How to MC
Australian comic Danny McGinlay offers some tips
20/09/2011 … Being the compere on a comedy night fills many seasoned performers with trepidation.
Latest Opinions
Chortle's Opinions section is an arena for fans to share their views on any aspect of comedy.
We invite general comment pieces about particular aspects of the comedy scene (although reviews of individual shows or performers tend not to be suited to this section except in very rare circumstances). Contributions should be at least 500 words in length, in a similar tone to something you might read in a broadsheet newspaper, and emailed to steve@chortle.co.uk
We reserve the right to edit pieces – although we will be careful not to change the meaning of anything – or not to use them at all. By submitting an article you grant Chortle indefinite licence to use it freely; though you retain the copyright on it to use it elsewhere.
Tue 20 September 2011
Wed 14 September 2011
Itchy feet
Laura Lexx on the thin line between comedy and madness
14/09/2011 … I sat in the audience of a gig tonight and watched a comedian.
Tue 13 September 2011
Tony Hancock vs Peter Cook
Ian Hawkins on a changing of comedy generations
13/09/2011 … Comedy Nerd Pub Quiz: In which film did Peter Cook appear with Tony Hancock?Answer: The Wrong Box, directed by Bryan Forbes and released in 1966.
Fri 09 September 2011
A comedian? You must be joking
New comic Ted Shiress realises it can't all be ranting
09/09/2011 … A couple of Sundays ago I was rather hungover and it occurred to me this would be a perfect opportunity to write that bitter routine I'd been planning about how…
Tue 06 September 2011
How comedy survived September 11
Chris Hallam recalls the response to the Al Qaeda attacks
06/09/2011 … The attacks of September 11, ten years ago, were a massive human tragedy and perhaps the biggest news event of any of our lives.
Mon 05 September 2011
Free advice
Mary Bourke on what she learned on Edinburgh's Free Fringe
05/09/2011 … When you announce to your peers that you're doing the Free Fringe you'll be greeted with the same stunned reaction as you would if you announced that you've been…
Wed 31 August 2011
Can there be comedy without tragedy?
Jaques Hattie wonders if his life was too easy for jokes
31/08/2011 … As I try to make my way in the world as a writer of comedy, I’ve come up against a bit of a problem; to be funny, you have to have suffered.
Tue 30 August 2011
I hate the Inbetweeners
Joe Daniels argues that it's not funny, it's bigoted
30/08/2011 … With the annual hubbub of the Edinburgh Fringe cacophonously screaming in our ears all August, it always feels a bit weird getting back to reality, and catching…