-writer' with a 'musical theatre background' and O'Konis a more easygoing, 'writer-performer', 'a little bit more indie rock', their voices 'didn't sound so good together' when they began dating nine years ago. 'We didn't have a great blend,' the latter recalls. Yet over time they've prioritised the double act. 'And we've definitely merged.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Couplet: Honey Honey Moon Moon, Assembly Rooms, 6.25pm, until 24 August Joz Norris and Miranda Holms Joz Norris: You Wait. Time Passes. It isn't coincidence that Joz Norris' characters are darker and more intense since he got together with fellow comedy writer Miranda Holms. 'Neither of us are good at small talk' she admits. 'Storytelling, filmmaking, comedy, that's what I'm preoccupied by. I wouldn't find it easy being in a relationship with someone who didn't feel the same, who wouldn't just commit to silly things'. For the committedly experimental Norris, meanwhile, performing is easier 'knowing I'm accepted, liked and appreciated by someone who gets me. 'I've realised monsters, idiots, morons, braggarts and egotistical narcissists are what I find funniest. I can be the most flawed versions of myself and not need affirmation that I'm a nice person.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad They met in early 2020, moved in together later that year and have channelled their combined energies into short films, Radio 4 sitcoms, hosting Eggbox, their comedy script showcase, and Norris' Fringe shows. There's some irony in his latest Edinburgh hour, You Wait, Time Passes, focusing on a character obsessing over his magnum opus while neglecting his loved ones. 'He's me if I really pushed the workaholism' Norris observes. 'Driving everybody away while slaving over something he believes is important, but is clearly just a waste of time.' However, it's Holms who confesses to being the 'perfectionist' in their partnership. With 'maybe a more visual, narrative brain … Joz is good at just getting stuff done, deciding that 'this' is the 'thing', this is how it's going to happen, and pushing through. 'We have very opposite ways of approaching comedy but we kind of meet in this happy medium of the two extremes.' Norris agrees. 'We've built a working language together. And being together, it feels like we have more licence to be creatively belligerent with each other'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Holms is credited as script consultant on Norris' show. And he reckons the abiding myth of the 'lone genius' comic is increasingly being challenged. 'I used to know so many whose girlfriends or partners were effectively working on their shows, in constant discussions about them, and they weren't credited at all. But I find it hard to make anything good without her eye, it always elevates it.'
RTÉ News
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Bafta-nominated actor Micheal Ward charged with rape and sexual assault
Bafta-nominated actor Micheal Ward has been charged with rape and sexual assault. The 27-year-old, who has starred in Blue Story and Top Boy, is accused of offences against one woman in January 2023, the Metropolitan Police in London said. The force said he is charged with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. Ward, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, will appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on 28 August, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Following the charges, Detective Superintendent Scott Ware said: "Our specialist officers continue to support the woman who has come forward - we know investigations of this nature can have significant impact on those who make reports." The Jamaican-born actor was awarded the Bafta Rising Star honour in 2020 and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Bafta for his role in BBC's Small Axe in 2021 and the 2022 film Empire Of Light. Ward, who has 1.2 million followers on Instagram, played in the Soccer Aid match at Stamford Bridge last year and gave a reading at the Christmas Eve carol service hosted by the Princess of Wales in 2023. He is due to star in the American film Eddington alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, which is due to be released in the UK next month.
STV News
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- STV News
Top Boy actor Micheal Ward charged with rape and sexual assault
Bafta-nominated actor Micheal Ward has been charged with rape and sexual assault. The 27-year-old, who has starred in Blue Story and Top Boy, is accused of offences against one woman in January 2023, the Metropolitan Police said. The force said he is charged with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. Ward, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, will appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on August 28, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Metro
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Top Boy actor Micheal Ward charged with rape and sexual assault
Bafta-nominated actor Micheal Ward has been charged with rape and sexual assault, the Metropolitan Police said. The Jamaican-born English actor and former model, 27, is best known for films Blue Story and The Old Guard and also starred as Jamie in Netflix's Top Boy. In 2020, he was awarded the Bafta rising star award. He is accused of offences against one woman in January 2023, according to police. The force said he is charged with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. Ward, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, will appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on August 28, the Crown Prosecution Service said. In a statement, Catherine Baccas, deputy chief crown prosecutor for CPS London South, added: 'Having carefully reviewed a file of evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service has authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Micheal Ward, 27, with two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, and one count of sexual assault against a woman in January 2023. More Trending 'He will appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 28 August 2025. 'We remind all concerned that proceedings against the suspect are active and he has a right to a fair trial. 'It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.' Reps for Micheal Ward have been contacted for comment. This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates. 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. For more stories like this, check our entertainment page. Follow Entertainment on Twitter and Facebook for the latest celeb and entertainment updates. You can now also get articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here. View More »
