BCG Daily Wednesday 21st January 2015

Review: Monty Python's Spamalot, Manchester

So there's something for the real Python afficionados, something to amuse musical theatre fans and just a great fun show for everyone.

Radio Times review

I suppose this suffragette sitcom should be described as "gentle", meaning "it's not very funny but watching it won't kill you". It started life on BBC Four back in 2013 and now comes to BBC Two, where it remains a solid, old-fashioned, one-set, studio-bound comedy centred upon the 1910 Banbury Intricate Craft Circle Politely Request Women's Suffrage group.

Their well-meaning leader Margaret (Jessica Hynes, also co-writer) urges her little band of friends to go on hunger strike in sympathy with their imprisoned sisters. But Margaret becomes obsessed by the very thought of "buns", while Gwen (Vicki Pepperdine, unrecognisable with a set of rabbity teeth) brings industrial quantities of cheese to the village hall.

Review: One Man, Two Guvnors

One Man, Two Guvnors is turning into a seminal piece of British comedy and physical theatre, and well worth experiencing.

Josie Long, Soho Theatre - comedy review

Josie Long has found a rich new seam of material -- herself. In her new show, Cara Josephine, she weaves this heart-warming tale of failed romance with quick-witted passion.

Margaret Thatcher gets Spitting Image treatment again

It may be 20 years since the demise of ITV's Spitting Image, but the show's voice of Margaret Thatcher, Steve Nallon, can still nail the Iron Lady's particular timbre, as the trailer for Nallon's new theatre show, Dead Sheep, shows.

Richard Herring: I vote for a Parliament of Fools

Let's satirise all our useless politicians by getting a comedian to stand in every single seat. We could fill the House of Commons with people who admit they are laughable idiots. But this Parliament of Fools might be able to do something genuinely constructive.

The story behind Joke Thieves

It went from sales technique to comedy night to nationwide tour. Will Mars spoke to LiF about creating Joke Thieves - the show where comics perform their own routines, and then each other's

Luisa Omielan interview

"I've always wanted to be in comedy," she told me. "Always wanted to perform, always wanted to be funny. Since I was about seven or eight. I liked showing off and getting clapped-at. I would say: Hey Grandma! Look at my interpretive dance! - She would laugh and clap and I loved it. I wanted to be a professional show-off."

Notes on notes

Different shows need different kinds of script editors.

Preview: Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival, Feb 4 - 22

The Leicester Comedy Festival, partnered for a fourth year by TV channel Dave, is always coming up with new ways of presenting comedy. They have pioneered comedy in the dark, comedy in hotel rooms and this year comedy fans will be chuffed to hear, comedy on a train...

What changes when you see a show more than once?

I gave Josie Long's Cara Josephine four stars when I reviewed the show in Edinburgh and four stars in the Evening Standard and I'm not for a moment saying that it doesn't deserve all of the raves it is getting, but the interesting thing is that I have seen the full show twice now and bits of it five times - at Latitude, in Edinburgh, at the Greenwich Comedy Festival and supporting Aziz Ansari - and there were moments which I viewed differently this time round, as follows.

Colin Firth is up for Bridget Jones 3

Could it be? Could Mark Darcy and Bridget Jones be coming back to the big screen?

Rob Delaney: love, masturbation and comedy with guts

US comedian Rob Delaney on making Catastrophe, moving to London - and what his pregnant wife is thinking about.

DVD review: Mapp & Lucia

This may be filmed in genteel village surroundings and was screened in three parts over the Christmas period, but do not assume this is gentle stuff.

Comic Relief to win Landmark honour at NTAs

Comic Relief is set to receive this year's National Television Awards Landmark Award, as it celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Jesting About to return

Jesting About, the BBC's comedy talent search, is to return in 2015, Giggle Beats can reveal.

Tyneside tribute to Stan Laurel

A hotel on Tyneside is to mark the 50th anniversary of Stan Laurel's death with a special event.

Review - Josie Long, Cara Josephine

Break-up shows are hardly a scarce resource in the comedy world, it being heavily populated by folk in their 20s and 30s. But you'd be hard pushed to find a better break-up show than Cara Josephine, Josie Long's latest one.

Jessica Hynes on her suffragette comedy

I wanted Up The Women to feel like a classic sitcom, almost as if it had always been here.

One Man, Two Guvnors review

"This isn't a panto!" Gavin Spokes (playing Francis Henshall, the eponymous servant) tells the audience at one point--but actually it is, near enough.

Stephen K Amos interview

Is public office something that Amos would fancy having a go at? "No. Even in my job, I don't harm anybody."

The differences between British and French comedy

Comedian and expat Ian Moore describes how British-style stand-up comedy just hasn't quite caught on in France.

Brendon Burns interview

At the end of last year comedian Brendon Burns announced that he was touring across the UK with a new show - Outside the Box. But it wouldn't be just any tour. Burns would be eschewing larger venues and comedy clubs that he could absolutely fill - for independent venues, or, "anything but comedy clubs".

Superfan spends 50 hours getting a massive tattoo

An Only Fools and Horses superfan has spent 50 hours under the tattooist's needle getting a giant mural of his favourite show etched onto his back.