The 30 funniest jokes at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe

Brace to giggle... or groan - comedians headed to the Fringe give us their best gags.

Pleasance puts lots more Edinburgh shows on sale

The second Edinburgh Fringe announcement for the Pleasance Theatre Trust is a whopper with returning award-winning acts, amazing newcomers, European sensations, shows with fun for all the family and political chatterings.

'Addiction can be funny': the stand-ups tackling drugs, booze, psychosis and self-harm on stage

Rich Hardisty cut himself, Harriet Dyer numbed her pain with drugs. A new wave of comics are working out their issues in their acts. But is it really helping them? And should we be laughing?

What happened to Love Actually cast?

With a love triangle, an affair and doomed romances - who could have predicted Love Actually would become such an iconic Christmas film? Here, we look at the fates of those behind one of Britain's all-time favourite Christmas flicks.

Gilded Balloon takes stand against toxic culture

In recent weeks, the Gilded Balloon, one of our oldest Scottish comedy production companies, has taken the highly unusual step to publicly announce a life ban for the comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli after comedian Lulu Popplewell complained he tried to use his status to proposition her with sex at the Edinburgh Fringe last year.

Why female comedians have been speaking out

While the live comedy circuit has been non-existent during lockdown, another, darker side of comedy has reared its head. And this one is no laughing matter. In recent weeks we have seen its ugly side emerge into the light as a grassroots #MeToo movement has sprung up, with allegations of sexual misconduct dominating social media feeds and making headlines.

Comedy has its MeToo moment

The British comedy scene is facing a MeToo scandal with performers accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour.

An industry organisation said that abusive male comics must be held accountable after dozens of women recounted experiences of degrading treatment.

Some have described being molested before shows and mocked with rape jokes, alleging that misconduct by some prominent acts had been covered up by the comedy establishment.

Comedy club set up for comics with dogs

A new comedy club is being set up specifically for stand-up fans who want to bring their dogs. Organiser and compere Simon Caine, who will bring his pet Poppy, said he got the idea from performing comedy in outdoor festivals.

Our picks for Leicester Comedy Festival

Just as we did for VAULT festival, we've whittled down some of our top picks for the Leicester Comedy Festival...

Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian Of Year review

A perfectly splendid night of comedy, this competition final was worth the ticket price. Nobody died - which is the least you can hope for - and some distinguished themselves. There was a standout winner (Joby MageeanOlga Koch) but the second and third positions (and there could have been a fourth) were tightly contested.