BCG Daily Wednesday 18th February 2015
Press clippings
Janey Godley: I'm playing free festival in Edinburgh
So I'm saying yes to Free Festival, don't see why I shouldn't. The Free Festival has become the fringe to the Fringe. I am looking forward to the experience. I have done the BIG venues for years and although I love my boys at the Underbelly and all the gang at Pleasance and Gilded etc... I am looking forward to striking out. There is a snobbery about the Free Festival with suggestions that it is there for 'people who cant get into the big professional venues'. Well I prove that isn't true, as did Luisa Omelian and many others last year.
Janey Godley, Beyond The Joke, 18th February 2015The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel review
A second trip to retirement-home India provides more tourist-friendly scenes of pedigree acting, this time with hothouse import Richard Gere.
Andrew Pulver, The Guardian, 18th February 2015Deirdre O'Kane interview
The 45-year-old, who is about to star in the third series of Moone Boy, will return to the live comedy circuit after a break to pursue other acting roles.
Maeve Quigley, The Irish Mirror, 18th February 2015The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: rewarding
Maggie Smith and Celia Imrie shine in a surprisingly moving sequel to the 2012 word of mouth comedy hit, says Robbie Collin.
Robbie Collin, The Telegraph, 18th February 2015Radio Times review
For a while, Bob Mortimer isn't having much luck with his pet hates. Nobody seems to share his very specific dislike of shop assistants who put your change in your hand on top of the receipt, or his aversion to wrapping food in bacon.
But when he rails against the unripe fruit sold in supermarkets, suddenly the audience is with him, bursting into applause, and host Frank Skinner is onside, too. That's the thing with the micro-annoyances aired on this show - they're merely a leaping-off point for celebrity small talk. Also airing grievances are Rachel Riley (Essex girl stereotypes; officious people in uniforms) and Mrs Brown actor Brendan O'Carroll, who for some reason hates small pedal bins.
David Butcher, Radio Times, 18th February 2015Radio Times review
Reece Shearsmith looks rather dour as he explains to his interviewer, Adam Buxton, that his looks have helped cast him as the villain/psychopath/character-most-likely-to-run-amok in the sketches of The League of Gentlemen. Is he angry in real life asks Buxton? Not really, he says. If anything, he thinks he has gone soft in his middling years.
He confesses to looking back at a sketch where a vulnerable character is bullied by teenage girls and thinking that he'd crossed the line, that the cruelty had outweighed the laughs. Push him a little harder though and he is soon chuckling over the Sardines episode of last year's Inside No. 9, which he co-wrote with fellow Gentleman, Steve Pemberton. Inspired by a cupboard in the office they share it involves 12 bodies squashed together -- and some child abuse. It does not sound funny but, as Shearsmith points out, it's the dark drama that has made his comedy so different.
Next week he gets to be the interviewer and Bob Mortimer answers the questions.
Laurence Joyce, Radio Times, 18th February 2015Liam Williams on Caroline Aherne
'The Bambi-eyed princess of northern naturalism'.
Liam Williams, The Guardian, 18th February 2015Review: Jon Pearson
His act - Tall Order - was based on his considerable height (6ft 6in) with a few Melton gags thrown in.
Melton Times, 18th February 2015Review: Peter Pan Goes Wrong at The Theatre Royal
Peter Pan Goes Wrong is a fast-paced farce full of wardrobe malfunctions, prop disasters and bad special effects guaranteed to tickle your funny bone.
Anne Moore, Bath Chronicle, 18th February 2015Glasgow Comedy Festival comics pick favourite films
Which funny films make the comics laugh the hardest? We asked some to find out.
Brian Donaldson, The List, 18th February 2015Susan Calman is keeping positive on the Lady Like tour
It's all about those shiny, happy people laughing for the corporate lawyer turned stand-up comic.
Brian Donaldson, The List, 18th February 2015Review: Matt Forde, Soho Theatre
In General Election year it is more important than ever to have comedians engaging with politics. There are plenty who drop a soupcon of satire into their shows, but not many who deliver an hour of solid humour about the people who either are governing the country or want to govern the country. This is precisely what Forde delivers.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 18th February 2015Review: Funny Valentines - Matt Berry: Wild Love
I don't know if Matt Berry has ever done the voiceover for a real wildlife documentary but, boy would it liven them up if he was given free reign by the nature department's Clem Fandangos.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 18th February 2015The politics of comedy: the art of black humour
In Iraq and most of the Middle East, jokes are usually political. Being at the heart of the stick-it-to-the-man culture in New Cross - where cafes put fundraising posters for Syria on their windows and where pubs hand out flyers that read "hate politics, love to sing, come on in" - one would assume the same applied. "No," says veteran comedian Harry Denford, poker-faced and dead serious.
