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Friday 12th February 2021 |
As covid continues to rock the normal balance of life across the globe, here are the very latest picks from our comedy shop to get your chuckle muscle flexing.
Coming soon
A Run For Your Money
Alec Guinness, Donald Houston, Moira Lister and Hugh Griffith star in this classic piece of BAFTA-nominated Welsh whimsy from Ealing Studios.
Made during their golden, post-war period, A Run For Your Money was directed by Charles Frend and is presented here as a brand new high definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
Dai Number 9 and his friend Twm win a newspaper contest: £100 each and a trip to London to see Wales play England at Twickenham. But when the two colliers arrive at Paddington they miss their contact and fall in with an attractive blonde who just happened to overhear that they're in the money...
Dead Ringers - Series 20
Dead Ringers' sharp satire on figures from popular culture returns for a 20th series. This release includes six new episodes, plus three Christmas specials of the award-winning show bringing back topical comedy, political vituperation, media mauling and celebrity savaging from Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis Macleod, Debra Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey. The show is written by Private Eye writers Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, and produced by Bill Dare.
Pippa Evans - Improv Your Life
An improviser's guide to embracing whatever life throws at you!
Pippa Evans is an expert in saying Yes - and No. She's a master of thinking on her feet, but has also had to learn how to go with the flow. In this book she's passing on everything she's learnt from her award winning improv career, as both a performer and teacher, so YOU can take centre stage in your own life. In telling her story, delving into the craft of improvisation, and sharing fun exercises and practice you can do at home, Pippa will help you become fully yourself - realising your potential and ability to adapt to the ever changing world around you.
It's dangerous, being yourself, but let's just take it one step at a time. Open the book, take a breath and get ready to say YES. (If it's a NO from you then perhaps consider buying for a friend, family member or enemy who you think needs some improv-ment.)
Pam Ayres - With These Hands
Delighting her fans for decades with her mischievous wit and wry observations, this is a classic collection of poems and monologues from Pam Ayres, which takes us back to where it all began.
From the nostalgia of her 1950s childhood, conjuring up images of hand-knitted swimming costumes and suet puddings, through Pam's four years in the WRAF where she discovered the joy of performing, to poignant reflections on motherhood and watching her children grow up. With These Hands provides a profound and hilarious insight into the joys and tribulations of daily life, as recorded by the nation's favourite poet.
The Missing Hancocks - The Complete BBC Radio Series
Kevin McNally and Andy Secombe star in new recordings of original Hancock's Half Hour scripts by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Between 1954 and 1959, BBC Radio recorded 102 episodes of the hugely popular comedy classic, Hancock's Half Hour, making stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams, and launching Galton and Simpson as one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. Sadly, 22 episodes of the show were wiped and have not been recovered, so Radio 4 lovingly recreated them over four highly-acclaimed series between 2014 and 2020. In a special treat for Hancock fans, Series 4 also premiered one episode - The Counterfeiter - that was never recorded by the original team.
Sing As We Go!
A morale-boosting feel good movie made at a time of great economic depression, Sing As We Go! - another pre-war hit for legendary entertainer Gracie Fields - was written by acclaimed novelist, playwright and broadcaster J.B. Priestley and sees Gracie as an out of work millhand in search of gainful employment. It is featured here as a brand new high definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
When Greybeck Mill closes, Gracie finds herself out of work. Determined to get back on her feet, she bicycles to Blackpool in search of a job and ends up sharing lodgings with a potential beauty queen at the house of Madame Osiris, a palmist!
Lee Ridley - I'm Only In It For The Parking
What's the worst thing about being disabled? Is it the shameless staring? Is it that people assume you're a bit thick because you can't speak? Or is it the fact that your friends always take you to theme parks just so they can jump the queues?
In fact, it's the stupid questions people ask that really rile Lee Ridley, aka Lost Voice Guy. And over the years he's been inundated with them by people who have failed to engage their brains before opening their mouths. Which is where I'm Only In It For The Parking comes in - think of it as a disabled FAQ, with funny (sometimes painfully funny) stories from Lee's less-ordinary life. If you think you know what it's like to be disabled, prepare to have your perceptions skewered by the much-loved Britain's Got Talent winner, the brilliant stand-up who struggles to stand-up, the Geordie without the accent. And before you ask... no, he really can't speak at all. But he definitely has something to say.
