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Dominion, London
There’s plenty of song and dance to enjoy in this short London production starring Aled Jones and Strictly’s Tom Chambers. Just try to ignore the lack of plot… -
In plays by David Storey and Anthony Shaffer, Clarke was something special on stage. If only theatre had made more use of him, writes Michael Billington
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Roy Williams explore the problems of an eager young policewoman in south London and finds little division between law enforcers and law breakers, writes Michael Billington
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When a naked picture circulates around a school, the battle lines are drawn, girl against girl. Is this what feminism is now? Evan Placey’s play asks uncomfortable questions
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The comedian opens up about forsaking alcohol for laughs, his PowerPoint double act … and his cat
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Dancers at the One Side to the Other show will lead visitors on an intimate journey around specially chosen artworks
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When playwright Young Jean Lee decided to write a play about identity politics, it was a very different kind of minority she had in mind
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Sydney theatre’s associate director will take over from Ralph Myers with focus on new talent and Indigenous theatre
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This clever piece plays with the conventions of behaviour and control, and how they’re affected by our physical environment, writes Judith Mackrell
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Australian audiences have waited long enough for a full production of La Bayadère, and the Australian Ballet do everything right with Stanton Welch’s choreography, writes Michaela Marshall
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The stage is set for a thriller, but David Auburn’s play, while accurate in its portrayal of human relationships, never delivers a knockout blow, writes Alexis Soloski
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Complex scientific theories are made accessible in the characters’ sharp exchanges, but it’s all a bit too cerebral, writes Alfred Hickling
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While occasionally tentative, in her Broadway debut Stone delivers where it counts in a classic production of the Weimar-era musical
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The self-effacing former public schoolboy is painfully honest about his hangups in this lovely, well-written comic set, writes Brian Logan
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The Invisible Dot star is making a name for himself with a twisted solo show, Odessa, and a Jane Austen-themed improv group. He talks to Ryan Gilbey
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Lyn Gardner: In an age where playgoers have been recast as active participants, perhaps we can no longer hide behind our passivity
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Ping-pong, knife-juggling and witty stripping save the show from sniggering adolescence, writes Michael Billington
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It seemed like a one-off curiosity but Cheek by Jowl’s experiment became an unlikely global hit, recalls Declan Donnellan
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Report finds New York endoscopy clinic failed to respond to comedian’s waning vital signs, failed to check her weight and performed procedures without consent
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Dancers at the One Side to the Other show will lead visitors on an intimate journey around specially chosen artworks
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This clever piece plays with the conventions of behaviour and control, and how they’re affected by our physical environment, writes Judith Mackrell
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Australian audiences have waited long enough for a full production of La Bayadère, and the Australian Ballet do everything right with Stanton Welch’s choreography, writes Michaela Marshall
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The stage is set for a thriller, but David Auburn’s play, while accurate in its portrayal of human relationships, never delivers a knockout blow, writes Alexis Soloski
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Complex scientific theories are made accessible in the characters’ sharp exchanges, but it’s all a bit too cerebral, writes Alfred Hickling
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While occasionally tentative, in her Broadway debut Stone delivers where it counts in a classic production of the Weimar-era musical
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The self-effacing former public schoolboy is painfully honest about his hangups in this lovely, well-written comic set, writes Brian Logan
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Ping-pong, knife-juggling and witty stripping save the show from sniggering adolescence, writes Michael Billington
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A decaying urban park under threat of development is the setting for this dance show that sometimes feels like a ragbag, writes Sanjoy Roy
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National Theatre Wales aim to re-create a perilous border crossing, but the result is a gimmicky, odd form of entertainment, writes Lyn Gardner
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The retail experience is given a creepy immersive theatre makeover, complete with rats and disembodied heads, writes Alfred Hickling
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Comedy Bill Cosby standup review: at 77, still strikingly casual and effortlessly skilled
4 / 5 starsTaking the stage amid clouds of controversy, the comic delivered a meticulous set that confirmed his standup mastery -
Stuart Slade’s sparky and foul-mouthed topical piece explores the complex aftermath of abuse allegations on a family, writes Lyn Gardner
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Ballet Royal Ballet triple bill review – Liam Scarlett’s Age of Anxiety is swaggering but lightweight
3 / 5 starsDrawing on WH Auden’s meditation on post-second world war upheavals in New York, Liam Scarlett’s latest ballet might have been better woven around our own troubles, writes Judith Mackrell -
Gemma Arterton effortlessly leads the way in a joyful, garish musical rejig of the hit film, writes Susannah Clapp
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Lloyd Newson’s bleak work about a man seeking love in a gay sauna is redeemed by compassion and honesty, writes Luke Jennings
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This great American musical gets exemplary treatment by the New York Philharmonic, but the semi-staging frustrates
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The Invisible Dot star is making a name for himself with a twisted solo show, Odessa, and a Jane Austen-themed improv group. He talks to Ryan Gilbey
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It seemed like a one-off curiosity but Cheek by Jowl’s experiment became an unlikely global hit, recalls Declan Donnellan
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Peter Rankin recalls how, as a schoolboy, he met the founder of the most groundbreaking theatre company of the 20th century – and how she ended up living in his flat
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G is for The Goat, L is for lizards and U is for umbrella … As A Delicate Balance returns to Broadway, Mark Lawson serves up a guide to the great American playwright
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The winner of the 2013 Edinburgh comedy award talks to Alex Clark about feminism, FGM and her seventysomething fanbase
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White Christmas | Control 25 | Compass Festival | Frankie & Johnny In The Clair De Lune | Alice In Wonderland | Accolade
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As his Iron Curtain Trilogy opens in London, the playwright talks to Mark Lawson about depicting the last 50 years of British life on the stage
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She doesn’t like Tony Abbott’s swimwear or policies, thinks Nigel Farage is frightening, loves Australia – mostly – and thinks Israel can be blind to its own faults. Anything else to add to the list?
