January 2014
Mark Steel is currently on tour with his "In Town" show in which he researches the area he is performing in and makes the show specific to that place. The veteran comic has recently been keen to do more than mere off-the-peg stand-up. Here is an interview from The Times in 2006 when he was working local references to the French Revolution into his touring set. Details of his current tour here.
2014 is definitely shaping up to be the year of the comedy comeback. The Monty Python O2 Arena gigs might be the biggest story, but Cleese and Co may not turn out to be the only veterans who get back on the comedy horse in the next twelve months. There have already been rumours of The Fast Show ensemble getting back together.
What's in a name? When Debbie Harry decided she wanted to be taken seriously as a musician she started calling herself Deborah Harry. When Rob Newman decided he wanted to be seen as a more mature comedian he started being billed as Robert Newman. But it is probably Newman's material more than his monicker that has cast him in a new light.
It must be a laugh-a-minute in their house. That was the inevitable first thought when I heard yesterday that Sarah Millican and Gary Delaney had tied the knot. My second thought was congratulations. My third thought was that I wouldn't have liked to have been the best man. No pressure on that speech then.
Update 18/3/14: Throw your hats in the air and dance a jig. A second series of House of Fools has been commissioned by the BBC.
Here's a lovely treat. The usually screen-reticent Daniel Kitson stars in this video for Darren Hanlon's song Fingertips and Mountaintops which I just came across. It dates from October 2007*. Kitson plays a teacher having a day out, but let's not waste time trying to interpret it or sing his praises, just have a look and we defy you not to forget about all the bad things in your life.
There has been talk recently about forming a comedians' union. Small clubs have been closing, others are cutting their pay rates and others have been slow to pay up, making it harder and harder for the grafting comedian to earn decent wage. There must be something attractive about stand-up though, because enough people still insist having a bash at it.
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