Weekly Newsletter |
Monday 8th April 2024 |
Latest comedy news
Michael Akadiri to tour Trust Me, I'm A Daddy
Comedian and junior doctor Michael Akadiri has announced his second tour, Trust Me, I'm A Daddy
Chris McCausland & Lee Mack to star in Sky festive special Bad Tidings
Chris McCausland and Lee Mack will star as two perpetually feuding neighbours in a one-off Christmas comedy drama on Sky titled Bad Tidings.
Ted Milligan & James Trickey win 'Sketch Off!' 2024 final
Ted Milligan and James Trickey, who perform as comedy duo Burger And A Pint, have won the Leicester Square Theatre's Sketch Off! competition.
BBC axes King Gary and Goes Wrong Show
BBC One sitcoms King Gary and The Goes Wrong Show have both been dropped by the broadcaster.
Ivo Graham to host new version of Radio 4 format Obsessions
Ivo Graham's Obsessions is coming to Radio 4, resurrecting the 2018 to 2020 format previously hosted by Joe Lycett in which guests share their secret passions.
Joe Tracini & "Mick" front Channel 4 film Me And The Voice In My Head
Comic actor Joe Tracini has filmed a Channel 4 documentary about his borderline personality disorder, how it made him feel suicidal and prevented him from performing. Me And The Voice In My Head will air soon.
Roger Allam amongst cast for Brighton-based comedy film Promenade
Promenade - a comedy film about the residents of a Brighton apartment block - will feature actors including Roger Allam, Anna Chancellor, Doon Mackichan and John Finnemore.
Robin Morgan to tour The Spark stand-up show
Robin Morgan is heading out on a new 33 date stand-up tour between August and December 2024.
FYI
'Seann Walsh: Is Dead, Happy Now?' special released on YouTube; and Extended Bottom episodes to get TV debut.
Advert
Headlining The Jungle Comedy Lock-In in London (near Leicester Square tube) this Friday and Saturday is Kane Brown. Kane, the co-host of hit podcast Rated 18, is about to head out on his own national tour. This is a great chance to catch him headlining before he hits the road with his full show.
Also appearing at the gigs, which will hosted by the American comedian Russell Hicks, will be rising star Blank Peng, the talented Daniel Foxx, Live At The Apollo comic Michael Odewale and award-nominated Marjolein Robertson.
Features
Musical Comedy Awards 2024 finalists
Alex Camp, Amelia Bayler, Anna Hale, Ash Weir, Ben Pollard, Emily Cairns, Jay Bennett, Lila Robirosa, Luc Valvona, Luke Nixon, Sang Don Park and Tom Towelling are ready for the 16th Musical Comedy Awards final.
Comedy Chronicles: Playtime - The leisure of John Le Mesurier
Marking 112 years since his birth, biographer Graham McCann explores the truth behind the private life and pleasures of actor and beloved sitcom star, John Le Mesurier.
First Gig, Worst Gig: Liam Withnail
He's taking Chronic Boom on tour, but where did the eight year-old Liam Withnail cut his comedy teeth?
British Comedy Quiz #300
It's our 300th quiz! To help us celebrate the milestone, try and get a good score on these questions taken from our early quizzes.
TV listings
Meet The Richardsons
Series 5 of the comedy starring Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont. If you'd like to binge watch, all eight episodes are available to stream now.
QI
Sandi Toksvig goes to university with Guz Khan, Joe Lycett, Morgana Robinson and Alan Davies.
Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable
Shirley Ballas divulges her revenge on a cheating husband, Ross Kemp spills all on a prison-based prank, and Rosie Jones makes confessions too.
Wreck
Jamie and Vivian's morals are put to the test. The final episode airs on Wednesday.
Mandy
A shocking revelation in the nail bar leads Mandy to confess a dark secret. Then, in the final episode, she throws a party.
Rob Beckett's Smart TV
Joel Dommett, Nathaniel Curtis, Jason Fox and Hermione Norris are the guests taking part this week.
Taskmaster
Why does Sophie Willan love to balance items on her head? Can John Robins make formula milk? And, most intriguingly, why is Joanne McNally sniffing Little Alex Horne's beard?
Big Mood
A double-bill to conclude the series. Maggie and Eddie reckon with the past and prepare for the future, but will their friendship survive the challenges as they both reach crisis point?
Have I Got News For You
Mathematician, author and presenter Professor Hannah Fry will host this episode, with guests including Zoe Lyons.
Avoidance
Jonathan spies on Claire's boyfriend and goes on an actual real-life date. Meanwhile Dan and Courtney freak out over baby clothes.
Late Night Lycett
A second series of Joe Lycett's entertainment show, which is broadcast live from Birmingham.
The Jonathan Ross Show
Frank Skinner is set to appear on the chat show this weekend, as is Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham. Also: Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards, Strictly pro Johannes Radebe and rock band Kasabian.