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Nigel Farage and the comedian Andrew Lawrence have accused a ‘politically correct comedy clique’ of targeting Ukip and favouring talentless women and ‘ethnics’. The gloves are off, says founding member Stewart Lee
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In researching my play Queen Coal I wanted to explore the vanishing of a once thriving industry. It all came into focus after Margaret Thatcher’s effigy was burned on a bonfire
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Director Katie Mitchell, playwright Duncan Macmillan and scientist Chris Rapley let the facts speak for themselves in new Royal Court show
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The French performer, who has announced her retirement, always seemed ageless on stage. A technical prodigy, she matured into a sensitive dance actor and bold experimenter, writes Judith Mackrell
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The story of Amanda Todd, who at 15 killed herself after being blackmailed and harassed online, is evoked in Girls Like That at London’s Unicorn theatre, writes Matt Trueman
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The ex-Boyzone singer-songwriter talks to Liz Hoggard about the challenge he faces taking on the lead role in hit West End musical Once
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Life with Father, about a sexist patriarch and submissive wife, holds the record for the longest-running non-musical play in New York. Now, 75 years after it premiered, Mark Lawson asks what it says about American theatre in the 20th century
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Richard Sheridan’s grande dame from The Rivals is best known for her flamboyant word-mangling, but what lies behind the desperate desire to impress? Two actors who’ve played the role doff their bonnets to a great autodidact and survivor
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Lyn Gardner: In an age where playgoers have been recast as active participants, perhaps we can no longer hide behind our passivity
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Tim Minchin and Stewart Lee have both observed that fame and acclaim create dilemmas for comedians, who habitually punch upwards. But a comfortable life needn’t blunt dissent and satire
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The Pope of Trash behind cult hits like Cry Baby and Hairspray joined us to answer your questions on Bob Dylan stealing his moustache, his Simpsons cameo and Werner Herzog
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David Hare’s adaptation of Behind the Beautiful Forevers previews at the National, Ron Athey brings ritual and mystery to Glasgow, plus a sinister thriller from Alistair McDowall
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The internet has changed the way we experience the world, and theatre is at last catching up. Playwright Alistair McDowall argues it needs to embrace eclecticism
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The implications of the alliance between ENB and the theatre are so significant that the news even overshadowed the announcement of Sylvie Guillem’s farewell shows, writes Judith Mackrell
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Lyn Gardner: Is drama GCSE an irrelevance as the National Youth Theatre's Paul Roseby has suggested?
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Antony Sher plays Falstaff in Bath, the lives of female Muslim boxers are examined in Manchester, one-on-one performance is big in Liverpool, and La Soirée sashays back into London
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Dance depends on wigs but, as with the Royal Ballet’s all-Ashton programme, fake hair can be a distraction from choreographic riches, writes Judith Mackrell
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From The Cherry Orchard to The Wild Duck, it's been a wonderful year for radical reinventions of classic plays by directors who aren't awed by a work's revered status
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The French playwright’s comedy has been packing audiences in worldwide for 20 years. What is the secret of its success, asks Michael Billington
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Residents of Detroit could have seen more of the NT last year than people living in Sunderland. Is so much touring overseas in the National's interests?
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In Sheffield, women take to the frontline of the miners' strike, while Tom Stoppard's best play is revived in Nottingham – and check out the half-term happenings all over the country
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When Fred Herko jumped naked out of a window aged 28, he had help found Judson Dance theater and performed in three Warhol films. Now, a festival celebrates a pivotal figure in the 60s New York underground
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Lyn Gardner: Is it an aesthetic? A political statement? Or just the best way to get things done? Do-it-yourself theatre is all around us
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How can Barry Humphries support freedom of speech for Barry Spurr when censorship is just fine for his international cabaret festival? Maeve Marsden withdraws her application
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Publishing standups’ one-liners is cheap clickbait that does comedians – and their gags – no favours, writes Brian Logan
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These are the locations for the opening scenes in 10 of the Bard's plays. Match the setting to the play
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Many of Shakespeare's lines are used in daily life – but do you know which plays feature these popular expressions?
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As Nicole Scherzinger prepares to play Grizabella, can you tell which of these lyrics are sung in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End musical and which are sung by the Pussycat Dolls?
