TV review: Frankie Boyle Live

Has Frankie Boyle got more mellow or has everybody else got more furious?

Frankie Boyle review: Appalling, vicious, clarty

In the week censors ruled Billy Connolly's sweary words were not aggressive, were not meant to insult anyone and therefore shouldn't be X-rated, his heir apparent as Britain's funniest man picked up the effing ball and ran with it.

Frankie Boyle review

For the master of the savage one-liner, stomping on sensibilities, Boyle remains deeper than his vicious reputation, with complexity of thought and a surprising variety of material, of which the nastier lines are but one part, crucial as they are.

Fresh from his deeply entertaining TV tour of Scotland, featuring road tests of fresh material, comic Frankie Boyle now brings this 45-minute set of his typically acerbic observations from the King's Theatre in Glasgow. Tackling that eternally thorny intersection of free speech and humour, Boyle meditates on which aspects of the human condition and our experiences we are free to laugh at and which jokes are simply a step too far. Of course, expect lines to be crossed.

Comedy at the Covid Arms review

Consummate host Kiri Pritchard-McLean sets the stage for Frankie Boyle and others in a show with true comedy-club feel.

Modern comedy might not appeal, but joke's not over yet

Glumness settles on a large part of the nation whenever the subject of comedy comes up now. The lockdown has led to a more frenetic search for entertainment, and the current state of humour hasn't wanted for critics. This week, Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson, 80, said it was dire, and listed several comedians, adding: "They should be done under the Trade Description Act." I sympathised with his assessment, while also feeling there were a few comedians today who are as fine as any of previous generations.