BCG Daily Thursday 26th March 2015

Burnistoun: Live & For Real, Glasgow, review

The on-stage chemistry between Florence and Connell makes thir live performing look so easy.

Radio Times review

I've been rubbing my hands in glee at the return of this superb anthology series written by and starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith - my modern comedy heroes. I also like to picture Julie Hesmondhalgh secretly dancing a jig that she let Corrie's Hayley die, thus freeing herself up for some cracking roles: Henry's forbearing sister Cleo in Cucumber and now a chance to play in a comedy of manners, bunked up in a confined space with this bunch.

As before, the shtick each week is to tell a new short-story set inside a location numbered nine. Here it's a couchette on a TGV hurtling across Europe. Mark Benton plays her amiable hubby, while Jessica Gunning (from Pride and That Day We Sang) plays an Aussie backpacker, who hasn't had a scrub round in days but still gets it on with a toff freeloader (Jack Whitehall).

Shearsmith and Pemberton give a mini-masterclass as an uptight, sleep-deprived prof and a German stoked up on Bier und Bratwurst. Only they could get such mileage out of flatulence in 2015. It's hilarious, sharply observed - and of course there's more than a sting in the tail.

Morrissey pulls out of appearing on Chatty Man

When Alan Carr scooped a rare TV interview with reclusive singer Morrissey it was a bit of coup for his Channel 4 Chatty Man show. But Alan was left devastated - and producers spitting feathers - when the one-time Smiths frontman pulled out hours before filming was set to begin.

Reece Shearsmith's TV nightmares

As a second series looms, Inside No. 9's star and co-writer Reece Shearsmith pays tribute to the creepy, unpredictable sci-fi and horror anthology shows that inspired it.

The brilliance of Inside No. 9

Successful scripted comedy is, for the most part, built on firmly established characters that an audience grows to loathe, love or basically care one jot about. Which is why Inside No. 9 is such a wonderful anomaly.

Puppetry Of The Penis: Have an issue? Don't come along

My name is Simon Morley and I am a creator of the comedy show Puppetry Of The Penis, which I see is causing somewhat of a storm in town.

Interview: Dave Spikey

Dave Spikey is back on the road again with the second half of his Punchlines tour.

Nina Conti interview

When she first started using masks a few years ago, she had a stooge in the audience. "It worked great, but it was cheating."

Russell Brand to open 'social enterprise' cafe

Russell Brand has worn many hats in the course of his career - comedian, radio host, author and, most recently, a would-be revolutionary. Now, the 39 year-old is dipping his toes in the hospitality industry by opening a cafe in East London.

How to... play comedy

Whether or not you can learn to be funny is a debate that has been raging since the very first chicken crossed the road...

O2 customers will access C4 comedies before others

The new series of Peep Show and Fresh Meat will be available to O2 customers before anyone else.

Spoof video with Russell Brand as Top Gear presenter

Continuing his mission to insert himself into every trending talking point going at any given time, Russell Brand has dedicated his latest video to still smouldering embers of Top Gear.

Billy Connolly to be honoured for promoting Scotland

Actor/comedian Billy Connolly is to be honoured for his love of his native Scotland next month (Apr15) during the Tartan Week celebrations in New York.

Everything you need to know about Inside No. 9

Fans of the BBC's Inside No. 9 rejoice for a second series returns tonight. For those who have yet to discover this dark comedy, here's everything you need to know.

Live review: Burnistoun, Glasgow

Comedy was first to be the new rock'n'roll and judging by the reaction to the first live outing of Burnistoun, it has reclaimed that title.

Rules for Living, National's Dorfman Theatre, review

Rules for Living at times borders on being the funniest and truest comedy I've seen in ages, but it's also the strangest and most strained. It shouldn't really work at all. That it does, just about, is a testament to the talented array of actors that director Marianne Elliott has assembled - among them Deborah Findlay, Miles Jupp and Stephen Mangan - and the bravura bonkers nature of playwright Sam Holcroft's conceit, which boasts a hefty Big Idea even if it almost capsizes itself.

Interview: Dara O'Briain

"When you arrive at an empty theatre, the potential is immense. You think, 'This is going to be magical'. Then, when the show starts and you hear those waves of laughter in the auditorium, it's just so enjoyable. It's a huge rush."

Rowan Atkinson talks about 25 years of Mr Bean

"I am getting older, and he naturally has to get older with me," said Rowan Atkinson, now 60, "and that's why I've done him very little in recent years. Because I don't particularly want him to get old."

Dylan Moran interview

Dylan Moran on quitting smoking, being about as sexy as the Pope and why comedy panel programmes are 'c*ck shows'.

Video: Shearsmith & Pemberton reveal No. 9's TV talent

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentleman) return with a new series of cult black comedy Inside No. 9 tonight, but while they wrote all six episodes, they certainly aren't the stars of the show as they told us.

Inside No 9 is back - and it's as creepy as ever

Ben Dowell meets Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton to discuss the return of their unsettling "comedy".

Matt Berry reveals Toast of London series three plans

After two series writing and playing a bellowing actor in Toast of London, you might think that Matt Berry would be running out of excruciating scenarios - but you couldn't be further from the truth.

TV review: Inside No 9

This is classy TV, a cracking start to an anthology, in which each episode offers fresh delights unlike the last. Bring on No 2 in this bunch of No 9s.

TV review: Inside No. 9

Spattered with gags both smart and puerile - suicide and explosive diarrhoea have rarely gone hand in hand in such a climatic finale - and rounded off with the sort of smart, subversive closing moments Inside No. 9 has become known for, La Couchette is perhaps more accessible than some of its previous bedfellows, and a solid opening to a very welcome series.

Inside Number 9 review: 'deliciously wicked'

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton gave us a ruthless dissection of human foibles, from an attempt to open a zip as quietly as possible to, well, murder.

'Inside No. 9' Season 2 Episode 1 review

But here's the thing: the two creators of Inside No. 9 are simply too good writers to be satisfied with simple fart jokes. More than that - and this is a separate point, though clearly related - they always make their scripts work very hard with every single line.

Couples review - a parade of hysterical eccentrics

Surreal and disturbed meets goading and diabolical as Julia Davis and Marc Wootton play a series of couples in therapy.

Inside No. 9: Was the first episode worth the wait?

Despite starting off with a succession of fart jokes (while I too have a childish sense of humour - fart jokes? Come on...) Inside No. 9 remains resolutely a comedy and the cast mined their cramped surroundings for laughs.

Rarely Asked Questions - Tiernan Douieb

If anyone out there thinks comedians have an easy life, frittering away their days on Twitter and working for just an hour in the evening a few days a week, meet Tiernan Douieb.

Arthur Smith blog

I find myself returning to 'A man walked into a bar'.

Peter Kay spotted filming in Eccles

Peter Kay has gone back in time for a new period drama in Salford. The Bolton born comedian was spotted in a retro Seventies costume this afternoon surrounded by a team of extras as they took over the Eccles Liberal Club.