Dinosaur
A sitcom series following on from the 2021 pilot. Ashley Storrie plays Nina, an autistic woman in her 30s, who adores her life living with her sister and best friend, Evie. However, when Evie rushes into an engagement after only six weeks and makes Nina her maid of honour, Nina is floored.
For a complete list of TV and radio broadcasts, including repeats, see our full schedule.
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Wicked Little LettersCurrently in cinemas, the comedy hit comes to home entertainment in mid-May. A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, Wicked Little Letters follows two neighbours: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town's women - led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) - begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all. |
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Helen Lederer - Not That I'm BitterWhat was it like as one of a handful of women at the heart of the right-on alternative comedy scene in the 1980s? Piece of cake? Bit of a laugh? Well, yes, and no. It had its ups - but also its downs. Helen Lederer was a regular on the stand-up circuit and new-wave sketch shows in the decade that launched the careers of today's comedy household names and national treasures. She shared stages with comedy pioneers like Ben Elton and John Hegley, and TV screens with Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Harry Enfield, and many others. So, plain sailing then? Well, not really. Not That I'm Bitter, her powerful, frank, moving and characteristically funny memoir, reveals exactly how choppy the waters could be. Even in those ground-breaking, anti-Thatcher days, there was only room at top for so many women. For the rest, it was as much a struggle to be seen and heard in the world of comedy as in any boardroom or workplace, and just as difficult to avoid the predators. This is more than the story of one decade, however... |
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Whack-O!Jimmy Edwards stars as the irascible Headmaster in this vintage BBC radio comedy series set in a boys' public school. Starting life on BBC TV, Whack-O! transferred to radio in 1961 and ran for three series on the Light Programme until 1963. Not all of the radio episodes survive, but many from Series 1 and the entirety of Series 2 were recovered by a BBC archivist from a listener's tapes in 2012, and have since been broadcast on Radio 4 Extra. Collected here are those rediscovered episodes, featuring scholastic scheming and academic anarchy. An old-established seat of learning for the 'sons of gentlefolk', Chiselbury is presided over by whack-happy Headmaster Professor James Edwards, who runs rings around his fellow masters and never misses a trick when it comes to exploiting the pupils and their parents. Co-starring June Whitfield as Matron and Roddy Maude-Roxby as Aubrey Potter, this farcical, fun-filled sitcom also features special guest appearances from Eamonn Andrews and Vera Lynn. |
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Jenny And Julie's BBC Radio DramasA collection of comedies and dramas about modern women's lives and loves, starring Jenny Eclair, one of Britain's most-loved stand-up comedians, and the first woman to win the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. This set includes On Baby Street, TwilightBaby.com, Just Juliette, and Dear Jenny, Dear Julie. Also to be enjoyed are the dramas Jason's Mum, The Andy Warhol Syndrome, In Convenience and He's Leaving His Wife. Written by Eclair and Julie Balloo, the casts include Al Murray, Frances Barber, Kathy Burke, Kevin Eldon, Claire Skinner, Linda Robson, Peter Sallis, Helen Lederer, Paul Merton, Nicholas Parsons and Ronni Ancona. |
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HoffmanOne of the most unsettling films in the Peter Sellers canon, Hoffman sees the actor in a sinister starring role as a bachelor who obsesses over his secretary (Sinéad Cusack) and, discovering that her boyfriend (Jeremy Bulloch) has been fiddling the books at work, blackmails her into spending a week with him. Their time together reveals Hoffman's tragic, lonely existence. Alvin Rakoff directs a film that is by turns amusing, poignant and uneasy, and boasts a central performance so uncomfortable and revealing that Sellers tried to have its negative destroyed. |
For more, see our full list of new releases and items coming soon.
Comedy videos
The Stock Footage Sketch Show
Another episode of the show in which Adrian Gray takes generic videos and gives the actors new voices.
Fin Vs The Internet - Paul from The Traitors
This time it is Paul Gorton from The Traitors who is bombarded with Fin Taylor's inappropriate jokes. Look out for a cameo from another Traitors star too.
Delusional girls
"There's so much pressure to be perfect all the time!"
Mansplaining attempt goes wrong - Broken News
A British man interrupted a conversation between three women about football to offer his opinion...
Comedy Central Live - Ali Woods
Ali Woods experiences the killer combo of a takeaway curry, pasty skin, and 69ing...
Spotlight
See How They Run
Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan lead the cast of this tremendously fun comedy murder mystery from 2022, both based upon and around Agatha Christie's celebrated West End whodunnit, The Mousetrap. BAFTA-nominated, it's full of recognisable faces and was well-received on its release, but has yet to make it to DVD or Blu-ray. Still, streaming and download options are available - and we do rather recommend you partake!
Thanks for reading
A BCG Pro Gag-a-Week entry by Paul Larkin:
The overweight performer went on the Actor's Diet - you have to watch your entrances and exits.
British Comedy Guide
www.comedy.co.uk
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