Mel Giedroyc - The Best Things
The debut novel from comedian Mel Giedroyc, currently providing laughs on her new Dave show, Unforgivable.
It's the story of a family who lose everything, only to find themselves, and each other, along the way. As the bailiffs move in and the money runs out, Sally realises that she and her children don't have a clue about how to survive. Or do they? The Parkers are about to discover that the best things in life aren't things at all.
The Complete Uncle Mort Adventures - North Country, South Country & Celtic Fringe
For the first time ever all three much-loved series featuring the legendary creations Uncle Mort and Carter Brandon are brought together in one collection. As the pair tour Britain, Uncle Mort's recollections make for some hilarious moments.
Uncle Mort and his Yorkshire-based family first appeared in Peter Tinniswood's novel A Touch Of Daniel, which earned them a run of four series of I Didn't Know You Cared on BBC TV from 1975-1979. The three subsequent radio series are Uncle Mort's North Country (1987), Uncle Mort's South Country (1990), and Uncle Mort's Celtic Fringe (1996).
Stephen Thorne, Peter Skellern and Sam Kelly star.
Babblewick Hall
When Squire Fenton Babblewick inherits his uncle's Yorkshire estate, it's the perfect opportunity to realise his utopian dreams. He attempts to become a member of parliament, reform beetroots, win the love of lovely Lucinda, be a musical composer genius and buy a workhouse to turn it into a school. His ever present manservant - August Snipe, the true brains - watches in dismay as his master makes mistake after mistake. A sitcom set in the 18th Century.
Gina Yashere - Cack-Handed: A Memoir
Comedian Gina Yashere chronicles her odyssey to get to America and break into Hollywood in this lively and humorous memoir.
According to family superstition, Gina Yashere was born to fulfill the dreams of her grandmother Patience. The powerful first wife of a wealthy businessman, Patience was poisoned by her jealous sister-wives and marked with a spot on her neck. From birth, Gina carried a similar birthmark - a sign that she was her grandmother's chosen heir, and would fulfill Patience's dreams. Gina would learn to speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man's job, and travel the world with a free spirit. Is she the reincarnation of her grandmother? Maybe. Gina isn't ruling anything out.
In Cack-Handed, she recalls her intergenerational journey to success foretold by her grandmother and fulfilled thousands of miles from home. This hilarious memoir tells the story of how from growing up as a child of Nigerian immigrants in working class London, Gina went on to become the first female engineer with the UK branch of Otis, the largest elevator company in the world, where she went through a baptism of fire from her racist and sexist co-workers. Not believing her life was difficult enough, she left engineering to become a stand-up comic, appearing on numerous television shows and becoming one of the top comedians in the UK, before giving it all up to move to the US, a dream she'd had since she was six years old.
Katy Wix - Delicacy
From award-winning comedian and writer Katy Wix comes Delicacy - a different kind of memoir from an "astonishing new voice".
Eleven snapshots of a life - some staccato, raw and shocking, some expansive, meditative, and profound, underpinned with moments of startling humour that shatter the darkness - all beginning with a single memory. A memory of cake. The sickly royal icing marked the moment Katy found her voice. The madeira cake was the sun her group therapy sessions orbited. The 'missing cake' from a lost holiday has never let go. The Bara brith eaten in hospital after a life-altering car crash was as tough as the metal that hit her. The supermarket rock cake was where she 'practised wanting'.
"Shocking, raw, darkly funny and deeply humane", Katy Wix's exploration of trauma, grief, addiction, love, loss, memory and hope is truly unforgettable.
Finding Alice
Everything seems perfect when Alice, her husband Harry and their teenage daughter Charlotte finally move into their new dream home. The first night quickly turns into everyone's nightmare when Alice finds Harry dead at the bottom of the stairs. Alice loses her ground and tries to cope with his sudden death. As Alice navigates the logistics of death, everything starts to unravel and Alice discovers that Harry had been hiding far more from her than debt.
From the director of Call The Midwife and The Durrells, Finding Alice is a dark new comedy drama from ITV, starring critically-acclaimed Keeley Hawes, Joanna Lumley, Gemma Jones and Nigel Havers.
