Current radio comedy Page 126

I just listened to Andrew Maxwell's Public Enemies that was on a while back. That was *really* good, I thought. Very informative and extremely funny.

Dan

Has anyone been listening to The History of Radio Comedy on R4? It's good stuff.

Grace Dent is a powerful disincentive - the humourless, hectoring journalism, the endless photos looking stiff and self conscious, nothing like the Audrey Hepburn chic she is presumably attempting.

But she's bearable in this context: good guests, informative programme.

Quote: Marissa @ 22nd November 2014, 2:22 PM GMT

Grace Dent is a powerful disincentive - the humourless, hectoring journalism, the endless photos looking stiff and self conscious, nothing like the Audrey Hepburn chic she is presumably attempting.

Yes, that's pretty much spot on. She'd often feature in various Charlie Brooker shows and I'd wonder exactly what kind of image she was trying to put across? As well as popping up as a talking head on a whole host of other stuff and penning various columns. I guess that she's one of the journalists du jour?

But she's bearable in this context: good guests, informative programme.

She is indeed.

Catching up with Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully, which is quite good, but confusing because they've chosen two female characters with similar voices, and you can't easily tell which is which.

Catching up with Stop Start. It's good on the whole, well-written and performed, but the production makes it sound really dated.

Quote: Nogget @ 1st December 2014, 10:10 PM GMT

Catching up with Stop Start. It's good on the whole, well-written and performed, but the production makes it sound really dated.

I had to Google that as I'd never heard of that particular show. Oh, it's Jack Docherty - I recall seeing a recording of his show when Eddie Izzard was appearing back in the 1990s, how time flies. I may see how many episodes are available on the RadioPlayer.

On a R4Extra note I've been listening to the Sue Townsend season of Adrian Mole readings and they're bloody brilliant. RIP Ms Townsend.

Prithee, what is this radioplayer of which you speak?

Quote: Oldrocker @ 2nd December 2014, 11:41 PM GMT

Prithee, what is this radioplayer of which you speak?

An iPlayer for people who hate Apple?

It's the BBC radio player equivalent of the iPlayer; they used to be accessed via the same Android app but they separated them off a few months ago and my older pad cannot support the newer software, but my Galaxy 4 and Google Nexus can. I tend to listen to stuff via the Radio Player indoors and download podcasts via iTunes for use with my iPod whilst out and about. With the phasing out of the standalone iPod I'll probably have to jump ship to Apple for my next phone.

Sue Townsend was marvelous, and these radio adaptations have stood the test of time. Very enjoyable revisiting the early nineties, with a newly bearded Adrian falling for his first therapist.

Would have liked to have heard Sue Townsend's views on Ed Milliband.

The non Adrian Mole books are also excellent, all the way up to The Woman Who Went To Bed for a Year.

Start/ Stop is quite good, certainly well written, great actors, if a little bleak. Maybe it would be more revolutionary these days to have some happy marriages - if anyone could find any.

Deserves a telly transfer. More than that juvenile piffle Big School, anyway.

Anyone else been listening to the radio 2 new standup competition? Some really funny people on it.

I gave semi final pt 2 of the Stand up Competition a go http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04sy7bv

I had to skim through Patrick Kielty's inexplicably upbeat intro, verging on the hysterical. I have no idea why he's so wearisomely cheerful, if you want to miss this the acts start seven minutes in.

I'm generally underwhelmed by young people's unsurprising observations but the first three were funny and original - nothing like, say, the bland twits on Live From the Apollo,

The fourth one said 'Here's the deal' near the start and carried on being annoying then the fifth one gave us the usual tired bit about old people being racist - although we had to wait nineteen minutes for this, probably a world record in current stand up. He somehow didn't mention UKIP.

(We hate young people too, if that's any help.)

Lost Voice Guy, the 'token disabled comedian' used a voice box to develop an interesting character so there is loads of fresh stuff out there, maybe the wrong agents are putting all this terrible stuff on the telly.

and...

Stephen Fry's Comedy Controller prog (great choices) comes with a strange, haunting picture, like a jowly version of Batman's Joker.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jpfr

I've seen Lost Voice Guy live before and I think he's very good.

Absolutely. Really should have looked at Lost Voice Guy on YouTube. He has cerebral palsy and needs an Ipad to communicate. (Well I've only had eight hours sleep since Friday. The real victims are the insomniacs...)

Sorry.

He's brilliant.

'When I realised I'd never be able to talk again I was speechless.'

Cue Lost Voice Guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIXguZ584v0