October 2013
It has been a busy time for big comedians lately. Not just busy doing gigs and panel shows and plugging their plethora of product, but also busy being taken seriously. Following his guest editorship of the New Statesman and his appearance on Newsnight Russell Brand has now been taken to task by Robert Webb for being more style than content. Webb wrote a stinging response for the New Statesman saying that Brand's anti-voting stance has made him rejoin the Labour Party.
The Altitude Comedy Festival is returning to Mayrhofen in Austria in 2014 with a larger line-up than ever. The big draw this year is John Bishop, who has previously appeared at Altitude both as a rising star and again in 2013 as a conquering hero. Bishop will be starting his new UK tour in Autumn 2014, dates here, so this may be a chance to get a sneak preview of some of the material he will be airing in arenas in his new show.
Update 3/1/14. As we say below, 2014 looks like being a good year for Nick Helm. His BBC3 series Uncle starts later this month and he has just been nominated for The Times South Bank Breakthrough Award? You can vote for him here.
Ross Noble is one of those genre-busting stand-ups who does not slot naturally into a Live at the Apollo-shaped box. His flights of fancy have been welcome on Have I Got News for You but he has always been a bit constrained by desk-based templates. With Freewheeling he may finally have found the format that suits his spontaneous, people-person style.
There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth recently about the decline of comedy clubs. In fact I've written about it myself. But two clubs open in London this week, bucking the trend, albeit with the aid of some top quality TV talent.
Live at the Apollo returns to BBC1 tonight. This has left me feeling conflicted. On the one hand I love the fact that stand-up gets more exposure on television. On the other hand I hate the fact that stand-up gets more exposure on television. Now that's what I call conflicted.
Whenever I write about how good Daniel Kitson is there is a comedian who always comments on it, as if I am prone to over-egging the Kitson cake. Well, I'm afraid that comic might as well stop reading this review – and this website – because I'm not sure if I am ever going to say something really bad about DK. Even a whiffy DK gig is going to tower over most other performances.
Micky Flanagan has announced that he is postponing the next four dates of his Back in the Game tour at the Brighton Centre and the O2 Arena in London following the death of his mother. Tickets will still be valid for the rescheduled dates in December, or refunds will be available if ticket-holders cannot attend. Details here.
Oct 29 - Nov 1 David Baddiel - South Bank Centre, SE1. Fame: Not The Musical comes to London.
Oct 29 - Nov 10 Andrew Maxwell - Soho Theatre, W1. Impish Irishman's new show, Banana Kingdom.
I was lucky enough to bag a ticket for Ricky Gervais's sold out live debut as David Brent with his band Foregone Conclusion last week at The Bloomsbury Theatre. He is back for another work-in-progress this Wednesday and if you can get hold of a ticket for face value I would snap it up. It was a short show at less than an hour but great, with some very funny gags in it – particularly in the new song Lady Gypsy.
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