Reviewed by Julian Hall Independent on Sunday, 6th June 2010 The World Cup beginning in South Africa this week is the icing on the cake of African football’s contribution to the global game. It is a contribution that was heralded so memorably by Roger Milla’s World Cup goal celebration “wiggle” in 1990, after he scored […]
Read MoreLembit Opik takes the stage Prospect magazine, 3rd June 2010 Perhaps Lembit Opik turning from politics to comedy was not such a surprise. After all, this is the man who played cheeky boy to a Cheeky Girl and had a penchant for backing doomed leadership campaigns within his own party, with the effect of Norman […]
Read MoreIndependent on Sunday, 14th February 2010 If you are the kind of person who generally wears (and is worn down by) a metaphorical sandwich-board proclaiming that “The End is Nigh”, then you will no doubt enjoy reading prophecies of doom, be they in works of science fiction, fantasy or in The Daily Mail. For a […]
Read MoreAnd they call it Buffy love On the tenth anniversary of Buffy The Vampire Slayer hitting British screens Julian Hall talks to its creator Joss Whedon about the show’s Englishness and its resonance from beyond the grave This year sees the tenth anniversary of Joss Whedon’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer first staking its claim to […]
Read MoreA ‘tunnel of love’ but 228’s the number of the bored Posted by Julian Hall Friday, 22 May 2009 at 06:26 pm Is Punchdrunk’s Tunnel 228 a great example of the Emperor’s new clothes, or in this case, new bunker? The latest venture from the much vaunted theatre group has set the chattering classes teeth […]
Read MoreShowstopper! Leicester Square Theatre, London The Independent, 5th May 2009 Matt Lucas is partly responsible for some of the most visceral and grotesque humour in British comedy. So it was both intriguing and refreshing to see him in an altogether more ponderous, and sometimes bashful mood, for his guest role in this improvised musical. Sporting […]
Read MoreReviewed by Julian Hall Hexagon, Reading The Independent, 24th March 2009 When Rob Brydon’s support act, Hal Cruttenden, announces himself, there’s the customary puzzlement from the section of the audience that didn’t realise there was a warm-up. When Brydon announces himself, after the interval, there seemed to be a smaller group that hadn’t realised that […]
Read More[If you’ve not seen all of The Wire yet, the following contains perilous scenes of spoilers] When Buffy left the building I wondered if I would enjoy a TV show as much again. When a friend told me that there was this cop show that was really good, I was sceptical. A cop show? The only thing […]
Read MoreThe grumpy old man of comedy surveys his career Reviewed by Julian Hall Independent on on Sunday, 24th May 2009 Arthur Smith once helped me to promote a book I wrote by taking a BBC reporter for a wander around his self-proclaimed fiefdom of Balham. That he did more for my book than its publishers […]
Read MoreAnyone who has not yet visited New York already knows two things; that it is a “Big Apple” and that it was so good they named it twice. After my last visit to New York I think that I may have found the common theme to both these observations – Brooklyn, the vast, varied and […]
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