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Taking its name from the misused words of Mrs Malaprop in The Rivals, a malapropism (AKA a dogberryism) is the use of an incorrect word in place of one with a similar sound. Can you guess the right wrong words?
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Shakespeare wrote some of the most beautiful sonnets in history but he was also the prince of putdowns. How well do you know the Bard's barbs?
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Laurence Olivier had plenty of wise words for aspiring performers. Mind you, so does the moderate Twitter sensation @Tips4Actors. Can you tell whose lines are whose?
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Do you know your Benedick from your Beatrice? Your Romeo from your Juliet? Match the quote to the character
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Can you tell which of these lines belong to Blanche Dubois and which are spoken by agent Dana Scully?
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Shakespeare saved some fine lines for those characters drawing their last breath. Can you identify who speaks these words in their exit speeches?
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Here are 10 striking stage directions – can you identify the plays they're taken from?
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Can you guess which of these two festival newbies the reviewers are writing about?
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Here are 10 one-liners on the subject of education. Do you know which comedian is responsible for each of them?
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Here are 10 pithy gags on the subject of television. Do you know which entertainer is responsible for each of them?
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Here are 10 pithy gags on the subject of conflict. Do you know which entertainer is responsible for each of them?
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Were you paying attention before the curtain fell? See if you recognise these closing lines of 10 great plays
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Here are 10 pithy gags on the subject of money. Do you know which entertainer is responsible for each of them?
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Do you know your Lear from your Leontes? Your Macbeth from your Mercutio? Match these lines to the right characters
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As Lindsay Lohan prepares to make her West End debut in Speed-the-Plow, can you guess if these lines come from Mean Girls or David Mamet's plays?
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Here are 10 pithy gags on the subject of sex. Do you know which entertainer is responsible for each of them?
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Here are 10 one-liners on the subject of kids. Do you know which standup is responsible for each of them?
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Before becoming Wolverine and Jean Valjean, Hugh Jackman started out as a stage actor. As he returns to Broadway in Jez Butterworth’s The River, revisit his theatrical career
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The centrepiece of the Royal Ballet’s new triple bill is The Age of Anxiety, a world premiere choreographed by Liam Scarlett and inspired by Auden. All photographs by Tristram Kenton for the Guardian
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Assembly lines meet chorus lines in the new musical Made in Dagenham, starring Gemma Arterton and based on the hit British film. Go behind the scenes
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Jeff Stark's The Dreary Coast is staged on the Gowanus Canal, one of the most polluted waterways in Brooklyn. Take a tour of this interactive theatre piece, which incorporates elements of several Greek myths, Dante's Inferno and a smattering of other classical and modern references, in order to tell the story of Charon, the mythical boatman who ferries souls through Hades. Read our review of the performance
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Sylvie Guillem has announced that she will present her final dance programme at Sadler’s Wells in 2015. Revisit her journey from Parisian ballerina to global dance sensation
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Take a sneak peek at Australia’s freshest choreographic talent rehearsing New Breed, Sydney Dance Company’s showcase of new contemporary dance at Carriageworks
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Tango champions and Strictly Come Dancing favourites Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone celebrate the golden age of American movies in their new West End show
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Choreographers Akram Khan and Israel Galván dance to two different beats – kathak and flamenco. Their new project, Torabaka, is more than a fusion of the two. They tell us what it means and how they work
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For this week’s photography assignment in the Observer New Review we asked you to share your photos on the theme of ‘magic’ via GuardianWitness. Here is a selection of our favourites
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Its not easy being green – never mind defying gravity. See Jennifer DiNoia’s transformation into Elphaba for the magical musical at the Apollo Victoria theatre. Photos by Matt Crockett
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Circus dominates at this year's Melbourne festival, but there's no big top, tiger or ringmaster in sight. Nancy Groves reports
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Scott Rankin and Trevor Jamieson discuss Hipbone Sticking Out, which covers thousands of years of Pilbara history, and the death in custody of John Pat, in a single performance
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After 30 years, New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan will bid farewell to the company with a special performance on Saturday 18 October 2014. Leap back through her incredible career
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Disney’s The Lion King celebrates its 15th anniversary at the Lyceum theatre in London on 19 October. Go behind the scenes at the award-winning musical
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Shakespeare’s matching pair of romantic comedies, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Love’s Labour’s Won, have been reunited by the RSC. Take a look at the costumes designed by Simon Higlett
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Here Lies Love, a musical by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim has opened at the National’s new Dorfman theatre after an award-winning run on Broadway
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Watch the former Bolshoi dancer's five-star performance in the lead role in Petipa's classic romantic ballet
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As John Bell announces his retirement from Bell Shakespeare, the company he founded to make Shakespeare accessible to all Australians, we take a look back at his long career treading the boards
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Relive some of John Bell's greatest performances, from King Lear and Richard III to Faustus
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Royal Ballet star Natalia Osipova made her much-anticipated appearance in Kenneth MacMillan’s acclaimed tragic ballet Manon at London’s Royal Opera House this week
Comedy is the art of the underdog – so is success a curse for standups?