June 2014
It is surely only a matter of time before the bulging Edinburgh Fringe programme boasts a special section for all the magicians appearing there. And when it does pride of place should go to Pete Firman, who is one of the best and most entertaining illusionists to appear in recent years. I first remember him cropping up on Five’s Monkey Magic, where his cheeky grin and subversive cruise ship patter helped to misdirect viewers as he performed miraculous stunts.
With BBC3 due to become an online channel in 2015 I guess the BBC needs to get viewers used to going to iPlayer to watch original content online and not just last night’s episode of EastEnders. To nudge comedy fans in the right direction the Beeb invited a group of famous comedians to make a programme that they had always dreamt about making. The resulting six comedy shorts are pretty mixed, but the one thing one can definitely say about them is that they are very varied in tone. Some are surreal, some are discreetly political.
The Edinburgh 2014 Fringe brochure thudded on my doormat this morning, left a dent in my flooring and woke the cat two doors down. It’s that big. To mark the occasion Beyond The Joke is launching it’s annual Edinburgh Previews guide. Every day until the Fringe starts we will be printing a profile of an act doing a preview gig followed by a ticket link for their Edinburgh show. So if you like what you read or go to the preview and like what you see you can book with the minimum of fuss.
Musical comedian Tim Minchin is to headline a gig with his full band as part of the British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park.
The Australian appears at the Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park on Thursday, July 10. Tickets are strictly limited to 4000 and are available on pre-sale from Wednesday, June 4 and general tickets on Friday, June 6.
There hasn't been a huge fanfare to mark the return of Badults for a second series, which is maybe understandable. The first series had mixed reviews, so maybe BBC3 wants this run to grow via word-of-mouth. I’m not about to stick my neck out and say that the first episode is going to convert any doubters, but it most definitely should put to bed any erroneous suggestions previously bandied about on social media that Badults is down there with Mrs Brown’s Boys and The Wright Way.
Mark Thomas has spent much of the last year winding people up with his provocative 100 Acts of Minor Dissent project. It was a hugely ambitious concept that he didn’t know if he would complete – in fact at one point a stressed-out Thomas told me he wished he’d called it “52 Acts of Minor Dissent" instead. But he did finish it, which was lucky, because he had promised to pay UKIP £1000 if he didn’t.
Comedian Omid Djalili has collaborated with producer Rick Blaskey (Three Lions) to release the fans' anthem for the World Cup – England’s Going Out…..(To Do It Again) is available from iTunes from Monday.
Among those guesting in the video are Sir Trevor McDonald, David Baddiel, Michael McIntyre, Jack Dee, Ray Winstone, John Bishop, John Hurt, Michael McIntyre, Harry Hill, Sean Lock, Terry Alderton, Ricky Grover and Bill Bailey.
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