Muna Fadhil, East London Lines, 18th February 2015Heydon Prowse urges young to vote
Heydon Prowse has called on more young people to vote in the election.
Lizzie Edmonds, Evening Standard, 18th February 2015Review: Reduced Shakespeare Company
My first encounter with the Reduced Shakespeare Company, watching them shrink the Bard in Loughborough and it was just brilliant.
John Smith, Gainsborough Standard, 18th February 2015Interview: Milton Jones on his Temple Of Daft
Milton Jones is touring the UK with a brand new show, The Temple of Daft, which sees the Mock The Week regular take on the mantle of Indiana Jones...
Nottingham Post, 18th February 2015Leicester Comedy Festival: meet Joe Bor
Interview with comic Joe Bor.
Yasmin Duffin, Leicester Mercury, 18th February 2015Interview: Jolyon Rubinstein and Heydon Prowse
Satirical pranksters Jolyon Rubinstein and Heydon Prowse take the coalition government to task tonight - but they're optimistic about the future of politics and BBC Three.
Claire Webb, Radio Times, 18th February 2015Gary Delaney interview
Comedian and writer Gary Delaney - constantly dishing out reliably brilliant one-liners - first took his show Purist to Edinburgh in 2010. He's just started the final leg of its tour - a show now with the best gags harvested from two four and five-star reviewed shows. He answered questions on Twitter, touring and telling jokes before he set out with again with Purist.
Molly Stewart, Giggle Beats, 18th February 2015Art of the comedy portrait
Idil Sukan's moody, intimate portraits of stand-ups are a far cry from the usual wacky comedy head-shots. As her debut exhibition opens in London, she tells Alice Jones why she prefers her subjects not to crack a smile.
Alice Jones, The Independent, 18th February 2015Review: Dracula! (Mr Swallow - The Musical)
It's when the characters remain unaware of their silliness that it works best. When it gets too broad within its own world - Mr Swallow being silly rather than Mohammed being silly - that's when it falters. But this happens rarely.
Tim Bano, Exeunt Magazine, 18th February 2015Democracy Dealers review
We've seen the characters before, in their BBC Three sketch show The Revolution Will Be Televised. But the timing of this one-off special was particularly cynical, just weeks before a General Election.
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 18th February 2015Videos
Podcasts
TV & radio
Mr Bean
Series 2, Episode 5 - Green BeanBean's electricity supply is cut off when Mrs Wicket sees her enormous electricity bill. As the snow falls outside, Bean has an idea - build a wind turbine in the back garden to provide his own power. All goes well until an unexpected storm sends the turbine into overdrive.
Mr Bean
Series 2, Episode 6 - Cash MachineMr Bean tries to retrieve his credit card from a cash dispenser and inadvertently ends up trapped in a bank vault!
4 O'Clock Club
Series 4, Episode 4 - BikeNero's new bike proves to be a disaster - not just for him but for Clem and Dexter too. Someone will have to pay.
Gigglebiz
Series 4, Episode 18Keith Fitt makes another world record attempt - this time he's trying to juggle the greatest number of teddies ever. Loveable Humphrey stretches himself at a yoga class, whilst the Lost Pirate finds himself marooned on a desert island that looks a little bit like a sandpit.
Chain Reaction
Series 10, Episode 1 - Adam Buxton interviews Reece ShearsmithComedian, actor, technophile and one half of 'Adam and Joe' Adam Buxton talks to the co-creator and star of The League of Gentlemen, Psychoville and Inside No. 9, Reece Shearsmith.
Would I Lie To You?
Series 8, Out-takes - The Unseen BitsRob Brydon, Lee Mack and David Mitchell return for an episode of previously unseen material from the hit comedy panel show.
The Revolution Will Be Televised
Special - Revolution Presents: Democracy DealersThe team behind The Revolution Will Be Televised present a fly-on-the-wall portrait of some terrifyingly inept Members of Parliament.
Room 101
Series 4, Episode 7 - Bob Mortimer, Rachel Riley, Brendan O'CarrollFrank Skinner is joined by surreal comic Bob Mortimer, Countdown star Rachel Riley and Mrs Brown's Boys star Brendan O'Carroll. Nominations include wrapping food in bacon, small pedal bins and unripe fruit being sold in supermarkets.
Up The Women
Series 2, Episode 5 - VoteThe BICCPRWS are taken hostage when the hall is used as a polling station.
Irish Micks And Legends
Series 2, Episode 3 - Diarmuid And GrainneAisling and Yasmine tell the tale of famous young lovers Diarmuid and Grainne. It is an affair that ended like most Irish stories - terribly.
Tim Key's Poetry Programme
Series 3, Episode 1 - LoveTim Key grapples with the concept of love by telling the story of one man's romance with a beautiful cashier. Musical accompaniment is provided by Tom Basden.