Beyond The Joke

There has been a bit of a trend for sending comedians off to do things in pairs recently. There have been all those scariest-car-journey-in-the-world docs and the other week Simon Day and John Thomson did a gaucho thing. And, of course, Coogan and Brydon put their own twist on buddy banter in The Trip. 

In music in recent years there has been the phenomenon of Guilty Pleasures. Songs that deep down in your heart you know that you should hate, but somehow you can’t get the tune out of your head. Romesh Ranganathan has a prime example of this in his current show when he talks about how he thinks the lyrics of Blurred Lines are rapey, but the rhythm just makes you want to jiggle your body.

Stewart Lee will be appearing at an innovative secret gig in a graveyard on October 4. A Soirée in a Cemetery is an interactive variety night set in a secret Victorian cemetery. The location will only be revealed on the day. 

America's Got Talent star Paul Zerdin is one of the UK’s top ventriloquists. He has entertained the troops, sold out at the Edinburgh Festival and Las Vegas and appeared on the Royal Variety Performance. He is regularly accompanied by his three unruly puppets. Sprightly old timer Albert is ruining Paul’s love life with his hard-of-hearing ways. Meanwhile gobby pre-pubescent Sam is looking to step out of his master’s shadow and branch out on his own and Baby is up to his usual antics. Pictures by Steve Ullathorne.

Following last week’s competition I have had another rummage in my cupboard and found some pristine copies of my biography of Rowan Atkinson. This is the first major overview of Atkinson’s career tracing his development from his early live work with Richard Curtis to Not The Nine O’Clock News, Blackadder, Mr Bean and Hollywood. One customer on Amazon described it as “fantastically detailed”, another described it as “trash”. There’s only one way to find out who is right.