Geoff Norcott - Where Did I Go Right?: How The Left Lost Me
Comedian Geoff Norcott 'should' have been Labour through and through. He grew up on a council estate, both of his parents were disabled, and his Dad was a union man. So, how was it that he grew up to vote Tory?
The big myth about the British working-class is that they're born Left-wing and generally stay that way. The working class intention to vote Tory has frequently flirted with the 50% mark. Labour haven't won the popular vote in England since 2001. And as the Left is increasingly diverted by identity politics, the one identity they often forget is the working-class.
Written with warmth, wit and often laugh-out-loud humour, Where Did I Go Right? is Geoff's attempt to understand why he ended up voting 'for the bad guys', and the perfect place to start if you want to understand why in Britain, blue-collar conservatism might be here to stay.
Georgia Pritchett - My Mess Is A Bit Of A Life
From worrying about the monsters under her bed as a child (Were they comfy enough?), to embracing womanhood (One way of knowing you have crossed from girlhood to womanhood is that men stop furtively masturbating at you from bushes and start shouting things at you from cars), to becoming a mother (Birth is a beautiful thing. If your idea of beauty is a tractor pulling a combine harvester out of you), comedy writer Georgia Pritchett's memoir takes us through a life lived anxiously.
Filled with warmth and humour, insight and honesty, it is "a brilliant meditation" on how to live with worry.
Fergus Craig - Once Upon A Crime
Inspired by his smash hit Twitter videos, Fergus Craig's Once Upon A Crime is a "hilarious, ridiculous, gripping comic crime novel" to make every reader's life better.
Exeter: a city in decline, South Devon's capital of crime. Detective Roger LeCarre: a man on a quest to rid the world of crime (starting with Devon and Cornwall and then working outwards) so he can concentrate on his watercolours. LeCarre runs 10km a day but probably burns more calories shaking his head at what has become of his city. Now Exeter is set to become the UK Capital of Culture and the ambitious Lord Mayor wants to turn things around. But when a young man's (dead) body is found in the centre of town, things get murky. Detective Roger LeCarre is a character never seen before in modern fiction - a tough but troubled detective with a drink problem and a marriage in trouble. Can he find out who killed the young man, save the city and change his energy provider before the new more expensive tariff kicks in?
Filled with drama, eroticism and very specific Wikipedia-sourced information on Devon, Once Upon A Crime is a thriller that demands to be read.
For more, see our full list of new releases and products coming soon.
Out now
Johnny Frenchman
Renowned farceur Tom Walls stars alongside French cinematic icon Francoise Rosay in this heart-warming comedy drama from Ealing, which has been newly restored for this premiere Blu-ray release.
Made as World War Two was coming to an end but set during its opening months, Johnny Frenchman follows the age-old rivalry between the Cornish and Breton fisherfolk. Harbourmaster Nat Pomeroy holds a particular grudge... not just for the Bretons' incessant poaching, but for the harbour dues he loses in the process!
Erik The Viking - Special Edition
A viking with a conscience, Erik tires of pillaging and decides to set out on a quest. When the wise Freya informs Erik that a great mythic wolf has eaten the sun, the warrior resolves to venture to Asgard, home of the Norse gods, to set things right. Before Erik can reach Asgard, he and his allies must first find a magical horn that resides in the land of King Arnulf, who, luckily for the hero, has a lovely daughter, Princess Aud.
Includes 103-minute and 93-minute cuts of the film in HD, and "The Director's Son's Cut" (79-minutes) in standard definition.
Sailors Three
A broad naval comedy that kept cinema-goers highly entertained during the early years of World War Two, Sailors Three was Walter Forde's last film for Ealing and Tommy Trinder's first. Co-starring Claude Hulbert and Michael Wilding, this is a memorable mix of music hall and propaganda, also enjoying its HD premiere.
On shore leave from HMS Ferocious at a neutral South American port, three sailors have one shandy too many before re-boarding their ship. Unfortunately it's not their ship and they wake up to find they've drunkenly boarded the German pocket battleship Ludendorf!
Andi Osho - Asking For A Friend
Comedian Andi Osho's new novel about three best friends who come up with a plan to solve their relationship woes once and for all.
Fed up with their love lives, Jemima, Meagan and Simi decide it's time to play the dating game by their own rules, so they're going to ditch the dating apps and ask people out in real life. The catch? They can only ask out potential dates for each other.
