#comedy

#comedy

-the first game from AdHoc Studio, which was formed by veterans of Telltale Games- contains a lot of "almosts." It's a revival of the choice-driven Telltale adventure game we've been missing for nearly a decade, but without all the walking around and examining the environment while the game was barely holding itself together. It's a superhero story, but it's mostly a workplace management sim with superheroes in it.

Mo Mandel is a writer, comedian, and actor who has appeared on some of your favorite TV shows as well as a few you probably hate. He's even created a few himself (hopefully those are the ones you liked). Most recently, he released his third comedy special, starred in a major film role, and wrote commercials for a slew of top brands.

Welcome to Hecklers Welcome!, San Francisco's only stand-up show where you get to talk back. This is not your average comedy night-this is a full-blown verbal brawl, where comics come ready to spar and the audience gets a license to heckle. Got jokes? Bring 'em. Got beef? Air it. Think you're funnier than the pros? Talk back and find out.

Tickets go on sale at 10 am unless otherwise noted. MUSIC Alan Doyle Aladdin Theater (May 16, 2026) On sale at noon Alice Phoebe Lou - Oblivion Tour Aladdin Theater (Apr 27, 2026) Atmosphere: Winter Carnival Tour Roseland Theater (Feb 16, 2026) Berner Hawthorne Theatre (Feb 19, 2026) Colony House - The 77 Tour Aladdin Theater (Mar 18, 2026) Del Water Gap - Chasing the Chimera World Tour Crystal Ballroom (Feb 11, 2026)

From 20th Century Studios comes "Ella McCay," a comedy from Oscar and Emmy Award-winning writer, director and producer James L. Brooks, known for "Terms of Endearment" and "As Good as It Gets." Watch the new trailer in the video player above. Emma Mackey stars as Ella McCay, an idealistic young woman who juggles her family and work life in a story about the people you love and how to survive them. Alongside Mackey, the film features Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Spike Fearn, Julie Kavner, Rebecca Hall, Becky Ann Bake and Joey Brooks, with Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson.

One of the things that disgusts me is a statement made by Kevin Bakhurst not too long ago when somebody said, there's no comedy on RTÉ at the moment. And he went, 'Oh, well, you know comedy, it's hit and miss'. And basically that was an admission of total defeat. And I'd never heard a head of a TV station saying that before that they actually gave up on making comedy.

Critic Waldemar Januszczak begins a docu-trilogy on art's most controversial topics with a blisteringly explicit, absolute hoot of a look at sex. What our reviewer said No amount of jackhammering antique buttocks can muffle your gasps of gratitude that there is still, in 2025, a place where Januszczak's brand of factual entertainment considered, accessible, unapologetically adult is allowed to exist. Sarah Dempster Read the full review

Observer critic Miranda Sawyer and gal-dem founder Liv Little team up to give their takes on the cultural zeitgeist, each bringing their own interests to cover everything from reality TV to fine art. First up, Little charts the massive rise of former Little Mixer Jade Thirlwall (the girlies are loving her), while Sawyer explores how true crime revolutionised podcasting and exploded into documentaries, drama and more.

The more s-t you give us, the stronger we get. And every good comic will take any kind of adversity and turn it into comic gold.

After a full day of bluegrass in Golden Gate Park, keep the vibes going with Hardly Strictly Comedy: The Unofficial After Party. Whether you're hopping on the N Judah, 5 Fulton, or 7 Haight, we're just a few stops away at The Function - San Francisco's only Black-owned comedy club and lounge. 📅 Hardly Strictly Comedy - SHOWTIMES Friday, Oct 3 & Saturday, Oct 4

In primary school I wasn't very cool. I never got Hula Hoops in my packed lunches because my Polish mum would give me cucumbers and I hadn't seen High School Musical because we didn't have Sky. Without those two major assets, you had to find a thing and mine became trying to make people laugh. I made a YouTube channel when I was 14, then eventually worked at the Edinburgh fringe when I was 18, and saw some amazing standup.

MUSIC 49th & Main Holocene (Mar 23, 2026) 4batz: I'm Still Shinin Tour Wonder Ballroom (Fri Oct 31) Andy Frasco & The U.N. The Get Down (Feb 6, 2026) ASTN: What If This Tour Aladdin Theater (Mon Nov 24) Drink The Sea Aladdin Theater (Jan 31, 2026) Indigo De Souza Revolution Hall (Mar 9, 2026) Jai Wolf 45 East (Feb 20, 2026) LYNY with Just a Gent, BORNE 45 East (Sat Dec 20) Madison Cunningham

Tim Robinson has a very well-established brand at this point, and it's certainly on display in the new trailer for his upcoming HBO comedy series The Chair Company, which features Robinson as a family man attempting to sort out a "vast criminal conspiracy." There will, of course, be plenty of yelling along the way.

Jonathan Goldstein's narrative pod about regrets, mistakes and the pursuit of closure cancelled by Spotify in 2023 makes its return this week under the Pushkin banner, and it's been worth the wait. Heavyweight does up-close-and-personal like few other shows, and this first episode about a son's fears around his parents' cluttered house, and a plot to relocate their trinkets to a barn is both warm and spiked with melancholy. Hannah J Davies Widely available, episodes weekly from Thu