Thursday, November 14

Tag: Myra DuBois

Myra DuBois: Be Well – Hackney Empire
London

Myra DuBois: Be Well – Hackney Empire

Myra DuBois returned to the stage at the Hackney Empire with her irreverent brand of comedy, leaving the audience in stitches, and occasionally wincing with disbelief. Presented as a "wellness sermon," ‘Myra DuBois: Be Well’ promised a fresh perspective on mental health, but what we really got was a night of rapid-fire wit, punchy audience reads, and the occasional awkward pause. The show opened with Frank Lavender, another of Gareth Joyner’s comic personas. Lavender, a relic of 1980s northern stand-up, played on his outdated attitudes with impeccable timing. Red-faced and sequined, Lavender delivered his gags with more cheese than precision, striking just the right balance of nostalgia and absurdity, generating more than a few belly laughs and a high level of energy across the audi...
Jack And The Beanstalk – Opera House, Manchester
North West

Jack And The Beanstalk – Opera House, Manchester

Christmas is never complete without a token pantomime performance - and what better show to see to get you feeling Christmassy than Guy Unsworth’s dynamic and innovative reworking of Jack and the Beanstalk. Touted as “the second biggest show in Manchester”, this panto really did have it all - a star-studded cast, sensational sets, brilliant costumes, fabulous song and dance sequences, a script jam-packed full of witty repartee (and even a flying car, wholly reminiscent of theatre favourite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). What really brought this show to life was its exuberant characters - headlined by comedian Jason Manford, he was of course the titular character of Jack Trot, who not only had the lion’s share of the jokes but had some great musical numbers too. That said, every panto (...