April 2014
Further interesting developments on the comedy front in Paris. Last night I was browsing through the film listings and came across Fading Gigolo, a new movie directed by and starring John Turturro. From what I could tell online it only opened in America and in a few cities in Europe this weekend and doesn’t have a firm UK release date yet. What caught my eye was the supporting cast. Sharon Stone and, in particular, Woody Allen.
Never let it be said that Beyond The Joke doesn’t take its comedy research seriously.
A few years ago I wrote a book about the history of comedians, homing in on the “sad clown” phenomenon and wondering why so many comedy greats from Grimaldi to Hancock and beyond seemed to be troubled souls offstage.
Jason Manford has done a little bit of acting in the past. He appeared in the C4 series Shameless and funnily he appears alongside Shameless star David Threlfall in Not Like That, Like This, ITV1's forthcoming drama about Tommy Cooper. Not that you would recognise Threlfall, who is totally convincing as the lumbering comedy magician. And you might take a moment to recognise Manford, who sports heavy spectacles, kipper tie, braces and cardigan as trick-devising magician Ken Brooke.
I'm really looking forward to Not Like That, Like This on Monday. I wrote about the subject of the drama, Tommy Cooper, in Beyond A Joke, my study of comedy's flawed heroes. As I discovered during my research, there was a lot more to Cooper than the Fez-wearing funnyman who was up there with Eric Morecambe when it came to family entertainers. It will be interesting to see how the drama, written by Simon Nye and starring David Threlfall (pictured) differs from my version of the story below.
When John Robertson was at school in Perth, Australia, he was voted “person most likely to start a cult”. Well it looks as if his classmates were right. A couple of years ago Robertson was doing a stand-up gig and one night when things were not going too well he improvised a character, a floating lit-up head that would bellow demonically at the audience. It seemed to work. From there he created his video-game inspired show The Dark Room and a YouTube version notched up over 4 million hits. A cult was born.
Comedian Griff Rhys Jones has become unwittingly embroiled in a row at Cardiff University over his appointment as the University's new Chancellor. The current presenter of It'll Be Alright On The Night had already been fitted with his robes and taken part in a photocall and interviews when it emerged that there were objections to his appointment.
Decisions, decisions. I’ve got one of those horrible dilemmas this Wednesday when two tantalising gigs clash. And what makes it more frustrating is that they are taking place a two-minute walk from each other on London's South Bank. At the Udderbelly Helen Arney hosts a welcome return of The Festival of the Spoken Nerd. These science-y maths shows are great fun and educational too. Experts Steve Mould and Matt Parker are Arney’s fellow, sorry guys, can't think of a better word, geeks, who help to make the evening go with a bang.
Channel 4 has released its latest batch of Comedy Blaps. These are short, pocket-sized online pilots featuring some of the best up-and-coming talent from the comedy world plucked and polished up. Previous Blaps have given breaks to Edinburgh favourites such as Dr Brown and Nick Helm as well as The Rubberbandits. The latest Blaps feature Roisin Conaty, who is already well-established thanks to numerous panel show appearances and her role in the Greg Davies sitcom Man Down.
On Fridays Rob Brydon is currently quoting Shelley and Byron, on Saturdays he is indulging in the poetry of the shiny-floored game show. The Guess List, which is a pleasure to review, is the kind of show where the rules don’t need explaining because most of us will be watching it simply to enjoy Brydon's brilliant banter and people skills. Not so much The Trip To Italy as The Trip Into Light Entertainment.
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