Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs The Reverend, Netflix review - bold, but only a partial success
Interactive one-off episode works best in nugget-sized portions
Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s hit comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) ended its fourth series in January last year, but this belated interactive special suggested there could be new life in it yet.
Rob and Romesh vs Ballet, Sky 1 review - unlikely lads throw themselves in as bait
The ballet world survives slapstick no-hopers
The odd-couple comedy duo is a time-tested concept, and Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan have discovered a chemistry that works. Rob is the giggling excitable one, while Romesh, aided by a sleepy right eye which conveys a sense of harsh judgmentalism, adds a blast of deadpan scepticism.
Alma's Not Normal, BBC Two review - bare-knuckle comedy pilot hits the spot
Great cast and outsized characters in Sophie Willan's new creation
Creating the opening episode of a new comedy series is like flipping pancakes with one hand while playing the Moonlight Sonata with the other. You have to introduce your characters and invent the world they live in, while squeezing in enough plot to keep the action moving.
One Man, Two Guvnors, National Theatre at Home review – bliss, utter comic bliss
NT Live version of this masterpiece of farce is now available for free
Armchair theatre-lovers rejoice. During the lockdown, the National Theatre is streaming a selection of its past hits for free for one week at a time. These shows, originally filmed as part of the flagship’s NT Live project (which broadcast beautifully produced recordings of shows to local cinemas nationwide and abroad), are now available on its YouTube channel.
Comedy Against Living Miserably, Dave review - standups tread the boards for CALM charity
Comedians become standup therapists to confront mental health issues
This was the third collaboration between Dave and the mental health charity CALM (Comedy Against Living Miserably), hosted at EartH in Dalston by Joel Dommett. Its non-standard format comprised chunks of performances by the featured standup comics, intercut with the performers discussing what their material says about mental health.
Feel Good, Channel 4 and Netflix review - a fresh, bingeable comedy that digs deep but feels mild
Mae Martin’s dramedy about addiction is honest and enjoyable — but is it that funny?
“I am not intense.” That declaration arrives early in Feel Good, the new Channel 4 and Netflix romantic comedy fronted by comedian Mae Martin, who plays a fictionalised version of herself. Over Mae’s shoulder, we see a literal trash fire. She’s lit up the evidence of a past drug addiction. It smoulders in the background while she smoulders in the front.
Sunnyside, Sky Comedy review - the immigrant experience and the American dream
Kal Penn's predictable comedy pulls its punches
The multi-talented Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar, Designated Survivor, House) took a two-year acting sabbatical in 2009 to work for the Obama administration. So he is, in theory, ideally placed to co-create, with Matt Murray, a semi-political TV sitcom about a New York City councillor.