Tonight and tomorrow I’m taking part in Mark Watson’s 27 Hour Show for Comic Relief. I keep telling people I’m not sure why I’m doing such a ridiculous thing, fully aware that taking part in an event... more
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So I'm saying yes to Free Festival, don't see why I shouldn't. The Free Festival has become the fringe to the Fringe. I am looking forward to the experience. I have done the BIG venues for years and... more
Phil Mann is artistic director of BattleActs and Spacejunk and an IdeasTap Creative Space Associate Member. Improvisation group BattleActs is appearing at the Vault Festival in Waterloo from... more
I had an email yesterday from comedian Tiernan Douieb, telling me about the glittering line-up of the forthcoming Phoenix Fringe. The three-day laugh-in from February 20 includes the likes of Russell... more
A few years ago I went to see one of Derren Brown’s spectacular shows in the West End. At one point during the show Brown told the mesmerised audience that if they saw the show a second time they... more
I've seen Tom Ward in three comedy competition finals over the last year – the NATYS, the BBC Radio New Comedy Awards final and most recently the Piccadillly Comedy Club New Comedian of the Year. He... more
After I posted a story yesterday about Stewart Lee standing in for Stuart Maconie on BBC6’s Freak Zone, it was pointed out to me that Lee had previously been critical of Maconie in his 2008 show 41st... more
I wouldn’t claim to know every gigging comedian by any means. But when it was announced in the press that Stephen Fry was to marry stand-up comedian Elliott Spencer my ears pricked up. I’d not come... more
Is this a Golden Age of TV Comedy? There may not have been a landmark series such as I’m Alan Partridge or The Office or The Thick of It, but there have been a number of unmissable comedies from old... more
“How many comedy shows do you see every week?” After “do you like Michael McIntyre?” it’s the question I get asked the most when I tell people what I do for a so-called job. Well now I can sort of... more
