March 2014
I went to the Teenage Cancer Trust Comedy show at the Royal Albert Hall last night. When the bill was announced one act stood out among compere Jason Manford, John Bishop, Micky Flanagan, Hal Cruttenden and Rob Beckett. Patrick Kielty is a regular TV face but I can't remember the last time I saw him do stand-up. As I arrived in SW7 I thought to myself, this is going to be interesting…
Katherine Ryan has been on the UK comedy circuit for a few years now but she is currently having a well-deserved surge in popularity. Panel show stints plus her Live at the Apollo appearance in which she sang the praises of Beyoncé's sex face have helped to bring her to the attention of a much bigger audience. It also helps that she is a much sharper comedian now than she was when she first emerged.
St Andrew Square is set to be the new outdoor hub of the Edinburgh festivals this year as local promoters Salt ‘n’ Sauce Promotions and The Famous Spiegeltent team up with Essential Edinburgh to create a major new fringe event in north Edinburgh which will challenge Bristo Square and George Square in the south to be the centre of Fringe activity.
It must be one of the most eagerly anticipated musicals in recent years. And also one of the most bizarre. When I first heard that Harry Hill was working on a musical based on the X Factor I assumed, like most people, that it was an elaborate joke. After all, wasn't Hill the man who spoofed the talent show monster on TV Burp with The K Factor featuring knitted toys?
A big week for big comedy. Roger Daltrey's Teenage Cancer Trust shows are at the Royal Albert Hall all week and on Tuesday it's the annual comedy night. In the past Russell Brand, Little Britain and Noel Fielding have been among the guests who have shaken things up. This year's line-up is more of a no-nonsense stand-up bill, but undoubtedly a pretty strong one.
I've seen so many shows at the Edinburgh Fringe over the years that a show must have something good about it if I can still remember bits of it two years later. The Pin's 2012 show put a new twist on the old sketch show format with a narrative which ran backwards and forwards in time, with events towards the end helping to make sense of events at the beginning.
The third series of Rev kicks off with Alex Smallbone (Olivia Colman) going into labour in a London taxi, while fellow passenger Archdeacon Robert (Simon McBurney) gets to look into a vestibule he doesn't see every day. It's an uncharacteristically raucous start to this wonderful series that elsewhere manages to be both gentle and quite satirically sharp at the same time. Some have said it's like The Thick Of It for the clergy, but there's a lot more to it than that. And a lot less swearing.
It is always nice to see a talented comedian go from who-is-that-bloke? to household name big-time and I think we are currently seeing that happen with Miles Jupp. The dedicated follower of the England cricket team has become a of a regular on panel games and is developing a TV version of his radio show In And Out Of The Kitchen, in which he plays minor celebrity chef Damien Trench.
Jack Dee is developing a new show in which he offers to solve the problems of his fans. Jack Dee's Helpdesk will be tried out downstairs at the Soho Theatre from May 6 - 10. The press information, however, suggests that this might not be the place to head if you genuinely have a serious issue: "Got a problem? Need a sympathetic ear? Jack and his panel of experts are here to help.
Comedian Ben Van Der Velde will be leading an 'illegal choir' in a mass busking protest this weekend (Sunday March 23) in response to Camden Council’s draconian new anti-busking legislation. The protest is organised by Camden's Green Party. Van Der Velde is standing as the party's candidate in the May local elections.
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