May 2013
It's comedy, but not as we know it. Brian Gittins has been on the circuit for a few years now, but his popularity has gained some purchase recently, thanks to his appearance in the Ricky Gervais series Derek as sad, sex-obsessed loser Kev. He might be playing a small room in the Soho Theatre but he has just extended his run. I recommend you go, but I also recommend you get there early enough to grab a seat at the back.
I was really glad that the BBC2 series Bellamy's People did not return after one series. Not because it was awful. It was actually very good. But it meant that spoof DJ Gary Bellamy could return to Radio 4 with his "flagship phone-in show" Down The Line, which is even better. It currently goes out at 6.30pm on Wednesdays and I solemnly urge you to tune in.
OK, let's not beat around the bush, let's talk money. When reviewing comedy shows critics review the performance and try to keep everything else – the weather, their mood, the neighbour munching Cheesy Wotsits – out of their mind. But if a review is all about giving a punter an idea of whether they should go and see a show there is one thing a critic doesn't mention which is highly relevant. Ticket prices.
I haven't quite worked out the purpose of YouTube's first ever Comedy Week yet. If it is about trying to get more people to watch YouTube that would seem like a fairly futile exercise. A bit like a TV advert saying "Eat Food" or "Please Remember to Breathe". Everybody does it anyway.
You don't get to be a comedy superstar by accident, by having a bit of luck or by having a canny manager. I'm sure all of those things help, but I've seen Michael McIntyre twice in the last week and both occasions have confirmed that there is a simple reason why he is one of the biggest comedians in the country if not the biggest.
With bands constantly reuniting maybe the next stage in the comedy-as-rock-and-roll phenomenon is for double acts to reunite. Not much chance of Baddiel and Newman getting back together though as both are currently gearing up for a full-on return to solo work after a break.
You don't get to be a comedy superstar by accident, by having a bit of luck or by having a canny manager. i'm sure all of those things help, but i've seen Michael McIntyre twice in the last week and both occasions have confirmed that there is a simple reason why he is one of the biggest comedians in the country if not the biggest.
5pm Update – Following publication of this piece Jason Byrne tweeted to explain that "Lee Evans begged me to close, he said he couldn't follow the byrne magic"...
Russell Howard's Good News can hardly be called one of TV's best kept secrets. It has regularly topped the BBC3 ratings and is one of the most viewed programmes on iPlayer. It was voted BBC3's Best Ever Show by Digital Spy and Howard was voted the number one Weird Crush by Heat Magazine earlier this year. Not sure if that last one is a compliment or not.
As fans of musical satire on Radio 4 may well have heard, Mitch Benn is only half the man he was. After being overweight for most of his life the Liverpool-born all-rounder decided he did not want to die without seeing his children grow up and lost eleven of his 25 stone a couple of years ago. Reduced Circumstances, which is an extended version of last summer's Edinburgh show, addresses the issue but not, ahem, too heavily.
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