Daliso Chaponda
Dalton Trumbo's Reluctant Cabaret
Damion Larkin
Dan Antopolski
Dan Atkinson
Dan Bland
Dan Clark
Dan Evans
Dan Mitchell
Dan Nightingale
Dan Willis
Daniel Kitson
Daniel Rigby
Daniel Simonsen
Daniel Sloss
Daniel Townes
Danielle Ward
Danny Bhoy
Danny Buckler
Danny Dawes
Danny Deegan
Danny Hurst
Danny James
Dara O Briain
Darren Ruddell
Dave Allen
Dave Dynamite
Dave Florez
Dave Fulton
Dave Gibson
Dave Gorman
Dave Howarth
Dave Johns
Dave Lemkin
Dave Longley
Dave McCue
Dave McSavage
Dave Skinner
Dave Spikey
Dave Thompson
Dave Twentyman
Dave Williams
David Baddiel
David Bloom
David Cross
David Crowe
David Feldman
David Hadingham
David Meech
David Mitchell
David Mulholland
David O'Doherty
David Walliams
David Ward
David Whitney
Dawn French
Debra-Jane Appelby
Deirdre O'Kane
Del Strain
Delete The Banjax
Demitris Deech
Denis Norden
Dermot Carmody
Dermot Whelan
Des Bishop
Des Clarke
Des McLean
Des Sharples
Diane Morgan
Doc Brown
Doktor CocaColaMcDonalds
Dom Carroll
Dom Irrera
Dom Joly
Dominic Cross
Dominic Frisby
Dominic Holland
Dominic Woodward
Don Biswas
Don Dube
Donald Mack
Doniert McFarlane
Donna McPhail
Donna Spence
Donnchadh O Conaill
Doug Stanhope
Dougie Dunlop
Drew Barr
Drew Cameron
Dudley Moore
Dug Shelmerdine
Duncan Logan
Duncan Norvelle
Duncan Oakley
Dylan
Dylan Fielding
Dylan Moran

Velvet Laugher Master Series
Edinburgh Fringe 2006
Doug Stanhope
Edinburgh Fringe 2008
Day With Doug
Misc live shows
Pimm's Summerfest
West End run
Doug Stanhope, Soho Theatre
Doug Stanhope
The CarnivalFrom his DVD, No Refunds |
More Doug Stanhope videos |
| The Carnival |
| This Generation Sucks |
| Fuck The French |
| The Fetus Photo |
| The Fetus Photo |
| Would You Believe |
| On Sarah Palin |
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Stanhope says he was living off fraud telemarketing and the kindness of strippers in Las Vegas, when he first ventured onto the stage of an open mic comedy night at a seedy bar called the Escape Lounge II. When all the strippers left for band guys, Doug traipsed down to Phoenix on the tail of a woman and landed a gig as a house MC at the Comedy Cove, a club as doomed to failure as the relationship. The girl left him nine months later for the lighting guy from Cheap Trick . The club shut down around the same time, but not before Doug had enough contacts to start a life on the road. In December of 1992, Doug packed his few belongings in a 1981 Dodge Omni and spent the next three years living on the road like a pig, getting drunk, chasing women and spewing "dick jokes" across America like a crop duster until his break at the 1995 San Francisco comedy festival enabled him to move to Los Angeles. |
CV |
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| TV: 2001: Half-hour special on Comedy Central |
| TV: 1999: Hired to produce and star in Fox TV's When Hidden Cameras Attack, which finally aired in 2002 |
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| Stand Up: 2004: Second Edinburgh appearance. Review. Review. |
| Stand Up: 2002: British debut. Review. Review. |
| Stand Up: 1996: Took part in Just For Laughs, Montreal. |
| Stand Up: 1996: Took part in the Aspen Comedy Festival |
| Stand Up: 1995: Won the $10,000 top prize at the San Francisco comedy festival. |
| Stand Up: 1992-1995: On the road round the clubs of the US. |
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Doug Stanhope in London |
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![]() Ever insightful, Doug Stanhope knows the impotence of his trademark fury better than most. He’s come to accept that his big, if hugely controversial, ideas to solve all the world’s ills fall on the deaf ears of the drunkards and wastrels he considers his natural audience. He also admits this all-too brief London run coincides with his annual crisis of confidence, when he becomes listless with his own material and convinced he’s not, nor never has been, funny. He’s hardly motivated by the news, feeling there aren’t too many ha-has in sub-prime mortgage lending, so what he really needs is a ‘better 9/11’ to inspire him anew This – plus the fact he’s noticeably under the weather – doesn’t auger well for an hilarious 80 minutes. But thankfully, despite his protests, there’s no drought of ideas in what turns out to be another powerfully opinionated show. If global issues aren’t his concern, he is still left to focus his omnipresent frustrated rage in two opposing directions: outwards to the minutiae of existence, and inwards to his own numerous failings of a human being. In a coruscating early routine about stand-up itself; he contrasts his attempts at observational comedy with the benign wit of Jerry Seinfeld. Both may comment upon the inadequacies of airline food – but where Seinfeld simply points it out, Stanhope wants to punch someone in the head for it. Comedy is all the funnier when it has anger management issues, and Stanhope brings plenty of those to the table. When it comes to himself, he’s not so much angry as disappointed, especially at the state of his aging body, which he doesn’t even feel he can inflict upon comedy groupies any more. But he can still get laid: ‘I got hooker money,’ he declares. It’s a line that is perfectly believable, coming from Stanhope. You know his debauched tales of drunken, drug-fuelled excess, of watching porn, and generally being on the