BCG Daily Wednesday 2nd September 2020
News
Features
BCG Pro
Press clippings
Alan Partridge on his new podcast
He's back - sporting a post-lockdown haircut and hosting a new podcast. Britain's No 1 raconteur talks about his new hat, driving a Vauxhall, and why Boris Johnson looks like the evil rabbit in Down.
Rich Pelley, The Guardian, 2nd September 2020What's wrong with television comedy - and how to fix it
The stranglehold of the panel show has held back British TV comedy for years.
Tristram Fane Saunders, The Telegraph, 2nd September 2020Showstopper! review
The sheer brio of the endeavour proved irresistible, and one wasn't surprised to see the performers' eyes misting over.
Matt Wolf, i Newspaper, 2nd September 2020BAFTA-winning comedy director Keri Collins has Presence
Production company Presence have signed Welsh BAFTA winning comedy writer and director Keri Collins for global commercial representation.
Shots, 2nd September 2020Two Weeks To Live review
Really, the entire cast is good here, with Rizwan as Nicky also impressing, and it's a shame that such a solid bunch of actors haven't been given anything more remarkable to work with.
Caroline Preece, Den Of Geek, 2nd September 2020Comedy politics
There is also very little actual power in satire. The power to shock in comedy arguably used to sit with those invoking anti-establishment views, but I don't think that's been true since the 60s and the end of deference. Spitting Image and Ben Elton didn't bring down Mrs Thatch. 2DTV and Mark Thomas didn't bring down Tony Blair. People spent most of yesterday complaining that the TV show that arguably made Boris Johnson's national career is left wing.
Emma Burnell, The Article, 2nd September 2020Comics mock Tories more simply because they're in power
The government makes decisions that impact lives. If there's a joke that can reveal an inherent flaw in the logic of that decision, it deserves to be done, writes Steve N Allen.
Steve N Allen, The Independent, 2nd September 2020TV review: Two Weeks To Live, Sky One
Plenty of suprises, plenty of thrills and spills and Williams is excellent as misfit Kim who goes on a literal as well as an emotional journey.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 2nd September 2020Jack Rooke: 'We should teach mental health'
Comedian Jack Rooke's jaunty new memoir is actually a handbook for grief, he tells Samuel Fishwick.
Samuel Fishwick, Evening Standard, 2nd September 2020With comedy, I'd rather be offended than bored
New director-general Tim Davie will reportedly steer TV comedy to the right to correct years of perceived anti-Tory bias. But it was Brexit, not the BBC, that put a spanner in British humour.
Suzanne Moore, The Guardian, 2nd September 2020Two Weeks To Live review
"Fish out of water" is a stock comedy premise, and in Two Weeks To Live, Kim is a very strange fish indeed.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 2nd September 2020Norcott: right-wing comedy is neither racist nor sexist
The Left's reaction to a proposed shake-up of BBC comedy was more narrow-minded, predictable and offensive than any 'right-wing' comic's act.
Geoff Norcott, The Telegraph, 2nd September 202060-date tour for Jenny Eclair - one per year of Eclair
Comedy legend Jenny Eclair turned 60 this year, just before the UK went into Covid-19 lockdown. To celebrate reaching this milestone and the success of her brand new book - Older and Wider, which made The Sunday Times Best Sellers List over the summer, Jenny hopes and intends to get back on the road in 2021 with a brand new 60-date stand-up tour, SIXTY! (FFS!), from 4th March 2021.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 2nd September 2020Famalam: a sketch show defying gravity
Shilpa Ganatra examines why BBC Three sketch show Famalam, a huge hit on social media, is making big waves with its third series.
Shilpa Ganatra, Royal Television Society, 2nd September 2020Bill Bailey, Unity Arena, Newcastle, review
Still one of the funniest, most brilliantly original comedians around.
Mark Brown, The Telegraph, 2nd September 2020Guz Khan interview
"I don't want Priti Patel to deport my aunties and uncles over my jokes".
Gary Ryan, NME, 2nd September 2020Two Weeks To Live, episode 1 review
Maisie Williams's black comedy is disappointingly derivative.
Chris Bennion, The Telegraph, 2nd September 2020Two Weeks To Live review
Leaving Game of Thrones behind her, the actor shines as a doomsday-prepper on a mission in this dark, sideways comedy with shades of Killing Eve.
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian, 2nd September 2020Two Weeks To Live, Sky One, review
Maisie Williams impresses in confident and quirky black comedy.
Ed Power, i Newspaper, 2nd September 2020We just need brave, funny comics on the BBC
Have you ever played BBC Comedy Show Bingo? There's a checklist of "jokes" the smug, leftie middle-class monkeys will make in each half-hour. All you do is tick them off.
Rod Liddle, The Sun, 2nd September 2020BBC comedy's not left-wing: the audience is right-wing
I am not going to argue today that comedy is or should be apolitical - society is political, and comedy reflects society. What I am going to argue is this idea of balance is erroneous because of the fundamental nature of comedy. Comedy is always counter-cultural and counter-hegemonic - by its very nature, it fights against the dominant culture and works to actively undermine it, regardless of the leanings of its proponents.
Sebastian Bloomfield, The Conversation, 2nd September 2020The Duchess is a tasteless misfire
It's hard to think of something less risky for a performer than making a big show of being daring.
Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 2nd September 2020Videos
Podcasts
TV & radio
Jack & Millie
Series 2, Episode 1 - Service EconomyJack and Millie are back and ready to deal with Harry's bongos, Delphine's chicken, Shirley's bombshell and a cleaner with flashbacks.
Paul Sinha's General Knowledge
Series 2, Episode 4This episode ranges from the funniest Clives in history, via the first anti-Nazi Oscar winner, to the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and the real, uncredited, writer of one of rock music's most famous songs.
Comedy Game Night
Episode 1Joining Liza, Sue and Guz in the larger-than-life technicolour living room tonight are EastEnder Perry Fenwick, presenter Clare Balding, actor Martine McCutcheon, grime MC Big Zuu, comedian Sara Barron, and CBBC's Karim Zeroual.
Woof - Chris Neill
Woof - Honest Mistakes From Home And Abroad, Episode 3 - Habits of a Social AnimalGetting out and meeting people is not something Chris (and many other people) find easy - he examines parties and the swings and roundabouts of social intercourse. And a glass bowl gets broken.