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The Evening Standard demands an end to the practice of burying children and babies in mass paupers’ graves
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It’s Day’s night, and no one is going to spoil her story
A Sentimental Journey
Film
This is a shocking, replenishing film, not to be missed
Green Zone
Restaurants
It is great that Bruno Loubet is back — and at prices that are eminently fair
Bistro Bruno Loubet
The action and direction are superb and the acting good, but the plot is so pathetic it defies belief
Wonderful - beautifully acted and gloriously funny, particularly Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw
Probably the most important photography exhibition london has ever seen
London,
Critic rating
Reader rating
Sean Hughes is returning to stand-up after a decade's absence
Returning to stand-up after nearly a decade, Sean Hughes is refreshed and reinvigorated. Or ruder and more rebellious, depending on how you look at it.
Still a 'lad' at 41, Hughes knows the joke's on him. After all, he's trying to coax 25-year-olds into bed at the home where he lives alone with his dogs and snorts the fumes from Tic Tac boxes for fun.
Even the shaven-headed Glaswegians next to me are blushing - Hughes doesn't do over-egged Jimmy Carr-style innuendo; he does toe-curling in-your-face smut - but you can't help but be seduced by his self-deprecating 'it's not me it's the Tourette's' banter.
Occasionally, ideas don't gel - a punchline would have worked better than an uncomfortably earnest Waterboys singalong at the end. But like fellow Fringe returner Frank Skinner, Hughes proves a good show doesn't need to be kitschy or oddball to cut it. Razor-sharp delivery, audience rapport by the shedload and an eye for what's topical will do just fine.
Until Sun (not Thurs), Gilded Balloon Teviot, 8.30pm, £14.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
