Beyond The Joke

As a reviewer I think one should try to judge a gig on what you see in front of you. But as hard as you try there is always a risk that the back story and knowledge of the performer’s offstage life might get in the way. Sometimes this doesn’t matter, a performance is just that, a performance, and it can be reviewed on that basis. But I have a feeling this is getting increasingly difficult for a number of reasons, but mainly due to social media.

Is there an imminent shortage of traditional stand-up comedians? For a while it looked that way at the annual NATYS Top Of The Bill Final. This is a competition that regular throws up the occasional variety curveball, but this year’s bill was positively peppered with quirky peformers.

As revealed earlier this week on Beyond The Joke Noel Fielding is one of the star guests in the second series of the Ben Elton sitcom Upstart Crow. It has also been announced that Emma Thompson will appear in the Christmas Special as Queen Elizabeth I.

Creator of BBC3 hit Fleabag Phoebe Waller-Bridge and comedy writer/performer John Finnemore are among this year's Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards winners.

Comedian, actor and writer Meera Syal hosted the annual event honouring the cream of British film, TV, theatre, radio and gaming writing talent.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge was awarded Best TV Situation Comedy prize for Fleabag. John Finnemore won Best Radio Comedy for John Finnemore’s Double Acts.

It’s the ultimate mash-up nobody could have predicted. Donald Trump has collided with Bridget Jones in the parody Twtter account Bridget Trump’s Diary. 

The account was created earlier this month by comedian Tiffany Stevenson, who simply imagined what the tweets of the fictional character played by Renee Zellweger would look like if they were written by the 45th President of America.