Humour

A rare combination of humour and pathos: the sublimely talented Neil Innes

7 December 2024 9:00 am

The musician and parodist, whose mantra was ‘not to say no when there’s a way to say yes’, had a gift for creating happiness in private as well as public, as his widow poignantly attests

A shortage of Nigels and other calamities: humorous stocking-fillers

23 November 2024 9:00 am

Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Stuart Heritage and Rob Orchard, among others, explore the mysteries and frustrations of modern life

No laughing matter: The Material, by Camille Bordas, reviewed

27 July 2024 9:00 am

A graduate course at the University of Chicago teaches stand-up to a group of aspiring young comedians. But the more you analyse humour, the less funny it becomes

Repenting at leisure: Early Sobrieties, by Michael Deagler, reviewed

20 July 2024 9:00 am

Back with his family in suburban Philadelphia after seven years of solid boozing, Dennis Monk tries to make amends for past misdemeanours. But will he succeed?

Shalom Auslander vents his disgust – on his ‘grotesque, vile, foul, ignominious self’

29 June 2024 9:00 am

Long derided as ‘feh’ by his Orthodox parents, the American writer admits to being his own hanging judge

The twists keep coming

10 June 2023 9:00 am

Murray’s immersive, beautifully written mega-tome about a family in a small town in Ireland is as funny as it is deeply disturbing

How Ireland lost its craic

3 June 2023 9:00 am

When did the Irish lose their sense of humour?

Laughing in the face of cancer

20 May 2023 9:00 am

Sylvia Patterson manages to bring much rackety humour to bear in her descriptions of the pain and indignity her treatment involves

My existential crisis was straight out the terrible twos’ playbook

19 February 2022 9:00 am

Early on St Valentines Day I walked down to the car park where the raindrops were knocking off the young…

A meditation on everyday life: Early Morning Riser, by Katherine Heiny, reviewed

1 May 2021 9:00 am

There were many moments in Early Morning Riser that made me laugh out loud in recognition. An episode where the…

Is there anything left worth joking about?

28 November 2020 9:00 am

Here are a couple of books that seek to tackle the difficult issue of comedy on the front line. One…

The peerless social satire of Pont of Punch

14 November 2020 9:00 am

The timeless brilliance of Pont of Punch

Why does no one want to be a cartoonist any more?

25 July 2020 9:00 am

Cartoonists are facing ever-tougher competition

Why we’re all in love with Fleabag

11 January 2020 9:00 am

Why would you need the scripts for Fleabag? It’s hardly a lost classic. It’s always popping up on BBC iPlayer.…

Comedy in the era of Twitter outrage: An interview with Ricky Gervais

21 December 2019 9:00 am

There’s a moment in Ricky Gervais’s 2018 Netflix stand-up show Humanity when he talks about buying a first-class air ticket,…

Children’s questions about death are consistently good fun

16 November 2019 9:00 am

What strikes me most about the Christmas gift-book industry — for industry it surely is, as I can confirm, having…

Sam Lipsyte. Credit: Ceridwen Morris

Hitting the bull’s-eye: Hark, by Sam Lipsyte, reviewed

16 February 2019 9:00 am

This is an ebullient, irreverent and deeply serious novel in the noble tradition of Mark Twain, Sinclair Lewis (especially Babbitt…

David Sedaris, the current king of humorists, is often not funny at all

28 July 2018 9:00 am

Since the 17th century, a ‘humourist’ has been a witty person, and especially someone skilled in literary comedy. In 1871,…

The critics may have liked The Death of Stalin but the French certainly don’t

12 May 2018 9:00 am

Should I or shouldn’t I go and see The Death of Stalin, showing at the French village cinema last Sunday…

Dear Mary: At a smart dinner party, is it wrong to ask for the wifi code?

21 April 2018 9:00 am

Q. My husband and I are excited to have been invited to dinner by our most important neighbour. However our…

Are vets the new transgenders?

27 January 2018 9:00 am

The vet who is unhappy that I cracked a joke about vets has received the backing of the British Veterinary…

Melissa Kite: The death of humour

20 January 2018 9:00 am

A vet has accused me of a ‘hate crime’ for making a joke about vets. On the basis that everything…

Christmas quiz books galore

9 December 2017 9:00 am

There can be few challenges more daunting for the assiduous reviewer than a pile of Christmas ‘gift’ books sitting on…

How can I prevent my husband from burning all my post?

18 November 2017 9:00 am

If you don’t yet watch Gogglebox on Channel 4, start doing so now. Far from making you despise our couch-potato…

Dear Mary

28 October 2017 9:00 am

Q. What is the etiquette of hospital visiting? A friend in his fifties is about to spend six weeks in…