fringes of society – although never the core thread of his act – are entirely authentic. That you know he’s the real deal gives added credence that the views he espouses are genuinely held beliefs, not concocted for the sake of a glib joke. So even on the rare occasions when routines don’t really work – a muddled if well-intentioned derision of the Monarchy or some nonsense about humans being the result of aliens breeding with apes – you still want to listen to hear what he has to say. Aside from the closing material about the relative lack of intimacy in sex, which Stanhope performed at his last UK visit, his most impressive routine considers the discrimination against the ugly as heinous as any other prejudice. This tessellates neatly with both his take on Barack Obama and racism, and his inspired thoughts on Susan Boyle, brutally spearing those who expected her to be unable to sing simply because she was aesthetically imperfect. Elsewhere, Stanhope beautifully offensive take on why abortion is the environmentally sensible choice, and a thoughtfully logical, if comedically underpowered, manifesto makes a great case for how the state should have no power over what you do to your own body – from drugs to abortion to euthanasia. Hang on, aren’t we back on to the big issues Stanhope said he wouldn’t tackle. But for a drunk wreck of a man with a tendency to rub people up the wrong way, he doesn’t half make some good points – and funny ones too. |
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| Date of live review: Wednesday 2nd Sep, '09 | |
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Review by Steve Bennett |
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Tuesday 16th Sep, '08 - | |
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Show - Misc live shows - | |
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Show - Edinburgh Fringe 2002 - | |
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Show - Edinburgh Fringe 2006 - | |
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Show - West End run - | |
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Just a note from America: Doug Stanhope is the funniest and most intelligent person on the planet. Period. Hicks, Bruce, Carlin, and Kinison are all great, but Doug is totally original. And he very rarely has to make things up. See him at all costs. Namgar, January 2020 |
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Definitely not one for the casual comedy-goer. We saw him at the Pimms Summerfest, where some of the more sensitive of the audience left (presumably in disgust at his more extreme material). His set was truly filthy/disgraceful in places, but with elements of gut-wrenchingly funny, insightful comedy. Jo Phelan, August 2008 |
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I saw Doug a the Kilkenny Cat Laughs too...but I was there exclusively to see him and I have to say it was without doubt the funniest show I've ever seen, a lot of people were clearly shocked because the more beers he had the more obscene he became, but I thought it was hilarious, the man's a genius. Keep it up Doug. karen walsh, January 2007 |
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He is wonderful as a has been. American fan, November 2006 |
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This is how a stand-up comic should be. Bill Hicks once said 'I want my rock stars dead' - well I want my stand-up comedians stinking pissed and heavily irate by the time they get on-stage (carrying three bottles of lager and a full shotglass). Not for the faint hearted but definitely for the open minded, Doug Stanhope controlled the room with various well placed rants . I've not seen much stand up comedy but I know I've seen one of the most important comics ever. See this guy, you won't be disappointed. amen. danny, October 2006 |
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just saw Doug Stanhope on Howard Stern. Having never heard of Doug before, or his q-ball girlfriend, I was truely impressed. I like Doug's approach to his audience and respect his "open window" of a life as the source of his comedy. He's the guy the married men cant hang around but want to (if their wives would let them!). I will be looking for more of Doug Stanhope while I'm sitting at this corperation pretending to work; wondering why I didnt take his roaddd in Blackpool when I was 7 years old, and now, many years later, he is still one of my favourite comedians. I even have an autograph! Fun for the whole family, each person will get a different part of the same joke.Fantastic Vicki Fell, September 2006 |
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Just returned from seeing Stanhope in Edinburgh and loved his show. He appeals to the dark side of our personalities, the evil monkey on our shoulder, he celebrates it and I implore him to continue doing so! It's so fantastic to see an act, who makes you leave the building thinking about things in a different way. Katie Bonna, August 2006 |
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Doug Stanhope is the funniest comedian I've ever heard. Thru all the dark, demented and crazy shit he has to say, I have to say I can't argue with him on any points. Everyone has opinions and mine is that Stanhope is the funniest mofo in comedy. JoJo The Monkey Boy, July 2006 |