David Baddiel - #JewsDontCount
David Baddiel examines the -ism that woke culture and identity politics leave behind: antisemitism. Jews don't count.
Even among those on 'the right side of history', those who take a stand against all -isms - racism, sexism, ableism, Islamophobia, transphobia, etc., it is still somehow acceptable to make jokes about Jews, blame them, appropriate their culture and call them Yids in the football stadium. Throughout history Jews have been seen as rich oppressors, as well as 'vermin'. Today they are the subjects of considerable racially motivated hate-crime, and yet antisemitism is not decried by "progressives".
David Baddiel follows the antisemitism he finds in his Twitter feed to the stage, through the media and into politics, with rigour and humour. And as he does so, he challenges us to examine our complex and unconscious racism.
28 Acts In 28 Minutes
John Humphrys hosts the quick-fire comedy show featuring 28 acts performing for one minute each. Making the most of their minutes are a plethora of top-class talents, including Adam Buxton, Jason Manford, Nicholas Parsons, Sarah Millican, Richard Herring, Miles Jupp, Frankie Boyle, Isy Suttie, Tim Key, John Bishop, Tim Minchin, Jason Byrne, Stephen K Amos, Shappi Khorsandi, Stewart Lee, Marcus Brigstocke, Phil Cornwell and John Finnemore. Featuring a mix of award-winning comedians and newcomers to the scene, there's something for everyone, from stand-up to sketches, satire, songs and poems - with a few surprises thrown in. And if you don't like any of the acts, well...another will be along in about 55 seconds.
Paradise Lost In Space
Tony Robinson and David Haig star in this black-hole 1995 radio comedy about two space-age humans stranded on a friendly alien planet.
Norman is an idealistic, Beethoven-loving revolutionary. Max is a boring but cheerful timeshare salesman who won't stop talking. Fellow passengers on a flight to the Moon, they're thrown together to become reluctant companions after the lunar shuttle's toilet cubicle explodes, crash-landing them both on the desert sands of a distant alien planet. They are rescued by the friendly Oblivions, who could not be more delighted to see them. Having spent six years learning English from a discarded volume of Noël Coward plays, they're keen to practice the lingo - and learn more about the many mysteries that have baffled them. How do you mix a Martini? How does one play tennis? And what on Earth is misery? Norman and Max are about to answer all their questions - as well as introducing them to fire, contemplation and baked potatoes.
23 Walks
An independently-produced British comedy film focusing on a late-in-life romance.
Dave (Dave Johns) and Fern (Alison Steadman) meet while walking their dogs in a North London park and over the course of 23 walks romance blossoms. But Dave and Fern haven't been completely honest with one another, and their future happiness is threatened by the secrets they have withheld.
Smelling Of Roses - The Complete Series 1-4
Prunella Scales stars in this BBC radio comedy following the trials and tribulations of Rosie Burns and her Brighton-based events management company.
Events manager Rosie Burns is used to coping with the unexpected, at work and at home. When her daughter Kate accidentally became a teenage mum, Rosie stepped in, raising her granddaughter Jo so that Kate could pursue her career in international banking. Now Jo works in the family firm alongside accountant Bob (who's nursing an unrequited love for Rosie) and Tess (whose love life never ceases to amaze). Things are ticking along nicely, until Rosie gets a phone call out of the blue - after 15 years working abroad, Kate's lost her job and is coming home...
ABC Nights In - And By The Way... No Raspberries!
A night in with ABC Television - this specially curated programme compilation will transport you back to the 1960s. Hand-picked ABC archive gems hosted by David Hamilton, complete with vintage advert breaks re-create the viewing experience of sixty years ago.
This packed line-up consists of: Here's David Nixon, Dial 999: Robbery With Violence, Big Night Out, Pop Spot, Jezebel, Ex UK: Send A Telegram, The Bruce Forsyth Show, Candid Camera Classics, The Human Jungle: Struggle For A Mind, and Armchair Theatre: Call Me Daddy.
For more, see our full list of new releases and products coming soon.
Thanks for reading
You can find our full comedy shop on our website at any time, and some of the best new release news, competitions and bargains on Twitter: @BritComedyShop.
British Comedy Guide
www.comedy.co.uk
