BCG Daily Tuesday 14th October 2014

ITV spark fury with Alzheimer's joke

ITV has apologised after Jimeoin opened his sketch on the family show by making light of Alzheimer's.

Video: Muslim comedian fronts anti-extremist film

A new short film from a Muslim comedian aims to stop teenagers in the East Midlands from being radicalised by extremist groups. The police have recruited Humza Arshad, also known as Badman, to make the film.

Radio Times review

Heydon accosts Theresa May at the Police Federation Conference in Bournemouth, while Jolyon befuddles celebrities in Cannes with questions about torture and radical Islam.

Ironically, the funniest clip sees Jolyon swallowing a taste of his own medicine: posing as a right-wing US journalist, he is taken to task by the nonplussed employee of a legal cannabis nursery in Colorado.

Radio Times review

Kerry Howard is best known as a brilliantly vile bridezilla in BBC Three's superlative black comedy Him & Her. (Trivia alert: she also happens to be the sister of comedian Russell Howard.) Here, her character Marilyn works in promotions, which involves donning tangerine tights and pushing a lurid orange drink called Nectarino ("the taste of sunshine in a bottle!") on resistant shoppers. Ex-EastEnder Tracy-Ann Oberman plays her delightfully un-PC boss, and look out for X Factor finalist Diana Vickers as another of the tangerine mannequins.

Bravo to Comedy Central for putting so many funny women in one sitcom. Sadly, though, the jokes in this first episode are often as weak as Marilyn's work ethic.

John Kearns Shtick's around for second solo show

"It's the minutiae of the detail that really sets John apart; he manages to say so much with so little."

Enter The Tone Zone, 10th October 2014

Tony Law bounds onto the stage over an hour late, dressed in a black lycra catsuit and armed with a trombone. It's what we have all learned to expect by now.

Is storytelling the new comedy?

Comedy clubs in the UK are said to be on the decline. But storytelling is teetering on the brink of the possibility of becoming the new comedy.

Interview with Twayna Mayne

Q&A with stand-up Twayna Mayne.

Sara Pascoe interview: We need to understand our urges!

Sara Pascoe talks monkey sex, aggressive sperm - and being the only woman on TV panel shows.

Maxine Peake confirmed as Women In Comedy patron

Maxine Peake has been confirmed as Patron of the Women in Comedy Festival, which opened in Manchester over the weekend. On her appointment, Peake commented, "I'm proud to be supporting the UK Women in Comedy Festival as a patron. A festival filled with laughter combined with feminist principles taking place in the North ... what's not to support!"

Comedy Benevolent fund launches website

The Comedy Support Act has launched its website. The organisation is a benevolent fund to help comics who through serious illness or accident find themselves in financial hardship.

Kerry Howard interview

Him & Her alumnus Kerry Howard talks female led comedy, awful jobs and playing weirdos.

Avenue Q to return for another national tour in 2015

Avenue Q will return to the UK next year with another national tour.

Apple calls on IT Crowd for UK iPhone 6 adverts

Apple has remade its latest two commercials for the UK, eradicating Americans Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, and replacing them with IT Crowd comedy legends Richard Ayoade and Chris O'Dowd.

Sophie Aldred interview

It was really delightful to meet this crew who are so dedicated to the project and working for very little money to get this project in shape.

Su Pollard interview

SU Pollard doesn't really need prompting with questions. She's a talker. A pretty darn fast talker. I push my pen across the page as fast as tendons will allow.

Jonathan Ross interview

The knight errand of nattering returns to Saturday nights with a blistering line-up of guests. He talks to TV Choice about how to put together a chat show for ITV, and the perils of being in the business for so long...

Lee Mack: stand-up or sit down?

The Lancashire joke maestro begins an eight-show stint in London this weekend and his silly sitcom Not Going Out returns to BBC One. So, should you see him in the flesh or on the box? Time Out weighs up whether or not to leave the house.