Current radio comedy Page 129

Really enjoyed Boswell's Lives

Miles Jupp as Boswell, time traveling to interview Sigmund Freud.
written by Jon Canter - Rev novel - which is infinitely better than your average TV tie in. He also wrote the very stylish comic novel A Short Gentleman, which was pretty good on radio few years back.

Wednesday 11:30 am
Radio 4 coming up - Maria Callas Harold Pinter.

Some terrible panel game on Radio 4 in the 6.30 slot. Lame format, lacklustre panellists and Ed Byrne out of his depth as host.

Quote: Tursiops @ 26th February 2015, 10:43 PM GMT

Some terrible panel game on Radio 4 in the 6.30 slot. Lame format, lacklustre panellists and Ed Byrne out of his depth as host.

Britain Versus The World.

I've heard about five minutes of this recently and, yes, it is dire.

Quote: Tursiops @ 26th February 2015, 10:43 PM GMT

... and Ed Byrne out of his depth as host.

Increasingly comedians are put into positions where they might get out of their depth, and not just in comedy. There's a lovely new series that's started with Reginald D. Hunter on a road trip around America, but despite him being a credible comedian, he's not much use as a presenter.(By comparison, a similar series hosted by Rich Hall proved to be unexpectedly rewarding.)

I caught a fair bit of Ayers On Air tonight and must admit to tittering.

Quote: Oldrocker @ 31st March 2015, 8:44 PM BST

I caught a fair bit of Ayers On Air tonight and must admit to tittering.

Mmmm. I said to my wife, "Who on earth finds this funny?". Laughing out loud I can't bear it. Soft, lame pap. Dreadful waste of Geoffrey Whitehead. And Felicity Montagu, for that matter.

Never listened to this before. Enjoyed episode 1 on radio player. I think you might need the a certain age to enjoy it.

Quote: Will Cam @ 1st April 2015, 9:00 AM BST

I think you might need the a certain age to enjoy it.

I agree, but only if that certain age is 'senile'. Compare to the recent repeats of Stilgoe's Around, itself old and gentle too, but with just enough intelligence to make it worthwhile (apart from some of the horribly dated gags).

Tim FitzHigham; The Gambler. I would give him any odds he likes that I could go a full half hour without him raising a smile.

It's an odd series. Nothing inherently funny, he has to shoehorn gags into it and they feel shoehorned-in. And not particularly funny.

On the other hand, thank goodness for Tom Wrigglesworth hosting Comedy Club. Doesn't feel the need to have to use hosting as a platform for his own material. Unlike the likes of Diane Morgan et al. Some of the Comedy Club content is patchy but even at its worst it's funnier than the likes of Diane et al.

Quote: Tursiops @ 10th April 2015, 12:11 AM BST

Tim FitzHigham; The Gambler. I would give him any odds he likes that I could go a full half hour without him raising a smile.

It's not in the least funny, but I do find it interesting to listen to. To be honest, if he took out the 3 random attempts at jokes per episode, they coudl label it "general interest" or whatever, and it woudl be a fine show.

I'be not heard any of the new series, but I listened to most of the last one. It's diverting radio, but not a vast success as a comedy, if we use the Tursiops Smile Ratio Technique.

I was always taught that if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all, so if we're talking about all the current comedy shows on Radio 4 in the 6.30pm and 11pm slots, I'll say "Ed Reardon's Week" is quite good...

Quote: gappy @ 10th April 2015, 10:26 AM BST

It's not in the least funny, but I do find it interesting to listen to. To be honest, if he took out the 3 random attempts at jokes per episode, they coudl label it "general interest" or whatever, and it woudl be a fine show.

I'be not heard any of the new series, but I listened to most of the last one. It's diverting radio, but not a vast success as a comedy, if we use the Tursiops Smile Ratio Technique.

I quite enjoyed last week's episode of the Tim FitzHigham thing. Agree that it's not hugely laugh out loud hilarious, but interesting all the same.

Quote: Marissa @ 26th February 2015, 1:01 PM GMT

Really enjoyed Boswell's Lives

Miles Jupp as Boswell, time traveling to interview Sigmund Freud.
written by Jon Canter - Rev novel - which is infinitely better than your average TV tie in. He also wrote the very stylish comic novel A Short Gentleman, which was pretty good on radio few years back.

Wednesday 11:30 am
Radio 4 coming up - Maria Callas Harold Pinter.

Gave the Pinter one 10 mins but gave up, not my cup of tea.

Quote: italophile @ 10th April 2015, 7:31 AM BST

It's an odd series. Nothing inherently funny, he has to shoehorn gags into it and they feel shoehorned-in. And not particularly funny.

On the other hand, thank goodness for Tom Wrigglesworth hosting Comedy Club. Doesn't feel the need to have to use hosting as a platform for his own material. Unlike the likes of Diane Morgan et al. Some of the Comedy Club content is patchy but even at its worst it's funnier than the likes of Diane et al.

I love Tom Wrigglesworth Lovey a very funny guy.

What do you get if you cross Dead Ringers with Newsjack? You get the new series of Dead Ringers.